diviolzekilaf

Hi,

I'm from Sydney, Australia and I’ve just decided that I’m going to take a holiday to the Americas in 2 months. I’m going to spend 6 weeks in South/Central/North America. I’ll start in South America and work my way north so I can spend Xmas/NYE somewhere in the US. I’ll probably leave Canada out due to time constraints, unless it’s vital that I find time for it during my 6 week holiday.

I’ll be flying out of Sydney on Saturday 22/11/14 and arriving back in Sydney on Sunday 04/01/15.

I’m a 26 year old male and will be travelling with my 22 year old brother. I don’t have a budget, but obviously I want to meet other young travelers so I’m leaning towards doing at least one organised tour such as Contiki, Trek America etc. That’s as far as I’ve thought about this so far as I’ve only just decided to do this in the past hour.

Anyone that’s traveled through the Americas or that lives there, I’d really appreciate it if you shared any advice you have for me in planning how to spend my 6 weeks.

Thanks

thursdaysd

Welcome to Fodors. Six weeks is very short, you could easily spend it in just one of the countries, never mind one of the continents. I would suggest that you pick at the very most three countries, two weeks each, and post questions on the relevant forums - i.e., if you pick two South American counries and the US, you would post on those forums. But to get useful input you need to tell us what your interests are. Do you want to trek? Are you interested in ruins? How about surfing?

Oh, and the best advice for planning this trip? Read some guidebooks. Then you may know where you want to go.

Meeting other travelers is very easy, you don't need to go on a tour, just stay in hostels or guesthouses.

diviolzekilaf

Thanks for your reply thursdaysd.

After coming down from the excitement high of contemplating a trip to America, I've thought about it a bit more and I think I'm going to spend the 6 weeks in New Zealand instead haha.

suze

Much better plan!

6 weeks is nowhere near long enough to see South, Central, AND North America! Save it for when you have more time. And/or divide it up into several different trips. You could easily spend 6 weeks in any one (instead of all 3) places.

Laurelovebooks

What places in North America do you plan on going to? West coast like California, Las Vegas, East cost like New York, Washington DC, many small islands up the coast with great beaches, there is New Orleans, or Florida alone has some great places (Orlando, Miami, Keys), many beautiful mountain areas (both west and east cost), Colorado. Public transportation is not the best in America, we do have a bus system like Greyhound, but flying is quicker (more expensive though), and still long if you plan on leaving a certain area. I would stick with either east or west coast (beaches will be cold) or mountains (great skiing). More information would be helpful. But that is a lot to see in a short time period.

janisj

Laurelovebooks: Read the rest of the thread . . . The OP has decided to go to New Zealand instead.

diviolzekilaf

Thanks for the responses guys. I don't think you've ever seen a man change his mind this much!

I decided that 6 weeks was too long in NZ so I've decided that I'm going to spend 3 weeks in the south island of NZ, 8 days in Hawaii and 11 days in Las Vegas and the surrounding area on a Trek America tour. NYE in Las Vegas of course