Tips for travelers in the USA. Jobs in South Carolina
Initially, I did not plan to write about it, but there were many questions, about America in general and about the trip in particular, and it was interesting to plunge into memories and relive it again. After rummaging through notes, correspondence, chronology of google maps, I decided to arrange my trip in the form of experimental travel notes and a small landing page. I hope this information will help you when you plan your trip to America, or maybe it will just be interesting to read. In any case, do not judge strictly, since initially there was no plan to publish the material - the records were extremely rough and were kept mainly so that the memories were not confused and it would be possible to open someday and restore all the events.
Visa to USA
It all starts, of course, with a visa. Don't plan anything until you get that damned US Visa. There are rumors that getting a US visa is very difficult. But the devil is not so terrible, I will tell you about my experience.
The first thing I did was pay Visa fees — 160$ and mentally said goodbye to them (which I advise you too, since in case of refusal they are not returned). Then I filled out the questionnaire and signed up for an interview. At the time of filling out the questionnaire, I had already been unemployed for six months, which I indicated there, also indicated that I was single and did not own any real estate. I did not take any additional information with me to the interview. There was only one visa in the passport - Indian and the stamps of crossing the border of Thailand were affixed. Only one question was asked during the interview English language) Why did he quit his job - he said for health reasons, after which the girl said Your visa is approved! And, frankly, it was very unexpected.
Tickets, Insurance, Accommodation booking
Next, I bought Moscow - New-York - Moscow tickets through the official Aeroflot website. But I always look for tickets through Google flights, although they say that it’s better to look through momondo through changing vpn and other dances with a tambourine, etc. but in the case of New York, I did not find a difference. I had a return ticket from New York on May 31, that is, 15 days after my arrival in America. I did this because I read all sorts of tales that the border guards in New York may have suspicions about the purpose of my visit, so it would be better to have a return ticket, and the ideal period that does not arouse suspicion is 2 weeks. So I had to buy a return ticket and let it burn more likely customs clearance. Next time I won't do that. A round trip ticket cost me $36,893 And yes, it's expensive, but I had no choice because I had to move into a house in South Carolina by a certain date. Of course, you also need to buy insurance. I bought through the Alfa-insurance website and it cost me 300r.
Jazz on the Park Hostel
I also pre-booked the Hostel in New York. I advise you Jazz on the park Ideal location - opposite Central Park and relatively cheap. It is also worth noting that there are a lot of double rooms, if you are lucky you will be alone in the room. Cramped, of course, but damn it, kamon, we're saving. For hostel bookings I usually use Hostelworld and sometimes Booking but more recently Hostelworld as they have a nicer phone app. One night in this hostel cost me 37.66$
After the air tickets were bought, insurance and accommodation booked, it remained to purchase bus tickets to Myrtle Beach. Because direct flight No, I had to take two tickets. The first New-York - Florence, SC bought on Go2Bus for 40$ second Florence, SC - Myrtle Beach, SC already on Greyhound in about 15$ . The stops of these companies are located in different places and it’s a bit far on foot, so check the schedule of city buses in google maps in advance. I had only an hour and a half between buses, and during this time only one bus went along the route I needed, thank God I did it. The bus cost 2,5$ .
Things to take with you from Russia
Plug adapter
There are other sockets in America, you won't be able to plug a European plug in there! Therefore, take care of buying an adapter in advance so as not to get into a situation where you cannot charge your phone upon arrival. in Russia it will be much cheaper.
Medicines
Be sure to stock up on the medicines that you constantly take, they are likely to be available in America, but many medicines can only be given to you if you provide a certificate from a doctor (Our certificates, of course, do not work). Therefore, most likely you will have to make an appointment with a local doctor, and everything related to medicine in the USA is very expensive!
In general, all the things that you will need for the first time will be cheaper to buy in Russia, except for clothes, the prices for clothes are the same
Driver's license
In America, our Russian rights (those that are pink) are valid, international ones are not needed. Take them even if you do not plan to drive a car, they will be useful to you in order to open a bank account and issue a bank card, very often one passport is not enough, they need an id, our rights are just right for this.
First day in America
New York
Transport
The main transport in New York is taxis and the subway. Very developed in America Uber(register and get a discount on the first trips via the link) and its analogue Lyft. Be careful, the subway works according to some of its own schemes, not like everywhere else. There are trains that fly through certain stations, there are those that stop everywhere, the schemes of stations and transitions can be confusing, get ready to turn on your ingenuity. Either way, download the app. New York Subway(iOS / Android) with a subway map to your phone And there are traffic jams in the subway (you heard right! TRAIN TRAFFIC TRAFFIC!) so the time from point A to point B will not always be the same. Until you have the Internet, offline maps will come in handy, the best IMHO is Maps.Me(iOS / ) there, by the way, you can upload markers from Google maps.
