Stage 2–USA

Jan 21, 2012 by Joel

The Upcoming journey that I have planned to visit Europe is not entirely 100% about Europe. In actually working into my plan for this trip some of the things I had already booked. This meant that if I wanted to make use of the flights that I already booked I had to visit the USA at least once in this trip. As it turns out I have to visit the USA twice.

However today I am just going to discuss the first visit to the USA, which will be for a total of nine nights. Nine nights does not sound like a lot and really it isn’t however when first trying to plan this stage of the trip, I made the mistake of really trying to overdo things.

My Initial plan was going to involve stops in 3 cities, either making flights between each or at one point I had even considered driving between cities. These ideas all changed just like my plans in Europe for Stage 1, with the realisation of not over doing things with travel time between destinations.

Stage 2: The Stops

Unlike Stage one and my Europe 2012 post this is a first time I am writing this and as it stands I am fairly confident things wont change once I go to book them. As such I have a total of three stops while in the USA this time. Two new cities and one that I previously spent just a day in.

New York – The city that people either Love or Hate, that they either want to visit or could not care less if they ever saw it. Until I have visited the city, I guess I will not know if it will be a love or hate type of city for me, however I am taking a few days to get out and see what New York has to offer.

Miami – Just south of my final destination in the USA, I am still unsure exactly what Miami has to offer that I will do, however I will find something as it is close to where I need to end up. Some of the time here will be spent taking a look at some of the filming locations for the TV show Burn Notice. Along with getting anything ready that I may need for my cruise. In total about 4 days I will be in Miami for.

Fort Lauderdale – From previous experience I know that there is not a lot here, a Flea Market and the Everglades, however beyond this, I am going to Fort Lauderdale primarily to board my Cruise, which is Stage 3. With just 2 nights, I still think I might have more time then I need here.

Seeing the Sights

As opposed to Europe I have plenty of knowledge of getting around in the USA, and also know the language. So I will be doing a lot of touring on my own here. I will likely get a car for a couple of days in Miami, and will make the most of the time that I have to see what I need to see in these cities.

The other thing about the places I will be visiting in the USA is that I know for the most part what they have to offer that I want to see, and that makes it easier to plan my own itinerary. There may still be some challenges but they are nothing that cannot be overcome easily for the most part.

More To Come

Of course there is still three more stages for me to share with you in the next week or so. The big one to come will be the cruise as this is in total 29 days, visiting quite a lot of ports. Which will be followed by the second Europe stage for two weeks and the last week in the USA.

As always I would love to hear your thoughts and comments, so please feel free to share below. Or via Twitter, Facebook or Email.