you can get hotels pretty cheap in some places I stayed in some cheap motel outside of Lafayette Louisiana for 45$ a night and they have bed and breakfasts in the south which would prolly be cheaper.

you guys really didn't know? I find that kind of incredible. modern america is 100% built upon independent car ownership, largely because awful companies like GM lobbied for/funded shit that'd ensure americans would require personal cars for their daily routines. suburbs outside the city full of nothing but stand-alone houses, requiring dad to drive to work in the city with his car and mom to drive to the supermarket off the highway in her car and the kids to take the bus to school (gender roles intentional)

If you are travelling on a tight budget where do you sleep?

I quickly checked and there seemed to be plenty of couchsurfers around the area, so it shouldn't be hopeless, especially if you don't have strict plans on where you need to be and when.

cheap chain hotels are an option as farren said, or if you're in for something really cheap you can always stop at a motel or truck stop off the highway but then you've got all the risks you'd expect

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motel <-these are all above average

I didn't mean specifically just you guys though. you (dada), marge and kaworu are all from different countries, so I've got a feeling this is something common to most europeans. I guess part of the reason is because europe as a whole is really culturally and historically significant, so any reasonably well-learned american should know quite a bit about it. meanwhile the only thing noteworthy that comes out of america is political shit. if anything cultural does come out of america, it's either linked to a specific city or not specifically tied to america. so what reason do you have to know what we're up to on a daily basis

the only thing I can emphasize is that there is really nothing significant going on in most places in america. like if you go on google maps and follow a highway to any given town, chances are there is absolutely nothing of significance there. I've really been wanting to take some pictures of awful suburbs and strip malls for you guys, because I think that's really the only way you'll get a grasp of this place without actually coming here and roaming the suburbs in a rental. specifically this area hell which I only pass through during the winter and it literally always appears overcast and sullen no matter how sunny it is.

Yeah that's the thing. The majority of southern and midwestern america isn't that densely populated, that's why suburbs exist. A lot of suburbs are urbanizing around where I live also. And if you live in a city public transit is an option, it's just buses and it's kind of shitty but I have walked several larger cities and it's not really that hard so having a bicycle is an option, we as a society are just too lazy to take the option. Me once I move out of rural I'll end up walking a lot more.

false!! it's false. well, the actual physical things you're describing do exist but your reasons for their existence/nonexistence are actually a lot happier than the truth. I can't write up a big explanation now and this shit can be pretty hard to grasp if you're not familiar with stuff like new urbanism. actually I wanted something like this to be a totw but I never got around to pming faust

theres motels near where i live for like $39 a night

or if you have a car you can just drive to a rest stop and sleep in the parking lot. why are you backpacking across the worst part of the usa anyway

the best part of the USA is canada

like if you go on google maps and follow a highway to any given town, chances are there is absolutely nothing of significance there.

aaaaa everyone please use google street view to take a virtual drive around my hometown and see that this is the truth:

link

like someone else said, the only real thing to see in the south is nature shit, which kentucky has a lot of (not that you can tell from google street view).  kentucky is all hills and mountains, and we have cumberland falls near my hometown which is iirc the only place left in the world that has a proper moonbow (i think there might be a few places that have them rarely or something like that) and there's mammoth cave near where i live now which is the world's longest cave system.  both are pretty rad to see, but as a foreigner coming here i have no clue how hard it would be to travel to either of these places, and they'd definitely be quite a few hours' drive from memphis.

also there's lovely skies like this, so yeah there's plenty of natural beauty in these areas if you can see past the obese racists and chain restaurants

stick to the coasts like a normal person

to be honest, anything is more interesting than tourist locations. When I've been in europe, I would always prefer to just wander round the areas instead of going to the tourist spots. When I was in Istanbul earlier this year, I would be out at 7-8 in the morning just walking about on my own in any random direction just seeing NOTHING, and it appealed to me far more than going to the Hagia Sofia or whatever. Because you're seenig the real place.

the Southern states of the US hold an appeal, that we get shown and told so much about them, but nothing is really so one-dimensional. Like how English countryfolk are shown as gentle robust people eating pies and whistling songs as they walk down the country lanes, It's not true, but because people tend not to go out into the countryside, that kinda idea sticks with them. As much as you guys say how bad it is, the fact that it is in another country and has a different culture still makes it interesting to me. I prefer to see stuff for myself rather than just believe what is said

the Southern states of the US hold an appeal, that we get shown and told so much about them, but nothing is really so one-dimensional. Like how English countryfolk are shown as gentle robust people eating pies and whistling songs as they walk down the country lanes, It's not true, but because people tend not to go out into the countryside, that kinda idea sticks with them. As much as you guys say how bad it is, the fact that it is in another country and has a different culture still makes it interesting to me. I prefer to see stuff for myself rather than just believe what is said

This also happens to be exactly why the greatest playwright America has ever known will always and forever be Tennessee Williams.

It's a shame you guys weren't already down here to enjoy his 100th birthday celebration, but they do have a festival in his hometown every year around his birthday regardless of which one it happens to be.

The south is also one of the best places to enjoy scenic drives for absolutely no reason at all. For one thing, no matter how much "urbanization" happens down here, the south will never be short on rural back-roads, each of which guaranteed to go by at least three farms before ending. I've lived in Mississippi all my life, this is indeed fact. Although if you are naturally bad at directions, and/or have a phobia of situations like those in the movie Deliverance, then don't try it at dusk.

the american south is very beautiful, but it gets old quick. the people are terrible, there's nothing to do, it takes hours to get anywhere significant, and you have the whole extreme poverty/racism thing, too.

to be honest, anything is more interesting than tourist locations. When I've been in europe, I would always prefer to just wander round the areas instead of going to the tourist spots. When I was in Istanbul earlier this year, I would be out at 7-8 in the morning just walking about on my own in any random direction just seeing NOTHING, and it appealed to me far more than going to the Hagia Sofia or whatever. Because you're seenig the real place.

the Southern states of the US hold an appeal, that we get shown and told so much about them, but nothing is really so one-dimensional. Like how English countryfolk are shown as gentle robust people eating pies and whistling songs as they walk down the country lanes, It's not true, but because people tend not to go out into the countryside, that kinda idea sticks with them. As much as you guys say how bad it is, the fact that it is in another country and has a different culture still makes it interesting to me. I prefer to see stuff for myself rather than just believe what is said

gonna lol when u get a pistol stuck up in your face for walking in the wrong neighborhood

the american south has a certain rhythm to it that takes a little getting used to. If you're gonna do the south, go to New Orleans, it's the closest you'll get to a walkable city with a distinct culture down there.

Much of the culture of the south is "get off my property" and "y'ain't from around here, boy"

after today i've decided you shouldn't come here at all.  we have tornadoes.  stay where you are.

kaworu seriously i'm not being a dick, but in like 75% of the south you will absolutely not be welcome. a flamboyant foreigner who's backpacking around arkansas? good luck.

i don't believe any of these generalizations about america or parts of it

i don't believe any of these generalizations about america or parts of it

There are the cultural oases out there as well as the occasional college town, but by and large the whole fuckin' place is corn, racism, diners, poverty, and jesus