If you are planning a trip to the US then there is a high chance that there will be things you encounter that you did not expect. You may feel as though all of the reading and research you have done is enough to last you a lifetime, but the US is always full of surprises!
National Parks
The National Parks really are the shining beacon of everything that is great about the United States. You have rangers that are able to take you on a full tour of the area and a lot of this can be done for free as well. You don’t even need to be good at hiking in order to take advantage of the wonderful sights that there are to see there. With plenty of flat pathways, you can be sure to see everything no matter what.
Hotels
When you watch US TV shows, you may feel as though the hotels are full of syringes and hitch-hikers who look surprisingly like Norman Bates. This is not the case at all, and a lot of the hotels there have really high standards. You’ll have a TV and the rooms are always really clean as well. After all, hospitality is a major factor when it comes to US hotel chains and this is ideal if you are worried about staying somewhere a little bit cheaper.
Breakfast
When you take a trip to the Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Downtown Union Station, you’ll probably be ready for breakfast as soon as you arrive. A lot of hotels provide cereals, grape jelly and even cream cheese bagels. I’ve also seen things such as omeletes offered for free. In cheaper hotels, it is not unusual for this to be served on a paper plate and you may even be given plastic cutlery as well. This can all be thrown away when it has been used, and even though this is shockingly wasteful, it’s a great way for hotels to keep up with the growing demand of the people that stay there. Hopefully one day this can be made more sustainable.
Global Food
When you come to the US, you won’t just see burgers. You’ll see Brazilian, Peruvian, Chinese, Italian and even Thai food. The joy of going out for food in the US is unlike anything you may have seen before. If you don’t know where to go then you’ll be glad to know that Miami, for example, has some brilliant Cuban food and that Washington has a lot of Ethiopian restaurants. New York on the other hand, has absolutely everything you could ever want and it is jaw-droppingly good.
If you don’t currently live in the United States, have you visited before? Were there any things that shocked you?
*This is a collabortaive post
Great post! I must agree with your assessment of these foods. 👌🏻😎🌞😌
It’s pretty nice to have a little bit of everything as options! 😊
Nice post! I agree with it all, and I must add, exploring America while camping is also really cool! I can skip the hotels for me 🙂
I love camping too! It’s such a fun way to experience places 😊
That’s great! Yes I agree 🙂
Oh but don’t forget – the portions here can be extreme compared to certain other countries. Be prepared to cut your portions in half or gain a couple pounds.
-Knurly
Yes! That is so true, thanks!
I would go to the USA just for the breakfast.
I love the post, especially the part about the national parks. Thank you for sharing these reflections on traveling in the US.
Reblogged this on John Cowgill's Literature Site.
Coming from Canada, there was nothing that really shocked me during our visits to the US, from our trips to Disneyland with the kids to our latest trip to Arizona and Utah. Well, maybe the big blank white space the weathermen show above the 49th parallel on there weather forecasts. It is like they think nothing is there and nothing could be further from the truth. The hotel chains are reasonably similar in Canada and the US and breakfasts are indeed what helps the hotel attract customers. The breakfast at Holiday Inn in Tusayan was the worst on this last trip and they have some work to do to catch up to the other chains.
Shocked, no. But two recent observations. First on our most recent trip one hotel (a chain) had a “no surprises at checkout” policy. We had prepaid for our stay, and when we left there were no extra charges. At a “boutique hotel” we were levied a number of local taxes and a “resort fee” (which for a hotel in the centre of a big city seemed a bit off) when we left, which meant the “bargain” we had found on line wasn’t quite what we thought.
Which leads me to the second thought. Once upon a time when we went on road trips – in Canada or the US – we did not exactly schedule everything in advance to allow for some flexibility about where we spent the night. We always managed to find somewhere – and often got a great deal at a hotel which was glad to find an occupant for a room that would otherwise be empty. Those days are gone, thanks to smartphones. Everyone (but us it seems) now books in advance and in resort areas like the Okanagan in BC every hotel we tried was full. So the days of driving and looking for “Vacancy” signs are over.
And for that commenter above on portion sizes, most places recognize that they serve too much food on every plate. They are quite used to people ordering plates to share. And if you don’t, you can ask for the leftovers to be boxed to take away. If you don’t ask, they will usually offer. Generally speaking we avoid the “all you can eat” buffet places, where quality takes a second place to quantity.
As a US citizen (living in Colorado) I’m happy to hear your time spent here was nice. I agree with you about the wastefulness of disposable plates and cutlery. It bothers me very much! But so many places now have multiple trash containers for compost, recycling and landfill, so that’s good.
On most of our road trips down the West Coast, we stay at Holiday Inn Express. Clean rooms, usually a pool and hot tub, and a free breakfast with “to-go” bags. The Parks are beautiful as well and in my opinion, are often overlooked by travelers.
Good post!
Great post 😁 I’ve been to the US twice and both times were to Florida and I love it over there! The thing shocked me the most was how many adverts they have on TV and how often they come on! Literally 5 minutes of TV show and then another 5 of ads haha ♥️
Yess! That is so true with the ads hahaha
Reblogged this on Vietnam Travel & Trade Portal .
Great article!
I have been living here for almost 14 years now, I still had a chance to explore the west coast yet. I am glad to say that it’s after moving to the US, i had chance explore a new language, new cuisines, different people. If I want to try any new cuisine for dinner, almost everything is nearby. From mexican, indian, Ethiopian, arab to asian foods. You become more appreciative and accepting of other people. We moved down from the north to NC to settle and the college were better here. For my grad school, I do want go somewhere in the west coast like cali. After grad school, I do hope eventually move back to nyc. I miss living in the city.