planning a trip to america

[pauly85]

hey guys, im planning a trip to america this year, i want to hear from people who have been there recently,

in planning to go for at least a month, i checked the quantas website and a return ticket is $2036, i plan to have another $5000 for the trip itself, just need to no if this is going to be enough?

i ony want to see 2 places, and the rest i will just take it as it comes, vegas and california are the 2 places i want to go

so speak up! let me no how long u went for, where u went, hotel names bla bla bla and most importantly....the final bill

thanks guys!

[scottc]

G'day pauly.

I loved Vegas, it was the best! We stayed at MGM Grand, which was not cheap, but it was excellent. My advice would be to stay on the strip, just for the hell of it, you can always stay somewhere a bit cheaper next time.
One of the cheapest strip hotels would be Luxor, which is still pretty cool.

And if your a golfer, definately head out to Mesquite and play Wolf Creek.

But don't do what I did, get married!

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by scottc

G'day pauly.

I loved Vegas, it was the best! We stayed at MGM Grand, which was not cheap, but it was excellent. My advice would be to stay on the strip, just for the hell of it, you can always stay somewhere a bit cheaper next time.
One of the cheapest strip hotels would be Luxor, which is still pretty cool.

And if your a golfer, definately head out to Mesquite and play Wolf Creek.

But don't do what I did, get married!

are you still married???

[scottc]

Yes mate, still married.


Mind you, if I want a quick divorce, all we have to do is go back to Las Vegas and they do fast divorce's too!

[XRated]

Try and stay in the decent part of Vegas (ie. the newer part)!

San Francisco is another place you should seriously consider, and don't forget New York.

[Mark^^]

Alaska... spent 3 weeks there in Sept 04, cruised up in a cruise ship about 7 days - fantastic trip. Did a number of day trips that were great and very out doorsey., and the ice shows in the Glacier Bay are spectacular. Then land tour into the Alaskan wilderness, across to the Yukon (Canada).

Alaska is the best place of the USA by far. A stop over at Hawaii on the flight over, breaks the trip nicely to.

Mark

[Craig]

Originally Posted by pauly85

hey guys, im planning a trip to america this year, i want to hear from people who have been there recently,

in planning to go for at least a month, i checked the quantas website and a return ticket is $2036, i plan to have another $5000 for the trip itself, just need to no if this is going to be enough?

i ony want to see 2 places, and the rest i will just take it as it comes, vegas and california are the 2 places i want to go

so speak up! let me no how long u went for, where u went, hotel names bla bla bla and most importantly....the final bill

thanks guys!

Have been to Vegas twice now, the last time i went November 04 stayed at Luxor, priced very well. You need to stay on the Strip. Are you travelling alone or with a mate or girlfriend????, Some great places to see, Grand Canyon have done it in a helicopter once and once in a 4 seat cesna, highly recommended it also flys over Hoover Dam. You can drive to hoover dam it's about an hour from vegas makes for a great day. If your going in November theres the Drag Races at LVMS which is just awesome and the track is located right next door to an Air Force Base and you see Fighter planes landing and taking off all day quite spectacular... Someone told me there are some casinos in Vegas too, if you like a gamble your $5000 (US dollars or AUS dollars) probably won't be enough. If you like to shop there is a new factory outlet centre just off the strip that is real cheap. I bought a heap of Oakley clothing from there that was extremely cheap....
Heap to tell about vegas, i reckon one of teh greatest places in the world...

California that's a different story. DO NOT stay in Hollywood it is terrible it's best to stay down in Anaheim, it's cheap there is some great restaurants. The beaches are great down at muscle beach is fun, Universal Studios and disneyland and california adventure park are all good value...

Hope this helps.

[ebxr8240]

We did bus trip LA to Frisco, Vegas fastest 6 weeks I ever spent anywere..
Going again latter this year..My brother lives nr Chicago..
Yes went to Canada nice too..I wish I went to Alaska...It MUST get cold there?

[Mark^^]

Dress properly and go at the right time - June to Sept and its not cold, and going up towards the North Pole its light late into the night...

Alaska is know for its wildlife, especially the mossies, they are as big as cows. Lucky when I was there in 04 was late in the season and no mossies.


BTW Alaska is warm in winter compared to Nepal in winter, spent several winters in Nepal in a tent......THATS cold.


