Forum travel across America. How to travel to the USA without travel agencies, step-by-step instructions. Annual pass to US national parks - annual pass

About how to travel to the USA yourself, without intermediaries and travel agencies, how to organize independent travel in the USA, useful tips for organizing a trip to the USA. Rent a car, book a hotel in the USA, useful sites.

First, you need to understand that to travel to the USA, in addition to desire, you need two things - a US visa and money, no matter how trivial it may sound.

Maybe it's easier to buy a package tour? No, it's not easier. Firstly, it is at least twice as expensive as what you yourself will spend. Secondly, you cannot see America from the window of a bus in the company of unfamiliar people, only by yourself and only in a car. All other formats are money thrown away.

No organizational problems in traveling around the USA will not arise - the States have excellent tourism infrastructure, helpful people, including police officers, and low fuel costs. There is a good network of roadside relatively inexpensive motels and just a scattering of attractions, including beautiful cities, amusement parks, luxurious ocean beaches and national natural parks.

Get a US visa

This is the first thing you need to start preparing for your trip to the States. First we get a visa, then we book hotels, rent cars, and so on. They will always give a visa to a traveler; they will refuse to someone who pretends to be a traveler and wants to immigrate. For them I have - .

What is the best time to travel around the USA?

Weather and climate are an important point for a traveler in the USA; not only your plans, but also your expenses will depend on it. During the peak season it is always hotter and more expensive, respectively. Details about the weather and California climate you can read the article .

How to buy a cheap air ticket to the USA

There is only one rule - buy in advance, do not rush into the high season, for example May-September, without unnecessary need. Now the ticket to the USA is in New York or Los Angeles can be bought for 600-700 dollars, with good circumstances, perseverance and luck even cheaper. You can book an air flight on the airline website, but I recommend using the aviasales aggregator website and buying tickets there, for example Kyiv-Los Angeles, Moscow-Los Angeles, Kyiv-New York, Moscow-New York

How to book cheap accommodation in the USA

There can be two options. The first is to book all accommodation in advance along the route, or at least book accommodation at the main points of the route. The second is to book accommodation along the way. In the second case, it will give some feeling of freedom, but will take more time. In addition, there will not always be affordable options, especially for national parks in the high season. For example, in June-September.

For budget travel in the USA There is a well-developed network of inexpensive, up to $100, roadside motels, but you need to be prepared that some of them will not meet your ideas of comfort. It can be noisy and not always sterile.

Cheap accommodation or hotels in the USA can be found through the Hotels Combined reservation system (Room Guru), is a hotel booking service that compares prices from dozens of major reservation systems, all we have to do is choose the best offer.

There are a couple of other interesting blind hotel booking sites:

www.priceline.com– compares offers from different companies and allows you to name your own price, which is offered to airlines, hotels and car rental offices. A kind of trade, often companies agree and you get a good price. True, the name of the hotel or rental company is not known until payment is made. Only the level of the hotel and the approximate location, as well as the type of car, are known.

www.hotline.com– can be found on this website good discounts, but before you receive the money, you again only see the level of the hotel and its approximate location, as well as the type of car.

In addition to hotels, you can stay in private apartments or apartments, for this there is Airbnb service or popular in the States. An apartment is a home environment, including a kitchen, a couple of bedrooms, a veranda or terrace and other amenities of living in a house or apartment.

How to find cheap accommodation when traveling?

We book on HotelsCombined.com. Why? Because this search engine allows you to find best options and don't pay extra. The search takes place through several popular booking systems; we just have to choose the best option.

Websites for booking apartments or houses:

• www.vrbo.com
• www.flipkey.com

Hotels can also be booked directly through their own websites. It takes several times longer. You can often find on hotel websites online coupons, which are only valid when booked through their own websites. Although in my practice this is rare and we prefer to book through hotel booking sites.

How to book a car to travel around the USA

Without car in the USA nowhere and if you don’t have a license, then urgently look for a friend or girlfriend with a license and driving skills. You will get much more out of your trip than the boring train or bus rides. At the same time, the bus - vehicle which transports homeless people or package tourists.

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 also use all sorts of online coupons, which, with a certain knowledge of English, are quite easy to find on various forums.

In addition to large international companies there are many more regional offices whose prices may be more interesting.

If you, like me, have no desire to overpay, but want to get everything at once and at a good price, you should use international car rental sites. I use rentalcars.com because it has a simple and intuitive interface and a good price. Yes, there are no discounts and no trade, but I buy what I see at a fair price and don’t waste a lot of time.

America. It’s worth going here at least once for the spirit of freedom, urban atypicality and, of course, the grandeur of the unique nature!

My trip to the States lasted 6 months, I just brought my body to this continent and decided to see what would come of it. I had a great desire to visit a lot of national parks, but I didn’t have the slightest idea how to do it with my ridiculous budget. There was only a mess in my head about prohibitions, rules, other people's freedom and the far-fetched high cost of everything around.

I still come across people who carefully preserve the belief that airplanes are an extreme luxury, and a flight to the USA costs a thousand bucks. Are you guys serious?! Yes, in Russia I increasingly see train tickets that are more expensive than airplanes. The development of technology and airline competition are ready to give you tickets almost for nothing, take for example the growing number of low-cost airlines.

The cheapest flights to America from everyone’s favorite Europe. The average price is $130 (there are offers from $50), to find these tickets you need, firstly, to plan your trip in advance so that you can buy tickets in advance, and secondly, scan sites for tickets for some time until will appear interesting options(note the Vandrouki website, there are a lot of good suggestions there and check the options).

