101 things I learned by driving 7,835 miles across Trump’s America

On The Road USA is complete. Over the last 49 days I have travelled from Seattle to Maine, down to Atlanta, back to Boston and onto New York City. There was one domestic flight thanks to England being good at international major tournaments now, but this was a 7,835-mile driving epic to most corners of the country. I went to 10 per cent of the matches at a World Cup, going to 10 different stadiums. And this is the ultimate result: 101 things I learned from a monstrous journey: across US cities and small towns, through vast deserts and forests, meeting people along the way and taking in a World Cup like no other. Strap in: 1) The one thing that surprised me more than anything else on this trip was the welcoming nature of small towns in Texas and other southern states. I heard warnings of a mistrust of outsiders and the type of atmosphere that would make me fearful. I experienced precisely none of that. These places contained some of the most kind and welcoming locals I met all summer. 2) While this was true everywhere in the USA, it is important for me to also say: I was in a position of privilege. I am white, I am male, I am cisgender and I am a UK tourist (and Americans love nothing more than a UK tourist). My experience would not necessarily be shared by others and I am not intending to speak for everyone. 3) For all the relevant concerns (and I had plenty of my own), the USA generally pulled this off. The tickets and transport were disgustingly expensive and priced out regular match-going supporters, but the stadiums were full after the first few games, the atmospheres good and the use of Mexican waves mercifully abated after the first week. 4) This was aided hugely by something I have never seen at a major tournament before: vast swathes of Americans with match tickets seemingly picking one of the teams to support rather than watching on as entirely neutral observers. I’m sure it sounds a little twee to those thousands of miles away, but it dramatically improved atmospheres at matches. 5) And then Donald Trump ruined the vibe around the US national team and the World Cup in general with his boasting about intervening to get Folarin Balogun’s suspension suspended. Hearing Marco Rubio say “this is why the Fifa trophy has been in this office for so long” is one of those moments that should define the next age of Fifa. It won’t. 6) One of the great stereotypes of the USA is that it is all fast food restaurants, to which I say: yes, there really are a lot of fast food restaurants. The list of chain places where you can get a regular burger (and I will have left loads out): McDonald’s Burger King, Dairy Queen. Carl’s Jr. Arby’s, White Castle, Five Guys, Hardee’s, Wendy’s, Denny’s. Whataburger, In-N-Out Burger, Shake Shack, Culver’s, Cook Out, Red Robin, Jack In The Box, Wahlburgers, Sonic, IHOP. I’ve not even touched upon chicken, pizzas or Mexican food. The choice blows your mind. 7) But it’s also thick to say that fast food is the only option, which some people assume because of the sheer choice. The immigrant food culture is America’s greatest asset for a traveller. You can walk into pretty much any small town and find options for Mexican, Korean and Chinese food that you’d be delighted with in any UK city, and the average level of quality is astounding. 8) Foreign travellers often moan about tipping culture in the US, but it is also the best country for customer service that I have ever visited. Part of that is the reward element of high tips, but it’s absolutely not only that. You can walk into a gas station (where there are no tips) in the middle of nowhere from Oregon to Maine and you will almost never not receive a more friendly interaction that you will ever have enjoyed in the same scenario in the UK. They’re just…friendlier in customer-facing positions. 9) Actually, I’m just extending that to all American people. Some may find the “Have a nice day” and “Missing you already” sugary friendliness a bit much, but I am not one of those people. When you are spending almost every day for seven weeks seeing nobody you know, being treated like a long-lost friend by a waitress is a real boost. 10) The lane discipline of American drivers on highways is really something to behold. Are you happy to drive two miles an hour below the speed limit in the outside lane of four simply because the road is long and the concentration levels low? Then move to the USA. 11) You have a vision of USA summer weather that is largely curated by television shows you’ve seen in England that all happen to be set in California. In fact, in a world increasingly impacted by climate change, a large number of states cycle between punishingly hot weather and the sort of storms that make you never want to go outside again. 12) You have never known panic until you are 20 minutes from getting into your car to drive for six hours across three states and your phone pings with a tornado alert that you didn’t ask for. 13) If I had one wish in my life, it would be for someone to love me as much as American towns love an absolutely massive flag on an absolutely massive pole. You could wrap a small office building in some of these. 