What's the cost of living in America for 3 weeks?

[rushing dude 123]

Hi,

I was just wondering if I could get some info on the living costs of America seeing I am working there for 2+half months with CCUSA and then after I am going to travel for 3 weeks. The 2 and half months is fine, because flight, food, accomadation are payed for, but after I am going have to survive for 3 weeks. I am going to initially be in Minnosota for a week, then I am going to travel to Cali and Texas for 2 weeks before coming back to New york to return to England.

So I was just wondering if you guys could tell me if I would be able to do this with $2000-2500? I don't drink alcohol or party that much, but was wondering if I could get by with that in some motels and cheap flights. My friend said Motels usually cost $30 a night in cali I was just wondering if that was true or not.

Also if you guys could reccommend any good places to go I would be grateful. I was also wondering if there is any good phone companies that are good for maybe 300 minutes a month internationaly down there.

Thanks

RD

 

[penkitten]

depends on your travel plans really.
where are you planning to be and what do you want to do?

 

[rushing dude 123]

Hey Pen kitten

Ok the plan is.
Minnosota (My starting point, so I don't have to pay for flight)- 1 week
Texas+Cali- 12 days
New york- 2 days

I am planning on just getting a motel round the area and just enjoying myself in terms of stuff like beach, sightseeing and just meeting new people around the area as well as meeting up with a few old friends.

I am not planning on doing any expeditions or wasting my money getting myself drunk till I can't see straight, so no major expenditure.

All i really need is the money for is paying my flights (to texas, cali and new york), My Motel/Hotels and just having a bit of extra money for food/swimming/cinema.etc.... I just wanted to know if I can do that all with $2000-$2500. Basically not living the high life, but not living tight either. If it is too much I will cut texas or cali out and just make it 14 days.

This is also a back up plan, One of the people I may work with may let me stay with them according to my boss seeing they all look out for eachother, but I do not like to rely on someone giving me a helping hand, so I need to be prepared and if someone wants to help me out that's kool too.

 

[penkitten]

i can help you find stuff online but i have to know the cities. new york california and texas are all big states

 

[rushing dude 123]

Thanks I would appreciate that.

The thing is I am not too sure what places are good in those states. A friend recommended texas to me seeing it has really good food and it's really big and as for california, I was torn between it and Miami because I know a lot of people who went there and had a good time. This is unfortunately the depth of my knowledge of america, seeing I don't have anything more specific than that.

So I don't really know what are the good cities in these states maybe Austin or San Franciso, but I am not really sure. If you recommended some though I wouldn't mind giving them a shot.

I am not really too worried about NY and MN, because I have enough time to figure my way round in MN and I will only be in NY for 2 days for my flight home.

 

[penkitten]

new york trip advisor
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g60763-New_York_City_New_York-Vacations.html

texas
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Packages-g28964-Vacation-Package-Discount-Texas.html

california
http://www.tripadvisor.com/california-vacation-rentals.html

florida
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g28930-Florida-Vacations.html

browse other people's reviews before you book anything
you can get cheaper prices off sites like this or orbitz

 

[rushing dude 123]

Thanks,
I found some rooms on there that were quite decently priced, but I think they have been booked out. So I will just look around whilst I am in America and plan my journey from there booking my rooms and flights once I know where I am going and who with.

I will also call a friend to see the place in texas she went, considering I still don't know which are the best cities to visit in those states.

 

[Solomon]

what up rush

well knowing you gonna be in my town, and that city you should be able to get a hotel for $50 or so a night

so 7X50=$350
If you go to a grocery store and keep the food to a minimum and go out lets say maybe two or three times you could get away with $100 of food or less.

I do hope you make it down to the city it be awesome to meet you

 

[penkitten]

my cousin lives in san diego california and loves it... but it's expensive to live there. i would love to visit but haven't been able to. i would also like to go to san francisco.

my best friend lived in austin texas for years and they had a good time while they were there. texas is hot... keep that in mind.

if i were planning a trip for new york - i would want to go check out times square in ny city but i would also want to go to nigara falls.

in minnesota they have the mall of america- which i got this link for you
http://www.mallofamerica.com/shopping/directions

 

[penkitten]

my cousin lives in san diego california and loves it... but it's expensive to live there. i would love to visit but haven't been able to. i would also like to go to san francisco.

my best friend lived in austin texas for years and they had a good time while they were there. texas is hot... keep that in mind.

if i were planning a trip for new york - i would want to go check out times square in ny city but i would also want to go to nigara falls.

in minnesota they have the mall of america- which i got this link for you
http://www.mallofamerica.com/shopping/directions

 

[ArcBound]

my cousin lives in san diego california and loves it... but it's expensive to live there. i would love to visit but haven't been able to. i would also like to go to san francisco.

my best friend lived in austin texas for years and they had a good time while they were there. texas is hot... keep that in mind.

if i were planning a trip for new york - i would want to go check out times square in ny city but i would also want to go to nigara falls.

in minnesota they have the mall of america- which i got this link for you
http://www.mallofamerica.com/shopping/directions

To be honest as a person from NYC, Timesquare is just an overhyped advertising area and money sinkhole. The only special thing about it is that it has really big advertisements plastered everywhere, and a lot of shops and restaurants nearby for you to blow your money on. And all of these shops and restaurant you can really find somewhere else, it is nothing special to Timesquare. You can bring people there but after 15 minutes Timesquare just gets boring, imo if you are coming to new york there are much better places.

