Oh yeah to the person who recommended the MX-5, nah I think I'd rather do it in something that you can't already get here in Australia. Ford Mustangs are non-existent here, aside from the occasional seventies classic owned by a millionaire, at least until they bring out the new generation. I was thinking something that is very typically American, an environment-destroying V8.
Yeah I was thinking two weeks would be a good estimate for how long it'd take. The US is huge but so is Australia, and I've done interstate road trips here before.
[QUOTE=Antdawg;47459913]Oh yeah to the person who recommended the MX-5, nah I think I'd rather do it in something that you can't already get here in Australia. Ford Mustangs are non-existent here, aside from the occasional seventies classic owned by a millionaire, at least until they bring out the new generation. I was thinking something that is very typically American, an environment-destroying V8.
Yeah I was thinking two weeks would be a good estimate for how long it'd take. The US is huge but so is Australia, and I've done interstate road trips here before.[/QUOTE]
That's a fair point. I love the MX-5, though; they're a hell of a car.
I guess if you want the true American road trip experience, a muscle car's going to be the better bet. Just expect to pay a couple grand on gas alone, it's a long trip and those cars get 15 per gallon.
Obviously the car would have to be horseshit cheap too. That could mean I'd run into other problems. Especially on such a huge journey.
I'd be looking at $3.5k for the flights alone for one person (might have been two, need to re-check that), not including finding a car at LA, how to get rid of the car at NY, petrol, food, places to sleep, and the road tolls apparently.
Easily more than $10k for just me, probably above $12k, but I was able to save up that much over a year. Could even sell my car and hope that it hasn't depreciated too much from the $11k I got it for. But if I did this, this would be like your summer next year. 14 months away. Will have just turned 21 then.
I absolutely have to try American soft drinks because you's apparently put corn syrup in them instead of sugar, and to see how awful Taco Bell really is.
[QUOTE=Antdawg;47460472]and to see how awful Taco Bell really is.[/QUOTE]
It depends on the place you go, unless you're some kind of super picky hipster who just arbitrarily hates Taco Bell because it's Taco Bell. Some places are fucking awful, some places are basically some of the best fast food you'll ever eat. Same as almost every other fast food joint.
[QUOTE=.Isak.;47458533]It's a great idea, but you'll be fucking exhausted because driving that much is painful. I regularly roadtrip from Texas to Minnesota in a single day, but that's still almost a 20 hour trip.
If you decide to go, I'd recommend going from LA south towards the Grand Canyon. Maybe stop by Las Vegas if you're 21 and down to waste some of your money. Go through Arizona, see a few reservations maybe, see White Sands and the petrified forest and some other parks to get the entire desert view and feel hopeless and desolate, and then go to New Mexico and swoop up into Colorado. The drive from NM to Colorado is fucking beautiful as shit - you see sand dunes with giant snow-capped mountains backing them. Then you get to take a few winding roads up through Colorado. Go along the edge of the mountains, see the difference between the plains and the rockies and how stunning they'd be to the people going west in wagons and shit. Go to Colorado Springs, Denver, smoke, explore Colorado because it's a great state. Swoop down south after, hit up Texas. Go to Dallas and Austin, if you feel like going way west again visit Big Bend or some other parks. Maybe go hike Enchanted Rock if you're up for that. Eat Texas BBQ. Hit up Austin, listen to some music, go drink on 6th Street, all that - just expect hellish traffic because Austin sucks. After that, go down towards Houston, hit up Louisiana and New Orleans for some swamps and cajun food, maybe find a bayou tour. Immediately go north, because Alabama and Mississippi are not fun.
Here's the boring part - you either have to choose whether to suffer through the states surrounding Louisiana, or you choose to go North through colorado, miss out on Texas, and suffer through the Dakotas and Wyoming and Nebraska and those other states. Up north has more scenic views but less culture to experience - the Flint Hills and shit are beautiful, and stopping by Minneapolis would be a great choice, plus the Great Lakes are beautiful. But there's less "american culture" to absorb up north.