14) There were watch parties for every USA game in whichever town or city I was in at the time, but I saw very few USMNT shirts between games. The striped kit was held up as a design classic, but that doesn’t seem to have dripped down to smalltown USA. 15) But the one shirt you really could see everywhere during the World Cup was the white Mexico away shirt. It reinforces how – and this is absolutely a sweeping statement – soccer is the immigrant game in many parts of the USA. Mexico matchdays, particularly in the southern states and California, always felt like the biggest occasions. 16) The other stereotype of Americans is obesity. And yes, it’s clearly an issue (and also is in the UK). But to me the US is a country of extremes. Go out for a walk or a jog along a country trail on a Saturday morning and you see hundreds of American couples or families doing the same. It’s not that they don’t do exercise. It’s that exercise is more of an organised activity. I have no evidence for this opinion. 17) The lack of general walking, in favour of the motor vehicle, really takes some getting used to though. You think a town is deserted because you can’t see anyone, but they’re either inside shops or restaurants or inside their cars. Almost nobody walks along a sidewalk for more than 100m, to the extent that people look at you weirdly for even crossing a large car park on foot. 18) And that does create some farcical situations. In more than one motel, I was separated from a shop or restaurant by a three or four-minute walk that I was physically unable to complete without walking on the side of a busy road. Sidewalks simply stop without rhyme or reason. 19) Three nominations for my favourite small towns or areas in the USA – Columbus, Texas: A quaint high street that had a filmic quality, classic house design with verandas and rocking chairs and a wonderful brewery tap to watch the World Cup. Football’s greatest show is impossible to avoid, even in small towns like Columbus (Photo: Daniel Storey) 20) The Hill. St Louis, Missouri: The Italian-American area of St Louis, with wonderful trattorias, neat residential streets and fantastic delis. I went to Anthonino’s, which has a mural to the USA team that beat England in the 1950 World Cup. Five members of the squad were from The Hill. You have to go and eat the toasted ravioli. 21) Lubec, Maine: The last town on the line at the top of the country, literally 30 metres from Canada at the closest crossing. It is a small fishing town that looked so impossibly beautiful in the early evening sunshine that I almost had a little weep. 22) I don’t know who needs to hear this, but the USA seafood industry needs to stop branding king prawns as “shrimp”. It massively undersells the size and quality of what you are selling. In a country that likes its bold, brash names, shrimp is a complete misnomer. 23) This is the stuff of tired stand-up routines so I won’t dwell on it for long, but the size of appetisers in US restaurants really is a thing of wonder. It’s as if having the gall to order one as well as a main meal provokes an eating challenge-style scenario. 24) The best crisps in the whole of the USA are Miss Vickie’s Spicy Dill Pickle. They are not available in the UK and I had one slightly bleak evening in a motel where I researched how expensive it would be to set up and import system through existing UK suppliers. What I’m saying is: they are good crisps. 25) While we’re dwelling upon buying food, the quality of US supermarkets is disgustingly good and it’s not just the sheer size (although that is mad). The selection of fresh fruit, vegetables, salad and deli items in even a small-ish store in a small-ish town is enough to make your best Waitrose blush. We’re being lied to here, sheeple. 26) And I’d extend that to petrol/gas stations. If you parked up on a forecourt and your partner asked you to surprise them with your selection of chocolate bar plus fruit-flavoured drink, I reckon you could spend three years working through the different combinations and not exhaust them all. We’re talking five fridges of energy drinks. 27) OK, Americans like one thing more than massive flags on massive poles: random oversized objects in the middle of nowhere. Like the huge olive (with pick) by a field. Or the huge dinosaur. Or the huge chest of drawers. Or the giant blueberry. Here’s a fun game: Go on Google Maps, hover over a US state at random and search for “World’s largest”. It is a laugh. 28) There were moral issues with this tournament stemming from the leadership of the country and the leadership of world football, but one thing that should never have been in doubt was the ability of US stadiums to host a large-scale sporting tournament. The organisation inside and around was extraordinarily good. 29) And it was led by mass teams of volunteers who were the most helpful and knowledgeable of any major tournament I’ve ever attended. This was US customer service turned up to 11. 30) Random observation: I drove for more than 7,800 miles in this tournament and yet I still attended 10 per cent of all the matches at it. I think that’s a pretty good effort, if I say so myself. 31) My favourite two states were Maine and Tennessee, but Tennessee is getting the prize because it completely surprised me. Green, lush, phenomenal scenery, wonderful welcome and some of the best barbecue I have ever eaten. 