Hey guys,

I'm a 21 yr old British guy that's been living in Aus since '05, am about to finish my Engineering degree this semester in Nov. and have been interested in traveling to the US to travel around and also play a bit of poker. I'm pretty keen on skiing and just checking cool places out, but wouldn't mind grinding it out on some nights either. With or without a companion I will most end up going. Possibly considering a small visit to Canada as part of it as well, then get back into a mid-year graduate entry into an engineering firm back in Aus (I estimate having Jan-May free).

Can this thread contribute any advice to some good places to visit, activities to do and casinos to grind? My life-roll is low five figures, I'm social and I'm a regular winning 2/4 live player at the casinos in Aus (I'm right to assume that 2/4 in the states is a fair bit tougher than here). I don't mind renting out a car and driving what is equivalent to the worlds circumference in mileage,nor flying between major cities. Whatever is more convenient and cheaper.

Cheers.

The USA's best skiing is in Colorado (I'm sure its open to debate though). Jan-May is our winter/spring (your summer) obviously. Renting a car for 5 months isn't going to work, you may be better off buying a car and selling it at the end of your trip. Can you get a tourist visa for more than 90 days? Jan/Feb is pretty terrible weather for most of the country so I would try to start in South Florida. Visit Miami and the Keys. How much money do you plan on spending on this excursion?

yea, renting a car is going to be way too expensive. Much better to buy one off craigslist or wherever and sell at the end of your trip.

IMO the west coast & "mountain states" are geographically more beautiful than east coast.

Best advice--get on couchsurfing.org

I'm not sure if I'd spending the whole duration of time there (especially considering the tourist visa duration), could possibly make it December as well. I would say about $12k to spend after flights, more depending on how I run between now and then grinding during my last semester of studies.

I heard Lake Tahoe is great too!!

Thanks for the HU.

time span?

budget?

things you enjoy?

A month to a few months, ~15k

I had a few friends go to the states and drive around the country for a few weeks in a rented chevy. They went to major cities and VC and san diego as well, they checked out all kinds of cool stuff in the major cities. I wouldn't mind doing that but for a bit longer and with poker involved, that's why I posted ITT because most of you are american poker players

Most on this site sorry

you can do a lot in a few months.

a standard trip might be to drive from one end of california to the other. cali offers a ton of recreation- great hiking/national parks as well as plenty of the standard stuff (good food/clubs/etc).

you could hit up the entire southwest region as well - utah/nevada/arizona (grand canyon)/etc are all beautiful places. colorado too. if you enjoy hiking, i heavily recommend this area.

there is poker pretty much wherever you want...there are casinos all throughout the U.S.

you could also do most of the west coast (driving) and then fly to the east coast as well. places like NY/etc are all worth seeing at least once.

basically, there is no real easy answer- with a few months and plenty of $, you can do whatever you want. my suggestion would be to figure out what kind of stuff you really enjoy (be it hiking or being in the city or something else) and then figure out the best sites from there.

Cheers orange.

Travelled quite a bit in the US, love em, so here's my 2 cents.

The thing about the US is that well it's a huge country. So if you are staying anywhere between one to three weeks, I would stick to a single coast. Anything longer than that will drastically open up your options.

I would use national parks, casinos and major cities as the backbone of my trip planning.

The main areas I would consider are the following, in order of preference:

- the ouest, first priorities: California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah
the ouest, secondary priorities: Colorado / Wyoming. If driving, this adds quite a bit of hours on the road.
Discover the mindblowing outdoors of places like the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Lake Powel, Durango, Arches, Yellowstone... Maybe land in LA and play at the commerce (but imo LA isn't a very enjoyable city - ie size, traffic etc)
Oh and ofc Vegas (duh).
No poker in the state of Utah I think. Closest poker room to Salt Lake City is Wendover in Nevada (never been).

- north east: Boston, NY, Philly, DC... add in the Appalachian trail etc. This trip would basically have you dive in the US's history, civil war sites (gettysburg), awesome museums (NY / DC) while still enjoying some great outdoors places (the appalachians etc).
Poker, can't really help you. Atlantic city ofc. Hmm I think Foxwood's is around there someplace.

- West coast up to New England
Basically start in the South of California and drive up into Canada. California is a beautiful place, with a mix of big cities, beautiful scenaries and some cool national parks (Yosemite etc), go up to Wahington state, and maybe into New England for a Jack London type of trip.
Poker: cant help you. LA = Commerce


- Other areas: the South (Mississippi area / New Orleans etc). Great place from a historical point of view, and if you're into music, obv New Orleans / Memphis / Nashville owns.

Hope this helps.

And again, I would build my itinerary according to major cities, national parks and casinos. Buy a tourism guide, then google map all your stops etc.

Cheers