Key takeaways
- Overstuffed USA routes usually feel worse in reality than they look on a map
- Travel days are real holiday days and need planning accordingly
- A smarter hotel mix often beats paying top dollar at every single stop
A multi-centre USA trip can be one of the most exciting holidays you ever take. It can also become strangely tiring, oddly expensive and far less glamorous than expected if the route has been stitched together without enough honesty.
The first mistake is still the most common: trying to do too much because the map makes it look possible.
The second big mistake is pretending that travel days are invisible. They are not. A short internal flight may look like ninety minutes in the air, but the real day includes getting to the airport, security, boarding, disembarking, collecting luggage, reaching the next hotel.
The third mistake is choosing destinations because they are famous rather than because they actually create a clean route together.
The USA rewards rhythm. That is really what most strong itineraries have in common.