32) On that: I spent about three weeks driving through states where you can just add the word “barbecue” after the state name and find some delicious quirk of an already delicious thing. This is a good way to spend your time. 33) Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium was my favourite at this tournament, because a) it is in a city centre, something no other city seemed too bothered about, and b) they deliberately kept their prices far lower than everywhere else to look after supporters. Please can this catch on. A general interior view of Atlanta Stadium (Photo: Getty) 34) But in general, I moved away from enjoying the indoor stadiums. Yes So-Fi and the Mercedes Benz are great, but a proper USA World Cup stadium should be a vast bowl that is open to the elements, meaning supporters either get baked in the sun or pelted with summer storms. 35) As with Doing The 92, a shout out to some podcasts that helped with the circa 170 hours of driving during the tournament: Elis James and John Robins, Career We Go, Football Cliches, Screen Rot and From The Oasthouse. The latter is only a fake podcast, but it’s also the best audio creation since Beethoven and Mozart passed away so go with it. 36) Ten songs that I also got obsessed with: White Noise – Holly Humberstone, Follow The Sun – Xavier Rudd, Mt Joy – Mt Joy, The Sofa – Wolf Alice, Free Now – Gracie Abrams, Apocalypse – Cigarettes After Sex, Messy – Lola Young, I’m Not Pretty – Megan Moroney, Frail Love – CLOVES, Labour – Paris Paloma. 37) This is a bad situation: you pick up a hire car after a 21-hour day with no sleep thanks to time zones. You are by yourself and the traffic on the interstate is busy. After 10 miles of driving you are faced with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the wind. Talk about jumping in at the deep end. 38) I was largely very lucky with traffic because most of the driving was between small towns and most of the stadiums are outside the city centres. But there is something within the human psyche that means driving gets more angry and more aggressive as you approach a major city. I don’t know how to explain it – does late-stage capitalism really make those closest to it unpleasant via osmosis? 39) FAO US Motel constructors: the depth of your baths is absolutely insane, to the extent that they would be better described as large shower trays. I measured it as three average-sized apples; that’s not deep enough. 40) But what they take away with bath depth, the USA gives back with the space under the doors of public restrooms. It is one of the most harrowing tourist experiences: walking into a public toilet and seeing a man’s shoes, trousers, boxers and half his legs under the door. You are pervert freaks for building them like this and I’m afraid I will kinkshame you. 41) Inevitably long road trips have milestone moments. Mine became the drives over major rivers, which often coincide with changes of state. Mississippi, Delaware, Rio Grande, Columbia and Brazos – I salute you. 42) One theme of this long list: me getting disproportionately emotional about tiny things because I was broadly alone for 50 days. There’s nothing like the swing from loving a small town to being glum because you might never come back. Lighten up, mate! Tennessee has gone straight into No. 1 of my top states visited so far (13 down, Oklahoma at 13 – sorry). Got emotional looking at this view earlier, which may or may not be related to this being my 27th day alone. pic.twitter.com/JkPkC8IBxf— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) June 29, 2026 43) I made a silly little three-minute video every two days on this trip (you can go here to watch them if you want), and the most regular reply was from American people thanking me for presenting the quirky, funny, beautiful and cool places and faces along the way. That’s something I hold very dear. 44) The best non-football view of the entire trip was In California, looking over Lake Siskiyou towards Mt Shasta. There are too many recommendations for beautiful vistas, but this one wins. 45) But my favourite view (different to best, I make the rules) was walking down to West Quoddy Lighthouse in Maine and knowing that I had completed my personal hat-trick: look from America to Canada, look from America to Mexico, look from America to Canada again. And at the same time, I had hit the easternmost point of the contiguous USA having visited the westernmost point. 46) I am now medically addicted to USA motel breakfast hot sauces: mild, sweet, vibrant and able to enliven even the most tasteless of scrambled eggs. Cholula wins. 47) I developed an excellent snack bag system, crucial when you’re trying to have one large meal a day and are driving for four hours on average. And by snack bag I mean a bin bag taken from a motel bathroom bin (clean) with apples, bananas, the occasional shortbread, muffin and tea bags. I’m not afraid to say that I usually used the buffet breakfast on a take-and-go basis. I never want to eat another turkey sausage. 48) The most important thing to pack was carrier bags. They are used for dirty laundry and thus kept away from clean clothes. They are used for shoes. They are used for extra snacks. They are used as a bin bag in the car. They are used as lining bags for your rucksack when you have no choice but to walk through a storm. 