*Sometimes there are tickets from Moscow for 15,000 rubles there/back, incl. Aeroflot (added from comments). Check availability of tickets too).

Sometimes there are good prices from Moscow, but most often it’s still with a transfer in Europe, and to avoid various misunderstandings with the transit zone (and I hear similar stories more and more often), it’s better to get a Schengen visa just in case. This process is elementary.

I described how to get a visa to Europe for ordinary, mortal, non-working, auto-toppers:

• (Finnish, Schengen expenses are $65 plus from 30 rubles per day),
• and (Spanish, easy to receive, but you need a certificate from the bank about the availability of funds).

A round-trip flight to the USA from Europe costs around $400. We flew from Madrid to Las Vegas for $180 with a transfer in Oslo.

Housing. Where to sleep cheaply in the USA

It is very, very logical that there will be no prices for hotels and hostels, we exclude this. Although I will say, just in case, that we once got a room in LA for a hundred bucks and cockroaches were running all over our toast! So you will simply go broke on normal numbers.

We take a tent with us and remember about your profile on the hospitality website. While we are in the city, we find someone to stay with, and in national parks we sleep in a tent.

You can buy a fitness membership for $10 (a large network that is available in many cities) and go there for a shower, I think it’s convenient. Sometimes there is no registration (according to couchsurfing, there are no people ready to receive us, or they have sudden things to do), then we sleep in a tent in the city.

In the USA, a lot of homeless people live on the streets, and not all of them are drug addicts, alcoholics or psychos, many are quite normal and look very good, but sleep on the street in a tent. Yes, a backpack with foam and a tent is the kit of a typical American homeless person. In Las Vegas, we got a very good feel for the salt of their lives, and in Los Angeles, even social support workers for the homeless gave us cards for food and travel when they found us in a tent in the morning.

Free showers can be found at gas stations for trucks, truckers are given free shower coupons as a bonus for refueling a truck, you just need to tell them about your trip and ask.

Getting Around the States

Bicycles!

The first brilliant idea that came into our bright heads was to buy bicycles and slowly, with the breeze and the spirit of freedom, try to understand what is happening in this country.

At our service there is a Walmart store, we bought bicycles and everything necessary to repair them here. Within three months, the store is ready to return money for goods without the need to explain the reason for the return. Very convenient free rental, I recommend it.

Prices for bikes are 70-200 dollars. As soon as we stopped liking one of the bikes, we calmly gave it up and bought another, better one.

Minus this idea in the scorching desert sun. If your trip is from March to September and you plan to cross western part America, don't forget to check the weather. When I got overheated in the sun, all I could do was lie under a bush, make mooing noises and sleep, which slowed down the journey slightly.

Pros There's a lot of this idea. The main ones are, of course, mobility, independence and secrecy. It is very easy to bypass payment points at the entrances to National Parks; you can also easily spend the night anywhere, hiding behind a bush or rock, without paying for camping.

Another plus is the undeniable image of travelers, here the attitude towards you is different, many ask about the need for help, give food, water, but this is only when we travel outside the city. Within the city limits, we are no different from the homeless, at least in Las Vegas, where we were based at first, homeless tramps often look better than us, and their backpacks with bicycles are of expensive brands..

In cities, as a rule, there are special paths for cyclists; if there are none, you still feel confident, the drivers are quite adequate (the exact opposite of Vietnam, for example). Outside the city we drove on the autobahns, I don’t know if it was legal, but the police didn’t stop us.

When we were rewinding our trunks in complete darkness, in the American wilderness, people drove up to us and asked if we needed help. When our camera exploded, we always found someone who would give us his spare one, that is, they found us themselves. Once, those we met did not have a spare camera and they took us to a store in the nearest city in their pickup truck.

At night we set up a tent somewhere near the highway, or in a secluded place in the park. If you are traveling to summer season— you need to be careful for the presence of snakes, scorpions and tarantulas, go into the grass only with a stick and it’s better before dark. We personally met with a rattlesnake, which we almost stepped on, it rattled loudly, my indifference about living creatures dissipated in an instant, be careful in general. Tarantulas in natural environment We also saw the habitat more than once.

By bicycle we visited 2 national parks (Lake Mead with the Hoover Dam and Valley of Fire) and 1 state park (Red Rock), time - 30 days, distance - about 700 kilometers (for a very long time we got used to the heat, lay in the shade , we waited for the sunburn to go away, the temperature remained stable at 40 Celsius, and at night it often did not drop below 25.

Our bike trip ended as spontaneously as it began, I came across a post on the Internet about looking for people to travel together around the USA in a rented car, and I thought that this was my dream. Having counted the remaining money, I realized that it was enough for this venture, if I ate just a little bit, basically, right next to each other, but there was no stopping me. We returned the bikes to the store and took the next bus from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, where the Russian team was arriving in the near future.

Traveling with a rented car

For one month, our home was a Dodge Caravan, which we rented for $70 a day, it was unforgettable. We had one six-month-old child, various stories with the police, a lot of snow and beauty.

If you are planning a trip lasting a month, then it will be cheaper to buy a car than to rent. Especially if you are a master felt-tip pen and like to dig into these pieces of iron.

Price from 1000 bucks (60 thousand rubles), You can see the options here, for example: sfbay.craigslist.org

The ideal state for buying a car is California, where no one cares about your rights or citizenship.