 

[penkitten]

To be honest as a person from NYC, Timesquare is just an overhyped advertising area and money sinkhole. The only special thing about it is that it has really big advertisements plastered everywhere, and a lot of shops and restaurants nearby for you to blow your money on. And all of these shops and restaurant you can really find somewhere else, it is nothing special to Timesquare. You can bring people there but after 15 minutes Timesquare just gets boring, imo if you are coming to new york there are much better places.

he's coming from england and isnt sure where he should go. maybe you could make a list of ny must sees for him instead of tourist traps since you know the area. i think that is what he is after anyways.
all i can do is try to name places since i havent been to these states.

 

[squirrels]

Your soul.

 

[rushing dude 123]

what up rush

well knowing you gonna be in my town, and that city you should be able to get a hotel for $50 or so a night

so 7X50=$350
If you go to a grocery store and keep the food to a minimum and go out lets say maybe two or three times you could get away with $100 of food or less.

I do hope you make it down to the city it be awesome to meet you

Hey man, Thanks for the information, that is a reasonable price for a week, but i'll see if I can maybe get a deal for $40 a night some place hopefully. I will probs keep food to the minimum as well lol. But yeah I'll let you know when I am free down there and we can do something.

Btw Penkitten I was thinking of leaving cali, but i think your kinda convincing me to give it a go, depends how much money I got though and the cost of the flight there. Thanks for trying to give me some advice and whats best in these states although you havn't been there.

Arcbound seeing you're from the area is there anything good to do in the 2 days that I am going to be there?

 

[PDubb75]

OP, out of curiosity, why are you going to the specific places you mentioned? You mentioned you are starting off in Minnesota, and leaving from New York, but I'm just curious why you picked California and Texas. And I'm not asking because I think there is something wrong with the choices. In fact, I think they are both good choices.

Part of my reason for asking why you decided on those two states is that I don't know what you are really looking to see/do while you are here.

 

[rushing dude 123]

OP, out of curiosity, why are you going to the specific places you mentioned? You mentioned you are starting off in Minnesota, and leaving from New York, but I'm just curious why you picked California and Texas. And I'm not asking because I think there is something wrong with the choices. In fact, I think they are both good choices.

Part of my reason for asking why you decided on those two states is that I don't know what you are really looking to see/do while you are here.

Well I am quite simple, I am not much of a drinker or tourist kind of guy. In my holiday my main idea is too have a nice scenery lots of sandy beaches and kool towns, I will also like to do activities such as maybe surfing or something like that, which is why I picked Cali and Miami as choices. Why I chose texas is because a friend of mine said they really do good massive food there. So my ideal holiday is basically Scenery, activities, food and friendly people.

Nothing is wrote in stone at the moment and I am just choosing the states that I know of, but seeing I am quite limited in knowledge. If you have any recommendations for citys/states that have those qualities, i'll be up to giving it a go and having a look at it.

Thanks

 

[PDubb75]

Well I am quite simple, I am not much of a drinker or tourist kind of guy. In my holiday my main idea is too have a nice scenery lots of sandy beaches and kool towns, I will also like to do activities such as maybe surfing or something like that, which is why I picked Cali and Miami as choices. Why I chose texas is because a friend of mine said they really do good massive food there. So my ideal holiday is basically Scenery, activities, food and friendly people.

Nothing is wrote in stone at the moment and I am just choosing the states that I know of, but seeing I am quite limited in knowledge. If you have any recommendations for citys/states that have those qualities, i'll be up to giving it a go and having a look at it.

Thanks

Can't get much better than Cali for surfing.

I will always recommend Chicago to anyone looking to travel. I absolutely love this city in the summer. It is one of the largest cities in the country, and easily the cleanest of the big cities. We have beaches on the lake, but I'm not gonna claim they are anything special compared to some you can find in California, Florida, or other states on the coast. As far as things to do, it is nearly unlimited in this city. Plus it's cheaper here than New York City, generally. One thing that's nice about Chicago (and some other big cities), you can get any kind of food just by going to different neighborhoods within the city. Chinatown, Greektown, Little Italy, etc where you can find dozens of restaurants of that particular food. Of course, the "signature" Chicago foods are deep dish pizza, italian beef, italian sausage, etc.

It's hard to suggest anything relating to history in the US when you are talking to someone from Europe, but if you are interested in that, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and many other cities on the north east coast are good for that.

 

[Alle_Gory]

Food is cheap, portions are large. Buy a bigger pair of pants for the return trip.

 

[iqqi]

How exciting, OP!

I just got back from the Los Angeles area. California is VERY expensive, and also extremely spread out. The three most popular cities are Los Angeles (Hollywood and movie stars plus beach towns), San Francisco (artsy but cold), and San Diego (seaworld and next door to Tijuana, Mexico.)

One negative about California is that the Pacific Ocean is COLD COLD COLD! But the waves are extremely awesome. Better than Florida. Florida has warm water though.

I'd actually recommend that you consider traveling to New Orleans. You can get an awesome hotel rate in advance right in the French Quarter, plus Bourbon Street is open 24 hours. It is fun to play with alligators, too. OH, and the FOOD is amazing!!!

You might want to pick just California or Texas, as both are really huge. Did you consider just renting a car and making a big road trip out of your entire stay? You could find really cheap motels on the road that way or even some awesome camping, and see the entire country. It's something I need to make time to do myself.

Another great resource for places to stay is airbnb, you can pick either the whole apartment, or just a room for cheaper. They are pretty prevalent in California, but also have places in pretty much every city. I think it is kind of new. We rented an entire condo right on the beach in the Los Angeles area when we went. You could also consider couch surfing and camping to save money too.

 

[r0cky]

I know some people that get by on $10 a day. But they dont get many perks.