49) Why is nobody talking about the width of motel beds in the USA? I know there was only one of me and I know that you have to cater for all sizes. But I could have cloned myself six times and still had room to spread out. One of mine had six pillows. Six! 50) More on driving: I don’t know if people drive in the middle lane because they know people will undertake or undertake because no bugger moves out of the middle lane, but it is an insane situation. You’ve got people weaving over all sides like some Mario Kart grand prix. I’ve never driven somewhere where you instinctively look both sides before changing lanes. 51) If you’re a sad sap like me, there is no better feeling in the world than being given a cheery wave or thumbs up after letting someone out or in while driving. This feeling is multiplied by three when you do it abroad. I don’t know why – leave me alone. 52) The signposting around stadiums in the US was also brilliant, for fans and workers alike. We have become far too acquiescent in the UK to arriving at a sports stadium and there being zero information about where people should go. We must do better. 53) The worst stadium was MetLife, although Boston was also an absolute pain in the arse to get into and away from. The transport links were expensive, the ground is too far away from where everybody stays and the pitch was in poor condition. If this was a World Cup organised on merit, the Azteca would have hosted the final. But…well, that was never going to happen. 54) The treatment of the Iran national team, who were out at a considerable competitive disadvantage thanks to their plans being forcibly changed during the tournament, was also a disgrace. You shouldn’t be able to host a World Cup if you are not prepared to let the squad of every competing nation stay in your country. 55) Both of those incidents created a crisis for Gianni Infantino, whose cheerleading and grandstanding for Trump and MAGA has brought the name of his organisation into disrepute over the last two years. Infantino will survive and will be re-elected, but his suggestion that a 64-team World Cup could happen as a matter of urgency was a naked power grab to retain support in Africa and South America. 56) The most patriotic breakfast ingredient I have ever seen is “star-spangled (waffle) batter”. Never change, America. 57) Diet Dr Pepper is the best mainstream soft drink and tastes better over here. But one niche brand beats it: Maine Root’s Black Cherry soda. That can come over with the dill pickle crisps. My favourite doctor on the road (Photo: Daniel Storey) 58) If you ever do a road trip across America, here’s a tip: somewhere along your journey, find your middle of nowhere. America has so many to choose from, so just park up at the side of a small road with no building in sight and listen to the sound of silence. 59) I promise that this isn’t related to the last one, but the product that is advertised 50 times as often as anything else by US roads is cannabis, either for sale regularly (in states where it is legal) or for “medical” reasons. In some states you’re never more than a mile from someone trying to sell you “da ‘erb” on a billboard. 60) In second is fireworks. I know I was in the country before, during and after the 250th birthday Independence Day celebrations but still: you don’t need four firework shops in a town of 1,400 people. 61) Shout out to the man who had one stone left over when landscaping his garden and, rather than throwing it away, decided to get industrial quantities of cement and build a second Stonehenge. This is Texas and it won’t change. 62) Also in Texas, I basically stumbled upon Kyle Field. It is the sixth largest sports stadium in the world and it is a small town called College Station. US College sport, its stadiums and its audiences, are absolutely wild to someone from the UK. 63) If the US does fast food en masse, it also has far more – and far better – options for healthy fresh food than the UK. My favourites were Cava, Panera Bread, Sweetgreen and Chopt. All are better than anything we have, I reckon. 64) I considered myself incredibly fortunate that my road trip coincided with an Argentina group game, meaning that I got to see Lionel Messi play one more time. Doing so in the US is like witnessing a religious leader speaking, such is the devotion and passion of people in town to see one individual above all others. And then I got to watch him play again. And again. I got to watch Messi again and again and again (Photo: Getty) 65) Here it is, stowed safely away in the middle to test you: my number one tip for a USA road trip. Use Google Maps to plan every route but then specify that you want no tolls. Not only will you save lots of money, but you’ll also often turn off the major interstate highways and be taken through small-town America and some wonderful rural scenery. 66) I was encouraged by the vast number of Pride flags I saw hung outside homes in virtually every state. I’m sure that this is in response to communities feeling under threat from the policies of the sitting president (which is clearly no cause for celebration), but it was warming to see people standing out and proud. 