9 Things I Learned while driving over the United States

9 Things I Learned while driving over the United States -

After 12,000 miles and four and a half months on the road, I'm home. My epic book tour across the country is over, and I fell back across the United States. I think that the United States is an underrated destination.

journey through the United States more feels like a collection of micro-country visit, each with its own identity. While some basic ideas and principles resonate in the states, each region has its own unique cuisine, geography, identity and culture. Life has in rural Nebraska little in common with life in New York City, which has the mountains of Idaho little in common.

Driving across America gave me a deeper understanding of the land and the variety in it.

The United States is huge.

You do not know how big it is until you spend 10 hours to drive through a state. I spent three days driving more than 1,500 miles and crossed only two and a half states (Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska). A road trip in the United States is not fast. As Australia, Canada or India, if you want to see a lot, you need to devote a lot of time there. The vastness of the country is overwhelming and deeply inspiring. The possibilities of discovery seem endless in this great country.

We have the best food, because we have all the food!

Thanks to a melting pot of cultures, the United States has cuisines from around the world. It's better than sushi in Japan, amazing Vietnamese pho on the west coast, to-die-for Mexican in Texas and California, uber-good German food in the Midwest, and all of Pakistani Ethiopian Uzbek food in major cities. Take. In Southern cuisine, spicy Cajun food, steaks in the Midwest, freshly caught fish and oysters in the northwest, and pizza in Chicago and New York City, and you can eat almost any type of food, no matter where you are You just can not this diversity found anywhere else in the world.

Our infrastructure needs work.

Midway through my road trip, I flew to film a TV commercial to Shanghai. I was immediately impressed by how well maintained the infrastructure in Shanghai was compared to what I'd just left behind. There are no potholes in the streets were the highways had plenty streets, and there were many high-speed trains, public transport and associated bridges illuminated with neon light shows at night! It was to be like in the future. I returned home to the highways always under construction, congested and decaying bridges, unevenly paved roads and car damaging potholes. Our infrastructure is in disrepair: highways can not cope, roads are neglected the traffic, and there are few overland travel options. It is no wonder that the American Society of Civil Engineers rated us a D +. It is a shame that such a great country as an important part of society neglected.

Outside the Coast, it is super cheap!

I live in the country $ 14 cocktails (thanks, NYC!) - Not an unusual price in major coastal cities. However, if you major cities and venture into the country escape, let your costs dramatically. The United States is a wonderful budget target. There are cheap hotels and hostels (from $ 30 per night), tons of couch-surfing options, diners and sit-down restaurants for under $ 10 a plate, and $ 3 beers. I found it easy to manage on less than $ 50 per day. It turns out, the United States one of the most underrated Budget locations in the world.

It is very rural.

The country with a large and filled many is nothing. We meet often in the United States as a country's major cities and suburbs, an agricultural center and beautiful parks such as Yellowstone or Glacier National Park. But the truth is the majority of the nation small, rural communities and empty landscape. Although only 19% of the population has 95% of US land is classified as rural. Whether it was driving through Tennessee, Montana, Texas, or even California, once I left the big cities, there is an almost immediate shift to small towns and wide empty spaces was.

Country music is king!

While driving through the desert, the radio is mostly static - and endless stations country music coming in loud and clear. America loves country music. I knew it was popular, but this road trip has shown me that there is no music is as popular here as a country. After months of songs about beer, heartbreak, trucks hear down to the lake, and to love our country (sometimes all five at once), also I am now hooked on this twangy mood.

There is Christian.

You know what else you hear a lot on the radio? Christian rock and Bible sermons. Add the billions churches you see all the "Jesus is Lord" sign on the highway, conservative talk radio, the high proportion of Americans who often go to church (77% of Americans identify themselves as Christian), and They come to realize that the vast majority of America is profoundly christian. see After listening to country music and the religion of most Americans, I understand my fellow citizens a lot more and get why this country has become more conservative in recent years.

There is really a bunch of small countries.

The United States is often depicted as a monolithic cultural unit, but this road trip has taught me that the United States is only a series of micro cultures politically tied together by a common principles. Roaming from one region to lead take you through varied landscapes and settings to life. drink the Northwest with his coffee, tech-loving hipster, outdoor atmosphere is very different from the posh, conservative state of Mississippi. The fast-paced life in New York City is a world away from the farms of rural Wyoming. Sun-soaked, taco filled, relaxed seemed San Diego a strange place when compared to the outdoor cowboy culture in Montana. Drive through America feels as if you happen to dozens of countries.

It is full of helpful, optimistic people.

Everyone I met on the street was, helpful, curious and beautiful. Of the people in Nashville who let me into place in Mississippi to the guy in Kansas remain that gave me directions, interested people. The locals I met, travel were fascinated by my street, and if I needed anything, they helped. It did not matter where I was - everyone helped. Some years ago, my Dutch friend took an extended trip to the United States. His first comment to me was: ".. Why are the Americans so helpful and friendly, it is not Holland does not like everyone wants to know about my day" An English friend once told me that the Americans were "just too damn good mood. "It's true. Our spirit is overwhelming cheerful, optimistic and positive.

travel the country a lot of negative feelings, gave me a better perspective on life destroyed in the country, and has taught me that no matter how many micro-cultures and differences that we have, our common convictions and positive outlook makes me our future will be hopeful light. As Winston Churchill said: ". You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they all others have tried to"

Share this post