help with travel plans

[beffanwy]

I am trying in vain to organise a trip to the US in november, but what I would really love is to be able to sit down with an actual human being who can help me, but if not then by email. I know sta and trailfinders offer help, but they book through themselves. I'm after someone to help me find cheap accommodation and transport from place to place, as I seem to be getting nowehere by myself. Does anyone know of anywhere who can help me?

[bednobs]

what's up with going to a travel agent?

[sn�gged]

Join a Backpacker's/independant traveller forum - there are plenty online - you will be able to get the low down on places, cheap accommodation etc.

What is wrong with STA and TF? Too expensive?

[jno]

hire a car and stay at motels - there are thousands of them, often on the roads that lead into towns. (There are usually restaurants nearby on the same roads). For flights, you're unlikely to do better than STA and Trailfinders can. There will be car hire available at the arrival airports - Hertz, Avis, Budget, Alamo are the big chains. You can reserve them ahead while in the UK. After that it's just a matter of figuring out where you want to go. In peak periods it's worth booking accommodation ahead by phone on the same day; otherwise, you shouldn't have much trouble. Google Econolodge, Days Inn, Holiday Inn for a start.

[Clanad]

Living in the U.S. and being involved in the travel industry, I would first ask where you intend or would like to travel once you reach these shores? Fact is, a lot of people plan to arive in New York City, when their actual destination is elsewhere. There a re lots of flights from London (for example) to Boston, Chicago, Detroit and even Minneapolis (for the mid-western minded) and of course the southeast and west.

The single greatest misconception I see on this and other English and European threads is that the U.S. can be travelled in a short period of time, such s motoring from London to Paris for example. As jno has pointed out numerous times (he's well travelled in the U.S.) the country, from coast to coast is over 2,500 miles in distance. There are huge stretches out west where I live, that take hours if not days to drive across with not much to see once the initial infatuation with high desert and sagebrush is satiated. So keep that in mind when planning your itinerary.
Driving in the U.S., even the large metroplexes is reasonably easy. The Interstate highway system truly is a modern miracle of convenience and safety.
So, after deciding where you'd like to go in the amount of time you have to spend, simpley Google something like "Things to do in Phoenix" for example. You'd be surprised what you'll find that may fit your temperment and interests.
By the way, Welcome to the U.S! You'll find the overwhelming majority of Americans very friendly and quite interested in your accent, asking where in Australia you live...

[jno]

just one proviso to my earlier answer: don't bother getting a car to drive round New York (Manhattan, anyway): as with a European city, the roads are crowded and it has a good public transport system. Anywhere else is find for driving. (Oh, except Juneau in Alaska, whch as I recall is on an island without briges to the mainland.)