From Scratch-where To Begin!!

[Ally]

HI

Me and my friend are planning to go to america in September 2006 for roughly 6 months. We haven't done much planning yet, have a few books and after looking into it are most likely planning on travelling by amtrak.
We want to travel most of the US-yet to decide on which states in particular, and we wont be with massive amount of pennies!

Please advise on any tips of getting started-what to plan first, any important details in regards to amtrak and anything to help really!! Just need sum info on where to start!! we are newbies!!

Thanks

[Mark Sedenquist]

Me and my friend are planning to go to america in September 2006 for roughly 6 months. We haven't done much planning yet, have a few books and after looking into it are most likely planning on travelling by amtrak.

Welcome to the Forum! I would start by thinking about what goals you have for the trip. Traveling in America is like the experience of the "blind men and the elephant" -- you can find just about anything you are looking for. For some tips on how to to get started, read these essays.

Mark

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

Mark is right that you'll need to figure out what you want out of your trip. Even 6 months is not enough to see and do everything America has to offer. As a start it might help you to look into what Amtrak has to offer in the way of routes, schedules and services. It may not be what you are expecting. For example, there are only 4 transcontinental routes and trains only run a few times per week. On the up side, they do offer special rates to non-US residents. (For some reason, these rates are not available to Canadians.)

If you decide to go with Amtrak, then that will begin to narrow down your choices of places to see right there. I'd then start hitting the search engines of your choice and entering city or state names along with the words tourism or attractions. You'll soon have plenty of ideas from which you can choose your favorites. When you get things narrowed down a bit, check back in and the contributors to the forum will be more than happy to offer advice and further suggestions.

AZBuck