It’s better to rent through different aggregators like Kayak.ru. The whole point of renting a car is in its insurance, since you are a foreigner it will cost you a fortune. Ideal option -
rent a car for a large group like us.

There is an option for another adventure: on the website autodriveaway.com - the owner of the car needs to drive the car from one city to another, sometimes across the whole country, and he is looking for a way to save on the services of drivers. This is the perfect way to see the country cheaply and in style! The number of days is, of course, limited, and you can’t deviate too much from the route, but you can always visit some interesting things along the way. You only pay for gas, but very often this is paid off with a generous tip upon arrival at your destination.

Gasoline is not very expensive, in some places it is even very cheap ($2-4 per gallon (3.78 liters), which is like 32 rubles per liter. It is better to pay for gasoline in cash; there is always a commission for the card and the price differs from that indicated on the board.

30 days were spent on the road.

Distance traveled: 7250 miles (11920 kilometers, further than from Moscow to Vladivostok). 9 northwestern states covered.

Money spent:

$983 for gas
$246 for food, that is, 100 rubles per day per person!
$150 park admission (price per pass and state park entrances)

27 nights spent in a tent, 3 nights in friends' apartments.
Of all the nights spent in the tent, four did not violate the law and rules.

We dealt with the police 4 times.

We drove into a car in a parking lot once.

Visited 9 National Parks:

Joshua Three National Park
Yosemite
Rushmore National monument
Devils Tower
Yellowstone
Mount Rainier
North Cascades
Olympic
Crater Lake

6 State Parks:

Calaveras
Custer
Palouse Falls
Cape Perpetua
Oregon Dunes
Silver Falls

4 cities:

San Francisco
Salt Lake City
Seattle
Portland

And we drove most of the east coast of America along the first route along the Pacific Ocean!

As for the police and rights, in the states there is a slightly different control system, here you will never meet anything like traffic police officers, no one will wait for you behind the bushes to check whether you have a license, whether you are drunk or on something.

If you don’t violate, they don’t stop you, and vice versa, if you violate, then the highway patrol identifies you, turns on the flashing lights and pulls up behind you; if you see bright lights chasing you, this means that you need to pull to the side of the road and wait in the car, putting hands on the steering wheel. I know several people who drive perfectly, without violating, but without a license, and for several years there have been no problems with the police.

Features of budget travel by car- these are evening adventures in finding places to stay for the night. If on a bicycle you can turn off the road anywhere and crash tent camp in nowhere, feeling calm and wonderful there, then by car you need to find a suitable parking place. Here, according to the principle “Everything that is not prohibited is permitted,” we scanned the rest area parking lots for the presence of signs prohibiting night parking. If this is not available, then we stayed, mother Lesya slept in the tent with her child, and the remaining team members left to look for places for two tents. As a rule, there are no hidden places in such parking lots, so we simply parked at the edge, and this is no longer legal, so we woke up at dawn and pretended that nothing had happened.

Also on the map of the States there are quite a lot of green areas marked “National forest”; in the territory of these forests it is legal to park a car, set up a tent camp and light fires, the main thing is to do this away from the road.

We found an official campsite in national parks, parked the car there, pitched the tent after sunset when the rangers had already left, and packed it up at dawn, thus saving a fortune.

Airplanes within the USA

They fly in all directions across America, the minimum ticket price is $50, although there are some mystical low-cost airlines, but not everywhere and not always. And why deprive yourself of the pleasure of seeing the American countryside from the window of a bus or car. Although, when we realized that we didn’t have time to hitchhike to New York, and the 6 months allotted to us on the visa would soon end, we took a plane from Chicago to New York.

Buses in the USA

Most budget option travel around the states, not counting hitchhiking, is by bus. Two major services, megabus.com and www.greyhound.com, have organized an auction of unprecedented generosity and are selling tickets from $1 if purchased in advance. The routes do not cover all of America, but you can go many places and with amenities (free Internet, sockets, toilet). So, we traveled from Las Vegas to Los Angeles and from San Francisco to Los Angeles for $5. But the most wonderful adventure was a bus from Texas to Chicago, a 22-hour ride for $15.

Americans themselves prefer to fly by plane, so on our bus from Texas there were only black kids reading rap and doing inappropriate things, but it’s fun).

We hitchhiked approximately 6,000 kilometers across six states. During these 54 days the following money was spent:

• for food $270 (143 rubles per day per person),
• $34 for public transport in cities,
• $10 for laundry
• $18 for gas cylinders,
• $47 for clothes
• $58 for permits in the parks (mostly they didn’t pay, but sometimes they had to),
• $40 for all sorts of little things.

Hitchhiking is generally legal, but some states still make it illegal, although the police themselves do not know about it. But to feel confident, you can find information about the legality and complexity of hitchhiking in a specific state here: hitchwiki.org/en/United_States_of_America

In order to stop the first car, we went to the outskirts of the city, walked to the freeway entrance and waved our hand, making it clear that we needed a ride.

They stopped more willingly than not, drove us far, fed us, worried about us, and told us about the beauty nearby.

I really like American hitchhiking for its diversity of cultures, because here everyone from Africans to Colombians consider themselves local, an amazing mix of nationalities that grew up in American culture. Trucks rarely stopped, mostly wide vehicles with huge wheels; people here really like space in everything.

Police she came to our souls only once, when we had not left before dark, and were gloomy silhouettes in the darkness of the night, and this is already suspicious. They explained to us that standing at the entrances to the highway is neither safe nor legal, even if it is best place for our business. We were sent to a deserted gas station and wished good luck.