Communications in America
It is better for you to buy a SIM card in the place where you plan to live most of your trip (roaming). If you are going to immediately go on a trip to America - buy a SIM card with packaged Internet, you can buy them at any walmart(you can buy everything there). For travel I bought T mobile when I lived in South Carolina I used family mobile but after a month of using the tariff becomes more expensive and I decided to give up my SIM card, since where I spent most of my time there was always Wi-Fi. And I also got a bunch of bailiffs who were looking for the previous owner of the number, which was very annoying. It is worth considering the fact that tourists can only use prepaid rates, in which there is no balance we are used to.
Jobs in South Carolina
There are a lot of illegal labor migrants in the USA, mostly Mexicans, but there are also a lot of our compatriots Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians. Some of them have received legal status, some have been living illegally for many years and are satisfied with everything, some fly in for six months (this is how many tourists are allowed to stay in the states a year) and fly back. I will tell you about how things are with work in G. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina:
The easiest way to look for work in places where Russian work & travel students arrive for the summer is mainly work in the restaurant and entertainment industries. The most popular place is the restaurants. There you can work on cooking/washing/clearing tables or if normal English be a waiter or hostess. The salary is usually paid in cash, the lowest rate and the most popular is $8 per hour.(yes, it's hourly wages). Somewhere you can work 10-14 hours a day, somewhere only 4-5, it all depends on the institution / owner / number of employees. Many people work two jobs.
There is a lot of housing in Myrtle Beach, but it is better to come a little earlier than students or at the same time with them - this is somewhere in the middle of May. I lived in a two-story house, 2.5 km from work. The house had two bedrooms: 4 girls lived in one, 4 guys lived in the other, there was a common living room and kitchen, on each floor there was a toilet and a shower. In 2016, living in such conditions on average cost 70-80$ in Week.
The most popular means of transport to get to work is by bike. In some cases, a car can pick you up for work, it depends on the employer. On the very first day I bought a two-wheeled friend at Walmart for 80$ and anti-theft (be sure to buy!). By the way, you can buy a used bike already with an anti-theft in the student center and then sell it there at the end of the season - all job / housing offers, information on trips and parties, see VK group.
Here is my bike, I recommend it to everyone! I am the only one in our house who has never punctured tires over the summer, as they are quite thick here, everyone else constantly made holes in their wheels due to some kind of thorns that are discarded by local bushes.
Great American Journey
Training
I had been preparing for the trip for a little over a month. Firstly, I started looking for like-minded fellow travelers, because traveling alone is much harder, much more expensive and boring. I found a company of three people: a couple from Slovakia Mayo and Eva and a girl from China - Anya, we met in FB group of foreign students J1- an international analogue of the VK group.
Using the messenger, we agreed on a common route, decided on the mandatory points, took into account the wishes of each, and then I was engaged in compiling more detailed plan, and Mayo - booking housing and renting a car. The girls at this time frivolously blissed out.
Route
Here is a map with our route, which I created on Google maps before the trip, I spent a little less than a month on it, as a result, we practically did not deviate from the route - we visited almost everything we wanted and this is a great success, I think. All the way made up 5,722 km and this is just a clean route, the total mileage is of course more, but we got confused due to a change of car and we don’t know the total mileage. On the road, we did not meet a single paid section, as far as I remember. Only the Golden Gate Bridge was paid, it is paid according to the same principle that we have fines in Russia. That is, you will have to pay when you return the car. Map pins can be exported to be transferred to Maps.me or other similar application.
Flights
After analyzing the route, we decided that it would be best for us to fly to Denver. We originally considered traveling by car from South Carolina to the West Coast, but due to uneven accumulation of attractions in the western part and limited time and funds, we decided to start the trip from Denver anyway. Tickets were also searched on Google flights and the cheapest option was a flight with a transfer in Cleveland. We bought tickets directly through the websites of Spirit and Frontier Airlines. Be careful, read every fad, pay attention to every tick, as low-cost airlines tend to impose Additional services. I only bought a seat and luggage. pay attention to hand luggage, it must correspond to the indicated dimensions. An ordinary everyday backpack is quite rolled. There are no difficulties with domestic flights, a plane for US residents is like a bus for Russians. There is a possibility of flight delays and confusion with luggage, so do not take flights with very short connecting intervals and be prepared for any surprises. Our flight was eventually delayed, but not for long, we managed to catch our flight. Denver Airport is one of the largest in the world, so it will take longer to travel from terminal to terminal than at Moscow airports, for example.
