Arizona: Ταξιδιωτικός οδηγός, τιμές και δωρεάν διαμονή · 2026

ASAlina Sivachevaalina_sivacheva · 27 Νοε 2019Διάβασμα

Our first job in America was at a restaurant. We worked as bussers. After a short time in the States, we realized we wanted to get a second job. And we managed to do it very quickly. After scrolling through the popular classifieds site craiglist.org, I found vacancies at Dunkin’ Donuts. I immediately messaged the employer, and we arranged a meeting in just 3 days. After meeting and discussing all the details, we agreed that she would soon send an application to InterExchange, and then we would need to confirm the job offer there. Having completed all the formalities and received approval from the InterExchange program sponsor, we started working a week later. Our position was called crew member. In the final version, after completing training, our duties included: making coffee and sandwiches, taking and serving orders, working the cash register, and keeping the workplace clean and tidy. The hourly rate was $12 per hour. By the way, this was the minimum wage in the state of Massachusetts for 2019, meaning employers do not have the right to set a rate lower than $12, but they can set it higher :) *ADVICE FOR FUTURE PARTICIPANTS: if you have chosen the Self-arranged program and you have to choose a job, try to rely on states with a minimum wage of $11-12$, because after taxes, the "net" salary will be $9.8-10.8$. Among the states with the highest minimum wages are: Massachusetts, Arizona, Maine, Washington, Oregon, New York (but keep in mind that housing in NY is not the cheapest either), Colorado, California. The lowest minimum wages in America are in the state of Georgia ($5.1 per hour) and Wyoming ($5.15 per hour). http://craiglist.org/

DMDastan Maratovdastan_uk · 28 Νοε 2015Διάβασμα

When we felt a bit sad that it was time to go home and everything was coming to an end, a spontaneous idea popped into our heads: to visit the Grand Canyon. It was just on our way, and to check off another spot on our bucket list, we decided to head there on a whim. The road was long, the weather was scorching, but it was worth it! The beauty of the canyon cannot be described in words; you really have to see it. Even in the most professional photos, it doesn't look like it does in real life. It is vast, deep, and aesthetic. I felt like I was inside a painting by some famous artist. But the artist of this masterpiece is Mother Nature. Every rock or crevice looked exactly as it was meant to be. I was drowning in this beauty, I felt free, I breathed with my full lungs. I'm writing this now and remembering, and I still get goosebumps; the Grand Canyon inspired me so much. Desert Arizona is just as impressive as fertile California. Soon we were on our way home to Estes Park. The next day we arrived at Denver airport. We had our Denver-New York ticket in our hands... I realized the end was inevitable. I spent 3.5 months here, I learned so much, I saw more than I had seen in 20 years of living in Kazakhstan. At that very moment, my eyes automatically welled up, and tears streamed down my cheeks one after another. I know, "boys don't cry, it's not cool," but I couldn't control myself; it was beyond my strength. I felt like I was leaving a huge piece of my soul here and now, but there was no turning back. Arriving in New York as completely new people, we were no longer those three students with fear in our eyes and uncertainty in our souls; we had become much more experienced, mature, and confident. It took us exactly 2 days to buy gifts for our family and friends. I proudly spent the money I had earned myself and was happy that I could bring small pieces of my dream home. Shopping was tiring, of course, but it didn't take away the enthusiasm to walk the streets and avenues of New York again and again. September 20th, night. I am on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building, looking at New York at night, and I can't get enough of it. I turned 21 and I'm on the roof of the tallest building in New York; tell me, what could be better? Did I ever dream of spending my birthday in the USA? The answer is, of course, YES! Did I think it could happen? The answer is, the chances were not great. But reality proves otherwise—there is always a chance! In the end, I want to wish everyone kindness and advise you to dream, dream big, and turn your dreams into reality. I succeeded, and you undoubtedly will too! SUMMARY: 6 states, 8 cities, and 0 regrets. I don't regret anything; I believe everything was meant to happen this way!

