So what IS the USA really like?

[Boogie2u]

Just kinda been thinking about things since my recent 9 year relationship break up so here goes ;-)
Its just dawned on me i have never really travelled and lived in England all my life, never really lived with anyone that accepts me for who i am and just dont know what the USA is really like!
this isnt a personal ad i promise ! lol...
its just a question i suppose....is there a bisexual travel route through the USA? lol....any ideas? would anyone fancy a seriously cool road trip and guide a pale english guy (thats me!)through america? please throw your ideas out there! id love to hear them!

[coyotedude]

Dude, go for it!

I will say that the US is both big and diverse. I live near Seattle in the northwest corner of the country. It takes some 5 and a half hours or more to fly from Seattle to Miami in the southeast corner - some 3300 miles or so. (It takes an extra hour more to fly back due to prevailing winds.) Even from Seattle (near the northern border) to Los Angeles (more or less directly south of Seattle and near the southern border) is some 1000 miles and more than 2 hours of flight time. Taking the train from Seattle to Chicago (which my family and I enjoy doing on occasion to visit relatives) takes 46 hours to cover the 2000 miles.

We have some amazing geographical diversity as well: you can see deserts and temperate rainforests, high jagged mountains and flatlands for as far as the eye can see. We have volcanoes and geysers, limestone caverns, great canyons and high mesas; sandy beaches and jagged headlands jutting out into great waves; farmland and forests and range; great rivers and lakes.

And we have great cities and small villages, with an incredible diversity of people. Regional differences abound - in food, in speech, in outlook on life. In some of our cities (no different than London, I believe), you can find food from across the globe - Africa, the eastern Pacific, south Asia, the Middle East, the Mediteranean, western Europe. (Even in small towns in my part of the country you can find food from Thailand, Vietnam, and Mexico, just to name a few places).

Will you find bigotry and stupidity here? Yes indeed - but no more so than in any other corner of the earth. Americans are by no means a perfect people, and we have our share of problems and idiocy just like any other nation. But I think you might be surprised by what you might find here, both in the good and the bad - even as I am surprised by what I find when I travel abroad, whether to England or Spain or Mexico or China.

I really hope you do take some time to travel over here. It'll be an experience, I'll promise you that!

Peace

[TaylorMade]

Get lost in Key West. :) For the most part , KW is LBGT-friendly and the weather is nice. Avoid Rocky Beach (the beach near Ft. Zachary Taylor). . .It will hurt your feet! Enjoy a margarita.

Not all of the US is KW, but . . .to most foreign LBGT travelers, I recommend it - -since I've been there.

I've heard Boston is good too.

*Taylor*

[BumbleB]

Here's my advice.

Most of my life was spent in the west coast so I'll speak of that part from my experience.

California is really the route to go because you really see all sides of it. Their are many things to do there and you get to see the glam and glitz of America. If you are here as a tourist, this is where I'd go because it's more accommodating for tourists and will have lots to keep you occupied.

NOTE: If you are looking to enhance your bi side, well SanFran is known for it's gay (and like minded) people. You will be welcome here being bi and there's a good amount of clubs to keep you busy.

If you end up staying in California DO NOT...and in emphasis do NOT stay in LA or anywhere NEAR LA!!! Los Angeles is a dangerous place that does have its good parts but it has it's very very VERY bad parts and in general it's best to stay in a better place.

If you end up visiting STAY in San Diego!! San Diego is a safer, cleaner city where you won't run into as much trouble, they have alot of amusement parks and whatnot and a very large amount of youth there.

[Apleasureseeker]

Check out New York City. Much of mainstream (yawn) America likes to think that NYC isn't really America. In fact it embodies more American values than most of the rest of the place. We still have a reputation for being dangerous, but sadly, that;s not nearly as true as it used to be (us natives miss the good ol' days! dangerous, but FUN!) Nowadays its expensive, and still fun, but pretty safe. It's crowded and you can walk anyplace you want to go or take the subway, every culture in the world is represented, we've got thousands of bars and restaurants, and all four seasons (take that, California!). Good luck, wherever you touch ground.

[curious44]

I wish I was in a position to show you our great country because I've seen most of it, much of it from the seat of a motorcycle. I was going to tell you all about it but coyotedude did a splendid job. There's nothing more that I could add.
With all due respect to youth, I disagree with Bumblebee. At 64 I've been around the block a few more times than a 19 year old and can tell you LA is no better or worse than any other large city in the US. My sister has lived in the LA area since the 70s. Detroit and areas away from the capitol in Washington DC are more dangerous than LA. It's an unpleasant fact of life but most cities here have a ghetto area and you don't want to go there, especially at night. I imagine it's no different than the UK in that respect.If your trip becomes a reality and you want to see the Chicago/Milwaukee area send me a pm, I'll show you around. There's plenty to see from the rolling farms in Wisconsin to the museums in Chicago. I can even take you to a gun range where you can fire stuff you aren't even allowed to own in the UK. Good Luck!

