The American Diaries – Part 1 – Short-listing cities

Health has been driving me insane lately. The only thing that has kept me going is planning for our upcoming trip to the States. With so many blessings, small challenges shouldn’t be a big deal, right? I'm assuming it's my nazar suraksha kawach (the hideous-irrational evil eye for the uninitiated!).

Anyway, planning for this trip has been quite interesting. Before this, I’ve successfully planned a trip to France/Switzerland and Turkey with ease. But America is like a whole new world. You’ve heard so many things, you’ve seen so many shows and movies, and so, you basically want to go everywhere on your first visit. Short- listing 4-5 cities for 17-odd days is quite challenging.

That is where a handful of friends and relatives come into the picture. Since U.S. is a country where not many go as tourists (Europe and South-East Asia being quite a rage these days), everyone who has been there has a suggestion to give. My sis-in-law believes, Vegas is how heaven would look like. And so, if I don’t go there, I would be killed. She said a certain thing about Niagara Falls which I wouldn’t want to reveal on a public forum. Basically, I HAVE to go there.

The gorgeous Niagara Falls

The Famous Las Vegas strip

That meant we had to cover both East and West coast. I would definitely let you know about the efforts I had to put in for feeling both heaven, and well, to put it mildly, erotically charged. Oops!

We went to Google Images to see if we wanted to go to Los Angles. The first few pictures were of traffic jams. Without hesitation we started to look for places we could combine with San Francisco and Las Vegas. Simplicity of San Diego impressed us and so, we chose to go with that.

Beaches of San Diego

The beautiful roads of San Francisco

A couple of friends told us that it was indeed a good decision since LA, according to them, was a ‘shit-hole’. The sis-in-law told us we were crazy not to visit the famous Universal Studios and well, one of the most acclaimed cities of the world. Convincing people on our selection of cities has been a task as well!

As for the final destination, we chose New York. I’m a huge sitcom fan. For me, America means Central Park (FRIENDS), Empire Hotel(Gossip Girl), McLarens (How I met your Mother) and so many other places! That made it easy for us(me) to choose New York. The Boy has been amused ever since! 

Times Square, New York City

Our visa is done, our flight and hotel tickets are booked and now I’ll just be scanning Tripadvisor for the next 6 weeks till we leave. 

Having said that, only recently I realised that the actual shooting of FRIENDS and all other television series that I love would have been in Los Angeles. 

Did we change our itinerary based on that fact and random-unsolicited advice? - Hell, no. The visa will expire after 10-years. There is always a next time.

And that, my friend, is the only advice I want to give you while short-listing cities to visit in the US of A. That is, go for a relaxed vacation and not to tick-mark places so that you can show-off at the first given opportunity! 

Picture courtesy: Google baba