Rent a Car
When renting a car, you should pay attention to the fact that not all American sites will take into account that you are a foreigner, and as a result, the prices on the site will not correspond to those that you will hear in the end. After researching the forums, we came to the conclusion that it is necessary to rent a car on the European site, since it takes into account the fact that you are a tourist. So here is the site through which we booked our car on drive-usa.de we chose the most a budget option- company Alamo. For four people it is obligatory to take a class car SUV. The final price is affected by the fact that the dropoff point will be in another state, if you return back and return the car to the same place where you took it, it will be much cheaper. All drivers need to have a driver's license, not necessarily an international one, our pink is quite rolling, don't forget it! All drivers at the time of registration of the lease must be 25 years! Otherwise, for each day of rent you have to pay a very hefty additional fee (fee). Renting a car with all the goodies cost us 1200$ on the 24 day. Pick-up points are usually located at airports. In Denver, after arriving, we boarded an Alamo shuttle bass and he drove us right to the office door where we were quickly done. You need to have a driver's license, passport and bank card with you, and (Attention!) credit!. But not everything is so scary. Our Russian debit personalized cards are rolled as if they were credit cards. But if you made yourself a local American debit card, it will not work, since all US debit cards indicate that it is a debit card. Another important point is that you do not book any particular car, you book only a class and at the issuing parking lot you will be offered a choice of one of the cars. We chose Jeep Patriot- a large comfortable jeep, but this feeling that it is big is deceptive! Be sure to check your trunk. Initially, there were three of us, since Anya was supposed to join us later, and for three such a car would have been quite suitable, but when Anya arrived with her suitcases, one of which could fit me myself, I had to change the car to a more spacious one - Hyundai Santa Fe under the pretext that the steering wheel was slightly to the left (it was true).
Gasoline, if translated into Russian liters, cost approximately 70 cents per liter. By American standards, this $2.65 per gallon. But the prices are different everywhere, I took these figures from one of my photos, I don’t remember about other gas stations, but it didn’t seem to be much different.I advise you to read more about booking a car on the Vinsky forum.
Even though the Santa Fe is bigger, it was still packed to capacity.
Accommodation booking
All the accommodations that we booked in advance are accommodations on Airbnb(for registration, follow the link) We booked accommodation only in cities, in other places we used campsites, we will talk about them later. Airnbnb is the most cost effective solution in the States if you are traveling as a group of four. The service is highly developed and all the hosts that we came across are the kindest people, I recommend this service to everyone. In Chicago and New York, I booked hostels through Hostelworld, which I have already mentioned above.
Necessary things in a trip
Now we will talk about those things that you will need if you live mainly in campsites. To begin with, they can be purchased at any Walmart. And now there will be a very important life hack! You can return all these things and get all your money back! To do this, save all receipts, carefully remove all labels and carefully fold the packing boxes. After use, bring things to a condition close to new and pack in the same way as they were originally packed. In any Walmart in America, approach a special person who is in charge of receiving things (there is even a queue) and say that you did not use these things and you rent them out as unnecessary or because you didn’t like some property or there is some missing property, it is important that the checks do not fray on the folds, store them carefully. We returned everything, except for the tents (they were poorly cleaned).
So, here is a list of things that I strongly recommend that you take with you:
Communication and navigation in travel
Buy yourself a SIM card for the Internet, explain that you will need to travel to different states, I bought myself T mobile with limited prepaid traffic. Since Mayo and Eva used European phones and they do not support American communication frequencies, I had to fumble my far from fast Internet for everyone. There was no Internet in 90% of cases. In the absence of the Internet, you will need offline maps - I recommend Maps.Me, which I mentioned above, or you can rent a navigator along with a car for an additional fee. We used Maps.me mostly and sometimes Google Maps in places where there was Internet, that is, in large cities.
Camping
Camping in Monument Valley
Camping in the US is very common. Moreover, trailers and trailer parking are even more widespread. Almost always trailer parking has tent sites with it - places for tents. The payment is made for the car, often three tents can be freely put up on the allocated place. There is almost always a table. Sometimes a place for a fire. In places where bears live, there are special anti-bear boxes where you need to remove smelling products and hygiene products in order to protect yourself and the clubfoot. Also, almost always in the campsite there is a hot shower, toilet and wi-fi. Sometimes there are laundry facilities but for a fee. But we did our laundry mostly in airnbnb houses, and once in a real local laundry in Las Vegas.
I will tell you one more life hack: You need to pay for camping at the entrance to a special ranger, but a special ranger sleeps at night and after 22.00 his window is closed, so you can safely call in and set up tents and pay in the morning. In the morning at 06.00, the ranger is still sleeping peacefully, and it’s time for you to go, you won’t wait for this damned ranger, so thank God for an excellent lodging for the night, kiss the ground and leave. I think the philosophy is clear.
