Traveling the US

[LaterBloomer]

Oh, Ponygirl, I don't want you to be afraid of NYC. It's a fun place. If you stay at the youth hostel there, and you tend to get nervous about public housing locations, you may want to take the city's bus to the hostel, or take the subway line(s) that are ... west of the hostel. The subway stop closer to Central Park requires you to walk through public housing. This sort of thing (public housing) doesn't bother me, but it might make someone else nervous. (Sometimes I think I'm too stupid to be afraid of the right things. Heights, speed, and bridges terrify me. Unknown places in the middle of the night? Fascinating.) Here's a site for NYC NewYorkology: A New York Travel & Events Guide Things can be expensive, so this site can help. Some museums have free nights or days. Check out your lcoal library. There are books that start with the words, "Cheap Bastard's Guide to..." with the name of a city. I have used the one for NYC, and I think that there are ones for Chicago and San Francisco. Maybe other cities, too.

Having grown up near Washington, DC, I have to say that I was floored the first time I had to pay for a museum. Most of them in DC are free. Your tax dollars have paid for them, so come on over!

You are going to be soooo spoiled for possibilities, and you'll have a wonderful time wherever you go. Travel is the most fun you can have withouth breaking the law.

[Tasman]

I traveled the entire Route 66 from Chicago through to Santa Monica a couple of years ago. It was part of a documentary I was producing for tv. If you are looking for the 'real' America and getting off the tourist tracks I would highly recommend it. Accommodation was quite reasonable and the sights and places were amazing.

[LaceyLady]

That is a great idea! Your route seems very long, though, and your destinations are spread quite far apart. You want to go to the northeast end of the U.S., the southwest end of U.S., the northwest, and places in between, all in one trip! You'll travel the entire United States! It should be very fun, but it will have long bus/train rides. When my parents were living in Ireland (before I was born) they did a similar trip, only flying. They visited NYC, Boston, San Antonio, Houston, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Chicago, and maybe more places I can't remember. They loved it.

There are many places to see, but quite a few of them are not easily reached via public transportation. Distances are shorter, public transportation is better, and there is a lot to see in the Northeast. You could spend a while in NYC, Boston, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and the surrounding areas. And these cities are not too far from each other. There is also much to see in the west and amazing natural wonders, but distances are great and public transportation is not great.

The place I know the most about is Arizona, so I will discuss that. The only long distance passenger train station (Amtrak) that I know of in AZ is in Flagstaff, which is 2 hours drive from Phoenix and over an hour from the Grand Canyon. There are Greyhound bus stations in Phoenix and Flagstaff. Practically anywhere in the West, public transportation is not great. So you need to plan for that.

If you come to Arizona definitely see the Grand Canyon. Other places to see near Flagstaff (within 1 hour drive - no public transportation) include Meteor Crater, Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon, Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater, and Wupatki (yes, we have several canyons and craters). If you want to go up to a high elevation (without hiking or visiting Colorado) and see a great view, drive 20 minutes north of Flagstaff (on the way to Grand Canyon), up a mountain called the San Fransisco Peaks, and take the chairlift up to a height of 11,000 ft above sea level (how many times do you get that high up!).

In the Phoenix metro area there are various sites and museums (off course not as famous as ones you can visit on the East Coast) depending on your interests. There even are Native American ruins in Phoenix (minutes from downtown). Near Phoenix there are various ancient ruins and Old West things (if you are interested in that).

Sorry for such a long post.

I hope this helps, and I hope you have a great trip.

[PonyGirl93]

@LaceyLady Yeah, I know, do I know how to pick long bus rides or what? :p I will probably have two 2-day bus rides and several 1-day. It will be very long, but I suppose it's a decent way to see the country & save on lodging

My aunt lives in a suburb of Phoenix & works full time, so hopefully if I stop there I can stay on a weekend so we can actually go somewhere. Thanks for the AZ recommendations!!

