Hey there!

Me and a pal have desided that we might take a two week trip to America in 2014. The date will be around march-feb, since that is the time we usually can get off work without problems aswell as reasonable prices.

Some questions tho:
1: What is the climbate / temperature in San Francisco around that time? I tried some googling, but avarage temperatures is meh, how it feeels? Can I walk around with a short and look like a pedofile tourist or must I walk around with polar suit and hate my life?

2: When in SF, is it safe / economic to rent a car and drive? We planning to take a really long road trip and see different places on the trip, and not beeing too bound to one place.

3: If we eventually get there, what are the DO and DO NOT down there? There allways are some culture differences and I'm sure as hell will make some mistake if I don't get some sort of guidelines how people actually behave over there. This of course is not meant to be offensive, but I have never been in America and I don't want to be banned from the country or even better - beeing sued for some things I did not understand.

Let your knowlege (or if I know LFS Forum right), shit run good in this topic!

In San Francisco, everyone drives a Prius and enjoys the smell of their own farts.




THAA-AANKS!

Great, I'll write it down in my "book of usefull information", thank you son of internet!

Rule 1) Keep all clothes on.
Rule 2) Do not flirt with women. They will take it as sexual harassment and mace you.
Rule 3) Do not flirt with men. They will take it as harassment and beat you up.
Rule 4) Pledge Allegiance to the flag, and no matter what your religious view, you're now a Christian in 'murica.

The best person to ask I'd think is Dajmin (You may have him on Facebook as Paul Muir) as he was in SF within the last 6 months. He might be more useful as a reference for you Tor.

I do wonder WTF you're doing wrong if you need guidelines on how to behave in public.

Why don't you go to Florida or Arizona? Or southern California...

San Francisco, personally I wouldn't go there for a vacation. That being said rumor has it you are gay. And San Fran is the gay capital of the world. So you will find lots of gay bars. (this is not meant as a slur). Most cars don't cost too much to rent here. I think zip car is possible, not sure about foreigners. Look into Enterprise, or such companies. I'm from the opposite side of the country. But hell

http://www.sanfrancisco.travel/todo/

Borrowing this thread, do I really have to be 25 to rent a car in US?

Yes, Myffe, you have to be 25. Annoying because I was thinking about blowing a few hundred dollars last year for one day in a Lotus Elise and I couldn't do it.

All I can really answer for is weather. Due to the nature of the area, there's a good chance it's foggy/overcast/rainy for at least part of the day until the sea breeze takes it away. Then it's breezy all day. I imagine someone from Norway could get away with shorts and a t-shirt, but definitely expect to see some people to be bundled up and then plenty of normal people with just a jacket and jeans on. Shorts shouldn't be too bad unless you have a button down shirt on with a camera around your neck.

Live in the states and been to 43, but San Fran is a city I've never gone or had the need to go to lol. California is pretty warm year round. 50 F and up. I went to San Diego in March and was in a t shirt/shorts the entire trip.

You cannot rent a car until age 25.
You cannot drink til age 21. (Avoid open containers anywhere[open alcohol container in public], big fines)
You cannot smoke or obtain chewing tobacco until 18.
Drugs are bad and illegal.
Either upgrade to an international calling package or get a phone to stay in touch with your party. Phone booths and pay phones barely exist.
Don't buy food/drinks from convenience stores, especially in Cali (price gouge level 1 million)
If in Cali keep your soda/beer/water cans/bottles and return them for money back. (They have all those stupid useless Eco friendly laws)[certain collection stations in the area]
Find a bar where they like foreigners and you won't have to buy drinks all night lol.

Quote from Blade3562 :

Drugs are bad and illegal.

What about, for example, Colorado?

Quote from Myffe :

What about, for example, Colorado?

Still against federal law and you can go to prison. Federal law > state law.

(It's complicated to explain the us system, but a state can make laws stricter than federal standard, but cannot make them more loose)

Quote from Bmxtwins :

Why don't you go to Florida or Arizona? Or southern California...