I like the south, so I'd pick that, but past Louisiana I can't recommend much. You could head due north, hit Chicago, and then swoop around the great lakes and see some cool stuff, go on some boats maybe. If you follow the lakes you could visit Niagara Falls, which would be a great stop. Along the way, I don't know much else to do once you pass that chicago/louisiana line. Richest culture and scenery is in the heartlands. There's plenty of Civil War memorial type shit the closer you start getting to the east coast, so if you're interested in that, it's worth a couple stops - but the northeast is way more interesting than the southeast, so going south and cutting north halfway through is probably the route I'd pick.
DEFINITELY make it two weeks at minimum, though, otherwise you'll just be driving constantly and you won't have time to enjoy the culture as much.[/QUOTE]
When you go past Louisiana start heading northwards toward the Upper South. Virginia and Tennessee are absolutely gorgeous. Kentucky's great, too. There's really not much worth seeing in the lower South other than the Carolinas. And avoid Florida at all costs.
Also stay away from Missouri, West Virginia, and Maryland. They're all a bunch of Yankee traitors.
[QUOTE=Antdawg;47460472]Obviously the car would have to be horseshit cheap too. That could mean I'd run into other problems. Especially on such a huge journey.
I'd be looking at $3.5k for the flights alone for one person (might have been two, need to re-check that), not including finding a car at LA, how to get rid of the car at NY, petrol, food, places to sleep, and the road tolls apparently.
Easily more than $10k for just me, probably above $12k, but I was able to save up that much over a year. Could even sell my car and hope that it hasn't depreciated too much from the $11k I got it for. But if I did this, this would be like your summer next year. 14 months away. Will have just turned 21 then.
I absolutely have to try American soft drinks because you's apparently put corn syrup in them instead of sugar, and to see how awful Taco Bell really is.[/QUOTE]
If you're in Texas, drink Dr. Pepper. Also eat Blue Bell ice cream - it's the best ice cream in the US, without a doubt. Solid and creamy and not air-puffed like most other brands. You probably won't like Dr. Pepper - I know a lot of people from Germany and Argentina and England and they all think it tastes like cough syrup, but it's crack cocaine to me. Also, if you go to Texas, go to Bush's Chicken and get some sweet tea. It's pretty much sugar water but it's delicious. Also, Taco Bell is delicious if you're high as hell or poor, but it's eh if you've tried other stuff. Again, if you end up going to Texas, get actual tex-mex. Taco Bell is shit in comparison to the hole-in-the-wall tex-mex restaurants you can find in Texas.
Gas is pretty cheap right now, so you shouldn't have too much trouble there. The entire "getting a license to drive" bit is the tricky part, because it can take a long, long time and I'm totally clueless as to how it works with foreigners.
Motels and shit can be pretty cheap, just don't expect anything fancy - they'll be pretty digusting, honestly, but you'll get somewhere to stay overnight.
[I]Don't underestimate the cost[/I]. If you go broke, you're sort of fucked.
Dr Pepper hasn't been sold in supermarkets here for like around fifteen years but it can be found here and there. I'm one of the few people I know who like it, but it might have been a British import?
[QUOTE=Antdawg;47460829]Dr Pepper hasn't been sold in supermarkets here for like around fifteen years but it can be found here and there. I'm one of the few people I know who like it, but it might have been a British import?[/QUOTE]
True texan tex-mex and dr pepper is something you cannot miss.
If you like Dr. Pepper, go to the Dr. Pepper museum. Get Dr. Pepper floats. It's pretty fucking neat.
dr pepper is disgusting
[QUOTE=mastfire;47461110]dr pepper is disgusting[/QUOTE]
heresy
real men drink pepsi products
ew soda
[editline]5th April 2015[/editline]
[QUOTE=Moustacheman;47460629]When you go past Louisiana start heading northwards toward the Upper South. Virginia and Tennessee are absolutely gorgeous. Kentucky's great, too. There's really not much worth seeing in the lower South other than the Carolinas. And avoid Florida at all costs.
Also stay away from Missouri, West Virginia, and Maryland. They're all a bunch of Yankee traitors.[/QUOTE]
dc is very nice tho
[editline]5th April 2015[/editline]
if you go to kentucky maybe take a day to go through mammoth cave or the red river gorge. the gorge especially has some really nice climbing spots if you're into that
[QUOTE=Moustacheman;47460629]When you go past Louisiana start heading northwards toward the Upper South. Virginia and Tennessee are absolutely gorgeous. Kentucky's great, too. There's really not much worth seeing in the lower South other than the Carolinas. And avoid Florida at all costs.