National parks
Visiting the National Parks was the main goal of our trip to America and we visited as many as 9 of them! If you visit more than two parks, it makes sense to buy annual pass(annual pass) to all US national parks, by the way, there are 59 of them in total. Such a pass is worth 80$ and applies to all passengers of the car, if you divide it by four, as in our case, it turns out - a penny. You can buy an Annual pass at a checkpoint in any park. At the entrance to the territory you will be given a booklet with general information and a map of the park on a spread, I really liked this moment, as a result I collected a good collection of booklets.
Every national park is unique and you should first familiarize yourself with each of them a little, since there is an official website with detailed maps trails, viewpoints, campsites, etc. There is a lot of information on the Internet about parks, you just need your patience. Be prepared that one day is extremely short for any park, so choose the main places that you want to visit for sure, and which ones if possible. Make a flexible schedule, there are a million situations that can affect the course of your trip.
Picnic area in Yellowstone
Each park has a developed road system with lots of parking lots, restrooms and places where you can cook ( picnic area) and eat comfortably outdoors. It's the same everywhere visitor center- a kind of park administration. Museums and souvenir shops are usually located next to it. And of course, you can have a bite to eat and drink coffee there. Many parks have campsites and hotels, prices are usually more expensive than those outside the territory, and besides, there are often no free places. But we encountered difficulties only in Yellowstone, in other parks everything seemed to be normal.
National parks are the pride of America, they managed to make the real wild nature coexisted with a comfortable modern infrastructure for tourists and that it did not affect it in any way. I just want to clap while standing and say thank you to the American people for creating such parks, this is truly a miracle that I would not exchange for any museum in the world. To be in America and not visit any of its parks is a crime.
Nutrition
We cooked mostly ourselves on our propane burner. Most often it was pasta, canned food, eggs, coffee and all sorts of sweets. Food was almost always bought at Walmart. On the trails we ate great American fast food and coffee and donuts. In cities, they threw all the same muck from Macdonalds, KFC, Starbucks and Subway. American cuisine is fast food, so spit and enjoy - if you walk as much as we do, then no McDonald's is scary for your butts.
Well, my short digression is over, I hope you were interested and it will help you plan your own trip to America. If you have any questions, you can write
Step-by-step instruction independent organization trips to the USA, what to look for, accommodation, car rental, how to choose a route and direction of travel. What can you save money on and what time of the year is best to go. Useful websites to help you organize your trip to the USA. Only mine personal experience. I will answer questions about the organization of the trip, I will give advice on the route.
Travel to the USA- the pleasure is not cheap, standard package tours in which you will never feel the real America cost two to three times more than in the case of self-organized trips.
trip to the USA organizing is as easy as any other European country, excellent tourism infrastructure, reasonable cost of gas and car rental, an extensive network of roadside motels and more expensive hotels, in addition, there are many other housing options.
Getting a US visa
Unlike other countries, the same Schengen agreement, for example, the preparation trips to america you need to start not with the route or booking hotels, but with obtaining a US visa. Now it is issued for 10 years, which is much more convenient than every year to be humiliated in European embassies. Step 1 - we get a US visa, how to do it, read the article Get a US visa in Ukraine: step by step instructions and description of the procedure .
Planning a US itinerary
The United States is a fairly large country and there is much more to see there than you think. Even if you don't miss a single issue of the Travel Channel or Discovery, you will only get to know a small fraction of all the beauties of the American continent. Perhaps that is why Americans are not so often seen in Europe or Asia. They have something to see in their homeland.
I have a lot on my blog routes, reports and notes about travels in America , keep for updates.
Choosing the time of the trip to the USA
Many people miss this important moment, and it depends on whether you will hide from the rain and wind in a hotel for half of your vacation or spend the whole day among the wonderful nature of the Wild West.
The United States is a country with many climatic zones, and when it snows in New York, Miami celebrates Christmas under the palm trees, sunbathing. Even in California, the weather within one State can be very different, in October it is stable + 20-23, and in the Napa Valley wine valley the temperature may well go off scale for +30 and pomegranates will sing, at the same time in San Francisco there will be wind and rain drive you to some warm place. And it's all the same state.
Buying a cheap air ticket to the USA
From our latitudes, the only way to get to the States from our latitudes is by plane, unless you are planning a transatlantic cruise.
There are hundreds of flight options, I prefer Turkish Airlines with transfer to Istanbul or KLM with landing in Amsterdam if I fly to Los Angeles on the West Coast. On the East Coast Ukrainian UIA flights fly non-stop or with a transfer via Vienna or Frankfurt - Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, United Airlines.
