This branch covers: Mainland USA, Hawaii & Alaska
So many posts request the impossible - that a bunch of people who have never met you magically intuit how much you have to spend and what will make you happy on vacation, generally planning out your route for three months and helping you get discount flight reservations.
So, what can you do to get great travel advice?
1. Do your homework
The web is filled with basic information like how far it is from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon, or how to get from JFK to Manhattan (all major US airports have websites with transit info). Google is your best friend. See the list of indispensable sites below. Get your basic info first, then you can ask intelligent questions on the TT and pick the brains of the many knowledgeable locals who frequent this site just hoping someone will ask about a romantic B&B in New Orleans or a baseball game in Boston.
2. Do a Lonely Planet and Thorn Tree (TT) search
At least five posters a week ask what to do in NYC, whether to go to LA on their way around the world, whether it's possible to work under the table/overstay a tourist visa, and how to get to Miami Beach on a six-hour stopover. The road is well travelled. Find those threads, and add your question or 2c. You should also explore Lonely Planet's Destinations online, which has a wealth of key info and tips.
3. Be specific.
You might include: How much do you have to spend? Back country hiker or bargain shopper? Getty Museum or Old Faithful? Mexican taco stand or French bistro? Two days in Chicago or two months as a student? If you don't have a profile on the TT, make sure your post mentions anything about you that would be helpful to know. An 18 year old Brit on his first trip abroad usually wants different advice from a Italian family with an infant or a couple in their 50s from Ohio.
4. Be wary of mixing politics with tourism.
This board is about visiting the USA, a big, diverse country of over 300 million people. "Is it safe in Alphabet City after dark?"; is a tourism question "Is it safe in Disneyland thanks to your war mongering president?" will probably get you a fight, and no helpful answers.
Indispensable websites for US travel:
- Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
- TSA
- Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS)
- biddingfortravel.com
- quikbook.com
- roomsaver.com
- hostels.com
- amtrak.com
- weather.com
- Hostelling International USA
- American Auto Club
- For a comprehensive list of local public transit agencies, look at: www.apta.com/sites/transus
Please feel free to add any other useful advice and insight you might have inside this thread. The more the merrier for all!
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Thanks!

