9.857 million square kilometres. 50 states. More than 20.000 cities. 318.9 million inhabitants. The United States of America are huge and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. However, there are countless stereotypes that need to be busted. In a popular Quora thread people from all over the world discussed the topic “What should every foreigner know about your country?” We’ve summed up the 5 contributions about the USA:
#1: The USA has great beers @Kyle Pennell
There is a common stereotype against US beer. I’ve heard a lot of people speak badly about local beers. They believe there’s nothing but Budweiser, Miller, Coors or other crappy watered down lagers. However, this is a really bad stereotype. We can boast quite an impressive list with hundreds of high quality local beers. They are called “microbrews” and they’ve gotten extremely popular in the last 10 or so years. This does not only hold true for beer but also culture, arts, wine, coffee, film, festivals, music. People tend to see the mass culture only but forget that the USA consists of 50 different states. There’s plenty of culture to explore and beer to taste.
#2: The country is huge @Jon Mixon
“The country is huge – Don’t think that if you land in New York or LA that you can “pop over to Chicago” for a visit, unless you are planning to fly. Driving straight through it will still take you over two days to go from coast of coast.
#3: Hitchhiking might be a bad idea @Jon Mixon
“Hitchhiking is an exceptionally poor idea (and illegal) across the United States. If you REALLY need a ride, ask someone at a truck stop or make arrangements in advance.”
#4: There’s food 24/7 if you look for it @Jon Mixon
“Almost all major cities have several or places to shop or eat which are open 24 hours a day. They are usually only closed for Christmas or Thanksgiving (although even this trend is ending).”
#5: There’s a huge diversity of places @Molly Allen
As soon as you’re there you’ll realize how diverse the USA are. “You really should visit every single state if you can. If you can’t here are my five top picks.
1 – Chicago. I’m biased because I live here, but we seriously have got some amazing food, architecture, history and can you say SPORTS TEAMS? GO HAWKS.
2 – New York. I’ve been once and it was amazing. Even if you went back 100 times, I feel like you wont get to experience it all.
3 – San Francisco – Like, how can you not? Amazing food, moderate weather, and culture out the wazoooo. You can even head out to all the other equally beautiful surrounding destinations like Big Sur, where you can see a REDWOOD TREE! Seriously, you need to see one up close before you check out, like you’ll never ever be in awe of a tree until you see one of those puppies.
4 – South Dakota — Seriously, if you road trip it, you wont regret it. Mount Rushmore, the Corn Palace, Wall Drug, and if you’re up for it, head out to Wyoming and check out the Devil’s Tower and get all Close Encounters.
5 – Florida — Because its obviously our wildest state, but the nightlife there is even WILDER. But the bottom line is, the state is really beautiful and there are about a billion things to do. Approximately.”
There are a lot of stereotypes about any country. However, speaking about the USA:
Don’t be tricked by its apparent “mass culture”. There are fifty different states and each of them is different. There’s a huge diversity of music, culture, places and beer. Now go out and explore it yourself.
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