Here in the U.S. we spell thaught, with one less letter...taught
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If you think that's fun, try You're, Your, and Yore. The fun never ends with the English language.
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P.S. the language of Holland, in written form, looks weird to me.
Whoops yet another typo that slipped trough. Yeah the Brits (and thus so should I) write it the same, without the h, i'll blame that on an automatism
Same goes for their, they're etc, etc. Dutch isn't any different in that respect. i.e. "haar" (hers, a single hair, hair, fur, trichome, or even a patch of wooded land (sandy soil) in between lower lands)...
Written and spoken Dutch (the language from the Netherlands [calling the Netherlands, Holland might upset some Dutch not living in Holland.. it's like saying Texas to the whole of USA
I don't mind, since i'm actually from Holland
] ), has the same roots as English, but in the course of time changed differently. Most rules (grammar) apply to both English and Dutch, albeit the word order can differ a bit. A lot of words are quite the same, due to loanwords, or as mentioned same roots. Photo vs Foto, physiotherapy vs fysiotherapie, I could go on and on..
As for Amtrak. It's not good for bouncing around from place to place. Greyhound is a low-class form of travel but it works if you're tough. Megabus is a alternate to Greyhound but has fewer stops. A Road America rental is popular with Europeans, but the fuel is expensive (6-8 miles per gallon) and parking is a hassle. Just renting a car is good and if you're going to stay here a month or more, buying a used car might be the practical choice, then sell it at a used car dealership after your vacation here but be sure to buy that car in a state that allows a month or more after purchase before registration is required, which can be VERY expensive. In other words, you drive on the temporary registration (under $100.00) and sell the car back before the temporary registration expires. So research the length of time the temporary registration is valid. Not all states are the same.
Hmm don't know the Road America rentals, is that like an RV or something? must be with the same kind of gas usage as a humvee
don't know the current cost of a gallon fuel, but most likely not as insane as here. the average national retail price is currently (april 28,2014) set at 1.823 per liter fuel. Euro to USD rate 1.38339, 1 US Gallon = 3.78541 liter, making 1 gallon of fuel $ 9.545!
I'd rather use Amtrak service from city to city, or long-haul then bus operations like Greyhound or Megabus. Don't get me wrong, I often take a (city or intercity) bus and it's more then okay, but for long distance it's definately not my preffered mode of transportation. I've noticed that around 300 miles (+/- 4/5 hours) is the maximum to endure in a bus
i.e. City trip to Paris or something simular. I've had a few trips by bus for over 800/900 miles to sunny beaches in Spain or mountains in France for skiing, but comfort, speed and dense network of trains overhere, makes it a much better option, in my opinion. Looking to places I want to visit in the States, almost 80% to 90% is covered by Amtrak.
I certainly agree with you that a car would be a better option, especially when travelling to parts where there isn't Amtrak service (for me, that would be South Dakota, and parts of Tennessee). However, since i'm currently planning to do this trip on my own, it has to be without cars, simply because I do not have a drivers license. If plans might change and someone with drivers license is comming along, that would definately be the way to go! Plans do change occasionally, as you can see this post originally is from 2012, now 2 years later still no trip
due to life and taxes
Is temporarily car registration open for non US residents? If so, that beats car rental for sure. Now to find someone that will want to travel 90 days like that
Overall, it's often best and more fun to use all forms of transportation. For instance, there are super cheap "shuttle buses" between cities that are near each other..there's Greyhound for longer trips...Amtrak for a long straight trip, as in across the great plains...rent a car to go to a smaller town, drop it off at the nearest large city, then onto Greyhound for the next adventure. I travel A LOT for work and I research all options for every trip and it's cheaper and more interesting to do it this way.
I totally agree! Planes, trains and automobiles
As far as planning goes, I made an itinerary based on several places I want to visit (friends, points of interest, have to see tourist traps, etc) and the Amtrak schedule. There are only a few places I cannot visit by train due to no service, or time constraints. The most important factor to keep in mind is the maximum allowed time on a tourist visa / ESTA, which is 90 days. So a few days city X with local transport, a few days on the train, a few days city Y. Bus to other city, plane to tourist trap in SD, etc.
P.S.S. If you're young, you'll love Austin Texas (stay at Drifter Jacks) and everybody is surprised by how much they love Chicago in summer (take walks down Michigan Ave and the lakefront.
Final construction was buildyear 1977, so I wouldn't qualify myself as "young" anymore, but young at heart
Austin is on-route between Texarkana and San Antonio, both places are on the schedule, so that certainly might be a nice inbetween! Chicago is definately on the to-do list!
P.S.S.S. Staying at Hostiles are fun and super cheap.
I have stayed in HI Hostels in several cities served by Amtrak (Sacramento, Chicago Toronto ON and Vancouver BC). I didn't find any of them to be hostile
LOL Tom, good one
Anyhow, I wouldn't mind hostels, as I don't think you'll find many hostile people there. Only problem I see might be noise. I'm not a light sleeper, but it takes a long while for me to fall asleep, not to mention i'm a night-owl (current time almost 2am
, so that might be a problem for the roomies...
With the odd hours of Amtrak coming or going into a city it's a plus if they're near a station, or reachable by public transport / taxi-cab.
I have been on several 30 day rail passes.
How you like them? is it worth the money, how much travel / "traindays" can you actually fit in them, without compromising too much of actual visit time to a city you want to see?
According to the schedule / itinerary I currently have made, and the pricing of sleepers (roomette) and chairs on other (shorter) routes it doesn't differ much. The rail pass times out either while staying in a city, while still having segments, or too less segments to cover in the amount of time.
90 days schedule making is hard if you want too see and do so much, without being a tourist and looking back... " oh this picture was taken on thuesday, so that must have been Chicago! "
Luckily there is such a thing as internet with boards like this, to expand your view, pick a few brains of others who have done the same. Gather all that info, to make a perfect plan!
