TBH it’s too big a country to do in one big go. Better to pick a chunk you really want to do and then think about the next chunk later..
This.
I go there quite a lot with work, have travelled there twice and lived there for a while. It’s a big, diverse place.
What are you after? Riding? Sight seeing? Culture? History? Architecture? Ghettos? Redneck towns where you’ll be asked to leave because of your strange accent? The US has it all.
Personally I’d stick to the coasts or mountains. On a budget I’d consider getting an RV, sleeping in Walmart parking lots (it’s free and legal) and driving around. The trains are like the UK’s post-privatisation with added Beeching cuts, but having a really, really bad day. Flights can be cheap, depending who you fly with – Alaskan, JetBlue and South West are always worth checking out. Greyhounds are (or certainly were) cheap and consequently certainly used to carry very interesting folk and have depots in interesting parts of town; this can be either stimulating or downright scary, depending on your view/naivety. However, they are a good way of seeing the country.
I don’t get the love for Las Vegas, I thought it was dire and I wouldn’t go back if you paid me. It looks glitzy on TV but up close it’s cheap and nasty, the marble pillars are chickenwire and fibreglass (which just about sums up Vegas as a whole TBH).
This sums up Vegas for me. I don’t like particularly like it, but see the attraction of going there. It is a party town, but like everyone’s said – a fool and his money are easily parted, especially in Vegas. Do it, but don’t do it for very long.
Equally, all the major cities are expensive. Expect to pay London prices for beer in SF and the like. I was shocked during my last trip (eight weeks ago) at the cost of eating out in Chicago and SF. I found it more expensive than is used to be, and the double whammy is the exchange rate is crap (thanks Brexit).
