Solo Tripping the US East Coast: Part I - Preparation

Solo Tripping the US East Coast

Part I - Preparation 

Aug 30^th  2018 to Sep 17^th 2018

I took a 18 day trip to the USA – to attend the INBOUND 2018 conference in Boston and to tour the East coast. 

I had heard loads about INBOUND over the past few years and wanted to make it to the conference. 2018 seemed a good year to start travelling to learn and of course, soak in the experiences of a foreign land. More on INBOUND here. If you are in marketing of any kind, especially digital, I recommend you check it out.

I decided that I would do this alone – take some solid time off to myself.  Also - it was a way of proving to myself that I can travel afar for experiences, without seeking help or feeling lonely.   It has been a dream to take 15 days in a year, to experience a place I’ve not been to before. The USA sure seemed like a great place to start. Familiar food, language, culture – got everything going for me the first time (everyone who is a F.R.I.E.N.D.S fan or watches the likes of Big Bang Theory , How I Met Your Mother, thinks they are familiar with the USA – I am no exception). 

I hope this blog post is useful for anyone planning a budget US vacation – solo or otherwise.

How I prepared for the trip:

1.       Visa:   Starting with the obvious – it is safe to get a U.S Visa at least 6 months before you travel, so you have enough time to get the visa in hand and book tickets in advance. I applied and got my visa through the embassy site. You don’t need to go through an agent (they don’t come cheap). The process is self-explanatory and easy. Mine was a B1/B2 – a business & tourist visa.  The interview process is simple and if you are clear on your agenda, visa is not a problem.

2.       Booking tickets:  I booked my tickets about 2 months ahead of the trip. Multi city tickets – Chennai to Boston and New York to Chennai – cost me Rs.90,000 with travel insurance.

3.       Currency:  Got myself a forex card, loaded with currency. There are lots of third party agencies who help you get a card and currency at good rates. A friend recommended https://www.bookmyforex.com     I got my card from my bank and currency from an agent.    I had paid for my stay and most major attractions before I flew, so did not need to carry too much money. You don’t really need much cash in the US apart from tipping. Cards are accepted everywhere – from taxis to entrance tickets.

4.       Booking attractions: I booked tickets for some not-to-miss things in advance - Lion King on Broadway, Whale watching in Boston Harbour, a pizza walk in Brooklyn. Book in advance for  things you are sure you will go to. Yes, you do run a risk of not making it in time to booked shows, if you don’t plan your schedule clearly. While you don’t have to book everything in advance, it pays to know your important tickets are secure. Despite all my planning, I was too late to get myself tickets to the taping of Trevor Noah’s Daily Show.  Tickets to The Statue of Liberty’s Crown, must be booked in advance but I chose to not book them. Check your preference of attractions, to see if you need to book in advance. It’s worth the time.

5.       Stay:   I booked my stay entirely through AirBnB – in Boston and Newyork – which were my major stays. Shorter stays in other cities were spent in shared accommodation courtesy dear cousins and friends. This is what I looked for in my Airbnb.

a)       Super hosts   à  I was travelling alone, so there was no way I would chose anyone not a super host on Airbnb. Super hosts are normally fast to communicate, helpful and happy to help you with local travel tips. 

b)      Self-check in   à If you can’t check in late night, it is a hassle. I looked for self-check in homes, where the host stayed nearby or in the same building – while renting out a room/floor.  With self-check in, hosts can share a key code for you to open the door and let yourself in.

c)       Not too far off  à My stay would have to be well connected to the heart of the city I wanted to explore. Of course, there is a trade off with the amount of space you get to yourself in a suburb / city centre. But your host will make all the difference. If you get a suburb place which is well connected, it’s worth taking it for all the extra space you get to yourself.

d)      Kitchen   à  As I was travelling alone, I decided I would eat healthy. Having a kitchen, helped me fix my own breakfast, dinner, when I did not have the mood to eat out.  It’s safe on the pocket too.
e)    AirBnB has the “Experiences“  feature, which  I heavily recommend if you are a lone traveller.  Experiences curates hosts who offer hyper local things to do. Hosts are rated and reviewed – so you can pick from a wide range of experiences – food walks, history walks, neighbourhood tours, nature trails etc. 

The plan was to spend a week on my conference in Boston  and explore the east coast. New York, Washington D.C and Niagara were on the list. I also wanted to visit my cousins in New Jersey and Connecticut. The entire trip was for 18 days  start to finish.

Here are some hacks that might be useful in prep.

Pack more change currency – 10s and 20s and 1s - this will get you through tipping cabs and paying for other smaller stuff. All larger purchases can be done with your card. You would not need too much currency.

Remember your travel dates – you might be asked in immigration about your plans – so it pays to know and keep tickets handy, just in case you are asked for them.

Here are some packing hacks that failed to oversee. I don’t travel light and ended up over-packing my luggage. If your Airbnb has washing facilities, laundering is no problem.  I went in the month of September which is “summer” by USA standards. I did not really need the layers of coats I had carried.

As a novice international traveler – I found the travel pouch a savior – it is a single purse like object designed to carry your passport, cards and currency all in one place. The scatterbrain that I am, I found this organizer an extremely useful buy before the trip.

A friend asked me to pack an umbrella and that got me through 6 days around rainy New York. Check the weather – they predict with reasonable accuracy for months in advance. 

That’s the end of my boring prep list. Now, on to the trip itself in the next post.