You can book a flight on the website of airlines, but it is better to use an aggregator airline sales and buy a budget flight in the direction TO iev-los angeles , Moscow-Los Angeles, Kyiv-New York , Moscow-New York
Details about buying tickets: 9 Rules for Buying Cheap Flights
Booking accommodation for a trip to the USA
For me personally, the easiest and most enjoyable moment in preparing a trip, if the route is one city, then it is better to book in advance. When we had a long enough route along the coast, mountains and national park, I looked for and booked hotels or motels along the way. In the US, there is a fairly well-developed network of inexpensive motels costing between $50-70 for two, there are cheaper options, but I do not recommend it.
Cheap accommodation or hotels in the USA can be found through the booking system Hotels Combined (Room Guru), a service I use myself. The advantage of the service is that it compares the prices of dozens of booking systems - you just have to choose best deal. In each article or report, I provide links to hotels where I have stayed and which I liked.
In addition, there are a couple of sites that stand apart:
www.priceline.com- in addition to comparing offers from different companies, like previous sites, it also allows you to name your price and offers it to airlines, hotels and rental companies. They often agree to it. Before payment, the name of the hotel or rental company is not known. The level of the hotel and its approximate location or type of car are known.
www.hotline.com– offers significant discounts, but before payment, they only show the level of the hotel and its approximate location or type of car, but not the exact name of the hotel or rental company.
In addition to hotels, you can rent a house, part of a house, an apartment or apartment through. Usually there is a kitchen and several bedrooms, which is convenient for families with children and big companies traveling together.
More accommodation booking sites:
- www.vrbo.com
- www.homeaway.com
- www.flipkey.com
Hotels can also be booked directly on their own websites. They often provide online coupons that are only valid when booking through their own websites.
Booking a car for a trip to the USA
America is an automobile country, and if this is a problem, then the planned travel pleasure will decrease several times. In the same Los Angeles, buses are used either by the homeless or package tourists. I would choose a car for travel, after all, America is not a bus country.
car rental It is possible together with the hotel, using popular sites that compare offers from different companies.
Websites of nationwide car rental companies with offices almost everywhere:
- www.hertz.com
- www.dollar.com
- www.enterprise.com
- www.nationalcar.com
- www.avis.com
- www.budget.com
- www.alamo.com
- www.thrifty.com
If you book directly with these companies, you can use all sorts of online coupons, which, with a certain knowledge of English, are quite easy to find on various forums. Google comes first here - a search for "car rental coupons" or "car rental discount codes" will give enough results to think about.
In addition to them, there are many more regional small companies that can have the best prices in a particular place.
If you do not want to overpay and want to receive rental offers, including from local companies, then it is better to use specialized car rental websites that compare offers from different companies. I use - simple and clear interface and always the best price.
Emotionally prepare for a trip to the USA
And tune in to receive the most powerful and pleasant emotions in your life. Prepare a camera, several memory cards, so that upon arrival you can show off to your friends a selfie from or against the backdrop of skyscrapers New York and maybe you'll get lucky Las Vegas and you will become one of those whose American dream came true.
Websites that help you save money when planning your own trips
Aviasales- budget flights around the world
Room Guru- search for budget accommodation, hotels and apartments worldwide and on all popular booking sites, including Agoda, Booking.com and other popular booking systems
Booking.com– familiar and convenient search and booking of accommodation around the world
– car rental worldwide with the possibility of free cancellation
Site for buying bus tickets in Europe and CIS countries
Readers!
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The idea of travel appeared after the first trip to America, combined with a cruise on Caribbean Sea from Miami. The country seemed very interesting, unusual and comfortable for staying and independent travel. And the history of the United States is not so ancient, which allows you to better feel it and draw some parallels.
It was decided to continue on warm summer days in the northeast, capturing the largest and famous cities from the must see category.
In our time of the Internet, Google map and navigators, the preparation of such a trip is not difficult and even very exciting. True, then more than once I caught myself feeling that I had already seen it all and I was walking, for example, in Chicago, as in Moscow, which, incidentally, did not spoil the impressions received at all.
The Internet resources http://samsebeskazal.livejournal.com/ and Vinsky's forum http://forum.awd.ru provided great assistance in preparing the trip, for which I am sincerely grateful to all the authors.
The route consisted of a 4-day stay in New York, then a rental car trip to Niagara Falls, Chicago, Detroit, Washington DC, Philadelphia and after a short rest on the beaches of Atlantic City, return directly to JFK airport.
Googlemaps calculates the time of movement between points quite accurately. There were doubts about the possibility of maintaining an average speed of about 100 km / h, but they quickly dissipated. Highways and interstates have no traffic lights, no traffic jams, and even junctions usually have a 45 mph limit sign. Road repair involves only reducing speed by 10-15 miles, and not many hours of traffic jam.
