If not, are there any other options? Maybe a cheap hostel?
>extended stay usually has weekly rates

>your not a hooker are you?

Funny….

Those "Extended Stay" motels are priced for the business traveler and charge as much for a week as many pay for a months rent in a nice apartment.

No, I’m looking for a dirt cheap room. And when I say cheap, I mean cheap!

I believe there are two chains that are listed as the most reasonable and all I can think of right now is ‘we’ll leave the light on for you’ and Quality inns
you might google motels and see what is available in that area

There are lots of ways to answer your question. It all depends on whether or not you are trying to be very conservative (which is how I travel) or if money is not a concern for you. I assume it is a concern otherwise you wouldn’t be asking.

Before I give you the long answer, the short answer is that you need only look online to find many great city guides that will give you all the info you need. But if you like to keep the costs down, here are some thoughts for you.

Sounds like major transportation and lodging are mostly taken care of and those are the biggest expenses.

Public tranportation is pretty cheap in most places and many cities offer passes that are good all day or even for several days or a week so be sure to ask around about that. I’ve seen 3 day bus passes for anywhere from 5 to 15 dollars depending on the city. A single ride on a bus may be around $1 or $1.50.

Food can be cheap or expensive depending on how you like to eat. You could find a couple nice pieces of fruit at a produce market and have a nice lunch for a dollor or so. If you avoid corporate chain restaurants you can still find a good dinner for around 7 or 8 dollars. (For example, spaghetti or chicken.) Don’t forget to check the deli section of grocery stores. A local store here (Kroger) offers a whole baked chicken for $5.00. So with a chunk of deli bread you could probably make at least two meals out of that.) And there are lots of places where you can get a good deli sandwich for $5 or less. Lots of local bars and "diners" offer "basket" style dinners (a hamburger or chicken or fish dinner etc) which usually means it includes some kind of potatoes or french fries and salad or coleslaw. These are often 6 or 7 dollars. Are you familiar with Subway sandwich shops? They are all over the place and you can get a variety of decent 12" sandwiches for $5.00 or so and they have a lot of fresh vegetables and condiments and cheeses and several kinds of breads.

I like to make my own meals on the road sometimes and just stop at any grocery store and for just a few dollars you can throw together enough items to make a great meal.

If you like good restaurant meals, expect a lot of variation of price. Many places have great meals in the 10 to 20 dollar range. But look at the menu first because some places would like you to believe their meals are worth 30-50 dollars or more.

As for drinking…if you go to high end places you might pay 10-15 dollars for a drink but ask around and you will find many places that serve beer for maybe $2 or $2.50 and mixed drinks for maybe $3.50-5.00 depending on what you like.

Mostly, with food and drink, it will depend on your preferences. If you like nice, homey, "down to earth" places with real people (like working class) you will find lots of inexpensive places. If you want to be with the "movers and shakers" high-society, upper class, rich folks with lots of money, you will find many places that cater to that crowd too.

I can travel in almost any city, ride as much public transportation as necessary, and have enough to eat for $25 a day. I can MAKE DO with $10 or $15. But I am very frugal. $50-$60 a day and you can live very well (especially if you conserve some days and splurge on other days.)

Sorry for such a long answer but I hope it helps give you an idea.

Buon Viaggio

I’m looking to go for 2 to 3 months, with the intention of visiting as much of america as possible.

Main states being, Texas, Alabama, California, Maryland, Washington, Nevada …and as much others as possible.

Considering i will have a limited enough supply of money, i want to spend as little as possible for this 2 month trip.

Flights alone will cost near 600 (euro)

I’m looking for answers from people with experience in touring countries and who have done something similar.

There will be other people with me.

And i will want to do my own thing…possibly always moving from place to place..

I’m up for anything…eg. Camping, Hostels, Renting, Cars, Bus, etc… so go wild in your answers.

Everything helps!

Thanks

I have toured much of the US in my lifetime. Most of it was by car or RV. But that was before gas was outrageously expensive.