Mark

[pauly85]

thanks for the replies guys, keep em commin

ill be travelling with at least 1 friend, another friend will be going earlier than us, she is doing a camp america thing so she will be finishing that up when we get over there, hopefully she wants to stay on with us

the 5gs is aussie dollars so its roughly $3500 american, but i also want to sell my XB for a little extra cash, just gotta do anything i can to get out of hear for a while lol

we have worked out some minor details, firstly fly into LA, spend a day or two there, sort our selves out, then head over to Miami, spend a week or two over that side, check out orlando, ny etc etc, then head back to Las Vegas, maybe via hawaii, then back to LA, check out cali as well somewhere in there

prob gonna stay at a few back packers hostels to keep the cost down

i just wish i had all this sorted out months ago and i was leaving next week lol

as for gambling and getting hitched in vegas.....i dont think it would happen lol, obviously gotta gamble a little tho

just need tips on how to do things on the cheap, still tryin to work out if around 5gs is gonna be enough

thanks again guys, and once again, keep em coming!

[gozza]

ive been around the west coast
LA
Nevada
Grand Canyon
Pheonix
pretty sure went to arizona
and las vegas...stayed at the excalibur....sorta near new york new york and MGM grand
don't plan on sleeping in Vegas....lights will keep you up....grand canyon is awesome and the air is highly addictive....really sweet and fresh.......this was a few years ago when the exchange was around 65 cents per america dollar...........clothes and cd's and things like that seem to be cheaper but food seemed to be more expensive

[TheSneakiness]

I would say you'd need a bit more than $5000 AUD.

Unless you hit it big in Vegas....

[SSBUB]

my mate lived on the west coast and rekoned LA was the pits so dont get too wrapped up staying there for too long. I am planning a trip there too at the moment, similar to you all on the west coast. I plan to go to San Diego, San Fransisco, Anaheim, Las Vegas and the landmarks nearby (such as grand canyon etc). Im hoping 5 g's spending money will be enough too, but now i dont know. Im not a big gambler, but dont want to be stingy on things. Have you sourced all the travel places for pamphlets/mags on the USA?

[Pedro]

I spent 6 weeks in the US driving all over Florida and then up through the centre to Cinncinatti & loved it.
Since then I've been told you can drive across USA for free delivering new cars. You can probably google a web site for more information by typing in something like "USA deliver new cars" or such.

Originally Posted by Pedro

I spent 6 weeks in the US driving all over Florida and then up through the centre to Cinncinatti & loved it.
Since then I've been told you can drive across USA for free delivering new cars. You can probably google a web site for more information by typing in something like "USA deliver new cars" or such.

http://www.autodriveaway.com/driversform.aspx

[Casper]

I did Detroit in 2002. I have been to the Home of Ford and spent a day at the Henry Ford Museum.

Often forgotten part of the US but I loved it... was in car heaven too! I got driven around in a supercharged Mustang Cobra for the better part of the trip too!

[max]

Well if you are going for at least a month, why not take in some East Coast too? Before you leave the West Coast, try to see San Francisco– its better than LA! It would be a shame not to see NYC, Also I loved Miami, especially the Art-Deco beach district, great atmoshere, cool and cheap places to stay.

[Tote]

A couple of suggestions,
Fly into San Francisco rather than LA, accomodation is cheaper and its less of a hole.
If you are after reasonable accomodation somewhere for a few days Staybridge Suites are competitive and cheaper than big hotels. Other than that motel 6 are a chain that provide cheap reasonable rooms. Both have websites, google is your friend.
Consider Flying United rather than Qantas for price (and the fact they fly direct to SFO)
Airfares are good value for departure in March - April ( shoulder fares)
Yosemite National park is absolutely awesome and well worth a visit. Its about 4 hours drive from San Francisco. Best time is from 20th march onwardsas snow chains are no longer required to be carried.
You WILL need a car, may be worth buying something if you are going to be there for any length of time, rentals get expensive after a while.
Money goes very fast, I'd consider doubling my budget if possible.
Get a telstra phone card before you leave if you want to call home, unless you have access to VOIP it's the cheapest way to call home.
Spring break is on in April, a good time to be somewhere warm if you like college girls.
Take two bags half empty, it saves you buying another one to cart all the crap you buy back home.
Get your passport organised NOW, it is much easier earlier than later.
If you want to travel between cities by public transport use amtrak rather than Greyhound, you meet the most interesting people at 03:00 in a bus station.....

That's all I can think of now.
Enjoy,
Tote

[xbcoupe302]

when i go there a couple of places i want to see one is gracelands if its still there and hasnt been hit by floods.

and down to the deep south i want to go to a colored church(not religous) but i reckon with there singing it would be good.

[ImpulseTaco]

I live in the US, and I would recommend increasing your budget for sure. Fuel isn't cheap if you buy or rent a car, and our public transportation pales in comparison to what you're used to, possible exception in California. As far as when to come, May is nice as is September. Unfortunately I don't know much about hostels here, so I don't really have any good advice about that. Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions.

