Trip to the US! Expectations and Reality

The American dream ... who doesn't want one day to walk in the streets of the Big Apple, to witness the wonderful sunsets in California, or to have your breath taken away by the view at the Grand Canyon ... but ... in reality, what should you expect?

I decided to talk about it, both to share my experience, talk about my expectations and the reality, but also to share somehow with people who have never been there. I would love to take you with me back to this wonderful trip.

To talk about some parts of my past, I spent 9 months in the USA 7 years ago, in a school near Manhattan (in Tarrytown). It has been one of the best part of my life so far and I keep wonderful memories of it. During the school holidays that year, I had the chance to visit some parts of the country. I wanted to make the most of it, as I had no idea when I would be back there. At the beginning of May 2016, I went back to the States with 2 friends, who also were classmates. I visited some parts I’ve never seen before, and went back to some places I had visited.

The places I visited :

- Manhattan

- Washigton DC

- Boston

- Philadelphia

- Niagara Falls

- Miami

- Los Angeles

- Las Vegas

- Grand Canyon

- San Francisco

I don’t think the negative sides are the most fun so let’s start with that so it’s done.

1 – Transportation

HOLY HELL! In LA and Miami, it’s a nightmare to get around if you don’t know the public transportation really well or don’t have a car! I wish these cities were like NYC ! It’s sooo easy over there! When I went to LA and Miami 7 years ago, I was really close to the beach the few days I was there and only moved with organized tours and could easily walk to where I wanted to go. In May 2016, we were in the city, we were there for a longer time and we moved by ourselves to visit and see the maximum. It was a nightmare, both in the organisation of the network (which bus goes where, no hours schedule at the bus stop…) and the time we had to wait to get a bus! Here in France, we have buses in Strasbourg every 10 mins! We had to wait over 20 mins several times in LA and Miami!!! I don’t know if we can compare Strasbourg with LA, but why don’t they do a bus/taxi lane so they don’t depend on the traffic? It works in Strasbourg and buses are almost never late! We lost a lot of time in transportation which quite annoyed me.

2 – Homeless People

Like I said before, 7 years ago I didn’t explore the cities as deeply as I did in 2016. And I was able to see another – tragic and sad – side of LA (also in NYC and Miami but LA was really the worst). I couldn’t believe – still can’t – how many people where in the streets, asking for money or food every place we visited. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be disrespectful and appear like an insensitive girl – I DO feel bad for these persons – but it is quite annoying to be stopped in every street by people asking you for a dollar! I usually give food or pay for something to eat, never gave money. I don’t mind it usually, but the amount of people begging was crazy! I was quite shocked to be honest, maybe because I’m not really used to it.

3 – Hollywood Tours

They sell them – literally – at every star at the Walk Of Fame! Every minute, we were stopped by people selling the tours to the sign, to Beverly Hills… Yes, they are just doing their job, but I think it’s just sooooo fu*/ing annoying! I don’t really think visitors like it. You can do it by yourself, and it's what we did, no need to pay a crazy amount of money for organized tours when we can do it for almost nothing.

4 – Tips and Taxes

What the hell is that system America? I knew what tips were and more or less knew how much we have to give, but I find it really annoying! I like to enter in a shop, a restaurant and actually pay the price I see, not being bothered wondering how much it will be with the taxes and how much I should give as a tip. I’ve read that this system improves employees’ work, because they know that their tips – aka most of their salary – will depend on how friendly they are, how much customers they satisfy … I guess it is true. But I prefer our French system where taxes are included and where tips do NOT exist. It really annoyed me, I don’t know what people living in the US think about it – would love to hear their opinions.

One last thing, that I don’t really know whether it’s negative or positive, it’s signs/ads in the metro/buses … I saw several ads ‘Call this number if you suspect elderly abuse’, ‘Call this number if you’re a victim / if you witness sexual abuse in public transportation’ , ‘Do "this" if you’re being attacked’, ‘Do "that" if you suspect you have HIV’ … At first sight, it seems to be a good idea, they are quite promoting how to be safe and pointing out dangers, but … don’t you find it scary? If they had to put this kind of ads, it means it happens often, right? I really was scared in public transportations and did not feel really at ease. I avoided skirts after that... I might be a bit paranoid but seeing this in most of the buses and metros freaked me out! I think it comes from a good feeling, but damn, I think it is scary!