[alegrias]

You've gotten some interesting responses so far. Coyotedude sums up my thoughts nicely. We have big cities and remote rural areas, tropical coastlines (don't forget Hawaii) and frigid arctic (as in Alaska).

We have Liberals and Conservatives, religious and non-religious, you name it.

I'm from a midwestern state that tends to be more conservative. When and where I grew up (in the 1970s), if a person came out as liking the same sex, they lost their job and moved away. That happend to one of my favorite high school teachers, even though the teacher had never done anything wrong. Hopefully, things aren't that bad there now. I don't really know because I haven't lived there for 25 years.

Cities that I know have a reputation for accepting LGBT are Provincetown, Massachusetts (on the tip of Cape Cod) and San Francisco, CA.

[dickhand]

If you have plenty of money , you can find anything you are looking for !

[Ninnian]

Wow Coyote! great job!...

We are as diverse as they say.... get to knwo a few folks on here, mabye plan on seeinsg soem during your travels- get the tour from teh local sthat Know it!. Enjoy yourself, we'd love to have you visit our lil chunk of Earth :D

Ninnian ( from teh soft, green mtns of Georgia)

[MissyMissy]

i wouldnt suggest where i live unless you were a tourist in the summer. but i love NYC. like someone said some see it a s a separate state but new york state is huge. but a lot of people i have met from NYC think anything from monticello up is upstate ny so maybe that is why everyone thinks if ya say ya from ny your are from NYC. but NYC is diverse and fun as well as in some places dangerous but you can get in danger in the tiniest town in the world so why worry?
another place is what Taylor mentioned..key west also near ft lauderdale florida there are some very nice places.
boston is great too!
pittsburgh is cool too.
parts of canada as well.
i miss travelling...
trinity

[boca.openminded]

Check out New York City. Much of mainstream (yawn) America likes to think that NYC isn't really America. In fact it embodies more American values than most of the rest of the place. We still have a reputation for being dangerous, but sadly, that;s not nearly as true as it used to be (us natives miss the good ol' days! dangerous, but FUN!) Nowadays its expensive, and still fun, but pretty safe. It's crowded and you can walk anyplace you want to go or take the subway, every culture in the world is represented, we've got thousands of bars and restaurants, and all four seasons (take that, California!). Good luck, wherever you touch ground.


Absolutely... start with New York City and go from there. Everything from finance to fashion (sorry Paris...lol) begins in NYC. Its not called the Melting Pot for nothing. Go to the Statue of Liberty and follow the paths of many immigrants. Check out the Village where the bi / gay / lesbian lifestyle is the norm. Anywhere in NYC you will find great eateries from the most expensive restaurants to the local guy on the corner selling you a hot dog...

From NY you definitely should head North to Boston. After you are done freezing your ass off then head south to Florida (Key West is a good stop or last stop being its the furthest south point in the US) or head West to California and travel the coast from San Fran to San Diego but do not forget to stop at the wineries and test the great California wines.

Be careful & have fun...

[allbimyself]

Absolutely... start with New York City and go from there.
<snip>

From NY you definitely should head North to Boston. After you are done freezing your ass off then head south to Florida (Key West is a good stop or last stop being its the furthest south point in the US) or head West to California and travel the coast from San Fran to San Diego but do not forget to stop at the wineries and test the great California wines.
Hmmm, nothing between the east and west coasts worth pissing on. How provincial of you.

[canuckotter]

I've never been to NYC, but everyone I know who's gone (ranging from ultra-hippy university chicks to ultra-conservative middle-aged software engineers) loves it and wants to go back. I've also heard good things about Texas, particularly Austin. California as well, although one thing you're likely to notice is that it's pretty much the pinnacle of modern urban planning, and as such, the cities (at least any part built after 1940) feel more like a parody than a real place. It's weird.

I'd also suggest coming up to Canada and checking out some of our cities... Montreal is famous for being a great party town, and believe me, it's a well-deserved reputation. :lol: There's plenty of touristy stuff to do too. Ottawa has some touristy stuff, depending on your tastes... Toronto is always busy, there's always stuff to do, and if I remember correctly, they have the world's largest Pride celebrations there... And Vancouver is a pretty awesome place too, from what I've heard. Although I've also heard that you have to keep going just a bit farther and visit Victoria. I haven't made it out that way myself.

Basically, there are a million and one things to do in North America. :)

[onewhocares]

As the song goes.....PLEASE come to BOSTON for the Springtime......