In daylight, under the same circumstances, police cars simply drive by because they see that we seem to be adequate.

Appearance. In America it is very important to look neat, your appearance- this is 90% success. This is probably why lonely hip-looking guys with big beards don’t have much luck here. But if you put a girl next to you, there’s more trust.

Sometimes the most narrow-minded police officers can tell you that hitchhiking is impossible and illegal; in this case, I would take a bus to another exit from the city and stop the car there.

The most unfavorable places for hitchhiking - near large cities, or, even worse, in urban areas. The deserted expanses of “nowhere” are the most favorable places for hitchhiking, where you look quite clearly like people who want to go somewhere. Although once we got stuck quite badly in northern Utah, where there are not so many cars, and on our drive there was only one every fifteen minutes. We stood there for two hours - that's rare.

We hitchhiked through 6 states, winding between national parks. In those parks where it was not detected free buses, we also hitchhiked, we learned that each park has its own laws on this matter, and even if hitchhiking is legal in the state, it may be prohibited in the park. So, in the Carlsbad Caverns park, several rangers stopped us and told us that we were doing something illegal, they told us to walk and not try to stop the car anymore, but after walking 15 kilometers, we still caught the car before leaving.

Hypermarket parking lots. If you are stuck in the city, and the police are mercilessly driving you away from the entrance to the highway, or it is very far away, then the most logical thing is to find a large hypermarket, such as Walmart, and slow down the cars at the exit of the parking lot, asking them to take you to the entrance to the highway, they tried , relaxed and not difficult for them.

Refills. Regarding gas stations within the city - it seemed to me that this was not the best idea. Truckers do not understand where they are going, and when asked whether they are going north, they automatically name the opposite side of the world with fear in their eyes.

But with this type of travel, I cannot guarantee that you will have the same experience, just know that hitchhiking exists, and I personally had an incredible experience from two months of such an adventure!

Food

For food we spent no more than $5 for two per day (150 rubles each), with different types movement, this figure varied slightly. For a large group with a rented car, where you can store huge packages of rice, pasta, beans - we spent 100 rubles a day per person, although we ate our hearts out!

The secret to saving and variety is a gas cylinder, a burner and large packages. When traveling by car, there was always oatmeal with bananas for breakfast, salad and pasta for lunch, variety and sweets for dinner. Of course, we looked a little strange, spread out on the sidewalk or parking lot with all our plates. Once she saw us with all the staff in the library parking lot, the librarian called the sheriff, saying that we were cooking amphetamine here early in the morning! But in general, apart from the awareness of its absurdity, there were no problems.

Fast food. In general, America is a country of fast food; in any parking lot there is a McDonald’s, a Fatburger, and a Kingburger; there is plenty of this goodness. Yes, you can actually find burgers for a dollar and free unlimited soda (just find a glass in the area and refill ad infinitum). Be sure to install the McDonald's US app, it gave me free ice cream and food every day without having to buy anything, Americans love coupons.

Shops. It’s good to save money with stores where all goods are for the dollar “99 cents Only”, “Dollar Tree”, here they have absolutely everything we ate every day. The Walmart or SafeWay chain always has a counter with sales of sweets, and their prices are generally reasonable.

The longer you stay in America, the more budget-friendly you start to live. This country is beautiful for its price contrasts. You can buy two kilos of bananas for $1, and in the store opposite for $7, and so on everywhere. To buy groceries for your home, you need to go to at least 4 stores and then it will be as budget-friendly as possible. But this is only if you stay somewhere for a long time.

If you just need to shop and not worry, then let it be Walmart. Also here the prices are indicated without tax, that is, you will go to the checkout and see different prices from those on the price tags, this is always a surprise. Except that there is no tax on first-use products (bread, milk, eggs...), and the tax amount is different in each state.

The key to your savings is a burner and a pot, you will also “love” this romance of cooking pasta for dinner... Gas cylinders are sold in the same Walmart for $8 large, $4 small and $2 “dichlorvos”. If you have a multi-fuel system, then this is the cheapest option, but it often clogs even with high-grade gasoline.

Free food. IN big cities They often distribute food to the homeless and needy; you can ask local vagabonds where these places are. In the city of Fresno, we somehow accidentally came across a park where all the tramps had a loaf of bread and a pie. Moving towards the concentration of people, we came across a car filled with cupcakes, cheese baguettes, pies and loaves. They are not expired at all, they are simply given to anyone who wants them.

It's no secret that in modern world, where supply exceeds demand, a lot of good food is thrown into the trash every day. Well, for example, every morning in this store they bake a certain amount of baked goods, and everything that is not sold goes to the trash by nine o’clock in the evening, beautifully packaged, because there will be fresh buns in the morning. Well, you know what I mean….

Here is one of the sites dumpstermap.org

Entrance, Annual Pass. If you plan to travel to a national park, then when entering the first one, be sure to buy an Annual Pass for all parks. It costs $80, is valid for a year and pays for itself very quickly. One pass is needed per car; if you suddenly enter the park without a car, you still only need one pass. When entering you need to show your passport, they check your photo with you and signatures. If your trip ends before December, then the pass can be sold; the signatures are easily erased. You can also buy someone’s pass through the Amazon website, or from your own hands.

Overnight stays. In national parks, you are required to spend the night in specially designated paid campgrounds. This is a place with cleared ground for tents, a metal fire pit, a clean toilet and possibly a shower.