Ok, enough of the negative sides … now positive sides … Don’t get me wrong, despite all this, I LOVE the US – like crazy ! I simply love all the culture it offers, and the diversity of landscapes within one hour drive.

So … why do I love the US ? Why should you go there if you haven’t been before?

NYC

New York City itself is just a gathering of buildings … ok they are bigger, taller than in other countries, but it remains JUST buildings. What is interesting in NYC are the parks (Central Park, Madison Square…), the touristic sites like Time Square, Grand Central, the Empire State, or the new Freedom Tower and Ground Zero, the beautiful Liberty Lady (aka the Statue of Liberty) and the surroundings of Manhattan like Brooklyn … just to name a few — I think what you should do in Manhattan is really walk around and explore without real purpose. Just look around you, feel the power of that city, walk and you will find a place mixing old and modern architecture, a museum … of course, do the touristic things, but not only. Walk. Literally, walk, explore, feel it, inhale the city, look and admire how people live. It’s the best way you can experience and live NYC. If you aren’t a fan of art and museums, 3 to 4 days should be way enough for NYC. You can stay longer if you want to really explore every street, or see every museum.

Las Vegas

It’s … sparkliiing ! It’s a wonderful environment. Accomodation isn’t too expensive (and most of the hotels have pools!) because they want us to spend money in the casinos and shows they offer. It’s a really nice place to spend a few days. If you have lots of money to spend in casino, bars, pubs and all you can stay a longer time but if you want to simply see and visit casinos, have a nice drink somewhere, well 2 to 3 days are way enough in Vegas itself.

They are tours that do the Grand Canyon from Vegas, buses or helicopters (yeah the price isn’t the same). Even if both times I went by bus, I can’t highlight enough that the best way to go to the Grand Canyon is by car and do yourself a favor and take a few days over there! It’s probably the place I love the most in the US and I really want to go back and do one entire week over there exploring the most breathtaking place I’ve ever seen in my life!

LA

Despite everything bad I said about Los Angeles, it is a really great city if you have some patience! I LOVED Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice Beach… The food is excellent (if you know where to go), you have many places to see, visit Hollywood, Beverly Hills, the sign, go to the beach and enjoy a beautiful view of the city from the Griffith Observatory. I think, once more, that 3 or 4 days are enough to visit what’s important, but there are many things to do if you want to stay a longer time.

Like I said, don’t fall for the easy by buying tours (specially in Hollywood) – what they propose can easily be done by yourself if you look how – you will have more time and will save money!

San Fransisco

What a beautiful city! I love LOVE the architecture and the house style! It’s fabulous! I can’t recommend that city enough! We visited the pier, the Golden Bridge and the city with its really weird up and down roads!

I did Alcatraz 7 years ago. I really think that if you’re a fan a beautiful architecture, nice weather, good seafood, SF is for you without any doubt! Can be done in 1 day or 2, but if you can enjoy more time there, do yourself a favor!

Miami

Well, many people who don’t know it don’t make a difference between Miami Beach and Miami City. Miami Beach is a kind of little island, with Miami North Beach and Miami South Beach (to name only two), with a lot of hotels, bars, nightlife and of course endless beaches!

You can go there by bus or car but you have to cross a bridge. Miami the city, is a city like any other, where there isn’t many beaches, with a lot of buildings, ports, and many things to visit and see like parks … 7 years ago I was in Miami Beach, and 2016 in the city. If your goal is to relax, enjoy the sun the beach, drink cocktails and have nothing to worry about, Miami Beach is for you – stay in a hotel, you have pools, beach and everything to relax and party. Yet, personally, 2 to 3 days there is enough I think, because I like to visit and move, so staying everyday, all day, at the beach, for a week or 2 it’s too much, but some people like it!

In the city, it’s quite easy to move around as long as you know where to go and you have some patience too! There are many markets to visit and eat healthy food, Bayside is a nice place, and you can buy some tours to visit nice things (Everglades, Islands, Safari …) but if you have a car, look first if you can do it by yourself (the Everglades are easy to do by yourself!) to save some money.

Washington DC / Niagara Falls / Boston / Philadelphia

All fabulous places to visit (Boston is a fav of mine though). One day in each place is enough as you mostly walk around and do the few things there is to do.

I will definitively go back one day, but I hope to visit more states of the US (Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana ...).

That is all folks !

If you plan to go there, enjoy your time in 'Merica !