67) The outright coolest place I visited was Marfa, a tiny town in the middle of the Texas desert that has become an artsy haven with bars, restaurants, galleries and boutique shops. Driving through it without forewarning of its existence was like a hallucination. An oasis in the desert. 68) Dick’s Sporting Goods is one of the great US institutions and I don’t think they realise how lucky they are. It is almost certainly financially unviable, but I am starting the campaign for them to come to England. There’s something great about staring at 200 footballs on a wall and having no intention of buying one. #BringBackLillywhites 69) I could sit down in a comfy chair and flick through a massive coffee table book of 1,000 American backyards and front porches and have a wonderful afternoon. This is my pitch to a publishing house. 70) I did 34 different motels in 48 days and let me tell you: I will see the breakfast buffet setup in my dreams every night for a year, so etched into my brain is its consistency. I’ve never yelped with excitement through unexpectedly seeing a pot of yoghurt in a fridge before. 71) For all that the US political landscape is incredibly divisive, as a traveller (even one visiting 28 different states) you see almost no direct visual evidence of political discourse. I saw one store selling Trump merchandise, one old bloke sat on a bench in a MAGA hat and a few bumper stickers referring to the president in a derogatory manner. The one thought that lives in your brain as you meet hundreds of Americans over seven weeks is: I can’t imagine you voting for Trump. 72) Another US stereotype, but one that absolutely holds true: places close early. It’s not unusual in a small town for a restaurant to close at 8pm and even in larger places I would have struggled to eat much later. 73) That coincides with a complete lack of drinking culture that sticks out on repeat when you spot it. Americans think nothing of having one or two beers. In seven weeks I don’t think I saw anyone in a bar or restaurant who seemed drunk. 74) Those two things combine to make towns and cities eerily quiet after 8pm, something exacerbated on sultry summer evenings. The American ideal of the family dynamic is intensely strong and you see it best when you see nobody at all. 75) Yes, another stereotype: US cars really are absolutely massive, so much so that a decent proportion of them aren’t cars at all. I picked up a Hyundai Elantra and it was the biggest car I had ever driven (I only passed my driving test four years ago). Two weeks later and it felt like a Smart car given the number of pickup trucks and people carriers. This is a country where an SUV is a smaller option. 76) Because of that, parking is an absolute dream. Every space is massive and lots of them have two lines dividing them to create extra space for the monster trucks. You can’t miss! 77) Having mentioned the car, a love letter. My Elantra was named Michael (Hyundai > Hyundai Oliseh (Nigeria) > Michael Olise). They were my companion, my confidante, my guide and my support system. We did 7,835 miles from coast to coast and we did it together. I will never forget you and nobody who drives you next will quite have what we did. Maybe one day I’ll put your license plate into the internet and see what you’re up to. Roll well, my friend. 78) Towards the end of the trip I needed to buy two soccer shirts to have enough to complete the video diaries. I visited sports stores and malls in three different US towns and I found two soccer shirts: USA home shirt (only available in children’s sizes) and an Inter Miami home shirt. Sorry, but that’s not a culture of football. 79) The biggest angst in covering a major tournament is making all your plans and then living in fear of your match accreditation not being accepted. I think this is probably a symptom of imposter syndrome and I will never shake it. 80) The best thing to do in New York City is to walk the High Line every day. 81) You will never feel more smug at a summer football tournament than when everybody else is hot, bothered and sweating and you have a cheap, battery-powered fan. 82) One of my biggest worries about this trip would be making dangerous mistakes with my driving – wrong side of the road when tired etc. Now my biggest worry is that I am going to start turning right on red in England. This is the definition of institutionalisation. 83) And I really did get institutionalised. It’s not that I don’t remember home and England, obviously. But I also can’t really remember a time when I wasn’t packing up all my stuff and moving on every day. That is what 34 motels in 44 days does to a brain. America! (Photo: Daniel Storey) 84) The coolest moments of this trip were watching matches with fans of one of the sides playing. I sat and spoke to supporters of Canada, USA, Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Argentina and Haiti. Shout out to every one of those people 85) I usually get rid of my England nerves at major tournaments by watching every game live in the stadium. Being there allows you to channel fear into the prism of the moment and actually makes it less stressful than watching on television. Anyway, that’s why I could be seen shadow batting in a motel during the added time of England vs Mexico because I couldn’t bear to look at the TV more than once every 10 seconds. 