Lifehack. As a rule, a box containing envelopes is attached to the information stand. You must take one, fill out the information, put the specified amount in it and put it in another box, after tearing off the label with a number like on an envelope, by which you can be checked. We arrived around eight in the evening, when the rangers were already leaving, took this envelope, collected the specified amount in it, but never put it in another box. If the check didn’t come, and it didn’t, we took the money back and threw away the envelope at the checkout. And if she had come, we would have explained in clumsy English that we were stupid tourists.

My favorite state is Utah, it has an amazing red-yellow color, it is cut by canyons and is rich in beautiful natural arches, in this state nature moves with the wind, weathers, crumbles, transforms...

In the USA, I knew and felt all kinds of deserts, prickly, rocky, with snakes, dunes, white lizards, with and without giant cacti, and even the one where the sky merges with the horizon and everything is lost. idea of ​​reality.

In the USA, I saw how close volcanoes, craters, lakes, deserts, dense forests, ocean shores are, wildlife mountains, highly developed civilization, geysers, wild deer, different crops, snowdrifts and hot springs..

For 5 months our journey through USA by car we passed 27,000 kilometers, crossed 33 states and visited 29 In this article we will share useful information related to travel America by car.

Our route traveled by car in the USA ( GoogleMaps)

Let's start by taking a ride around USA by car- this is true great idea and if you have the opportunity - don’t even think about it - you will like it!

In America there is simply a huge number of various attractions - famous cities (New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Washington, San Francisco, Miami, Denver, Boston…) And national parks (, , Yellowstone...). And driving a car beautiful roads USA is great fun. Developed road infrastructure Country of Cars allows you to safely cover any distance.

So, you decided that you would like to travel around the USA by car. Where to start? That's right - with buying a car! (well, either rent- this is a simple matter, just browse the websites of the companies and find better conditions).

BUYING/SELLING A CAR IN THE USA

We bought Toyota Solara 2006 V Los Angeles for 3735$, and after 5 months they sold it to San Jose for 3750$ . Yes, on 15$ more expensive :)

Foreigner Maybe no problem buy a car in the USA! And buy and sell cars in major cities USA - 1st day deal. The most popular ad site for buying/selling cars in the USA is craigslist.org.

In Los Angeles we bought car with next day after arrival at the first announcement. In San Jose sold the day after the ad was posted on Craigslist.

Purchase/sale procedure used car in the USA simple to the point of disgrace - a minimum of bureaucracy and paperwork. There is a document - Title(Title) - certificate of ownership. When selling the car owner signs and gives it to you in exchange for money. It would also be nice to get paper from the owner Smog Check- something like those. inspection, aimed mainly at monitoring the level of environmental pollution. In general, in the USA no tech. inspection as such, here responsibility The condition of the car is entirely due on the owner, but the air pollution from your car worries everyone. If SmogChek failed and there is no paper, then making it is a question 10 minutes and ~ 35$ .

All, sale completed. Now all that's left to do is redo it Title(do Transfer) in your name - for this you need to come to the nearest branch DMV(traffic police), give it to them Title(Smog Check, just like tax information is entered into the database, it is not necessary to have papers) and pay tax to buy a car (the size depends on the state, in California it is 10% )

Tax amount for the purchase of a car is calculated from cost, which you specify in Title. Filling in this figure is entirely at your own discretion, no one DMV won't check how much you actually paid. Well, maybe if you write it down completely unrealistic small price. We indicated 1000$ and saved money without any questions asked 270$ on taxes.

At Title transfer you must indicate US address according to which they will send you a new paper in your name. Make sure you have such an address in advance, find a person who will not mind if your Title comes to him. We met a guy in Los Angeles on AirBnB and used his address. Re-registration takes up to 2 weeks.

That's it, the main part of buying a car. completed. Now all you have to do is make sure that your sticker paying tax(colored sticker on the car number with the month and year of expiration). You can pay your tax online and a new sticker will be sent to the address you provided to the DMV. It was worth it for our car~ 100$ .

And the last thing to do is take out insurance. The procedure is not complicated and can be done online or by visiting the nearest insurance office. Our insurance type OSAGO cost ~80$ per month.

As you can see, often buy a car more profitable, rather than rent his. It would be wise to think about purchase if you are planning a trip over a period of time more than 1 month.

That's it, you can go! Well, maybe a little more information about driver's license.

WHAT DRIVING LICENSE IS NEEDED TO DRIVE A CAR IN THE USA

If upon purchase car no one your rights doesn't ask, then such cases may arise when driving (we have never had one - we have never been stopped). They also ask for your license when renting a car. So, what rights are needed and will they apply? Russian rights new model in the USA?

Officially, according to Geneva convention (the US did not sign the Vienna Convention), the driver must have national driver's license plus international little book. Most likely, no one will ever stop you, and if they do, then the new Russian driving license will be enough. But here, decide for yourself.

IN rental offices ordinary Russian rights are quite enough, little book no one asks.

TRAVEL BY CAR AROUND THE USA

So that's it bureaucratic procedures have been completed, and you can move directly to the most enjoyable part - let's start traveling across America by car! Let's go through the main aspects of such a trip, starting with gasoline and everything connected with it.

GASOLINE IN USA

Average price gasoline V USA is the same, as in Russia, on February 2019 years - 39 rubles per liter($2.62 per gallon) . Price gasoline V America depends on state fuel taxes. Most cheap Gasoline in Texas - 34 rubles per liter, most Expensive- V California- up to 49 rubles. Gasoline in the USA better quality than in Russia. Also, in States due to a slightly different method for calculating the octane number by an analogue of the Russian one AI-92 will 87th. Don't be surprised or afraid of this.

