USA

If you're thinking about going to the USA on your career break, you're in for a great time. America is famous for its diversity - in its people, culture, landscape and...pretty much everything actually. The Lonely Planet has an excellent USA book - buy one from www.lonelyplanet.com.

• What?
• Why?
• How and when?
• Facts for the career breaker
• Top USA tip

What?

Unless you've had a very sheltered upbringing, you already know what and where the USA is. Its 50 states cover a large chunk of North America, and its influence is felt everywhere. The USA is much more varied than the telly would have you believe: its people are ethnically and culturally diverse, and it has every environment you could imagine - from bustling cities to peaceful plains, from snow-capped mountains to scorched desert.

Why?

America is a great place to travel to, because it has something to satisfy everyone. Depending on where you are, you'll find excellent art, good and cheap food, music of just about every genre, unspoiled open spaces, wildlife, technology, outdoorsy stuff, a variety of sports, historical monuments, and people who speak English (albeit with a funny accent).

The USA is also a great place to travel around. You can find cheap accommodation most places, and travelling costs are pretty reasonable too.

How and when?

You can fly to just about anywhere in the USA (changing flights at an international airport if you're going somewhere obscure). If you're British, you need a machine-readable passport and a visa waiver form (which you'll get on the plane if you fly from here). If you want to work, obviously you'll need a work permit which are difficult to get unless you go through an agency which can organise a special visa for you (eg an au pair agency or an organisation that supplies counsellors for summer camps). Getting a transfer to the USA (if your company has offices there) is another way to get a work permit.

The 'when' depends on where you want to go and what you want to do. The USA has much more extremes of temperature than we do - excellent if you like skiing or desert photography! Special events include Independence Day on July 4 and Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday in November. There are tons of festivals and events throughout the year that you might like to consider - from the legendary Burning Man to the slightly less legendary Egg Festival.

Facts for the career breaker

• Outside the cities (and frequently in them), Americans can be quite conservative and religious. Keep your gay satanist cannabis t-shirt in your backpack.
• If you go overland to Canada or Mexico and then want to come back in, be prepared for a long wait (particularly at the Mexico border).
• Americans are generally friendly and helpful, particularly outside the cities, and will frequently tell you that they love your accent.
• Lots of Americans hate Bush too.

Top USA tip

Driving is an excellent way to get around, and a great way to see some of America's unique roadside culture. It's cheaper to hire a car if you're over 25 and you can use your British licence.

Now where?