Lessons Learnt

Some mistakes I did, some places I've visited, some good gadgets that you have to have while traveling.

1. Do take China bus to New York or elsewhere if you want and need to save money.
-->Apex bus- $60 roundtrip from Norfolk, VA to NYC. The trip to Big Apple took us only 5,3 hours!
http://www.apexbus.com/

FYI: We accidentally arrived at another China bus company and spotted a special deal for May: roundtrip $40 on the same direction. So..

2. Always do look around for best deals and plan your trip AHEAD when possible. (It's almost always possible, but we are almost always too lazy.)

3. If you have a camera that uses regular batteries use Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries. They do cost around $20 for 4 of them, BUT these gotta be the best batteries ever! 5 days trip to NYC and Niagara Falls, 800+ pictures and 8 videos and I am still using them!!! Meanwhile, my mom who has a rechargeable camera had to recharge it like 5 times.
http://www.energizer.com/products/hightech-batteries/lithium/pages/lithium-batteries.aspx

4. Always have a map with you. Ideally, you should buy a map in advance, but you can always find it in the airport or even in your hotel/hostel. AND, check if the map is up-to-date. We came to International Center Of Photography on 97th St in NYC only to find out that it was moved to downtown... Never made it there! Why? Because we were given the same map in our hostel that we used 3 years ago.

5. You know why all the tourists are almost never dressed up, most of them wearing sneakers and hoodies? Because it's comfortable! Unless, you are planning a shopping-spree, bar-hopping, or just visiting friends, choose a comfortable pair of shoes, jeans/shorts and a t-shirt. Because you are a typical tourist, with a loooong itinerary for a day!

6. What to take with you on ANY trip.

- Jeans
- Parka
- Hoodie
- Sneakers
- Water Bottle (you'll save a lot of money on water!)

Why you ask? Because the weather, in our time of global warming, is getting, no, not warmer, but weirder and more changeable. For example, weather in NYC brought us a BIG surprise! We took a hoodie, mind you. But we were still freezing. Instead of promised 16C, it was 12C if not less and then it started dripping! Awful! 2 days out of 3 in NYC were rather ruined and we didn't even go to see Statue of Liberty! Not in this windy weather!
Funny is that, we got lucky on out trip to Las Vegas and Grand Canyon... the weather was warm and sunny the whole time. But, if we had come a day (just 1 day!) earlier, we would have been pretty chilly again. Actually, no, we wouldn't have, because that time we brought parkas with us, the ones we bought in Niagara Falls. :)