Korean Job Discussion Forums

[blondieLass]

After my year here, I intend to celebrate and take advantage of the first savings I've ever had by going to America for a month.

I'm going to buy an Amtrak pass for a month and I want to see as much of the States as possible.

Anyone know the best sites for cheap hotel rooms, or bargains?

In London you can often find posh hotels for half price on discount sites but I can't seem to find a good one for America.

Any advice or suggestions?

I want it to be the trip of a lifetime, so some nights I'll be on the train and sometimes I'll stay in a lower class hotel, but I do want a good hotel for some of the nights.

I know I'm planning early (I have 10 months to go) but it's giving me something to look forward to.

[I-am-me]

LOL......Amtrak is still operating? Don't waste your valuable time. Rent a car. Last time i tried to take Amtrak from Florida to Texas I had to go via DC and Chicago. Trains in the US are useless compared to trains in Europe or even korea!

[kat2]

America doesn't really do "cheap" like other places, even Europe. We don't have hostels to speak of, we don't have student prices, and our public transport is pure crap.

That being said, there's tons to see in the states, but you are oging to have to be creative when it comes to cost. If you aren't too set on seeing certain things and are just willing to float around to different places, then the amtrak isn't a terrible idea. Just realize that most americans have never been on a train in their lives and its really not popular or extensive network at all. You will want to rent a car in some places for sure. Even a lot of fairly big cities don't have very good public transit.

Cheap hotels??? I would check the usual hotels.com, travelocity.com, orbitz.com. Also check places like bootsnall.com or craigstlist.org for short term couch surfing or sublets.

Where do you want to go in the states? I'm happy to give recommendations on places to visit or avoid.

[blondieLass]

Can't drive, so it's trains, planes or buses for me

[Hank the Iconoclast]

I guess you can take Greyhound. eep

[Tiger Beer]

[Missihippi]

Are you looking for a "post-card" view of the states? Or do you want to travel about and see every region's style?

If your young and single, i'd hit the college towns. Usually you can stay really cheap in a college town, and party/have fun with people your age. In the big cities, you will spend the most money, but have access to better shopping and entertainment.

What month were you planning on coming? Depending on what season it is when you come, i'd avoid some areas and go to others.

Cities i wouldn't miss (west to east):
Seattle
San Fran
Vegas
Denver/Boulder
Chicago
New Orleans
Memphis
Miami
N.Y.

Others to consider (smaller and more affordable)
Spokane, WA
Berkeley, CA
Tempe, AZ
Fort Collins, CO
Austin, TX
Baton Rouge, LA
Nashville, TN
Columbus, OH
Madison, WI
Gainesville, FL
Roanoke, VA
Charleston, SC
Key West, FL

[Tiger Beer]

Taking a GREEN TORTOISE BUS might be another option:

http://www.greentortoise.com/budget.adventure.travel.html

They go all over the United States on different routes. You'd meet a lot of people through this as well. They really focus on national parks and some of the best cities and beaches. You'd either camp in the parks, or stay in hostels in the city. They organize the details, and it's super cheap.

For example, the USA Explorer is $1,300 for 34 days. You'd see pretty much the entire country, most of the better cities and most of the national parks. Click on the link, a lot of great ideas there. There are also a lot cheaper options for much less days focusing on different regions that you might be more interested in as well.

[michaelmichael]

I think it greatly depends on what season you are going. This will greatly affect the prices for hotels, etc. Compared to the UK, travelling in the states is a bit less. Travelling in any modern country for a month will be expensive anyway. Since you can't drive, I think your best best is to hit the major cities, see what's to be seen, and take trips to local surrounding cities if you have time left. The cities you choose depends greatly on what your interests are. If you've never been to the states and just want to see the stuff movies are made of, I would go to LA, San Francisco, Chicago and New York. There are of course many other cities to go to and a lot of stuff in between. There is nothing quite like the american "road trip", but I think you can get a taste of the states by train, bus, or airplane.

LA of course has all the hollywood stuff, theme parks, and the beach. The weather is usually warm. From there you can take a bus or fly to San Francisco. Flights are usually about $99 one way sometimes $139 without prebooking. Driving, it takes about 5 hours, so by bus it takes between 7-12 hours. Bus fare is about $50. I would fly....taking the train from the airport to downtown SF is about $5. A taxi is $35. In SF hotels are expensive. If it is off season, your best bet is to reserve a room online. You can get a good room around $70-$100 (instead of 250). There are hostels too. I visited a friend who was staying here: www.greentortoisehostel.com
Tons of stuff to see in SF, also you can go to Napa valley, Yosemite, etc. All accessible by bus.
From here you can take amtrak to NY, via chicago and DC. It's a long ride. The website says SF to Chicago is 54 hours. From there to DC is 9, then 3 to NY. There are tons of things to see in and around those areas but my hands are tired from typing, so.....Amtrak price for sleeping quarters SF-NY is listed at $533. Direct flight from SF-NY is about $600. IF you fly into Newark, NJ instead of NY, the cab fare is about $50? (it's been a while). There is also a train you can take to NY from Newark.