DMDastan Maratovdastan_uk · 27 Νοε 2015Διάβασμα

We started our journey on September 8th by car, driven by our mutual friend Andre, whom we met in Estes Park. A road trip has huge advantages, not only in terms of saving money but also spiritually; it brings us all closer and makes our friendship even stronger. The drive along PERFECT roads to Las Vegas took over 12 hours, crossing the states of Utah and Arizona. 3 AM, the lights of Vegas are shimmering ahead, and it was very stuffy even at night. We stayed at the Flamingo hotel; to our surprise, a luxurious suite was very cheap, only 40 dollars a night. The hotel business is simply thriving and flourishing day by day. Las Vegas surprised me more than any other city with its concept. Walking through the City of Sin, you can easily find yourself in London, New York, Paris, Disneyland, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. It is simply an incredible city design that attracts millions of tourists from all over the world. Casinos are a separate topic. Casinos are everywhere; I won't hide it, despite being underage at the time, I tried my luck by playing slots a few times. Result: I lost everything and discovered a new character trait called "gambling addiction." Losing money could have continued until security kicked me out after checking my passport. This situation didn't upset me at all, as that night we were waiting for a concert show by Miss Britney Spears herself. The Princess of Pop has been holding her residency in Vegas for two years now, and her performances are named the most profitable and best shows of the year. The show was top-notch, a storm of emotions overwhelmed me, as I had never seen performances of such scale in my life, and the fact that I saw a real star so close that I could see her in detail was already a huge, fat plus. In the 2 days spent there, I realized that I am in love with this city completely and utterly. Las Vegas is total freedom, night walks, luxurious hotels, a center of entertainment, the good life, beautiful people, a volcano of positivity, and the epicenter of all my surprises and spiritual pleasure.

ALAnastassya LebedevaNastyaLebedeva · 28 Οκτ 2012Διάβασμα

Letter from September 1st. Sender: Anastasia Lebedeva, Flagstaff, Arizona Recipient: Mom, Kazakhstan Hi! We hope you are doing well. Everything is great here, so don't worry! What's up with Oleg's car again? I haven't been behind the wheel for ages, I'll soon forget where the gas and brake are) Let me tell you where we are. I absolutely loved everything in Flagstaff – starting from the hostel where we stayed, to the incomparable nature. I'll start by saying that this small town in Arizona welcomed us warmly – a small airport, forests all around, and mountain air! The taxi we took is called Friendly Cab – and it really lives up to its name. The city is surrounded by mountains and forests, everything is so cute, with a local Native American vibe. You can easily walk around this town. Even though it's Arizona and we expected to end up in a hot desert, we barely took off our hoodies! It's all because of the cool mountain air. We walked around, tried local cuisine, and watched a movie under the open sky. People here often gather in the square to watch films. And this time, in honor of Labor Day, the residents organized a small show with contests and entertainment. And in the morning, while our friends went to university according to the September 1st tradition, we went to see the Grand Canyon and the Navajo lands. At first, we had to wait for our tour bus. We were afraid we wouldn't make it anywhere since the bus wasn't showing up. We called the tour company. They told us to wait a little longer. We finally waited it out! The driver was late, but he did arrive. A feature of Arizona is that the landscapes change very quickly. First, you see many volcanoes and mountain hills out the window, one of which is the San Francisco Peaks. According to local beliefs, you can see San Francisco from its summit, hence the name. Then there are desert lands, and then forests. And the Grand Canyon is the real gem of these places. It's breathtaking – such beauty! When we reached it, we were speechless. It stretches for several hundred kilometers. It's better to see it once with your own eyes than a hundred times on TV. We will send the photos. Tomorrow we are flying to San Francisco! Anya will take me to her favorite places where she was last year. Can't wait. Say hi to everyone.

