U.S trip

MrMatthieu · Jan 12, 2007

Hello,

As you guys are mostly from US, I need your advise about your country.
I 've been to USA only one time , for job only 3 weeks in Memphis, and during a quite difficult time as a french march 2003, ... I don'ty keep good memory of this stay

Anyway I want to come back , for a longer time
I plan to spend quite long time on vacation in US this year ( up to 1,5 months).

Purpose of my trip could be:

1/ Photography of big U.S cities (NY, NY, NY, ... I m so excited just thinking the day I can go there) and street photography

2/Photography of people more inside the country in farm maybe

3/ Some nice landscape, but not too much

I definetly want to stay in NY maybe 10days.

After this I don't have very clear idea.

In my concept I would like to rent a car and travel from east to west coast, passing into most interesting place but also spending some time on very local and lost area.
I have the stupid cliché in my brain of the truck driver bar lost on route 66, and I want to go to such place, maybe a kind of utopy

So my questions are:

1/ Do you think it is possible to cross US in 1 month driving car ? I don't want to be in the guiness book as the 1st man who spent 99% of its vacation driving a car, I don't want to be in hurry , and have the possibility to stop driving for few days anywhere .

2/ What is better rent a car or try to buy one on east coast and sell it on west coast?

3/ Which place you could recommend me to go? Main city I want to see, NY, Las Vegas, LA or San francisco I don't know which one...

Thanks

Mat

scrutiny1 · Jan 13, 2007

1/ It is possible to cross the US in 33 hours. You could definitely do it comfortably in a month, spending a few days in each major city.

2/ Rent a car, do not get tied up in owning one.

3/ Cities worth visiting (In my opinion) NY, Boston, Buffalo (Niagra Falls), LA, Laguna Beach- make sure you spend time in Southern California-, San Diego, Park City Utah, Miami.

As far as cities i middle America, I have no idea. There are a few places in Texas worth seeing, Dallas, Houston, South Padre.

I know I skipped around a bit, but there you have it. (=

Jeff Canes · Jan 13, 2007

I would figure $30 to $45 a day to rent a car. Any the large companies should be OK with the one-way rental. But they may want to charge an extra fee for it. As for buying a car I would only do that if you could find a dealer that specialize in selling to tourist. Don’t think that is as common in the US as in Europe. Because taking a BWM home as a souvenir bet taking a Buick home

PS Stay away from Miami, nothing to see

JIP · Jan 13, 2007

This coul be done very well in a month the ony problem would be north or south. I, as a resident of Pennsyvania wanted (and still want to)to do something similar but my plan was go from Pittsburgh north-west through Chicago and see northern parts SD, Wyoming, Glacier Park,etc. and then when I get wes go south and then come back a more southern route but to get back to you I think the most important part would be to at least start with a farily good plan you know distances time in each place and where you want to go etc. even if you stray form it good planning is important if you want to try and cram a hefty chunk of the US into a month and not end up spending endless hours just driving on freeways.

scrutiny1 · Jan 13, 2007

Miami is fun if you wanna take a day trip to a few other places. Its a good place to relax then party

TwoOlives · Jan 14, 2007

That sounds like a great trip - I'm sure that no matter which way you go, and how you pick your way across, you'll find thousands of photo opportunities.

I would advise you to not plan your trip too tightly - there are great little towns all over the country that you can only get to by small side roads. Those are the places you'll find the old-time bars and restaurants. Ask everyone you meet about where they live, and you'll find out more than you could hope for.

If you want any specific advice on southern California, hit me up. I would advise you to make a stop by Venice Beach at least.. probably one of the most unique things going on here.

LaFoto · Jan 14, 2007

Ha! I wish I could accompany you on that trip, Monsieur Matthieu!

I already envy you the chance to go to NYC.
As you may have found out by now (or not?), I was there (for the first and so far only time in my life) in April of last year and I was TOTALLY FASCINATED by it!

Other than NYC and Washington DC, I personally have only ever been to the south (Texas, from there taking a trip to New Orleans, Natchez/Mississippi, Biloxi, across Alabama (or rather doing some island hopping off the Alabama coast) into Florida, to there see Saint Augustine, Orlando (and its treats

), Cape Caneveral, Fort Lauderdale, Miami (briefly), the Keys and Key Largo (for the overnight stop) and then back.

So I can't tell you much about what to go and see when you want to do the east-west trip. (Plus that stay over was almost 12 years ago, so things might have changed, anyway).

But it sounds like you are planning to give yourself wonderful experience !

MrMatthieu · Jan 17, 2007

Thank you all for all these informations,

LaFoto: Thanks I will check your picture from US to have an idea. Coming with me???

Why not... :lol:

. Seriously, it s true that I told to friends who wnted to come with me than I just want to be alone to do this trip. Don't want to negociate with anybody because what will be interesting to me will not be for most of my friend.

Two olives: Fully agree with you , I want to have few interesting point & cities in my mind but don't want to fix the plan too tigh to have the possibility to see different things that most tourist can see.