San Francisco, personally I wouldn't go there for a vacation. That being said rumor has it you are gay. And San Fran is the gay capital of the world. So you will find lots of gay bars. (this is not meant as a slur). Most cars don't cost too much to rent here. I think zip car is possible, not sure about foreigners. Look into Enterprise, or such companies. I'm from the opposite side of the country. But hell

http://www.sanfrancisco.travel/todo/

This list ranks San Fran as the 17th gayest US city.

http://www.advocate.com/print- ... ayest-cities-america-2013

Besides, Arizona is filled with hateful, xenophobic people and Florida with old people and northerners, most of whom are old. /massive generalizations

Quote from Forbin :

This list ranks San Fran as the 17th gayest US city.

http://www.advocate.com/print- ... ayest-cities-america-2013

Besides, Arizona is filled with hateful, xenophobic people and Florida with old people and northerners, most of whom are old. /massive generalizations

Arizona is one of the nicest and most welcoming states in the nation! (Not being racist, but as a general rule they only dislike Mexicans). Plus it offers some of the greatest views in the nation. The Grand Canyon is amazing. I have a friend who races BMWs whose family is from England and lives in AZ. In fact his E46 race car is out there.

Quote from Bmxtwins :

And San Fran is the gay capital of the world. So you will find lots of gay bars.

mmmhhh....San Fran is the american pendant to Cologne in germany :huepfenic

I have both been to and driven through San Francisco. I don't know a whole lot about the place though as we were only in there for about a day.
Hmmm.... Fishwerman's Warf, I figure you'll probably go there. Are you used to driving on steep hills?
We did it in a Toyota Matrix with an auto transmission with overdrive. We had to actually use the lower gears and kill the over drive. Where I live it's flat and at sea level, so it was a very different experience. But it was still a lot different than diving through mountains. The streets we drove on went either up or down at around a 45 degree angle. kinda like driving on the letter A....AAAAA like that.
If you have the 35 bucks, I suggest going around the bay to San Jose and seeing the Winchester Mansion.
Weather... I've been told that the city itself stays about the same temperature all year long low 50s F to mid 60s. We were there in June right after the start of summer and it was a trip.
San Jose was about 85 we go around a bend on the freeway and the temp was down to 64 in San Francisco
Cross the Golden Gate bridge and drive north up the One. Make sure you have a full tank and you do this kind of early as the gas stations get few and far between and the little towns close up when the sun goes down it seems.
Driving in general? There are a lot A LOT of horrible drivers in that state. At first I thought everyone from California drove like a moron. That's not true. A lot of people say that but not really. See it's not the natives driving like that. I started to notice car rental stickers on the most dangerous cars. And there are a lot of rental cars on the freeways.
I don't know much else about the state except that it really is a beautiful place overall and the Pacific is cold. We took a road trip from Houston to Eureka California. We went up California from around Death Valley and worked our way up North. We drove completely around L.A. though. I don't generally get along with Angelinos and the traffic is Horrid.
Gays in San Francisco. You know this is actually a big blessing in disguise for heterosexual males. For every openly gay male and they are very much open about it, there are two quietly frustrated hetero women. Think about it.
The weed thing. My advice is to find a friend that has a script for it. They get it dirt cheap. You can't get it legally yourself. You have to be a resident of the state for three years. And then you have to buy a license. Oh... I've been told to stay out of Bakersfield.
I dunno why. Something about it smelling bad. We didn't go there.
Food... Hmmm... It's California. They have everything. I would recommend In and Out Burger and Roundtable pizza as far as food chains goes. Being from the Gulf Coast, our seafood and Mexican food rules, but you still might like theirs. I really didn't like their Mexican food all that much. But their seafood was pretty good. Everywhere I tried the sushi, it was really good.
Wine Country. We went to some town called Geyserville. If you like wine. Go there. It's about 100-150 miles North of San Francisco.

Quote from The Very End :

we usually can get off without problems aswell as reasonable prices.

Too much info.

Haha
Well thanks for the tips guys

The reason why we first though of going to SF is because of the travvel time and prize. The shortest time to get there is 15 hours each way.