Also stay away from Missouri, West Virginia, and Maryland. They're all a bunch of Yankee traitors.[/QUOTE]
As a native Carolinian, what on earth is there to see in the Carolinas
[QUOTE=Moustacheman;47460629]When you go past Louisiana start heading northwards toward the Upper South. Virginia and Tennessee are absolutely gorgeous. Kentucky's great, too. There's really not much worth seeing in the lower South other than the Carolinas. And avoid Florida at all costs.
Also stay away from Missouri, West Virginia, and Maryland. They're all a bunch of Yankee traitors.[/QUOTE]
Missouri is awesome. Come see the Arch! You can go up inside it!
[QUOTE=Xanadu;47461595]As a native Carolinian, what on earth is there to see in the Carolinas[/QUOTE]
We have stuff! or so i've been told...
the only interesting place i've been outside of shitty hickory and surrounding parts is charleston, which is pretty neat, i guess
[QUOTE=mastfire;47461110]dr pepper is disgusting[/QUOTE]
This is permabannable
[QUOTE=dnqboy;47462017]We have stuff! or so i've been told...
the only interesting place i've been outside of shitty hickory and surrounding parts is charleston, which is pretty neat, i guess[/QUOTE]
Blue Ridge Parkway and Outer Banks, and Pisgah National Forest are the best I can come up with. Go to the Biltmore if you want to spend too much money looking at a nice house.
[QUOTE=Amfleet;47462218]Blue Ridge Parkway and Outer Banks, and Pisgah National Forest are the best I can come up with. Go to the Biltmore if you want to spend too much money looking at a nice house.[/QUOTE]
I went there on a field trip ages ago, but I don't really remember much of it besides the giant Christmas tree.
applied for an internship for the disa in ft meade maryland hope i get it
[QUOTE=Craptasket;47462043]This is permabannable[/QUOTE]
I don't usually even drink Dr. Pepper and I'm offended.
I used to drink DP like an addict, we always had a box (or two) in the fridge.
Now you rarely see soda around here and I can't imagine how I used to enjoy that stuff. Thinking about all of the empty sugar that is in a single can makes me cringe.
If you pass through AZ, definitely try to hit Flagstaff. It's a smallish mountain city 90 minutes south of the grand canyon surrounded by pine forests and mountains, some of the best scenery and local hiking in the country.
[QUOTE=elitehakor;47461355]
dc is very nice tho
[/QUOTE]
yeah so long as you stick to all the tourist-y areas and not the actual city.
speaking of dc just booked a flight and airbnb for baltimore for a convention. gonna go to dc and see some museums for a day
[editline]5th April 2015[/editline]
maybe visit the white house
[editline]5th April 2015[/editline]
oh shit maybe i should visit the pentagon
[editline]5th April 2015[/editline]
damn they don't have any times :c
Don't visit the White House.
You'll waste several hours of your time waiting in line due to security just to have a 30 minute tour of a couple rooms of the building.
Same with the Capital building.
hmm i already sent a request to join a tour group to mitch mcconnell oh well
besides that i was planning to visit the air and space museum and the international spy museum. i think that would take most of the day
[editline]6th April 2015[/editline]
really wanted to visit the pentagon :ccc
The Pentagon isn't near the rest of the DC sights.
[editline]6th April 2015[/editline]
Just be prepared for lots of travel and standing in line.
Coolest things in DC are museums, everything else is fairly trashy, because, well, it's DC.
Maybe I'm biased since I grew up in north/central VA so we went on a fieldtrip there every other year but DC gets pretty stale after a few hours.
If you're a history buff then you should definitely make stops in Massachusetts. It's beyond New York but it's definitely worth visiting to check out old landmarks and sights from 17th and 18th century America like Old Sturbridge Village, Bunker Hill, Plymouth Rock, the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill, and so much more.
ye i was only really focused on cool museums to visit
also what are some cool places to eat in baltimore or DC?
[editline]6th April 2015[/editline]
also my airbnb request got accepted :)
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