ALAnastassya LebedevaNastyaLebedeva · 28 Οκτ 2012Διάβασμα

Letter from August 31 Sender: Anastasia Lebedeva, Houston Airport, Texas Recipient: Yulia Keda, Kazakhstan Hi, Yul! The adventures continue. I'm writing these lines and I can't believe what happened to us. 9:40 AM. We are sitting in Terminal E. It's hard to describe what we just went through. Yes, we missed our flight! As Zombie and Zhenya noted, it's just like in a movie! The alarm went off at 5:30 AM. I heard Anya's voice: "Get up fast! If we miss the first bus, we'll miss the flight!" Our flight to Flagstaff, Arizona is at 9:20 AM. Breakfast is out of the question. Arriving at the stop, we were annoyed to find that the bus had just left, and the next one wouldn't be there for half an hour. Well, I thought, there's still time. We specifically got up early to at least catch the second bus. Rummaging through our pockets, we didn't find any change. And we have to travel with transfers; we'll need to take a bus in Arizona too. I ran back to the hostel, where, of course, the door was locked. I broke a twenty, ran to the stop. My breathing is uneven; that's what happens when you don't exercise. Anya is angry. There's no mood for anything. We had a fight. Finally, the bus arrived. We loaded the huge suitcase, arrived in Downtown, and waited there for about 30 minutes, maybe more. Bus 102 arrived, which was supposed to take us to the airport. We are hungry as wolves, and it's an hour's drive to the airport. "We'll eat at the airport – there should be a McDonald's there!" says Anya. We arrived at the airport at Terminal C. Where should we go? Anya checked online; our airline is located in Terminal A. We went down, took the train, and arrived at Terminal A. We remembered that the suitcase weighs more than it should. We had to move things into a backpack. Then we checked in online, got our tickets, and paid 25 dollars for the suitcase. Hunger is taking its toll. We looked at the clock. What McDonald's?! We have NO time. Boarding has ALREADY started! Looking at the ticket, we were horrified to discover that our flight would be from Terminal E, which we have to take the train to again! We went down. No train. We wait. It's supposed to run every three minutes. Where is it? There's no time. We're nervous. Boarding is already happening!!! We still need to go through security! The train! Finally! Our Terminal E is located next to Terminal D. So when we got off the train, we still had to find our terminal. We went up the escalator and saw a huge line for security. 20 minutes until departure. Boarding is over. We approach every person in line and ask to let us through. Everyone lets us pass and wishes us luck. We quickly kicked off our sneakers, put our belongings into special bins, went through the scanner, and ran on! We are running with the second suitcase, 2 rolls of photo wallpaper in our hands, a camera around our necks, I put my sneakers on like slippers, Anya is barefoot! As luck would have it, our gate E1 is at the very end. We ran there, and they told us the plane had just left... It's 9:17 AM. I don't know what to do. It was so hard for us to get these tickets. Where is our suitcase? It's flying to Flagstaff via Phoenix, and we are at Houston Airport. Tears in my eyes. I'm nervous. It's all because we missed the first bus! Anya is also tired of the bad luck, she doesn't want anything. We ask a Bush Airport employee to help us. She calls another one and says they will help us! Who doesn't have bad days? Many people are late. Really? It seems to me that only we are unlucky. Especially after our flight to New Orleans was canceled and we didn't know what to do. We went further. Anya can't find her phone. "It's all because I don't have pockets in my pants! There's nowhere to put it!" Bad luck again! She ran back to security to look for the phone. I'm waiting. Another woman agreed to change our tickets. The next flight to Phoenix is at 11:29 AM! And they will put us on it! It's so good that we have a 3-hour wait between flights. Then we w

ALAnastassya LebedevaNastyaLebedeva · 28 Οκτ 2012Διάβασμα

Letter from August 29. Sender: Anastasia Lebedeva, Houston, Texas Recipient: Yulia Keda, Kazakhstan I'm writing from Houston, Texas. You might ask how we ended up here. Why not from New Orleans? We had to change our plans. At first, we wanted to go to New Orleans by bus the next day or on Wednesday. We thought we'd go kayaking there—all the streets are flooded, and it didn't work out with Nora. But it turned out that all trips were canceled until Friday. ALL of them. Even the flights. No one is going there. The city is closed. You probably saw on the news what's happening there because of the hurricane. We didn't know what to do, and Anya suggested catching our flight in Houston. New Orleans – Houston – Arizona. Well, we'll have to skip that city. No one refunded our bus money. But we couldn't let our tickets to Arizona go to waste! And so, through a strange chain of events, Houston ended up on our travel calendar! After booking a hostel in advance and buying new Greyhound tickets, which cost us 50 bucks, we left for Houston on Tuesday afternoon. It gets dark in Houston at 7 o'clock. So when we got off at the Greyhound station in Downtown, the sun had almost set. With a huge suitcase, we trudged in the direction where our hostel was supposed to be. Downtown isn't safe. There are dark alleys everywhere and suspicious people asking for change. Luckily, it was about a half-hour walk to the hostel. In the morning, Anya called our airline to ask about the flight. We had tickets for New Orleans – Houston – Phoenix – Flagstaff. They said we would have to pay 1000 dollars just to board our flight in the middle of the route—in Houston. What the? Our mood was ruined. We were walking in a beautiful park with a lake and free Wi-Fi when we suddenly found this out. What 1000 bucks? Where would we get extra money? Anya called Greyhound to ask about tickets to Arizona. But the phone died. WTF?! I said: we should have stayed in Dallas and waited for the bus, but we're stuck here. After arguing with Anya, we decided to go grab a bite, charge the phone, and book bus tickets online. It's so beautiful around, but we're not in the mood. We walked through a sculpture park. It's peaceful. Everyone is relaxing, reading, and we don't know what to do. WHAT to do? We went to Starbucks. We could only hope that if we canceled our flight from New Orleans in advance, we would get at least part of the 502 dollars back. Anya called the airport. She talked for a very long time. They told her that our Friday flight from New Orleans was also canceled! And they would change our tickets! We will fly to Flagstaff from Houston. And we won't have to pay! Apparently, it was all meant to be: the buses were canceled, the phone died. After such stress, we needed an excellent Frappuccino. At the same time, we decided to do a little shopping – for such an occasion. That's all, I'll finish here. Let's chat later!

