And what have you heard from the people around you?
I’m glad I had the opportunity to visit quite a few US cities.
But after Trump’s first term, I basically stopped wanting to go to the US.
It no longer feels like a welcoming place, nor is it a place I want to give money to as a tourist.
Not only are two of my friends parents not going to Florida on vacation, they’re selling their condos down there, because they can’t keep up with the payments due to the exchange rate… Which has a side effect of crashing the real estate market… Because nobody wants a place in hurricane alley where the home insurance is $1600+USD/month, in addition to condo fees and mortgage payments.
To be fair, I don’t find the US that appealing. Politics is one thing, the car culture is another that really puts me off.
The American West has some of the most beautiful and unique landscapes on the globe. Get out of a city and go to the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Arches or Zion National Parks. Better yet, go to all 4. Unless you’re boycotting the US, which is totally a valid thing to do.
For my kind of traveling it just isn’t enough. I want to be on my bike in nature, explore historic city center, I just travel through everything. So even in Europe it is sometimes rough (I am looking at you EV 8/1 route to Huelva) and in US it seems borderline impossible.
I may change my mind someday but for now there are different places I want to go.
Don’t you love having to rent a car to get anywhere in the US? Yeah, me.neither. Best part of tourism in EU for me is certainly the trains, can just hop in and enjoy the view, no worries about parking, going over the speed limit or missing an exit
I visited for a work meeting. The hotel, grocery store and shopping plaza were on the 4 corners of an intersection, but they had no sidewalks to get from one to the other. The one road was highway, and the cross road had water runoff ditches immediately after the edge of road. Like who plans this garbage. It forces you to go find your car to drive across the street from hotel to restaurant.
Tbh for me I will miss not being able to ride the Amtrak, the newly electrified Caltrain, and all those trains in NY, NJ, MA and PA…
Been there, cannot recommend
Fow a few years now I have been interested in going cycling on the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail and the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail in Vermont.
I live in Montréal and I’m used to cycle to Mont-Tremblant park or Orford, so Vermont would have been something new to visit for me.
However I haven’t cancelled because I waited too long and never got around to plan the trip. I should have gone in the previous years and now I consider it’s “too late”.
I know it’s not the fault of the people in Vermont, but right now I just don’t even want to try crossing the border.
I cancelled my trip to Florida. Fuck Florida.
Have been. Never want to go again, especially in these years. Never visited a country that has an aura of dread and anxiety projected off of everyone you walk past—hard to explain, but it’s there. They are very friendly though. But I got the impression it’s because they’re so interested in where you’re from and it’s a breath of fresh air almost. Eyes light up and moods pick up, lots of chatting and rarely need to buy a round yourself or feel alone in a foreign place. It’s a shame.
Yeah, stayed with a friend. He was on edge about leaving his house unlocked when we went from his side door driveway to the garage about 20 feet back. I’m like what are you doing? He said they have people sneak into your house and terrorize the family for cash, etc. So he had to lock it every time, even though we could see the door.
It was same vibe in the other areas, people eyeball you skeptically like they are sizing up a threat at every passing.
(I’m a very generic looking white guy, which doesn’t provoke this reaction in Canada or other countries)They might triangulate me from my Fediverse or Facebook comments and detain me. I haven’t said anything terrible but I don’t trust that it’ll be safe any more.
Had a nice visit there 15 years ago. Watched the weird Ohio sky where the clouds circle overhead. Visited friends. Went to the Pizza Hut in the middle of nowhere.
Got harranged at LA airport because we were late walking through a tunnel. (weird when the doors lock at both ends and a PA tells you to stand still.)
No plans to return. It’s not safe. It doesn’t want visitors.
I was planning to go to California this month. That is now cancelled and other US trips are off the table. Mexico sounds like a more interesting place to spend my time.
Money goes a lot further too. Encountered several Canadians in Puerto Vallarta a few years ago.
Fair enough. If you do visit anyway, may I recommend spending your money with a state that didn’t try to burn the whole thing down?
I volunteer for a seniors activity at my local community center and almost all of them have said they usually go to Arizona or Florida for a month or 2 in the winter, but they’re not doing it this year ( or in the future unless the situation signifigantly improves)
And their attendance at our activities compared to previous years shows that is true. We’re usually full in the Sept-Dec session, and about 60% full for Jan-April session. This year both sessions were full (with a wait list).
My mom wants to visit hanuama bay once more while she can.
We can’t plan this trip; half because of healthcare risks and half because of the collapse of their government and what it means for airplane, food, water and street safety.
Does it count if you live there still, lol? Had plans to travel for the last 15 years or so but I just can’t get ahead enough to take the time.
Come visit us in Canada! And just… uh… forget that you have to return home or to work!