USA
USA Travel Guide — Louisiana, Alaska, Florida, Pacific Northwest & places most international visitors skip
Jake grew up in Texas. Between the two of us, we've visited around 40 states. So when we write about the United States, it's not from the perspective of Europeans doing a checklist tour of New York, LA, and the Grand Canyon.
Most international visitors see the same five percent of the country. The obvious coasts, the famous parks, the cities that already have more coverage than they need.
Louisiana is where we'd send anyone who thinks they've already "done" the USA. Cajun food alone is reason enough — the first spoonful of gumbo changed Eli's life and she still hasn't fully recovered. We followed the Boudin Trail through Acadiana, slept in a bayou cabin in Breaux Bridge where the marina cooks jambalaya for everyone at weekends, stayed in a restored mansion in Tremé in New Orleans, and held a baby alligator at a conservation centre. Louisiana runs on food, music, and a complete refusal to be anywhere other than exactly where it is.
Alaska is the other end of the spectrum — raw, vast, and one of the few places left where nature wins unconditionally.
The Florida Keys are not off the beaten path but are worth lingering in a little more than a weekend.
Seattle we covered as a Vancouver day trip, but Kerry Park at sunset with Mount Rainier on the horizon earned it a page of its own.
We're selective. Everything below is what we'd tell someone who's done the obvious and is ready to go deeper.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Jake grew up in Texas and between us we've visited around 40 states, so this is a question we've genuinely lived. The obvious answers — New York, LA, the Grand Canyon — are fine, but most international visitors see the same five percent of the country. The places that make you rethink the whole trip are usually somewhere else: Louisiana, which runs on food, music, and a complete refusal to be ordinary; Alaska, where nature wins unconditionally; the Florida Keys on a slow road south from Miami. Our USA travel guides focus on what most international visitors never find. If you want honest, experience-based advice on where to go for your specific trip, we offer personal 1-hour consultations.
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An eSIM is by far the easiest option for most international visitors. You install it digitally before you leave home — no physical card, no hunting for a store when you land. We use and recommend Airalo for USA travel: reliable coverage, straightforward plans, and you can set it up in minutes. We have a full guide covering the best Airalo data plans for the US, how to activate it, and what to watch out for.
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The USA is built for road trips more than almost anywhere else, but the scale requires planning. The distance between interesting things in the American West is real, and trying to cover too much ground in too little time is the most common mistake. Pick a corridor and commit to it — the Pacific Coast, the Deep South, the Florida Keys, Route 66. We have a full guide to road tripping in the USA with practical tips from experience.
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More than most people realize. We slept in a bayou cabin in Breaux Bridge where the marina cooks jambalaya for everyone on weekends, held a baby alligator at a conservation center, and followed the Boudin Trail through Acadiana eating at roadside smoke shacks most guidebooks have never heard of. The first spoonful of gumbo changed Eli's life and she still hasn't fully recovered. We have a full guide to staying in the Louisiana Bayou and a separate guide to Cajun food and the Boudin Trail.
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Alaska is raw, vast, and one of the few places left where nature wins unconditionally. It's not a destination you can rush — the scale is hard to grasp until you're there, distances between places are enormous, and the best experiences are often seasonal. Summer brings near-endless daylight and wildlife. Winter brings the northern lights and serious cold. We've put together a guide to 10 unforgettable things to do in Alaska covering wild adventures for every season.
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The Florida Keys aren't off the beaten path, but they reward slowing down more than most visitors allow. The drive south from Miami on the Overseas Highway, with ocean on both sides, earns its reputation. Key West is the obvious endpoint but some of the best stops are in the middle — Islamorada, Marathon, the quieter stretches between the famous ones. We have a full Miami to Florida Keys road trip guide covering the whole route.