[DH-Biker]

Hey all, just wondering if people have any suggestions for what I might need on a trip to the States. I say trip, let me elaborate.

When I did my A-Levels, I wasn't wanting to go to Uni at all. Then, after that, I wanted to go to Uni and re-sat. Now that I've, once more, flopped in that regard and recieved five rejections (Yes, I know...) I've decided to return to my original idea and travel.

The idea is at least a four year road trip, paid for by part time jobs out there on the road and then hopefully either settling down or further travel abroad.

Keeping it simply to the States for now, anyone got any solid ideas of whatever I might need or things to see and do?

At present, my Visa is semi-finished, as is travel insurance and health insurance. I'm going to keep a baseline of money to dip into incase of emergency (around £1,500) and maintain a set level of finance above that (hopefully around £3,000, so an extra £1,500 to spend on fuel, food, accomidation, etc) further funded by work out there.

I was fortunate enough to run into a friend of a friend who provided me with a list of contacts and a website for B&Bs, hostels, etc. Something cheap and cheerful will do me fantastically.

I'm torn between the idea of backbacking or driving, I've heard arguments supporting both sides and countering the other, but what do you all think?

Basically, here I'm just looking for people to help me with a final checklist as well as what to see and do in the States. Any help with the Visa would be beneficial as well, if anyone wants to keep an eye on their PMs for me crying for help every once in a while when I've determined where I'm at with it.

Cheers all.

[Emma_B]

What visa are you getting that enables you to stay there for four years and work out there?

I travelled around the USA for almost 3 months last year, travelled on various different modes of transport such as Greyhound, Amtrak trains and planes, but mainly stuck to the main cities along the coasts, so I can try to answer any questions about those if you have any

[DH-Biker]

(Original post by Emma_B)
What visa are you getting that enables you to stay there for four years and work out there?

I travelled around the USA for almost 3 months last year, travelled on various different modes of transport such as Greyhound, Amtrak trains and planes, but mainly stuck to the main cities along the coasts, so I can try to answer any questions about those if you have any

Its just a permanent visa, but I've declared lodging with a family member in New York. Though its not a lie, I will be there for two months prior to actually starting, they haven't specified that I need my own house for it.

Furthermore, I declared rightly so that there would certainly be part time work and the fact that I'd stay within the US for the next five years. However there's a lot more to it still and I need to go to my interview at the US Embassy in London later in the Summer at some point. I thought they'd stopped doing that, but they've asked me to go.

Yeah, that's really helpful actually. As I said in the OP, I'm torn between taking a car or backpacking. Again, I've heard numerous arguments for and against both, but one of the key arguments against taking your own car was that the availability of transportation is never in short supply, nor is it pocket-emptying in terms of expense. That said, the benefit of a car is that I can bunk it in whenever and I like the idea of being self-reliant. Though again, the cost of fuel and maintanence counter this.

What's your opinions?

[Appeltree]

I'm confused now.
Are you actually going on a dh trip lasting 4 years *'cause then I'd recommend having your own car.*
or do you mean dh-bikers as in your trip?

[Emma_B]

(Original post by DH-Biker)
Its just a permanent visa, but I've declared lodging with a family member in New York. Though its not a lie, I will be there for two months prior to actually starting, they haven't specified that I need my own house for it.

Furthermore, I declared rightly so that there would certainly be part time work and the fact that I'd stay within the US for the next five years. However there's a lot more to it still and I need to go to my interview at the US Embassy in London later in the Summer at some point. I thought they'd stopped doing that, but they've asked me to go.

Yeah, that's really helpful actually. As I said in the OP, I'm torn between taking a car or backpacking. Again, I've heard numerous arguments for and against both, but one of the key arguments against taking your own car was that the availability of transportation is never in short supply, nor is it pocket-emptying in terms of expense. That said, the benefit of a car is that I can bunk it in whenever and I like the idea of being self-reliant. Though again, the cost of fuel and maintanence counter this.

What's your opinions?

Yeah, I think that if you are staying there for four years you will be better off getting a car. Although public transport is pretty good in the main cities, and it's fairly easy to travel in between cities, if you want to visit the more rural areas of the US, you will find it much easier with a car. We didn't get one mainly because of the expense of buying one, getting insurance to cover us (which would have been pretty high being under 25 years old), and then the fuel costs. Plus, we didn't really intend on leaving the cities, so we figured that parking charges etc may have also added up, so it was just way cheaper to jump on a bus, train or a plane