(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best us travel guides

So so so so many recommendations, OP included a great list too. Definitely follow rules and laws for flying your drone. Its VERY tempting to want to fly it everything cause its so MOTHER EFFING beautiful, but stay out of the state and national parks with it.

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I will also suggest, no..HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book https://www.amazon.com/Hawaii-Big-Island-Revealed-Guidebook/dp/0996131825/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ST3GCAV0BCCZMNGAK34N

I normally go anywhere and think I'll just find everything I need online or on my phone, and while you can, this book is CRAZY helpful. Plus its great reading on the plane and will get you more excited. Really helpful tips, hidden gems, etc in this book...cant recommend it enough. And its well written, not boring at all to read.

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When in Kona, check out

• Ali'i Gardens Market Place. Great prices on shirts, gifts, etc - and some good food - including shave ice
  
• Any farmers market will do too, several along Ali'i drive in Kona
  
• Da Poke Shack - best poke bowls on the island. (they also see it at costco and its pretty good there. If you have costco card, definitely go there for shopping and essentials for the week, including gas.
  
• Go to the little surf shop by Da Poke Shack, you can rent snorkle/mask for like $25 for the week. Great snorkling around Captain Cook, and Bay of Refuge - a must do
  
• Eat Breakfast at 808 Grindz - macdamia waffles and pancakes - you can thank me later
  
• If you want to do a Luau, Island Breeze is the best one on the island. We did this in lieu of a wedding reception, it was an absolutely amazing time, great food, and call you can drink mai tais!
  
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  Hilo
  
  
• Check out the zoo, pretty cool little zoo and cheap
  
• Hawaii Botanical gardens - not like any other BG you have ever seen...its truly a treasure to see, plants and it backs up to the ocean at the end....stunning is putting it mildly.
  
  Other Stuff
  
  
• Drive to top of mauna kea - make sure you have 4wd - we rented a 4 door jeep. You have to stop at the visitors center to get acclimated with the altitude. This is no joke, spend the 30 mins there, if not longer. Getting out of your car at the top of the volcano is beautiful, but if you're not ready you WILL get sick. Headache, light headed, vomit, or all 3.
  
• Waipio valley...yes yes, all day yes. You can drive down to the black sand beach there too, just be careful...its not an easy drive down or up

Vegas has more than enough to do in the city, but if you feel like it, the hills/mountains around there are apparently beautiful. I've been told they're great for hiking and rock climbing. Old Vegas is a decent midday trip.

If you feel so inclined, going to tapings of things like Leno in LA are pretty cool, but expect to waste an entire day waiting in line to get in. Hit up comedy clubs on weeknights. You might get lucky and see someone really famous trying out some new bits.

Hit up a comedy club or two in San Francisco if you're into that. Every time I've gone to one of the smaller ones there, I've been able to meet some very famous locals. Not that you would want to hang out on the beaches there, but maybe take a day and drive to the beaches north of the city in Marin County. The drive is gorgeous. Or, drive a few hours out of SF into wine country. Always expect it to be cold in SF.

I can't be of much help for Hawaii and NY...never been to either. I highly suggest you get the DK Top 10 books (http://www.amazon.com/York-City-Eyewitness-Travel-Guide/dp/0756632560) for each city you're going to. They're cheap and overall pack the most useful information into the smallest form of any travel book I've ever used.

Good luck!

Over 1,000 Miles from Big Cypress to Pensacola, through the sparsely populated center of the state. I have had the privilege to walk hundreds of miles on this trail and despite my deep love for mountains, remains one of my favorite places to hike.

I prefer north Florida (Ocala/Osceola are great for weekends/week long trips) but south Florida too has its own unique beauty often overlooked. There are many side trails, the Ocean to Lake Trail (65 miles) being a great one during the dry season.

I recommend dry season especially for anything south of Orlando, this year it is still very wet. For the south, elevation seems easy once you've walked in knee to waist deep black waters for hour after hour.

Some good books:

Hiking the Florida Trail: 1,100 Miles, 78 Days, Two Pairs of Boots, and One Heck of an Adventure

The Florida Trail - Guide book, though I'm not sure how dated it is, I still have my well worn copy and gives great side trails easily missed. Like the sink hole in Ocala with water basins still intact from the early prairie homes.

Regional/local maps are cheap and durable from the Florida Trail Org website.

Some things to be aware of: Water is vital and not always easily to come by, especially during dry season. Prepare as you do wherever you are. Iodine tablets in your emergency kits even with a filter.

