Hey Guys

As, an Englishman living in Australia I’m a little uneducated on the ways of the US and I would really love any advice on a (get the violins, solo) trip I’m planning a trip to America in June this year.

I’m quite excited having wanted to visit since forever (watched way to much TV) but have almost no clue about which order to do things.

The watered down version of the (currently non-existent) plan is: land in NY, have a week or so there, see things, then fly west and go up or down there for 2-3 weeks. The items on the hitlist so far are things like Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Universal Studios, San Fran, Vegas etc.

I’ve got about $10k AUD to throw at this and am hoping it’s doable without too much slumming it as it is a holiday, if that budget blows out a few k it won’t be the end of the world..

I suppose my questions could be condensed into:

1) Does anyone know where I could stay in NYC that is central and not $1m/night/awful.

2) What is worth seeing/doing in/around NYC (friend says Smithsonian is a bit out of control?)

3) Does anyone have ideas on how best I could go up or down the west coast to fit those things above in? (I was hoping in a car for some roadtrip-ness).

4) Is there anything in either location that needs adding (or striking) from the hitlist?

After years of lurking let’s see if this actually works, thanking you all kindly in advance 🙂