Our Toyota achieved an average consumption of - 7 liters per 100 km, or 35 miles per gallon (MPG). Total we spent on gasoline for the entire trip 1180$

There is no shortage of gas stations; the maximum distance that can be found without gas stations is 200km.

If you are planning quite long journey in the USA - start loyalty cards gas stations Discounts with such cards they can reach 10% . Or just download the mobile application and register using your mobile number

TRAFFIC RULES IN THE USA

Although US traffic rules have no fundamental differences with Russian ones, there are still some differences. Among the features of American traffic rules, the following can be distinguished:

• On regulated at intersections (with traffic lights) turning is allowed right at a red light from the far right lane. Before doing this, you must stop completely and give way to other vehicles. The rule applies throughout the United States, except the city New York and islands Montreal. Given the rule is canceled signs ban turn right on red.

• Sign STOP— prescribes precisely stay before the intersection, and not slow down (even if you see no approaching vehicles). This is a serious requirement and is often punished. Passage of such intersections occurs in the order of priority (such as cars approaching the intersection).
• Speed ​​limit signs in school zone— the rule is strictly controlled, the punishment is severe.
• Sign CarPool (HOV 2+)— lanes for vehicles with two or more passengers. Something like dedicated lanes for public transport. Many states make an exception for hybrids and electric vehicles and they are allowed to use the carpool.
• Parking signs- there may be several of them - in this case, the parking rules are different. Also, you can't park near red curb.
• Marking lines separating oncoming traffic Always yellow colors. The edge of the roadway is also marked with the same color.
• In many states, drivers are required to move at least one lane to the left when driving in the far right lane of a highway. if there is a vehicle on the side of the road.
• Two double solid equivalent to a reinforced concrete bumper
• For non-disabled parking in spaces for disabled people - fine from $250.
• It is necessary to stop in front of the school bus with special signal on. All vehicles are required to stop, including those moving in the opposite direction, if the road is one-lane.

Great for navigating around the USA google maps . Also popular are services such as Waze(maps in which users add all the information about traffic, roadblocks, cops and other events).

WHERE TO STAY WHEN TRIPING AROUND THE USA BY CAR?

Do you want save money on overnight stays? We'll tell you where you can budget(or for free) and safely spend the night in your car in USA.

REST AREA

A wonderful thing about the US is that there are more 2000 (two thousand) recreation areas along all the country's highways.

Rest area- This is a highway exit with equipped car parking (from 30 to 200 spaces), with free toilets, drinking water and various vending machines.

On RestEriakh you can sleep in the car. However, some states set a maximum time spent in a parking lot (4 or 6 hours). But this never stopped us from spending the whole night in recreation areas, and we did it for about 40 times. Plus we spent about the same number of nights in the parking lots of the chain stores Walmart.

WALMART PARKING

Net Walmart is very popular among travelers due to its loyal policy towards car camping in the parking lots of its stores. Roughly speaking, you can drive into the parking lot of any Walmart Supercenter store (there are also small Walmart supermarkets, here we are talking about the hypermarkets of the chain - Supercenter), choose a cozy place and spend the whole night in your car in a guarded parking lot. And if the store turns out to be 24-hour, then you will have the bonus of access to water and toilets all night.

The only thing is sometimes local city legislation prohibits Overnight Camping in store parking lots. Here Walmarts are already powerless and have to obey them. In such cases, you will see appropriate prohibitory signs in the parking lot. By the way, there is a mobile application Walmart Locator, where all the stores of the chain are displayed with ratings and attitudes towards night parking on their territory.

We also spent the night in Walmart parking lots. 30 times.

CAMPINGS, PUBLIC LANDS

In the USA there are thousands of campsites- paid and free. Most of the equipped ones, of course, are paid. But there are also pleasant exceptions.

In almost all campsites you can make fires and cook food. Also, as a rule, there is toilets, drinking water, point of sale firewood, tables for a picnic. Sometimes there is a shower, laundry (landry), shops.

We can recommend useful site For search campsites in the USA - campendium.com. There you can set a filter by price (including choosing free ones) and amenities. You can also view all available campsites on the map. We used it to find almost all of our overnight stays. The site database contains both official campsites and simply places where you can safely stop and spend the night, for example, parking lots Walmart, quiet streets, zones rest, Public Lands and other places suitable for car camping

One more free An alternative to camping is the so-called. Public Lands- public areas in the United States that can officially be used for camping. Some examples of such places:

• National Forest- territory national forests. Here allowed camping in 100 meters from the nearest road. Not to be confused with national parks where is the campsite available? prohibited.

• BLM(Bureau of Land Management) - essentially the same as forests, only, as a rule, BLM is quite desert territories.

AIRBNB, COUCHSURFING

In addition to such overnight places as recreation areas, parking lots, campsites and hotels, there is such a wonderful phenomenon as Couchsurfing(couchsurfing) - global platform hospitality, which works particularly well in the US. The essence is extremely simple - Host(host, host) posts an announcement on the couchsurfing website that he is ready receive guests at home, you, in turn, submit an application to him and if the owner approves of it, then you are welcome to visit him.

We actively used couchsurfing during our trip to the USA and spent a total of about 40 nights according to this system. This is extremely interesting.