Only daytime, easy hauls were scheduled, with a sightseeing of the destination the next day.
Back in January, the route was calculated, hotels were booked along the route, and plane tickets were purchased. Oddly enough, this time profitable proposition presented by Aeroflot.
An Airbus called A. Sakharov was assigned to Aeroflot's signature flight SU-100.
Each passenger has his own monitor with a multimedia system. Takeoff and landing show forward and downward views, during level flight you can watch films to choose from from about 50, play games or view information about the flight. Standard 2 meals a day and wine from a paper bag.
Flying up
Arrival in New York was marked by a 2-hour queue for passport control We were basically ready for it. Passengers on connecting flights were escorted out of the queue. In general, of course, New York is a city of queues, so it is better to plan visits to all sorts of popular tourist sites in the morning. Looking ahead, I’ll say that at 9 am we went to the Empire State Building without a queue at all, but in the afternoon, the Intrepid aircraft carrier museum took us in queues, probably a total of the same 2 hours.
Without further ado, we took a taxi to the hotel. Car service was offered for about the same money, only it had to be called from the airport and looked for somewhere. As it turned out, they drive up to the right of the exit from the airport, a little to the right behind the taxi rank, with a piece of paper pasted on the glass with the name of the person who ordered it.
Taxi drivers in New York drive with navigators. A native of China handed me this device with a request to get him a route. No problem. I knew the location of our hotel in Brooklyn as "Our Father". As a result, we arrived for 30 kopecks of dollars on the counter bypassing toll roads, this is at a flat rate from the airport 50$.
It’s evening time, it’s already late night in Moscow, so we didn’t go to Manhattan, we looked around in our Brooklyn district, had dinner, bought a MetroCard for a week at $ 29 from a machine at the Subway station. This pass allows you to make unlimited trips on the metro, bus and cable car Roosevelt Island for a week.
The next day we start at the Empire State Building in the morning. Riding the subway to Manhattan with New Yorkers grabbing iced coffee on the go.
Arrived just in time. The people aren't there yet. We looked at the postcards.
Viewpoint next door on Top of the Rock 
The sea gates of New York are visible in the distance, the Verrazano Neurose Bridge. 
Hudson 
Lower Manhattan 
flatiron building 
East River, Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges 
Empire State Building May 1, 1931 - the official opening of the building, which for more than 40 years has become the most tall building in New York, and around the globe. This is the first building in the world with over 100 floors. It has 102 floors in total. The basement, where the lobby is located, has a height of 5 floors. The skyscraper tower itself rises to the 86th floor and has a classic wedding cake shape with rectangular ledges. The upper floors "shrink" after certain distances and have a smaller area than the lower ones. This design allows much less shadowing of the streets and neighboring buildings. From the 86th floor, an art deco superstructure begins, ending. observation deck located on the 102nd floor. At the top of the skyscraper is a spire, originally intended for the mooring of airships. However, after a couple of practical attempts to moor to the spire, this idea had to be abandoned due to powerful updrafts air. Today, telecommunications equipment is installed on the spire of the skyscraper, which is actively used today.
Next, we examine the middle part of Manhattan ( Midtown Manhattan ) with Central Park.
US government debt scoreboard, including per household. 
The famous Times Square staircase. under the steps are the box office of Broadway musicals. 
Times Square
Times Square is nicknamed "the crossroads of the world", "The Great White Way", has achieved the status of being an iconic landmark of the world and a symbol of New York and all of the USA.
Broadway in part is entirely pedestrian. 
Grand Central Terminal
chrysler building 
Here is the landscaping
Rockefeller Center skyscraper 
The house was attached to the old one at close range, blocking the windows by half. 
One of the famous hotels - Waldof Astoria 
I didn’t intend to go to America at all, but somehow one friend who hadn’t been abroad more than once didn’t tell me that you weren’t going to the USA, I thought and decided yes! A real traveler must visit all continents. I read a huge number of reviews and then I already understood that the USA would not be on my top list best countries. I'm not a millionaire, so I had to travel on a budget. My plan was this - New York - Las Vegas - Los Angeles - Washington and New York. But all knowledgeable independent travelers will understand me, my plan for studying America began to increase - and I added Hawaii and Miami, although I also wanted San Francisco and Chicago. But I'm not a millionaire. It should be said that I understood that America is not a country where tourists return after visiting it, but still the task was to see and at least slightly understand this world. And the United States was not surprised by anything, not only ours, but also Europeans write about it. Conclusions 1) I did not feel that this is the richest country, our Moscow is certainly superior to New York 2) sights of world importance are almost zero, it should be said that without imperial palaces they make rooms in museums! Haha!
Now what do you like about the USA?
