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General Travel Tips and Advice Have you traveled before?- Please share your tips and advice with fellow Tpunks!

Raileurope.com: See Europe by train
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Old 01-06-2005, 04:18 PM   #1
Iwannatravel!
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HI all.

I'm on a gap year, just working and waiting to go to uni next September. I've made a decision though that this is the only time in my life I will have such a good chance to travel. Ideally I would love to go to the States, as I have American relatives but have never been there. I quite fancy the idea of travelling from coast to coast, whichever way round. Has anyone done this? How much should I budget? And are there any websites/companies/organizations who could help me, as i'd be hoping to go in the early Summer I think. As you can see, I need a fair bit of help!!

Also...i'll be travelling alone. Is this a bad thing? I'd love to meet fellow travellers when i'm there (or before?) and travel with them on different stretches, or whatever.

I'll be on quite a strict budget....or at least, i'll try to be!!

Anh help greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!
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Old 01-06-2005, 04:50 PM   #2
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was it kerouac that said "if you own a carpet, you own too much."? wow, i am sure i f'ed up the punctuation there, anyways, i probably didnt help you at all
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Old 01-09-2005, 06:48 AM   #3
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Yeah, you should be able to do it, no problem. Well, other than the budget issues...that might be a problem! There aren't a LOT of hostels in the U.S. like there are in Europe. And hitchhiking is frowned upon more here than there.

That said, there are lots of U.S. Tpunkers here who can give you hints on their particular area.

Where you planning on traveling by bus, car, train -- or a combination of all three? That will make a big difference in your budget. By and large, bus stations are going to be in the "dodgier" sections of cities. So, you may not be getting the sunniest side as your first impression. Honestly, the best way to see the U.S. is by car. You can go where you want, you're not tied down to the big cities or towns on the bus/rail route, you can camp out to save some bucks, go to the national parks out west...

Maybe you should look into buying a car when you arrive here, getting Liability only insurance, and then selling it when you leave...

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Old 01-09-2005, 07:34 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally posted by worldwidemike@Jan 9 2005, 07:48 AM
Yeah, you should be able to do it, no problem.* Well, other than the budget issues...that might be a problem!* There aren't a LOT of hostels in the U.S. like there are in Europe.* And hitchhiking is frowned upon more here than there.

That said, there are lots of U.S. Tpunkers here who can give you hints on their particular area.

Where you planning on traveling by bus, car, train -- or a combination of all three?* That will make a big difference in your budget.* By and large, bus stations are going to be in the "dodgier" sections of cities.* So, you may not be getting the sunniest side as your first impression.* Honestly, the best way to see the U.S. is by car.* You can go where you want, you're not tied down to the big cities or towns on the bus/rail route, you can camp out to save some bucks, go to the national parks out west...

Maybe you should look into buying a car when you arrive here, getting Liability only insurance, and then selling it when you leave...

worldwidemike
Ideally I would love to do it by car...but I have no license here in the UK yet!! I would therefore be going for trains/greyhound...or internal flights but they're expensive aren't they?

I do have some (distant) relatives in a few parts of the US (NYC, Arizona and Wisconsin I think) so I may see if I can get them involved to help the budget out a bit.

Thanks for the help...
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Old 01-09-2005, 10:34 AM   #5
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I'd check out the free sleep sites (globalfreeloaders, couchsurfing, hospitality exchange) if you;re comfortable with the permise, to cut down on costs and alternatives where hostelling is not an option or at least a good one. There's been talk of them on here so do a search on them.
And if camping is a consideration, spend time in the national parks as some of them (I assume most of them) are amazing.
oh, and try to go to Canada, lots of US cities are really close and it's nice up there too.
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Old 01-10-2005, 08:39 AM   #6
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Flights are not always the more expensive option. You can find all kinds of sales on the internet. Some of the big, low-cost carriers are Southwest Airlines, Air Tran , America West (the one I work for), and Jet Blue.

I don't know what train or bus tickets go for, but you can get flights for under $100 at times. Also, if you're going to be around the Phoenix or Las Vegas area, I can possibly hook you up with some buddy passes. It's standby travel -- so if no seat, you don't go -- but fares can be pretty cheap as long as you're not going cross country. I think it was $20, for example, for something like San Diego or Los Angeles to Las Vegas.

Once you have an itinerary down, send me a PM and we'll check the buddy pass fares...

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