[ImpulseTaco]

On second thought....

I don't know if your the camping type or not, but if you are, you should check into Yosemite (yo-sim-a-tee; like the cartoon character) National Park. Its an absolutely spectacular place.

http://www.nps.gov/yose/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite

Also, Redwood National Park is very good as well.

http://www.nps.gov/redw/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redwood...nd_State_Parks
http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np.redwood.html

In general, Northern California and the Pacific Northwest is a very beautiful place.

Also, camping can be done on the cheap. I don't know if you could squeeze a month in with your budget, but 2-3 weeks wouldn't be a problem, espeically if you stayed in California or near the west coast.

As far as Vegas goes....you could probably catch Greyhound (bus), which looks pretty cheap. Also, if you need a hotel room, Motel 6 usually has decent prices.

Greyhound is at http://www.greyhound.com

[edit]
One last thought, I meant to say this earlier, don't buy any DVDs or Video Games here, they won't work back home unless you have a "special" DVD player.
[/edit]

[pauly85]

this is all awsome info guys thanks heaps

never even thought of camping, sounds like a top idea, and will definatly take it into account

with funds basically i plan to save $5000, sell my XB so hopefully there is another $3000-$3500 and ill be getting my holiday pay for work which will be well over $1000 for 4 weeks....havent even worked that out yet lol

my main plan is to work out where i wanna go, and get my ticket (maybe even a package deal with a travel agent, still gotta speak 2 them) accomodation can be worked out when it gets closer, but as long as i have that ticket and no for sure i can afford to do it then ill be set

thanks again guys...tell me more lol

SSBUB: havent got any pamphlets etc from travel agents...thats gonna be left with the mate ill be traveling with, caus he works less than i do....still got a while to work it all out but id rather have it all done now so then all thats left to do is save save save lol

[Van D]

IMO try to save a bit more..

I think you'd enjoy yourself a lot more if you can afford to splurge a bit everynow and then.

[dogwatch2]

Originally Posted by xbcoupe302

when i go there a couple of places i want to see one is gracelands if its still there and hasnt been hit by floods.

and down to the deep south i want to go to a colored church(not religous) but i reckon with there singing it would be good.

We went to gracelands two years ago and really enjoyed it, especially the hallways full of all the gold/platinum records Elvis achieved. I expected it to be tacky, but was suprised how enjoyable it was. We got the tickets for a discount thru the Motoring association over there. Just around the corner ther is a "shooting" gallery where you can shoot just about any weapon you want. Also it was my wife's wish to go to a coloured church, which we did in Tulsa Oklahoma, we were only 2 of about six whities amongst a hundred blacks. The singing was absolutely awesome. To top it off the lady pastor (an ex. Opera singer) stopped the service and had word for us Ozzies, some of which she sung out. XB coupe - Start saving to go over, it's well worth it. The only thing I find surprising is that rental cars, by the time you pay the rip off insurance, are a little dearer than here.

[ronwest]

as with others, I have lived and worked in the US over a number of years.

Many great ideas already suggested.

All I would add is that you *must* hire a car and have a drive around while you are there.

I spent most of my time in the mid-west in an area roughly bordered by Detroit -> Cincinnati -> St Louis -> Chicago -> Detroit.

If you do choose to drive, for part of the time get off the interstates and drive the original highways. It's slower but you get to drive through towns and gain a real "feel" for what America is.

They call the mid-west the "heartland" for very good reasons.

[Van D]

One thing.. I would plan on booking your major stops at least at the same time as your ticket.. There'd be nothing worse than getting your ticket and soon before leaving go to book a room somewhere, only to find they're booked out for the next couple months.

Of course, not exactly the most likely scenario, but it could happen. I think it'd be a good idea to at least have some accomodation planned in your major stops (LA, San Fran or whatever) and then you can work out where you'd like to travel exactly later on and work around those..

[Craig]

Also make sure you have a credit card. It is very difficult in the US to stay somewhere or rent a car without one. Always take out travel insurance before you go. A friend of mine had an accident over there with a pretty hefty bill that his insurance paid for with no dramas.

[SSBUB]

i got a spare travel book on america - if your keen pm me your address and ill send it to ya

[djjase]

Hi I was lucky enough to go to LA, and Toronto Canada for business. Went to Niagra Falls, CN Tower in Toronto, Disneyland, 6 Flag Mountain, Hollywood, Universal Studio's, Beverly Hill and all the site seeing of LA. Then to Las Vegas for a few nights - totally awesome and work paid for it all including flying Business Class.

[42.57lb]

Don't Do It Man! Don't Go To Seppo Land!!!!!!!!!

:d