1) THE AVAILABILITY OF TOILETS - those who have traveled around Russia will understand me. As one German said, I saw a lot of beauties of Russia, but I will never forget a wooden winter toilet with sulks! So the Americans are great (otherwise they will consider me a hater of America). even on the beach where there are only three or four people there will be a locker room and a toilet, and not simple, but for wheelchair users
2) Americans - they know how to promote their country - I've always wondered how they show our cities in Hollywood - such a shit - and their well, just lovely But in fact, the opposite is true. In Europe, in the same ordinary Prague, you go and photograph everything - such a photographed city, And in Los Angeles there are no normal photos! Except the beaches.
3) The presence of free museums - and really chic_ that the Metropolitan in New York, that the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
But still in America you need to visit and compare!
I flew to America from Moscow on the Delta for 26 thousand rubles, I bought tickets in February after I received a visa to the USA in Yekaterinburg (that's also amazing, is it really impossible to make fingerprints at the entrance, like in Cambodia -) and I booked hotels for 10 months
Everything I planned came true - my advice is definitely Hawaii and Miami. Without them, my tour would be a complete disappointment and book 11 months in advance, if they don’t give you a visa - cancel your hotel reservations without additional costs - the cheapest were in Las Vegas, and the most expensive are New York, Washington and Honolulu.
This was my 5th trip to the USA. This time I wanted something unusual, diverse, the city, the beach, nature, parties, tranquility and impressions, in general, everything at once. There were 23 days available, the task was to celebrate my birthday and see my father in Florida. When I was very young, I lived here for 5 years. In adulthood, he visited Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. I did not know if I would like the national parks of the USA much, and if I would love Pacific Ocean, but I was sure that the soul demanded a dynamic journey through America, through serpentine and oceans.
USA route 3 weeks later:
Moscow - New York - Moscow (Aeroflot): 21300 r x 2
New York - Orlando, Los Angeles - New York (United): 9500 r x 2
Fort Lauderdale - Las Vegas (Spirit): 4000 r x 2
New York met us with rainy and damp weather. To be honest, at first I didn’t like New York at all. Everyone is in a hurry somewhere, it’s cold, damp, traffic jams, it’s not clear how to walk, how to move around. My God, how my opinion has changed after a few days.
This is the place where you can buy two Samsonite suitcases for $139, where you take a Guess leather jacket for $120, and when you go to the checkout you find that there is still a sale on it and you pick it up in the end for $79, where you get one pair of shoes, and as a gift there are two more, where for $ 317 you get ...
Probably, my father forgot how old I was and took me to Disneyland to celebrate my birthday☺. Well, unlike the previous trip, this time there was a Food and Wine Festival at the Epcot Center and I was hoping for something new. Well, more on that later, but for now I'll write a little about what all these amusement parks are like.
In the morning we went to the shores Atlantic Ocean. Last time we constantly went to the ocean and often stayed with a friend in a house on Cocoa Beach. In principle, everything there, even without an overnight stay, is designed to…
In the morning, a friend showed us the LIV club, the same Mansion and Space. She singled out the latter with great apprehension, warning that he was in a very dangerous area. Well...she was damn right.
A Police Car is parked behind us. From a huge jeep, two big men in glasses come out, one in a cap, the second in his mouth procrastinates a toothpick and come up to us with questions “what’s going on, guys”?
In fact, I chose the hotel for one night at random: I saw a nice terrace, a jacuzzi and good rating. As it turned out later, the hotel is one of the best and the only one that has its own terrace with such a breathtaking view.
They buckle everyone up, put on headphones, conduct another briefing and let’s go! Let's take off! We are gradually gaining altitude, I am trying to take the first pictures, but all in vain - the windows are too dirty. The idea comes to stick your lens into the gaps between the windows, and, oh, miracle, it passes perfectly and the pictures turn out just right. While the flight passes over a dense thicket of the forest, but a certain cliff can be traced ahead.
And yet, how wonderful it is on a beautiful, albeit slightly cold, morning to sit on the edge of the ledge of the observation deck, looking somewhere down or into the distance. At this moment, you need to put aside all photographic equipment, tripods and other little things, you just need to listen and freeze, then you not only hear silence, but begin to realize unity with nature.
After a few minutes of wandering around Antelope, you begin to realize that you are very far from home, as if on another planet, and you are trying to make out various figures and understand HOW water and wind could have done this?!
At first, nothing foreshadowed any unusual colors from the sun, but after drinking a couple of glasses of wine, we began to observe how the clouds turn purple, the colors begin to thicken, and the silhouettes of monuments against the background of the sunset begin to give the picture even more grandeur and mystery. After 10-15 minutes, the sun began, as if, to burn the clouds, monuments and the sky, it seemed that a little more and the flames would cover the parking lot at our hotel. Amazing colors!