If you want more comfort and independence, but the desire to save money is still present, then perhaps the option with AirBnB — couchsurfing for money. The essence is the same as with couchsurfing, only you will feel more freely. By AirBnB people rent out their homes or part of them. For example you can find room, sofa, place under a tent in the backyard, etc.

HOTELS IN USA

Well, the last thing that can be mentioned is hotels. Everything is extremely simple here - you pay money and get housing. Most cheap room in a US hotel will cost you 60$ . To find a hotel in America, it is most convenient to use aggregators like agoda, Expedia, Booking, which will show you all the hotels nearby, and also allow you to find a room by minimum price.

FOOD IN THE USA

Let's talk a little about budget food V USA. There are several methods known to us save on food in America:

• Promotions in mobile applications such as McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks. Sometimes it turns out absolutely for free get food or drink. For example, we visited almost every day Starbucks and received 2 drinks for free just by registering new accounts in their application. This way we saved about $600.
• Sale prepared food in supermarkets. In hypermarkets like Walmart, Target etc., most often, in the morning, They are starting to offer discounts on food that is approaching its expiration date. Discounts reach 80% , you can buy chicken, salads, sandwiches.
• Stores- discounters. The availability of such stores depends on the state, the most common chains are: Aldi, WinCo, Sprouts, Grocery Outlet.
• Wine in stores Grocery Outlet — 3-4$ for a bottle of excellent wine
• Start gas burner if you are planning to visit campsites. You can cook noodles, soups and much more on a fairly budget.

WHERE TO TAKE A SHOWER IN THE USA?

We sorted out housing, and everything seems to be clear with food. For a comfortable existence, all that remains is to find places where you can periodically take a shower. There are such places and there are quite a lot of them, like paid, so free. Here are the main places where you can take a shower in America:

• Track Feet(Truck Stop) - places for rest/overnight trucks. Most truck stops have souls, more often, paid (5-10$ per person). We can agree to go together in 1 shower. Also, there are often gas stations at truck stops and there is a rule - if refuel They have a free shower. Most often the number of gallons required is indicated (huge for trucks), but sometimes it is enough to simply show a receipt with any amount.

You can simply say that you are not a truck driver, but simply traveling, perhaps they will go to a meeting and give you the key to the shower for free.

There is a great mobile app Trucker, in which all the truck stops in the country are noted, indicating the presence of a shower on site, comments and ratings of stops.

• Campgrounds/RV Parks. In some campsites, most often in paid There is souls. You can just stop by for half an hour to such a campsite and take for free shower. No one is watching this because Americans, for the most part, don’t do this. In general, in the USA there is a minimum of control over such things and everything is calculated on the conscience of the people.

There are many campsites with shower for coins(coin shower), where you need to throw several quarters, after which the water is turned on. Typically it's something like 2$ for 8 minutes hot water.

• Fitness Clubs. In the USA, networks of various fitness clubs are widely developed. Almost all of them, as you may have guessed, have souls. Prices start from 1$ per day. It is also possible to ask for free trial period. We went to Anytime Fitness in San Jose, California 12$ per person. We found this price on Groupon.

Search best price on coupon sites- this is a great way save money on various goods and services. We have used coupons many times for things like a car wash, oil change, fitness club, cafes. Most Popular coupon sites USA - Groupon And RetailMeNot. Download them mobile applications and save!

ANNUAL PASS TO US NATIONAL PARKS

If you plan to visit in a year more than one America, then it would be wise to purchase annual subscription for a visit everyone national parks (and not only) of the country - Annual Pass, worth $80 (for 2019). The subscription is valid for 1 car

For 5 months on our trip we visited 29 parks and thanks to this subscription we saved about 800$ .

SIM CARD WITH INTERNET IN THE USA

Very important when traveling across the USA by car always be in touch and have access to the Internet, so consider purchasing SIM cards in the USA. We studied the tariffs of various mobile operators and chose the company's SIM card H2O Wireless.

For 30$ you get completely unlimited Internet throughout the territory USA — 4GB traffic without speed limit and Internet on 2G speed after. Also, as a bonus unlimited call/SMS within the country and 10$ for international calls - this is an hour and a half calls to Russia.

BUDGET FOR TRAVELING AROUND THE USA BY CAR

All that remains is to mention as many as possible cost such a pleasure as traveling around the States by car. For almost 5 months(from May 23 to October 16, 2019) of our journey around USA we spent $ 5900. Here's a breakdown of the main expense items:

• $1187 — petrol(see graphic below)
• $1040 — air tickets for two(Moscow - Los Angeles, San Francisco - Phuket)
• $1320 — food(~$9 per day)
• $416 — housing(see graphic below)
• $390 — car insurance (~$80 per month)
• $368 — alcohol 🤗
• $305 — a bunch of clothes from discounters like TJMaxx
• $222 — car rental(in LA and SF)
• $160 —parking fines
• $100 —car purchase tax
• $98 — car registration for a year (since it has expired)
• rest- all sorts of little things

Well, a little infographics on housing and gasoline😋

Have a great trip to America!

And here’s a video from our trip around the USA by car:

I didn’t intend to go to America at all, but somehow an acquaintance who had never been abroad more than once told me that you wouldn’t go to the USA, I thought about it and decided - yes! A true 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 go on a budget. My plan was this - New York - Las Vegas - Los Angeles- Washington and New York. But all independent travelers who know will understand me, my plan to explore America began to increase - and I added Hawaii and Miami, although I 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 set to see and at least slightly understand this world. But the United States was not surprised by anything; not only ours, but also Europeans write about this. Conclusions 1) I didn’t feel that this is the richest country, our Moscow is undoubtedly superior to New York 2) sights of world significance are almost zero, it should be said that without having imperial palaces, they make rooms in museums! Ha ha!