You can see and do a lot by bus and by train. I did a cross country train trip and it was great.

Be sure to see Yosemite, Grand Canyon, the shorelines of both Oregon and northern California, the Redwoods, Washington State, the Rocky Mountains, Crater Lake, Mount Rushmore, the Devils Tower, Smoky Mountain National Park, the Catskills, Acadia National Park, there are just so many places…..

I hiked the Grand Canyon (down, camped on bottom, then back out), and only recommend it if you’re very young and strong and are suitably equipped with water and provisions. It’s something you’ll never forget.

This didn’t cost much money… most of the time was camping or very cheap room or motel if it was cold.

Do a little research, plot your course, and have fun!! I am so glad I saw those things when I was younger. Good luck!

Can anyone recommend what region I should go to? I will be there between Dec 25 – Jan. 10.

Other Q’s
**************************
1. Are there many places to camp near the coast or hostels to stay at?

2. Is the Sydney New Years Eve Celebration awesome?

Bondi Beach in Sydney

You should go to Sydney between DEC 25-JAN 10

The NYE Celebrations in Sydney are fantastic but you should get there early to get a good spot to see the bridge it is the center of the show.

Along the coast you will find plenty of cheap backpakers and hostels any were. Have fun when you are Sydney

LA obviously has hostels too, but I’m not familiar with them. As for hotels, The Alexandria is cheap and trippy (supposedly haunted, mostly an extended stay for drifters, runaways, poor 20-somethings who can’t find a permanent place to live, junkies, etc…). The Hollywood Historic Hotel is also cheap (just under $50/night, including private bathrooms which you won’t get in a hostel), in Hollywood, and more focused on tourists.

Yelp page for SF Hostels: http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=hostel&ns=1&find_loc=san+francisco%2C+ca

Also keep in mind SF has quite a few cheap extended stay hotels, typically with a month limit, for around $700-900/month… about the same price as a month in a hostel, but with a private room. I know the issue’s been discussed in the past, so do a search.

airfare
hotel/hostel
food
weed

I plan to go for 5 days

Since the most expensive part will be your airfare, and you don’t mind staying in a hostel, I would definitely recommend staying at least a week minimum. The flight will be an overnight flight, and you will be pretty tired when you get there so part of that first day is shot anyway. Google "best travel store" and check their flights (I have often found them to be the best deal). I was there a few years ago for a week and budgeted about $2000, but I was staying in a canal house and the value of the dollar wasn’t quite as bad. And even though you are going to Amsterdam, and it’s cool to just chill and enjoy their lifestyle, also be sure to take time and do the "tourist" things too like visiting some of the best museums in the world, a canal boat tour, Keukenhof Gardens if you’re there in the spring, etc. You will be glad you did! Oh, and I would also recommend staying around the city center area. It is a fairly compact city and pretty easy to get around in so staying in the center is optimal. And I’m not sure what time of year you’re planning on going, but I have seen some really good deals going on around Thanksgiving. And if you go around spring, you could plan your visit around Queen’s Day. It is a National Holiday there that takes place the end of April. It’s like one big street party!

Heck, we have a hard enough time getting hotels for people under 21 to check in. Hotels are very picky nowadays.

Are your parents OK with this?

I’m a huge history buff, a musician, and an aspiring actor so I’m very interested in the culture and the arts of the Los Angleles area. Would there always be something to do? Or do you think after a while we would get tired of our surroundings. I’m also what I like to call a very "sketchy" traveller, a year ago we went to a place in Canada called Banff, and instead of getting a hostel, we would just set up a tent in one of the bushes we found. Pretty irresponsible I know, but in a pinch, would it work in CA? Please, whoever has done this before give me all the info you can because I need to know we’re making the right decision.

Yes, it is possible and safe to backpack California, depending on where you go.

If you want to do backcountry backpacking, California is a great destination. We have the Pacific Crest Trail, the Tahoe Rim Trail, the John Muir Trail, and more. If you are interested, there are lots of books about these trails.