86) I took only one complete day off during this tournament, a day on which I wrote no pieces (I did drive several hundred miles but shush). I went whale watching from Plymouth Massachusetts. And I’m not saying that I got lucky, but the guide was almost in tears because it was the best trip she had had in 15 years. At one point there were 20-30 humpbacks in a feeding circle. This is more of a boast than a learning. 87) There haven’t been many goals that I have seen live that have more caught me off guard than Harry Kane’s second finish against DR Congo. The power that man generates without much backlift is a wonder to behold. 88) Boston Logan Terminal E is the quietest, easiest, most efficient airport experience I’ve ever had. If I was going to briefly abandon the car-only policy during the trip, Terminal E and a World Cup semi-final made it worth it. 89) I saw lots of wonderful potential culinary experiences and got involved in plenty of them. But nothing will beat the White Castle burger vending machine at Boston Logan airport. I was tempted to buy one to document such gastronomy. And then I saw someone else buy one. 90) Americans, your four-way stop signs in which nobody has priority except the person who gets there first does but then everyone has a little panic about who actually got their first, are absolutely mindblowing. Sorry. 91) England were a weird old entity in this World Cup. I wrote after the group stage that I didn’t know if they were good, spent three knockout matches assuming that they must be and then they completely threw away a place in the final by doing exactly what their opponents wanted. In the end I was more annoyed than I have been since 2016 (Iceland, not Brexit). 92) Thomas Tuchel is also in a weird position too. I got angry enough here and so you should read that. But I cannot believe that we ended this summer with Tuchel saying that he had to pick his match strategy because the DNA of English means that they couldn’t keep the ball against a team they were better than. My head is still on mars. 93) The accuracy of Google ratings for motels and restaurants in America is freakishly high. This will sound like an obvious statement, but you notice it after 34 motels and countless meals out: a 4.3 is literally 0.1 better than a 4.2. I have never trusted anything more. It has changed the game forever. 94) I got one plane journey during the journey (unplanned, from and back to Boston for an England semi-final) and the only thing it made me realise is that I am glad it was the only one. It’s quite annoying being told where and when you need to be rather than winding your own way there. 95) Last car tip: never turn on the cruise control. “Ooooh you’re giving yourself extra work, idiot,” people will say. The car was automatic, had lane assist so it steered for me and beeped at me regarding speed limits, upcoming route changes and when it was safe to change lane. Controlling the speed was all I had left. 96) Attending a World Cup final will always be an intense privilege. At almost every other game you attend, there is some sense that this is not the only show in town. Even the Champions League final may not resonate entirely in North and South America or across Asia. The World Cup final is clearly different. It’s the day when the job feels most special. 97) And we got worthy winners (and worthy losers, given Argentina’s behaviour during and after the match). Spain dominating again is galling in some sense, because it is built upon principles and logical systems that any number of countries (yes, I mean England) could do. But when they make player and coaching development look so easy and so efficient, all you can do is take your hat off and salute. It all ended in NYC (Photo: Daniel Storey) 98) I absolutely hit a five-week wall which absolutely is related to this being the longest major tournament in football history. The last 14 days, which were also the busiest due to England staying the course, felt as long as the first 35. 99) Please, not even for a second, think that I am moaning. I’ve said this so often that even the people close to me are sick of hearing it, but I have the best role in the world and this summer has been the best of my career. 100) There is an oft-repeated statistic about the percentage of Americans that don’t possess a passport, usually uttered with a sneering, “Check out these idiots” tone. Well hear this: they don’t need one. Just the west coast of the USA has pretty much everything you could ever want: beaches and mountains, skiing and surfing, major cities and rural charm, deserts and vast forests, national parks and innumerable small towns waiting to welcome you. I could spend a month in each of the 28 states I visited on this trip and barely see half of what I wanted. 101) That would be my one message after this trip: come here if you can. Meet the people. Travel from state to state. Have days that are planned and others where you simply bump into unexpected pleasure. I have fundamental issues with the leadership of the USA. But using that as a reason not to come here is letting them win. Don’t let one man define an extraordinarily rich, beautiful, diverse country.