And now what we liked about the USA.

1) AVAILABILITY OF TOILETS - those who have traveled around Russia will understand me. As one German said, I have seen a lot of beauties of Russia, but I will never forget a wooden winter toilet with bags! So the Americans are great (otherwise they will consider me a hater of America). even on a beach where there are only three or four people there will be a changing room and a toilet, and not just a simple one, but for wheelchair users

2) Americans - they know how to promote their country - I was always surprised how they show our cities in Hollywood - such crap - but theirs are just lovely. But in fact, it’s the other way around. In Europe, in the same ordinary Prague, you go and photograph everything - such a photographable city, but in Los Angeles there are no normal photos! Except for the beaches.

3) The presence of free museums - and really chic ones - like the Metropolitan in New York and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

But still, you need to visit America and compare!

I flew to America from Moscow on the Delta for 26 thousand rubles, bought tickets in February after I received a visa to the USA in Yekaterinburg (that’s also surprising, is it really impossible to get fingerprints at the entrance like in Cambodia, for example -) and booked hotels for 10 months

Everything I planned came true - my advice - definitely Hawaii and Miami, without them my tour would have been a complete disappointment and book 11 months in advance, if they don’t give you a visa - cancel your hotel reservation without additional costs - the cheapest were in Las Vegas, and the most expensive are New York, Washington and Honolulu.

There are a ton of trails in the US that are worth exploring, but there are some that you simply can't miss.

A selection of these was collected by Buzzfeed.

1. A musical journey from rocking Cleveland to blues Memphis

Approximate distance: 735 miles (1,183 km).

What to see: Start your trip with a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, take in the countryside and Nashville at the Grand Ole Opry, and top it off with a little blues at Graceland in Memphis.

2. Drive through the desert from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon. Photo: Depositphotos

Approximate distance: 230 miles (370 km).

What to see: Architecture lovers must visit Taliesen West in Scottsdale. In addition, it is worth visiting the eco-town of Arcosanti, hiking on the red slopes of Sedona and completing a trip through the Grand Canyon.

3. Tour through Kentucky: from Lexington to Louisville and back

Approximate distance: 200 miles (322 km).

What to see: Stop at distilleries in Lexington, Lawrenceburg, Loretto and Clermont for tastings (make sure you have a driver to take your place). And enjoy the sight of plants and white fences as you go.

4. Scenic trip along the California coast: from San Francisco to San Diego

San Francisco. Photo: Depositphotos

Approximate distance: 500 miles (805 km).

What to see: Head south from San Francisco along the coast through quaint Half Moon Bay and you'll see some of the most beautiful coastal sights in the United States. Stop to soak up the beaches of Malibu and end your trip with a stroll to San Diego's Gaslamp District.

5. Road trip through the Midwest from Chicago, Illinois to Door County, Wisconsin

Approximate distance: 280 miles (451 km).

What to see: Stop at the Milwaukee Art Museum on the western shore of Lake Michigan, then take a sports-oriented visit to Lambeau Field and end your trip in Door County's fun activities walking, boating or tasting old-fashioned fish soup.

6. Explore the oldest cities in America along Atlantic Ocean, starting from Boston, Massachusetts and ending in Key West, Florida

What to see: Inspect the hot spot Civil War— Boston. Next, visit the Silesian Witches' House in Salem, Massachusetts, then head south to the most old town in America - St. Augustine, Florida, ending the trip in tropical Key West.

7. Heart of Texas Tour: Dallas to Corpus Christi

Approximate distance: 420 miles (676 km).

What to see: Explore microbreweries in Dallas, then check out the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco, followed by more live music on stage in Austin. Also visit the Alamo in San Antonio and end your trip at Gulf of Mexico in Corpus Christi.

8. Travel through natural wonders from the Dakotas to the Badlands to Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park. Photo: Depositphotos

Approximate distance: 1,300 miles (2,092 km).

What to see: Along the way, you'll have the opportunity to see fantastic cliffs and mountain peaks, stop at Mount Rushmore, visit Devils Tower, and end the trip in good old Yellowstone.

9. A nostalgic trip through cities in American style: from Chicago to Los Angeles

Los Angeles. Photo: Depositphotos

Approximate distance: 2,400 miles (3,862 km).

What to see: Windy City's skyline will blow your mind, and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis is also worth a look. Then you can visit the Colman Theater in Oklahoma, as well as the Seligman Historic District in Arizona. And finally, explore the Arizona Crater in Arizona on your way to sunny Los Angeles.

10. Drive from Provincetown, Massachusetts to the Oregon Coast

Approximate distance: 3,300 miles (5,311 km).

What to see: Experience what the first settlers in the United States experienced as they roamed from coast to coast. Stop along the way to enjoy panoramic views of the Finger Lakes, views of Chicago, and end your trip with the pristine beauty of the Oregon Coast.

11. Fun trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas

Las Vegas. Photo: Depositphotos

Approximate distance: 320 miles (515 km).

What to see: Start with the ocean views from the Santa Monica Pier, then head east from Los Angeles to Elmer's Bottle Tree Ranch and Calico Ghost Town. If you get hungry on your way to Nevada, don't miss the 50's-style diner called Peggy Sue's Diner at the entrance to Sin City.