For backpacking in cities, sure, you can stay at hostels. I personally can’t imagine how I would spend 2 months in LA unless I was just going to different restaurants and nightclubs every night, but I’m not really a big fan of that city. If I had 2 months to travel in California, I would try to hit up the cities (including San Diego and San Francisco), the national parks (Yosemite, Redwood, Sequoia, King’s Canyon, Lassen…) and other beautiful places like the Monterey Bay and Lake Tahoe. But that’s just me.

I don’t know about Canada, but in America people take private property pretty seriously. If you are caught camping on private land, and get caught, you could get arrested and/or chased away by a crazed rancher with a shotgun. Even on government land, you almost always need a permit for overnight stays, and could get a citation and fine if caught. Urban areas of California have large homeless populations, so if you sleep on the street or in a city park you might end up on the wrong side of a turf war.

Something else to consider is that California has pretty terrible public transportation. Amtrak and Greyhound will get you to some places, and San Francisco has a decent subway system, but in general you need a car to get around. The link in the answer below is great for finding campsites, but you will need a car to get to most of them. And you mentioned gap year, so I am assuming you are around age 18 – which means it will be near impossible to rent a car. Most car rental companies will only rent to people 25 and older. Some will rent to 18 year olds with steep fees.

I want travelling around america and missed all the best because of tour programs.
second time we went back
me my mate and his girlfriend bought a car in california for £500
we got to seattle and sold it for £600
added an an extra £50 and got a convertable we spent 1 month driving around america till we got to the east coast where we worked in bars illegally to make some cash so we could get to mexico city.
We met some strange people,wrote a book and now we are planing to drive across asia

if i was you id visit small towns, they are so innocent and dont pick any hitch hikers!!!

thanx

CALIFORNIA HAS MANY, MANY BEAUTIFUL AND FASCINATING PLACES OF INTEREST !!!

LIKE IN SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth-largest city in California and the fourteenth-largest in the United States, with a 2005 population of 739,426. It is located on the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula and has traditionally been the focal point of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco is the second most densely populated major city in the United States.

The 49-Mile Scenic Drive (also known as 49-Mile Drive) in and around San Francisco highlights many of The City’s major attractions and historic structures.

Created as a promotion for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition it featured views of the newly built Golden Gate Bridge (opened May, 1937) and the Bay Bridge (opened November, 1936). It terminated at the fairgrounds on Treasure Island.

POINTS OF INTEREST:

The Drive is marked by blue and white signs that lead you through the city. It all begins at the intersection of Hayes Street and Van Ness Avenue, near City Hall:

City Hall
Coit Tower
Palace of Fine Arts
The Conservatory of Flowers
Bay Bridge from
The Embarcadero
Ferry BuildingCivic Center
Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
Japantown
Union Square
Chinatown
Nob Hill
Cable Car Barn
Transamerica Pyramid
North Beach
Washington Square
Coit Tower
Pier 39
Fisherman’s Wharf
Alcatraz
The Cannery
Ghirardelli Square
Aquatic Park
Lombard Street
Marina Green
Crissy Field
Palace of Fine Arts – (Exploratorium)
The Presidio
Letterman Digital Arts Center
Golden Gate Bridge
Fort Point
Baker Beach
Legion of Honor
Richmond District
Lincoln Park
Sutro Baths (ruins)
Great Highway
Cliff House
Seal Rock
Ocean Beach
Great Highway
The San Francisco Zoo
Lake Merced
San Francisco State University
Golden Gate Park
Strybing Arboretum
Japanese Tea Garden
Asian Art Museum
de Young Museum
Academy of Sciences
Conservatory of Flowers
AIDS Memorial Grove
Kezar Stadium
Haight-Ashbury
Twin Peaks
Castro District
Castro Theatre
Mission Dolores
AT&T Park
Bay Bridge
The Embarcadero
Ferry Building
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Financial District
Moscone Center

YOU’LL FIND SAN FRANCISCO HAS AN ABUNDANCE OF ATRACTIONS OF INTEREST FOR SUCH A SMALL AREA