I must compliment Coytedude for an excellent desription of our beautiful country. It is a site to behold..each state and territory filled with natural beauty and more importantly kind and generous people for the most part. I can tell you from first hand experiance that Boston is very accepting of all lifestyles...and Provincetown. located on the very tip of Cape Cod, in particular is a hot bed for some of the most hotties I have ever seen. Ogunquit, Maine is another great area. to enjoy the company of both bi and same sex friends.

One thing that has not been mentioned...and well leave it to me to make this comment...is the wonderful FOOD you can experiance across our great land. From sweet and tender lobsters in Maine...to deli's in New York City....to Carolina BBQ....to southern and creole to steaks in Texas to the stick to your ribs food of the heartland to the wonderful seafood of the great northern Paciffic. COME EAT IN AMERICA


Belle

[lookn0ver]

ohh hell i can jump in on this one,...dood we're Americans poorest of the poor millionaires if ever there was any ,surely it would be U.S. !! From my aspect if you want something from here, you have to go out and get it without any saftey net & you'll get it. put your balls in your hand and if you can JUST GO FOR IT !! Anyplace you want to dream of ,you should do it before you get sidetracked. you think i'd like to ruin it for you on where is the best to go?bring money!! sure money is nice but what a plastic experience you will end up with if all you see is where your checkbook took you to.you can live anywhere in state side and find complete happiness and culture. everywhere has sensation...and then you go round a few places you thought had the end of the rainbow till you see another place with all of its temptations, but you will always wonder where is it do you really belong. ME? i been to some of these places the people here talk about and where I found is best is when i can show up broke with my hat in my empty hand and see what the LOCALS treat me like. that is how i know where to coolest places are.
those are the places where you can MAKE IT !! and lately i have thinking that maybe this country doesn't have it all that much together anymore and the pollution is just horrible . and people are mostly kidding themselves these days about exactly WHAT IS NICE!!I'm saying that there is an element in this place you need to be aware of first off before you think to explore its woolly interior . NOTE THE ILLUSION if you will and don't be blindsided by the pretty pretty things packaged so neatly and sweetly. Get out of the car and look at the ground !!! that is all i ask you to do, then tell me if it doesn't all reminisce an unrespected gutter with yesterday's newspapers and cigarette butts ,plastic cups,used tissues ECT.ECT.ECT. blowing all over like dust on the wind. look in the waters too while you are at it... then kid yourself OHH I"M GONNA SEE IT BEFORE ITS GONE !!!while flicking your toothpick into the weeds after eating at THAT TO DIE FOR restaurant everyone's told you so much about .Some one was affectionately talking about Key West ...well let me tell you what a sewer that place has become... just try and pick a queen conk out of the water there ...IT JUST AIN"T GONNA HAPPEN!! anymore . i backpack hitched there 30 years ago and life was hard and nature was good and now its changed the other way round nature is screwed and ky west is this wacky condo queer fest on the midway any chance that comes down the pike to do it.what a garbage can it all has become...BUT ATLEAST IT"S WARM!! don't mind the maggots.
Next!! maybe i could tell you about DENVER...ohh how yummy is that? no no no FT.Worth/Dallas...wait wait Detroit and the Michigan State what is my personal favorite...or maybe Phoenix AZ. what a park system they have going them...do try the Snake Bite Ale in the little old stage coach town that you simply MUST SEE to believe and if Pine Trees are your gig PULL~lease hit the bed and breakfast towns around Portland Ore. (actually it is clean there!) I COULD GO ON but my pessimistic point here is YOU will only be visiting a place to Shop its all one biig Shopping mall / plaza Fast food Joints for the poor slob over here where we are lied to with only the best propaganda printed up on paper they only call $$$ here can be shoved down one hole or up another your free to choose which... now i know how verymuch i have pissed some big sports fans of these few places i have mentioned...but hey!!! BUYER BE WARNED!! no one ever promised me a rose garden, so how can anyone think they could you? sure there's places to see and memories to be had abound , but please stop and think ,"AT WHAT COST?" And maybe if you subscribe to the ideal that we are all going to hell in a hand basket any way so WHY not see it before someone else tramples it to death before you can have your chance to..THEN I GUESS ok! ... then be lucky won't you & pick a place anyplace and easily charm the hell out us ...you can be poor anywhere and i am sure you are not a bum .so that in mind you would get along swimmingly with the rest of us whom are also kidding ourselves that we do the planet a favor by whatever it is that it is we do. which is plug the toilet and flood the whole downstairs

[FalconAngel]

America is full of foreigners and wild animals. Literally and figuratively.