Scutinyi: Have fun and enjoy night life is my second hobby after photography, so definitly I want to have some fun during the trip, so why not going to Miami; Thanks

JIP:thank for advise, I iwll check all thes place on the web to have idea

Jeffcanes: thanks , I keep in mind that rent should eb the best solution.

jwkwd · Jan 18, 2007

It sounds very nice indeed. Seeing a few major cities would also be very exciting, but don't forget the backbone of this country in the small towns.

fmw · Jan 18, 2007

The most spectacular scenery is in the national parks in the west. Yellowstone, Glacier, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Zion etc. Actually there are over 100 national parks and every one of them has something to recommend it. They are worth some time at any time of year.

Photographers have spent a lifetime shooting New York and haven't scratched the surface. San Francisco is also photogenic. Unlike most American cities, San Francisco has a personality of sorts. So does New Orleans. And so does Santa Fe, NM. Washington DC is very photogenic.

I live close to Chicago which is a monster city of 8 million or so and interesting in many respects. Great restaurants too. I go there at least once per year for a shoot.

morydd · Jan 18, 2007

New York is okay, and LA is like NY with plastic surgery, and a low IQ.

Now the 99% of the mainland that lies between those two is where the US actually exists. Driving through is a great way to see it. If you're really looking to spend a month and a half, my suggestion would be to go both ways. Drive from NY to California (or Washington or Oregon) and then down the coast and back to NY across the south. The interstates are great for getting from point A to point B quickly, but the smaller highways are great for seeing what's around. There's a lot of land over here, so you might benefit by picking a general route/time line and posting it here. I'm sure that there would be plenty of people here that could point out great things all along that route to help you fine tune your goals.

I, of course, recommend setting aside several days for Chicago. It's a great city, that offers the benefits of a major metropolitan area (The best museums and sports teams in the world), but at the same time is made of small neighborhoods. There may be several million people here, but most people here seem to think it's still a small-town.

Another option for picking where to go, is tell us what you like and we can direct you to where to find it. If you like the mountains, we've got the Rockies, the Ozarks (which are really old, and mostly just hills), the Adorandaks, etc. If you like wine, there's Nappa, but I've had better wine from Michigan and Missouri. You like cities? New York and LA are probably more like what you already know, but how about Cleaveland, Minneapolis, Dallas...

Now I want to make a road trip too.

ladyphotog · Jan 18, 2007

You have to come down south also, lots of interesting people and places. One thing I would avoid is the gulf coast, they are still having problems after Katrina (the hurricane) especially New Orleans. It is unfortunate because New Orleans and the whole gulf coast is beautiful and I love it there but you could be asking for trouble being a tourist and not from the US. Got to hit the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, all the great scenery out west. If you get a chance, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia have beautiful seaside cities that are really interesting. Have fun and enjoy!

mysteryscribe · Jan 18, 2007

If you can rent an rv, you can see a totally different side of America. I once swore I would never sleep on the ground again. Then a few years ago, as a last hurah, I bought a van and went camping at least once a month. Only along the east coast but I met some great people. I went into only small towns and left my camera at home.

I would recommend it to anyone.

Okay I did carry a camera, but I wasn't looking for places to make pictures. As they said in the movie, I went looking for America. Unlike Mr. Fonda, Mr Hopper, and Mr. Nickelson, I found it everywhere.

rmh159 · Jan 19, 2007

Hahaha after reading the posts it sounds like you could easily have a group following you around the states.

My advice would actually be to start in Canada, maybe Toronto or Quebec and work your way down the east coast. That would get you near Boston, NYC, Philadelphia (Lancaster PA is GREAT for farms and farmland though the local Amish are offended by being photographed) and down into Florida (and the points in between of course). You could then work your way west and hit New Orleans, Dallas, Houston, Arizona (the Grand Canyon) and to Southern California, then up the west coast.

Plus since you're driving I would think the trip would be more exciting going north and south (up and down the coasts) rather than east to west (NY to Cali) as you'll see the climates change quickly.

Also... maybe post your itinerary on the forum once you have it planned out and you might get invites to meet up and schedule shoots with some of the forum folk.

Sounds fun... I'm excited to hear your stories and a review of the US.

GilTphoto · Jan 25, 2007

Jeff Canes said:
PS Stay away from Miami, nothing to see

I beg to differ! While Florida is very flat and doesn't have much subject matter for landscape photography other than beaches and swamps (Everglades), Miami does have a great skyline for night photography.
Check my Miami skyline page:
http://GilTphoto.com

Also many spots in FL for bird photography during the winter.

The person asking, seems to like big cities. I grew up in NYC, so photography there would bore me to tears. I like nature much better and would recommend the national parks in AZ and UT, or WY and MT. Visit my website for examples from these places.

Enjoy your trip to the US. I wouldn't recommend a cross country drive as there are too many boring places to pass through and too many miles to cover.