USA Hostels

Bourbon was a horrible place to go!

Stayed in Glenwood Springs in 1999! Went there for a 10 day ski trip and stayed 4 months. What an awsome spot. So much to see and do. Plenty of outdoor life, skiing in winter, mountain biking, hiking, frisbee golf in summer. The Glenwood Springs Hostel is great with all the assistance you need and a wonderful atmosphere. A definate hotspot!

I lived in Austin for nine years. Austin is very cool, except that it's so darned hot in the summer. Check out Barton Springs pool in Zilker park, an enormous spring-fed pool, always seventy degrees, perfect for a scorching day. A music reviewer for the Austin paper once wrote "Who's playing this weekend? Ho, hum, the usual embarassment of riches." No kidding. You can find live music any night of the week. Halloween in Austin is a sight to behold, thousands of people partying downtown.

Provincetown is a nightmare. Why is it that every hotel/motel/guesthouse/hostel makes you rent for minimum two nights? Want to pass through P-town for a nice overnight trip? Good luck.

Seward is a nice little town. The hike at Hardings ice field is a damn good day hike. Reasonably strenuous and we saw a bear and 2 cubs. We had a great lunch at Harbour Dinner Club. Surprisingly, sea food is expensive in Alaska. Expect to pay $20 per head. Another thing to do in Seward is the resurrection Bay Cruise. We went all the up to the Aialik Glacier. Lots of wildlife enroute... bald eagles, puffins, killer whales (we saw about 20!), humpback, lots of other birds, and also sea lions... many :).

Tampa is the only true city in Florida -- real people, no attitude, and great nightlife. Go!

Monroe is a beautiful little town full of friendly people. I would love to visit there again very soon

Petersburg itself is a real gem, if only because it has not been ruined by the hordes of suspicious day trippers that the cruise ships disgorge, ruining Juneau, Sitka, and other places. Petersburg retains its isolated, small town feel and is surprisingly Scandinavian, even today.

Madison is a great city with friendly people. Other than being the state capital, it's mostly a university town. State Street, running between the university and the capitol building, is the center of all downtown activity.

New Paltz is quite possibly one of my favorite places in the country. The scenery is amazing with the Shawangunks and the Ridge, not to mention Mohonk Mountain and Bonticaue Crag. I would recommend coming here just to see the natural beauty of the area. It has its own unique beauty and people are often shocked that it's New York. The town is friendly and the energy is creative -- a great place to get away and relax.

Sedona is a really awesome place. The best cliff/trail to visit to really have a great view is the following: * Bell Rock trail..actually located in Oak Creek Village (just south of Sedona). 2-3 miles into the hike, you will have an awesome view of the cliffs looking north towards Sedona. You will feel moved to either pray/meditate or both. * CoffeePot Trail (accessed via CoffeePot Ln) has an awesome view of the cliffs, too as well. Definitely the 2 best trails to access if you are short on time, and also not an expedition level hiker. Anyone of reasonable fitness level can do the two above hikes...definitely makes the trip to Sedona worth it. Also, finish your hiking day with a great meal at the Red Planet Diner, located on w89A...just go left at the "y" (heading north).

Stay out of West Baltimore.

Anchorage is a world class city. One of my 5 favorite cities in the US.

This was a fantastic place, loved the waterfall. Tour was really good, even swimming in the mangroves. I got to see a lot of wildlife -- apparently unusual for this time of year. I recommend the Everglades as a place to stay but you will need a car or hook up with friendly people.

Come visit for Christmas, if you can. On Christmas Eve, everyone's houses are lined with luminarias (paper bags with candles), and everyone walks through town and visits. It's a beautiful, non-commercial, community-oriented way to spend Christmas! Also, the best restaurant in town is Fuego, in La Posada de Santa Fe-- but it's VERY expensive. If you enjoy the arts or architecture, be sure to visit the Santa Fe Opera House. It's a gorgeous semi-outdoors building-- I saw Carmen there, and during her death scene, we were also watching a lightning storm. Cold, but fabulous! Santa Fe is a great place to visit. Be warned, however, that the shopping is expensive-- and if you don't like pretentious art galleries and boutiques, you probably won't enjoy shopping there at all.

I lived in Fort Stockton for six years. It's not a very nice place to live, but there are some interesting things to visit. The "world's largest roadrunner" welcomes you to town. Be sure and stop by the Comanche Springs pool. (It's much nicer than the regular city pool.) Also, if you are looking for great authentic Mexican food, try a little place called Mi Casita. Bienvenidos is another good one, more on the main road, but not nearly as good as Mi Casita. There are also several nice parks in town, as well as an historic fort, and several small museums.

Eugene is a great city, filled with personality. The hippy-ness gets to me a little sometimes, but other than that, I have a wonderful time in Eugene.

Kauai is packed with adventures and it's easy to fall in love with the scenery. It's a small island without much in the way of nightlife or shopping, so I recommend coming here for farm work or camping. I worked on a small farm in Kilauea it was beautiful but don't expect the bus to get you unless you are in a very well traveled area, instead hitchhiking works fine. You are going to want to do the Kalalau trail for sure, it's intense and a bit intimidating. Make sure to give the trail plenty of time, you don't want to have to rush out from poor planning. I think Kauai isn't the best for clear waters of snorkeling or surfing, but hiking is your best bet. The many local farmers markets make cheap and healthy eating easy.

Everyone thinks of Orlando as the city with a lot of amusement parks, but actually the amusement parks are all located south of the city (mostly around Kissimmee). The city itself has a great downtown with a lot going on and it's worth checking out.

Boulder is a beautiful place with friendly people, but be warned, it's easily as preppy as the Orange County, so if that isn't your scene you may not want to spend much time here.