ALAnastassya LebedevaNastyaLebedeva · 28 Οκτ 2012Διάβασμα

Letter dated August 25th. Sender: Anastasia Lebedeva, Dallas Airport, Texas Recipient: Yulya Keda, Kazakhstan Hola! I was so happy to receive your letter. It's great that you don't forget about us and write such detailed notes. Now, let me get to the news. The month flew by unnoticed, and our journey has finally begun! I'm writing to you from the airport in Dallas, Texas. The plane just landed. We are waiting for Nora – we met her through Couchsurfing. After reading in your letter about the West Nile virus outbreak in Dallas, we looked up the terrifying statistics online – so many people infected by deadly mosquito bites. Everyone at work kept telling us: why are you going there? Don't! But the end justifies the means. By the way, we received all the packages from Amazon, so expect some gifts! I didn't think it would be so sad to leave Daytona Beach. I will miss not only my American friends but also the students from Russia and Moldova I worked with. On our last night before the flight, we gathered on the ocean shore, ordered pizza, and shared our impressions of the summer that flew by. I immediately remembered our hangouts and your delicious pizza! I'll put the bittersweet feelings aside for now, because The Big Trip is ahead! Friends from Daytona just wrote that a hurricane has started there – we left just in time! Answering your question about why we chose Texas as our first stop, I'll finally lift the veil of secrecy. In a couple of days, we are going to a concert............................................... of Linkin Park! Chester, Mike and the gang, wait for us! And the killer mosquitoes won't stop us! In the meantime, while Linkin Park is preparing for the show, I'll write about our grand plans. All our plane and bus tickets were bought a long time ago, so I think everything will be cool. After Dallas, we'll head to New Orleans, Louisiana, then to Flagstaff, Arizona – we have a tour of the eastern part of the Grand Canyon booked from there. The next stop is San Francisco, and finally, New York. We'll spend three days in each city, and we saved four for New York. Don't be bored! See you soon!

АХАлмаз Хайруллинguest_68933 · 6 Δεκ 2012Διάβασμα

A fugitive from Mexico. I woke up to the hustle and noise happening around me. I had slept for an hour, maybe two, or perhaps even 24. I hadn't slept or eaten properly for, maybe, two or even three days. My sleep-deprived mind couldn't tell me where I was. I could only assume I was somewhere right on the border with Mexico... somewhere in the middle of the American desert. Probably Arizona. It's just like in the Wild West movies. I'm sure you've seen it. A rocky brown desert with the horizon visible only in the distance. Why did we stop? And who is this man in a cowboy hat? Only a minute later did I realize that this cowboy had come for me, and I was under the intense scrutiny of all the bus passengers. Probably only the driver wasn't involved. I feel like a sleep-deprived lab rat. That's it, we've arrived. Caught. Grabbed. They'll probably tie me up and make soup out of me now. I need to tell them I don't taste good. The train of my tragic thoughts is interrupted by the cowboy. -hello. -hello, I reply. All the passengers on my cosmic greyhound bus have long known that the strange young man (that's me) flew in from Russia, so no one, except for my newfound friend, wonders why I have an accent. A little later, I find out that the cowboy isn't a cowboy at all, but a border patrol officer. And I fell under suspicion because I look like a Mexican migrant. And all he needs are my documents. Am I really that similar to a Mexican migrant? Trying to put on the sweetest smile on Earth, I take all the documents I have out of my backpack. I hand them over without removing my idiotic smile. After a long check, the border guard is convinced that I am not a Mexican migrant, but for extra certainty, he asks a couple of questions. Or rather, he fires them off like a machine gun, so fast that my childish mind can't grasp what this hulking body wants from me. I, of course, without removing my new American smile from my face, very politely and obligingly ask again what he wants. A dumb show. A conversation between two idiots. The situation is resolved by a third person, Joe. I met him the day before yesterday, but today this “FBI agent” knows everything about me. Joe explains what's what, and the border guard returns my documents. Applause. The passengers finished watching the show and went back to their business. Someone finishing their hamburger, someone reading, and someone trying to bother me with their questions. My new Latin American friend sat down next to me too. It seemed like she had been rooting for me the whole time. Somewhere at the other end of the bus. After many words about what a good job I did and that everything will be fine, our bus sets off on its journey to finally conquer the rocky desert.