@LaterBloomer Well, it isn't actually me being afraid of NYC, it's my mother She's opposed to me taking this trip in the first place, so I'm trying to compromise just enough to keep my conscience appeased :p I totally agree about the inappropriate fears thing; I have a pathological paranoia of eye injuries, but serial killers are just plain interesting... unless of course they are injuring people's eyes, then they're just terrifying Thanks for the NY resources! & I love DC, my brother lives there, so I will definitely consider spending a few nights at his place. But he lives in Centreville, too far past the last train stop to get there myself, so that would take some working out. Anyway, DC is the best city for free stuff =D

[Ace_King]

If you haven't had a chance to go to Puerto Rico! It's a nice place. The tourist area at least, heh.

*EDIT* I forgot you said your going by bus -_- lol!

[OE800_85]

it's too bad america doesn't have the kind of train network you see in Asia and Europe. Long train rides are MUCH more bearable than bus rides, even fun. Different demands though, I suppose.

[LaterBloomer]

For D.C., you might want to check out the web site for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. (Most large cities probabably have similar sites.) It covers the buses and subways. I used to live in Centreville, and I would be very surprised if there wasn't a bus that went to the Vienna metro stop. From there, it's a straight shot into DC. On the web site, you put in where you are, you put in where you want to go, and it spits out the time, the buses, the subways, the exits from the subways, where you walk, the time, etc.

You might want to check with your senators' and representative's local (for you) offices to see if you can get passes or tours. You used to be able to do the Whitehouse, congress, etc. Now, a lot of that stuff is closed off.

Oh, one of the free "things" in NYC is the Forbes museum. It's down in the financial area, so it probably has limited (if any) evening and weekend hours. The Faberge eggs are gone, but there are some Faberge flowers, some childrens toys, some miniature rooms, and... letters from presidents' wives? It's a nice, small, FREE, do-able museum. Oh, I just remembered. The hostel in NYC? It started out as a place for elderly, indigent women of good moral character. Something like that. There's a monument on the grounds with a big brass plaque. That should help to ease your mother's concerns! It certainly gave me a giggle.

Do you have access to the book Let's Go:USA? It's by Harvard, it's directed at younger travelers who are on a budget. Most of them, I suspect, are using public transportation. I've used the series for European countries, and the recommendations for places to eat, shop, or stay are usually pretty accurate.

Sorry I keep posting, but travelling is a subject near and dear to my heart. If I can't do it, I'm happy to experience it vicariously!

[LaterBloomer]

Okay, the last post. I promise. Here's a link to a recent article in a local paper. I stopped reading in the middle of his first visit to the IYH in NYC. I wanted to send it to you. Hostel environments in New York - The Washington Post

[gonenomad]

I'll post a different approach. I spent the summer bicycling across the US. I spent about 1200 bucks for the whole summer. I stayed mostly in campgrounds; however, the kindness of strangers meant that I had some warm showers and a real bed every so often. I've been across the US many times by car, train, and airplane; however, all of those methods seem detached from the surroundings. Bicycling was perfect to really get a true appreciation for a place.

Oh, in the desert southwest there are several places to see. Make sure to go to the grand canyon via oak creek canyon and Sedona. Awesome. Also, Navajo National Monument is really neat. If you can get to Southern Utah it is totally worth it. Moab has a hostel and all you would need to get around would be a mountain bike. There are lots of bike rental places in Moab. Las Vegas is OK if you like to see the how many people waste money (I live in Vegas). Death Valley, west of Vegas, is another place that is awesome.

[PonyGirl93]

@gonenomad Oh my, I am way too much of a wuss to do that! 5 miles in I'd be panting and huffing :p I'm sure it would be amazing, though! Maybe if I ever acquire a cycling hubby or something I will do that :roflol:

@LaterBloomer Thanks so much for all the resources, I've spent hours poring over them... Let's Go USA just came in at the library (and I picked up the NYC and Boston ones as well), I had my nose glued in it all day at work Bahahahaha elderly indigent women of good moral character milelol: That's epic.

I also picked up a book on train-ing through the US. Overall, trains are looking more attractive for the actual travel time, but buses seem much more convenient and obviously have much more flexible routes. I'll definitely be doing some more research to choose one.