I don't know what you're into, and what you'd like to see. My price quotes might be out of date, so someone please give better input. If you have an idea of places you'd like to see, maybe we can give you some more input.

[michaelmichael]

I camped near Greet Tortoise at Burning Man one year. They seem to know what they are doing. I also also heard that their tour package is pretty cool and laid back, a bit hippyish if I remember correctly. I think it might be perfect for the young traveller.

[Tiger Beer]

Hostels I've stayed at for less than $20/night in the United States:

San Diego - right on Pacific Beach. You can hear the waves at night, and see them in the morning right from the hostel top bunk beds. Step outside and you are ON the beach. $18/night.

San Francisco - right in the heart of ChinaTown/North Beach. I paid around $18. That was the Green Tortoise one. From there, you can organize all kinds of 'backpacker type' options all over the country. Green Tortoise seems to be the heart of that. I met many young travelers coming in doing that.

Anyways, hostels in the U.S. are ALWAYS in the best locations, and ALWAYS real cheap. They do offer ways to get from one to the next as well. In addition, you'll see all kinds of other people trying to do the same thing as you are doing, and probably end up traveling with them. There are cheap backpacker type options for traveling the U.S., just like anywhere else in the world (sure Thailand or Europe are probably the easiest to do this in the world), but the U.S. can be done as well.

I've also stayed at hostels in Miami, other places too. Anyways, check out Green Tortoise as recommended. Just saying there are a lot of cheap options and very affordable. I stayed at Waikiki Beach in Honolulu as well for around US$21/night, and it was one block from the beach. Absolutely incredible.

[blondieLass]

Thanks for all the info, I'm planning on going mid-November to mid-December so I want to be in New York for Thanksgiving for the parade and I'll probably go back there for the final few days to do Christmas shopping.

It will be my first time in the States, and I feel being able to say you've been the the States isn't really a big deal anymore (when I was a kid it was so amazing to meet someone who'd been - now people go for weekend shopping trips) so I want to make my trip stand out and be able to roll of a big impressive list of all the states/places I've been

[Masta_Don]

Southwest Airlines might be cheaper than Greyhound. The US is huge and there's no way to get it all in in a month, even stopping at each place for only one night. And then you wouldn't be able to pick up any of the culture. My recommendation: one week NYC, one week San Francisco, one week Chicago and then one week wherever else you want, depending on what you're looking for (quirkiness, foreigness, Las Vegas, etc.).

Really, Southwest is the way to travel, although, be forewarned, it's hell, like traveling in a cattle car. Right now, until the 26th of this month, there are special fares for a lot of cities: http://southwest.com/hotfares/hotfares_air.html

So you know, you can fly into Oakland, San Jose or San Francisco to get to San Francisco. From San Jose you'd probably have to take a bus into the city tho.

Edit: Ah, I see. Next year.

[kat2]

DC is a great place to be a tourist. All of the smithsonian museums are free. http://smithsonian.org/ The American INdian one is fairly new and quite interesting. The different art museums are all good. The natural history museum is good. The american history museum only if you are really into amerian history. The monuments realy shouldn't be missed either, especially at night (it's safe). The area aroudn the mall, capital, and monuments has more cops than anywhere I've ever seen. The hardest part about DC is finding a good safe spot to stay. STill, as long as you aren't in Anacostia or too far east of the capital, you should be fine for safety.Most of hte major sites are walkable.

If you want some thing a little more quirky, don't miss either LA or coastal SC/GA. The area between Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA is really interesting if you want to see the old southern coastal life. You can even meet some people you can't udnerstand (and I'm from the south) if you go to some of hte islands where the geechee/gullah (sorry about sp) culture is prominent. Cumberland Island, GA is a national reserve and you can spend the night there. It's really beautiful and peaceful. It would still be warm enough to camp in GA that time of year.

The SW is also pretty cool. Hit up Sante Fe or San Antonio for some Spanish Colonial feel if you have time.

Edit: By LA, I mean Louisiana

[bucheon bum]

All about the Chinatown buses when traveling between LA and SF Bay Area. There are lots of them doing the DC-NY and NY-boston route. Can't get any cheaper and they're perfectly fine. Not sure if they ply any other routes in america. Maybe up to Seattle from SF? I don't know.

Amtrak does suck. Southwest, jetblue, etc are about the same price as amtrak and a lot more efficient.