The United State of America is a massively popular travel
destination. A huge place with 50 states, you could visit Hawaii with is tropical climate, or check out the snow in Utah
in the winter. But there are some constants that no matter where you decide to
travel to in the USA that you need to remember. Read on to discover what they
are and make sure that your trip is as enjoyable and as stress-free as possible.
Documents
The first thing that you need to realise is that American
passport control is a lot stricter than other places in the world. This is
partly due to safety concerns and partly due to immigration issues. That means
that extra checks are often carried out when you arrive in the country. So
expect to wait for a reasonably long time before you get through passport
control if you are an international traveller.
At passport control, they will check your documents, and make
sure that you have a VISA or an ESTA. This is a document that acts as VISA
waiver for travel in America for 90 days or less. You will only be eligible for
an ESTA if your home country is in the scheme. You can find out more about this
on sites like official-esta.com.
Expect to have your fingerprints taken when you enter the
country as well. Have ever seen those border control TV shows? Then you'll know
that anyone with a criminal record will be interviewed before being allowed
access.
Sales Tax
Money is always an important issue when you are travelling. It's
a good idea to have a budget and try to work to that as much as possible. So you
don't run out of money by the end of the trip. This will allow you to get the
most out of the whole time that you are there.
While many things such as clothes and electronics are known for
being cheaper in America than in other places, you do need to also factor in sales tax. Sales
tax is an amount that is added to your purchase at the till. This can make it
tricky to predict exactly how much everything will cost.
The problem is that the tax differs from state to state, as do
the price of similar items, so it can all get a bit confusing!
Driving and distance
Something else that you need to be aware of when travelling in
the USA is the driving. They drive on the left-hand side of the road, so if you
are coming from countries like England, this can be something that you need to
get used to.
It's also worth mentioning that a small distance to drive in the
US is not what most others countries consider the same. As the US is such a
physically large country, events that are regarded as local in some states may
take a 2-3 hour car journey one way. It's always worth tapping them into your
sat nav, so you know what you are letting yourself in for.