At 06.20 the alarm sounded, which means that within 40 minutes the Sun should rise from the horizon. My girlfriend apparently already announced a boycott national parks and this morning quietly basked under the covers. I quickly got coffee and went to the balcony at dusk to set up a tripod and camera. In the neighborhood, by the way, there was already a noise from the closing and opening of the shutter. Sitting on the balcony, you look at these huge sculptures, another creation of nature, and you get the impression that you are in the cinema hall of The View Hotel, and now you will be watching another film called “dawn”.
In the United States, there are natural attractions known throughout the world, from the “must see” series, as a rule, these are huge parks, which require several days to study in detail. However, there are also small places located along the way, and it seemed that you don’t expect anything special from them, but they take and reward you with an intricacies of vivid emotions and cut into your memory for life. Such a place is Horsheshoe Bend (the bend of the Colorado River or just a horseshoe).
The next stop was not long in coming, literally, having driven 5-10 miles from the horseshoe, we turned onto a secondary road to see another natural beauty - Lake Powell.
A couple of hours later, an arrow was spotted at Coral Pink Coral Sand Dunes State Park. Back in Moscow, I sketched alternate places on the route that could be visited for each section of the route, so, resigned to the fact that we would get to Bryce Canyon at night, with the whistle of tires, I turned towards the park. Usually the coral dunes are visited on the way to Zion and Kanab, but our experience shows that you can easily stop by here on the way to Bryce.
Parked at Best Western PLUS Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel, we noticed the air temperature on the screen display: 10 degrees Fahrenheit! For a second, when we left the Monument Valley it was + 75!!! That is, Celsius during the day was + 24, and in the evening - 12 !!! Fuck, and I'm in a T-shirt and moccasins! We opened the roof to get a suitcase with warm clothes and made a march from the parking lot to the reception.
One thing was clear that tomorrow after visiting Bryce we were going to Vegas, and what would happen next ...
My morning started at 07:00. I got ready, went outside, freaked out by how cold it was, quickly jumped into the car and drove to Bryce Canyon, picking up hot coffee and chocolate along the way. For some reason, there was no one at the checkpoint, so I just drove by and unintentionally saved 30 bucks. Well, I'm right there. Leaving the car in the parking lot, I went to stray to observation deck Sunrise point.
Around 5pm, I pulled into the Bellagio hotel's valet car park where we had booked a deluxe fountain view room for 2 nights. I imagined that I would throw the keys to the jack-boy and feel like the hero of another movie, walking with my lady along the lobby of one of the most popular hotels, past noisy casinos and pretentious restaurants. But the whole picture began to crumble even before I gave the keys to the valet.
Having checked out from Bellagio Las Vegas 5* and received the car, I take off and head, of course, to The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas 5* where we stayed the first night. Unfortunately, Cosmo was completely filled to capacity. I tried to connect to the Wi-Fi to see other hotels, but all in vain - only guests can connect to the network, and our previous password was already canceled. Well, we go out on the road and look for some McDonald's or a diner, but there are no parking lots, so I'm starting to get a little pissed off.
Well, we're in Vegas! It's time to go to the casino! With men in suits and ladies in evening gowns roaming the ground floor of our Encore Las Vegas hotel, the stakes here, gentlemen, are not small! For example, Black Jack has a minimum of $25! It took only 10 minutes to miss 200 dollars. But it only pissed us off!
Before choosing an evening show, I read reviews and reviews about the best shows in Las Vegas for a very long time. Initially, we wanted to go to the Cirque du Soleil show “O”, which takes place at the Bellagio hotel, but before the flight we were strongly advised to pay attention to the show of professional acrobats of the Le Reve — The Dream team, who perform on the stage of the Wynn Theater of the hotel Wynn Las Vegas. We listened to the recommendation and did not regret it.
When the eyes of the pretentious hotels of the Strip are a little blurry and you want to change the picture, it's time to go to Downtown Las Vegas, aka the old city center - Fremont Street.
This day was dedicated to walking around the hotels and the Strip. Therefore, when the rest by the pool was completed, we just went for a walk, wherever our eyes looked. Each hotel has its own quirk and feature, and many host free shows.
When the free shows are over, you should head to the tallest hotel in Las Vegas - the Stratosphere Tower. On its roof there are 4 attractions that are 100% able to tickle your nerves.
When we talk about the buffet, the majority of Russians involuntarily pop up a picture in front of them Turkish hotel on the all-inclusive food system, which in its restaurant offers to taste the whole variety of meat, fish, salads, desserts and much more. The same associative series arose with me until recently. But after visiting Vegas, my performance will never be the same.
