annabelashley6

Hey,
I have recently turned 18 and have just completed a 3 week trip around Europe with a friend, however I already wish to go travelling again next year and after speaking with friends I made whilst abroad I've been convinced to start saving up for a solo trip to the US!

The trip would entail me staying with my friend in Houston, TX for a week in his house (this will be the cheapest part of the trip I presume as ((hopefully haha)) the accommodation will be free. However after a week him and I will drive to Austin in his car where we'll explore that region for another week or so - how expensive is Austin generally in terms of room prices, food, activities etc?

After spending two weeks in Texas I would like to fly to a different region of Texas, away from the south - perhaps a city like LA or Boston? Although I would love to visit NY it'd just be too expensive. However, because I have a love for nature I was wondering if someone could advise me on the logistics of visiting somewhere like Yellowstone National Park - e.g are there any additional costs involved, is there any affordable accommodation nearby? If someone could advice me on the practicality and cost of these two ideas I would be grateful.

Bearing in mind that I'll be starting university in September and plan to save up for this trip through a part-time job I need to live quite cheap, which I just about got away with in Europe but I have no idea of costs in the USA and how they differ in each region. I reckon the most I'll be able to save up is £2000 and perhaps cop a few extra-hundred pounds through saving birthday and Christmas money.

Thanks to anyone who can help me

nytraveler

You have a couple of issues. Traveling through the western part of the US without a car - esp to the national parks - is very difficult without a car. And I don;t know any company that will rent to someone under 21 and there are surcharges for anyone under 25.

You could look at some sort of a bus tour but fear it would be mostly older people.

Suggest you have a look at student guides - the Let's Go wherever book and the Thorn Tree section of the Lonely Planet web site. This will give you a much better idea of the costs/methods of travel for someone in your age group and budget.

annabelashley6

Haha I forget that Americans still consider me a baby, and that public transport isn't the straight-forward, fast option as it is in Europe!

Thank you though, I'll look into all you've suggested to me

SambaChula

Boston can be quite expensive. Hotel/hostel/B&B prices vary a lot with season (leaf-peeping in fall, for example) and events (conventions, Head of the Charles Regatta, etc). Hotel rooms under U$200 are rare. At certain times even a hostel bunk bed in a multi-person dorm can be U$60. You might want to look into Couchsurfing or similar, or renting a room or apartment through AirBnB. Staying further outside the city is not usually a good strategy, since daily transportation costs may eat up any savings.
Boston is quite a walkable city though, and public transportation within the city is good. Suburbs can be a bit trickier though, getting in and out; hence the caveat about staying at a further distance.

jayne1973

In your situation, a destination with good public transportation seems like the best bet. What about Portland, Oregon or San Francisco, California? There might be some decent hostels in both cities, but I have no knowledge on that topic.

SambaChula

You might want to look into this organization for seeing some of the national parks and/or the rest of the country. They are quite well known and respected for their trips for (usually) younger people.
http://www.greentortoise.com/adventu...s-country.html

serendipity_usa

Hi Anna,

Congratulations on being able to spend so much time traveling at your age! I say do as much as you can before you get too busy with life commitments

To help sort out your options, I am offering the following thoughts:

1. Boston is just as expensive as NYC, if you're staying downtown. However, both offer easy commutes in via train/subway from the outer communities. So staying cheaply outside of downtown with a 20 minute commute is completely doable.

2. Transportation across the USA is not in any way organized by train (sadly) but we do have a cheap alternative; busing. You can ride the bus lines fairly cheaply but just be aware that a bus from Austin to nearly anywhere is going to take days of traveling.

3. Austin is a very large city so will be also pricey if staying downtown, but plenty of cheaper options on the outskirts. Look for hostel options here: http://www.hostels.com/austin/usa.

4. A roundtrip flight to Boston from Austin (Jetblue or Southwest) will run you about $300, depending upon the time of year and I think is your best bet to see the "north" while also getting access to nature. There are tons of bus and train options out of Boston to outlying areas, and even a $15 bus to NYC http://www.gotobus.com/boston-to-new-york-bus/ if you'd care to visit for a day.

Good luck and happy visiting!

november_moon

If you come to SF, you can visit some other areas in CA pretty easily without a car. You can take Amtrak to Yosemite and then take shuttles, walk, and bike in the park. From SF, you can also go to Santa Cruz and Monterey by public transit, and both areas are reasonably compact and have decent bus systems. In SC, you can take a bus up into to SC mountains to visit a couple state parks. And in the Monterey area, you can visit the northern part of Big Sur by bus.

jamie99

Your budget works out to $185 per night or $123 per night depending on if you pay token rent to your friend (I hope you would at least buy him dinner or pay for some groceries).
That is pretty low for big cities, in LA expect to pay $150 plus tax for a 2 star motel, $200 or more is more likely. Don't forget there is a 15% room tax (in LA) on top of listed rates.
LA is a bad place without a car, San Francisco is a much better idea. Some Enterprise locations will rent to under 21, not all.
The main issue I see is some hotels will not allow anyone under 21 to check in. Consider waiting until you are 21, have more money, can drink legally and don't have the problems with car rental and finding a decent place to stay.

rjw_lgb_ca

I'll just comment on visiting California....

San Francisco is a great city-- and there are three HI hostels in the City. The one by Fort Mason (AKA the Fisherman's Wharf Hostel) is pretty well-regarded, and the Muni bus and streetcar lines will get you just about anywhere. Most night life is geared to the 21 and older crowd, but I'm sure you can find 18+ venues. SF is truly gorgeous and fun, so do try to get there. I love it and go there as often as I can afford.

There is an HI hostel in Santa Monica, if you decide to take a stab at southern California. Now that the MTA's Expo Line comes all the way to downtown SM (a couple of blocks from the hostel), you have somewhat better mass transit options. And if you want to do all the touristy things, there are multiple vendors servicing the hotels in this city (I work in SM 2 blocks from the hostel), including van service to the area theme parks (i.e., Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood, among many others), movie studios (i.e., Warner Brothers) etc. Same picture vis-à-vis nightlife. Having said that, the greater LA area has legendary outdoor performing arts venues (Hollywood Bowl, Greek Amphitheater, etc.) that get awesome acts in the summer, so it might be worth it to try to swing some time down here.

cw

Two hostels to look at in Boston are the HI on Stuart St. and the Fenway Inn on Hemenway St.

For the East Coast, Bolt bus and Megabus offer cheaper fares.