We have so much to see and do, most Americans, even if they have the time, will never be able to see what there is here. Every area is a subculture; and some areas are completely different cultures from everything else. as suggested, Key West is very Gay/Bi/Trans friendly, particularly if yo go there during Fantasy Fest (the dates are on the city website).

There are so many things to see, culturally, everywhere. Tons of history in just about every major city and lots in many smaller cities and towns. Chicago has a great museum district and New York has some very nice museums as well.

San Fransisco is really nice and so is Napa Valley and Yosemite National Park (all in California).

Then you have everything in between. Battlefields, abandoned goldmines, museums, art galleries, different regional foods, haunted houses, etc.

There is just too much to put down in a single thread post.

[elastisexual]

i live in michigan and its a grat place in some ways and not so good in others.
but mostly i have to say about the usa that is like anywhere else in many ways
there are bad areas and good ones.there are rich very rich and poor and very poor.people work hard to get what they have like anywhere else.sexualy i think
the usa is very diverse.there are areas where it is repressed but also on the whole pretty accepted if u want to move to another area. What i like about living in america is that there are so many people from every where else here and a lot of different cultures around.

[Realist]

Boogie, I suggest you meet and correspond with folks here, who live in different states.

Take your time to get to know them and let them know you. Then, maybe you can travel around meeting friends you met here and see if they will agree to take you around and show you their localities.

Plan to stay only a couple of days at each place, but maybe you will be invited to stay longer. Since most folks on this site are bi, they should know where to go and what to do.

I did that in Germany and Austria in '59 and had a great time with 4 people I met through friends. (Had to use snail mail and phones, back then) But, on a 2 week leave from the Army, a friend and I had a wonderful time. Ended up spending most of the time with a great couple in Innsbruk, Austria.

I live in a very conservative area in central Florida, but there are some interesting things to see here. I'm also an older man, and have no knowledge of where one would go to explore a sexual adventure, so I may not be an interesting fellow to visit. But, if I got to know you and felt comfortable with you, you might be able to stop by, rest up while, as you're making plans for your next move.

Just a thought. It has worked for me in the past.

[HighEnergy]

If you are interested in the non-tourist heartland, I'll happily show you Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. If you've been hanging out here long, you've seen Volty's pictures so you have some idea what it looks like.

When I went to England with my mother (yes, she's an import model) to visit her aunts and uncles and such, I wanted to go from suburban London to see Stonehenge. My great aunt commented, "why on earth would you drive an hour to see a bunch of rocks?" I replied that I drove an hour to eat dinner. It blew her mind that Ohio is about the size of your whole island and we're only one of 50, and not a very big one at that. It takes about 4 hours to drive from the north to the southern, or the east to the western borders.

We have beautiful farm land and a bit of city life if you like. We were home to Native Americans who built land sculptures, mounds and such for burials, ceremonial places and the are designed to mark the seasons by which mound the sun rises over. (Google Serpent Mound or Fort Ancient in Ohio) Our northern border is the beginning of the Great Lakes that have sandy beaches like the ocean, but the water is fresh, not salty. They are referred to in the song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Kentucky has the most gorgeous horse farms. My English grandmother thought Kentucky was the most beautiful place she'd every seen. Kentucky is also home to a temperate rain forest in the mountains. It is extraordinarily beautiful. If you have any desire to see under the earth, I can take you to beautiful caves under the Kentucky mountains.

Indiana is flat and filled with lovely clean creeks and rivers to go fishing or ride an intertube down. It's a very friendly place. They are knows as Hoisers, in that everybody asks, "who's your (momma, daddy, uncle and such)." They are also known for putting sugar in everything they cook. They actually make a pie over there called a sugar cream pie. They also put sugar in cole slaw and on their tomatoes. Eww. They have one of the world's best childrens museum.

If you get homesick, I can cook up a mean roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with Bisto gravy and I know how to stack the toast so it gets all cold, dry and brittle. Eww. I just got a new job and my new coworkers are quite fascinated with the concept of using a teapot to brew tea. We also have a number of English stores in the area and a proper tea room so you can stock up on Crunchy bars, Smarties, and Digestive biscuits (the world's weirdest cookie if you as me) as needed.

[boca.openminded]

Hmmm, nothing between the east and west coasts worth pissing on. How provincial of you.

sorry if I upset you but absolutely I could have mentioned something great about every state in the US but I only talked about states that I know of, I wasn't going to write a book, and states that were gay / lesbian friendly.

so get over it

[Dano111]

Go to Vegas, I had my first 3some at a swingers club. There are also many bars which have women and guys. One bar has underwear night , simply strip to your undies and get free drinks and alot of attention

I can give you all the directions in Vegas. I lived there for 2 years