Porthole

Expensive to travel? Especially in the USA ... not Taiwan!

Cubby may be going to Texas. I responded:

Under $40/night is a steal anywhere in the USA.

I'll be in Spain/Portugal in March/April because prices of flights were cheap and it's off-season so I won't pay high prices for lodging either. Madrid, Bilbao, Lagos and Porto <$20; Lisbon <$15. Tunisia may be a problem if I go there as Tunis is expensive but maybe Tazarka or Sousse. Morocco can be <$10 if one chooses wisely (Chefchouen, Tangier, Fes but Casablanca is expensive!). My stays are dependent on price. Some cities are out of my range.

My next trip, in two weeks, is Taiwan. Lots of places under $15/night.

I want to visit Kentucky someday... hard to find anything under $50... in the entire state.

It's truly expensive to travel in the USA. Trains go very few places outside of the East and West Coast corridors and Chicago. Buses are no longer cheap. In 2007 one could travel coast to coast for $99, and there was a way one could buy a ticket to travel for a month or two. No longer.

Bus to Minneapolis for January 6th: $201 and 23 hours. ($118 on January 23rd)
On Alaska to MSP; $288 on January 6th, 7 hours indirect. ($149 is cheapest on Jan.23rd).
Train... there isn't one.

The cheapest bus to Miami Florida is $173 and 72 hours. By plane? The fastest (with American) at 8 hours (2 hour layover in DFW) is $289; a longer 16 hour flight ( 9 hour layover) costs only $175. I can get from Helsinki via Lisbon (5 hours and 9 hours) to Miami for $354 on January 22nd.

A direct 2 hour flight MAD (Madrid) to (TUN) Tunis is $97 on January 23rd (with Air Europa)
A direct 4 hour flight LIS (Lisbon) to (OSL) Oslo is $144 on January 23rd (with TAP) There's an indirect flight for $72 on the 22nd.

And lodging? See my comments above!

In Hualien, Taiwan for 4 nights I can stay in the Cave Hostel for $38 for 4 nights. It has a rating of 8.8 on booking.com. It's about 1/2 mile from the train station. There are higher rated hotels closer at less than $50/4 nights.
In Missoula, Montana for 4 nights on the same dates it costs $182 at a Motel 6, rated 7.9, out by the airport, over 3 miles, a long walk from downtown. The Motel 6 in the center is $228 and has a miserable rating of 6.9.
In Norway, there are 57 assorted places with beds under $50/night on the same dates. In Montana 27; In Mississippi 41; Texas has many around $120/4 nights if you can get to them.

Taiwan has 3,564 under $55/night. Australia, 467; Canada 678; USA? 1,094. Booking.com only lists under $55. Georgia the country has 7,748. For $82 I can stay the whole month at Indie Mindi in Tbilisi (9.0 rating). The cheapest in Macon, Georgia, USA was $725/February. A place in Atlanta is available for $1,001 (with a very good 8.1 rating).

Unless I really really want to hang out in Atlanta for one month I'm better off in Taiwan where for one month I can budget $1,000 for lodging, transportation and food included.

Plus, Taiwan is safer than anywhere in the USA.

And the people friendlier, imho.

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