How long of a flight trip, and prize, would it cost to fly from SF to California? My google just gives so much shit these days, due to me porn search historie, that all I find is brazzer videos and useless blog pages... >.<

Lol, gay capital you say? Well, alltho most of you think I am, tho I'm not - I don't have anything against gay people. But I must admit that a gay bar probally would be just a tad too much for me to handle. Would probally get raped there since I'm a sexy beast!

As I am 26 I guess renting a car is not a problem. Are there some things I should look out for? Are there some contacts with small letters that I should try to avoid, or are most companies safe?

Now you're sounding like ignorant American. "How far is the flight from San Francisco to California".

You'll fit right in!

Rule 1, You are a terrorist and a threat to the American way

Rule 2, You are not from America, see rule 1.

Rule 3, See rule 1

Rule 4, "y'all have fun now, ya hear........"

Rule 5, Never disagree with anyone with a gun, they really are stupid enough to use it to support rules 1 to 4.

Suggestion 1, watch everything that George Carlin ever did, this will educate you about Americans, and, yes, it's all unfortunately true.

Suggestion 2, go anywhere that doesn't have as many people with guns, even Australia is safer, and all the wildlife there wants to kill and eat you.........
Especially the dropbears...

PS: they know your browsing history, your screwed. See rules 1 to 5!

Quote from dawesdust_12 :

Now you're sounding like ignorant American. "How far is the flight from San Francisco to California".

You'll fit right in!

Haha! But if it's like 10 more hours its meh ;p But maybe I should do both? Some days in SF and then fly to California?

Quote from Racer X NZ :

Rule 1, You are a terrorist and a threat to the American way

Rule 2, You are not from America, see rule 1.

Rule 3, See rule 1

Rule 4, "y'all have fun now, ya hear........"

Rule 5, Never disagree with anyone with a gun, they really are stupid enough to use it to support rules 1 to 4.

Suggestion 1, watch everything that George Carlin ever did, this will educate you about Americans, and, yes, it's all unfortunately true.

Suggestion 2, go anywhere that doesn't have as many people with guns, even Australia is safer, and all the wildlife there wants to kill and eat you.........

But them spiders...THEM ****ING SPIDERS in Australia! They'll eat elephant for breakfast!

EDit: LOL... fuk me... seriously... California is ofc. the state / region not a specially little place...jesus fcking christ... So much for geography.. Blergh...
But well, you would advice Florida?

I haven't been in USA myself but I think I can pretty safely suggest you not to dress like this.

Well I'll think I leave that outfit home

Possibly claiming a 'lust for life' may work, sneak in under the radar. It is SF he's thinking of and that should be fairly standard.

San Fran is great, especially if you love food. If I were you, what I'd do is:

1. Fly in to SF, spend a day or two wandering around/eating/taking in the sights.
2. Rent a car, drive up the coast to Seattle.
3. Check out Seattle for a day or two. Also awesome food, nice scenery around the city, etc.
4. Cross the border and visit Vancouver—awesome city.
5. Drive back, hit Portland, Oregon, on the way.
6. Drive from Portland to Yosemite National Park in northern California.
7. Drive from Yosemite back to San Fran.
8. Fly out.

Car rentals aren't cheap, but they're pretty affordable ($200ish a week for a little econobox if you shop online).

An Australian guy on another board I post on just planned a similar trip, except he's going from LA to the east coast on a two-month-long road trip. You can check out his planning thread here.

I believe Scott Andrews (DuCK) just did a long trip to the US, including San Fran, a couple months ago. He might be able to give you some advice, too.

Good luck! Should be fun.

btw, I grew up in Florida and do not recommend it. :P

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

btw, I grew up in Florida and do not recommend it. :P

I spent 2.5 wks in Florida ( West Palm Beach ) and really enjoyed it. The beaches there are fantastic, just make sure you take reflective sunnies as the sight seeing on Miami beaches is WOW

Also went over the everglades, and up to Orlando, Bonton Beach ( Lots of Sharks) and Delray Beach

Fordie