Just spent three months travelling in the US. Here’s what I learnt

I’m British, and I’m just about to end a four month work contract in Chicago. I had an entire month off beforehand, and then three weeks afterwards, so I thought I’d take a trip. <br><br>I’ve visited America a few times - Miami, New York, Florida. I’ve always thought that it was really modern, clean, impressiveHonestly, this trip has been enlightening, and has really showed me what America is like. <br><br>I hired a campervan, and drove through New England, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Louisiana, Florida and Georgia. <br><br>Positive observations:<br><br>- America is overwhelmingly beautiful. I was blown away by the mountains, lakes and forests. Honestly some of the most impressive natural landscapes I’ve ever seen<br><br>- People are just as friendly as you’d think. I met so many awesome people along the way, and I was treated with kindness and generosity so many times. <br><br>- There’s an insane amount of pride<br><br>- Road trips are an amazing way to explore, and the infrastructure is highly geared towards driving<br><br>Negative observations:<br><br>- The US is not a modern country. I was blown away by how dated the roads, buildings and public facilities were, especially in the south. I have never seen so many potholes in my life, and I have to regularly navigate roundabouts in the UK<br><br>- I found that the south is quite scary. I was kind of expecting it to be quaint and charming, but a lot of the time it was just incredibly sad and depressing. Memphis and Nashville were highlights, but a lot of the time I just found it to be run down and weird. There was a lot of homelessness, and a lot of the cities were honestly really ugly. <br><br>- Food is disgusting. I had no idea how bad it was before I came here, but the US is honestly the only country I’ve visited that I would describe as having bad food. High end restaurants are great, but it’s really, really hard to find a good, healthy, mid range meal at a reasonable price. I don’t care what anyone says, burgers and fries are not a good standard meal, and I miss good quality produce so much. This is probably the thing that I’ve missed most about home. <br><br>- tipping culture is insane, and I was only really made aware of it when I got here. It makes eating out so expensive, and it’s insane that people have to rely on it as part of their living wage. <br><br>- A lot of the big cities were not great. DC was just a load of buildings, Boston was insane expensive and very narcissistic, Miami was just a weird, soulless place. <br><br>- The standard of public facilities is appalling. Train and bus stations are always unclean and a bit threatening, rest stops are often in disrepair and there can be rude signs telling you not to loiter. <br><br>- I was blown away by how racist America is. I saw a lot of racism towards black people, and it was honestly something that I wasn’t prepared for. I saw a lot of black people simply trying to live their lives and being targeted. I’m risky taking my dog into a store, because I’m scared of being stopped for being black. I honestly felt like I was back in the early 1900s, and it’s made me see just how far we have to go. <br><br>- America seems like it’s in a state of decline. A lot of the big cities are suffering from homelessness, and you can tell that there’s an impending recession coming soon. I’ve seen so many closed down shops and restaurants, and it seems to be the same story everywhere. <br><br>- I was blown away by how expensive everything is. While I get that inflation is a global issue, gas, food, restaurants, activities - everything just costs a lot more than it does at home, and you can tell that people are really struggling financially. <br><br>- I broke down a few times, and on almost every occasion the first thing someone said to me was “you shouldn’t be out by yourself like that”. It’s insane to me how little women travel solo, and how frowned upon it is. I feel like my experience would have been very different if I were a guy. <br><br>Overall, I’m really happy that I got to come here and I’m glad that I got to see what the US is really like. I’m ready to be back home, eating good food and feeling safe as a woman, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever be back.