Some things I've learned: It can get cold in Florida. So cold my 2 liter froze solid. It can also get hot, and calling it quits for safety was one of the best lessons I ever relearned. When it's 90 degrees, you're very low on water, the well is broken off at the base and your next source is 24 miles out, be smart. There are A LOT of bears in Florida, most are shy, but hang your packs like you do anywhere else there are bears.

I stayed at the Hilo Tropical Gardens hostel. Super nice, great people and quiet. plus, they also run a homemade ice cream shop!

You can get to Mauna Kea no problem with any rental. For Waipio most cars with decent clearance should be fine as long as you take it nice and easy, and ride a low gear. don't be an idiot and burn your brakes out. would recommend a rental with a manual transmission.

But for true back county exploration 4x4 or by foot is your best option.

Big Island Revealed and Big Island Trailblazer are excellent books. you should also get a detailed map.

Check out The Green Sand beach, close to South Point. Its amazing. drive down and spend the whole day, or camp out.

as for the ganja, it's all over. you just need to ask the right person. Pakalolo is it's Hawaiian name btw.

Cost of living in Chicago is not bad at all. If you're considering a 1BR apartment for $1,000 then the cost of food here will not be a concern to you. Keep in mind that if you decide to live downtown you might get hit with a higher sales tax than other parts of the city.

I would suggest living outside of downtown as most of Chicago does. I would suggest if you're looking for an area that is safe, affordable, and accessible then head north towards Lakeview / Roscoe Village.

The best tool I've ever found to finding apartments is PadMapper. If you expand the toolbar in the bottom left corner you'll find ways to sort things based on price, bedrooms, etc. They also have a crime overlay that you can toggle on and off. You could also do some research on a part of town through Everyblock. Although I will admit it will make you paranoid.

In regards to a car, I don't personally have one nor have I found it necessary to have one with me at all times. Chicago is a very accessible city via public transit with things like "the EL" which is short for Elevated Train. Its pretty good to get you from north to south and the busses here are good for east & west. You could also look into services like iGo or Zipcar for short car rentals. They're great for things like big purchases or IKEA runs. Not to mention that Chicago is pancake flat with over 150 miles of dedicated bike lanes in the city.

I would also suggest a book like this for learning about specific areas.

If you have any more specific questions, let me know.

That sounds good. I think Billings is usually the sweet spot for price/time. When we went a decade ago we actually flew into Salt Lake City, but that's a really long drive.

Yellowstone is amazing - you'll have a great time. If you haven't come across it yet, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Yellowstone Treasures: The Traveler's Companion to the National Park. The sheer scale of Yellowstone can be a bit intimidating and I found this book to be the best way to get a handle on things - far better than any of the other guides out there.

How long are you going to be here? There's so much cool stuff to do in Oahu. JimmyHavok already grabbed 2 of my ideas, the Diamond Head Hike, and Hanauma Bay (literally 3 minutes from my house) which is pretty solid snorkeling, but it can get crowded quickly. Come early!
There's a lot of pretty badass hikes, ranging from an hour to a full day. If you can find the book Oahu Revealed, I highly recommend it for finding all sorts of fun little trips, and it has contact information for all sorts of places.
One note: If you've heard about Stairway to Heaven / Haiku stairs, don't even try to take them. They post a guard at 3AM (his hours just recently changed from 7AM) and even finding the unmarked trailhead is a huge pain. There's plenty of other fun things to do.

Sorry it took me 2 days to see this post- Bad Mod.. bad!

One of my personal favorite can-do-in-stock-form-and-still-challenge-yourself trails (also a bit of proving grounds for any new mods I do as it is so close to Denver- Yankee Hill Road

I would also pick up a copy of this book for future reference.. This one has a lot to do with trails in Southern/ Central CO- but there is a version 2 of it that has trails that are a bit more northern.
I have used these books religiously since highschool for leading trails around CO, and even Moab. It is a great resource. For everything else- there is Traildamage.com- You can use the map to drill into trails closest to you or where you are looking to go out and the descriptions are pretty good most of the time (i.e. written by users... so think of Yelp reviews.)

Finally, It is a bit late for me this weekend, and I am travelling next weekend, but if I remember I will hit you up next time I am headed out/ up- would be happy to show you around.

Molly's cool. She has my dream job and I'm not even mad. She made better life decisions, she's beautiful, and she seems fairly knowledgeable. No one knows their shit like Dei but that HD is a killer.

She wrote a book. You should read it. Let me know.

Zumoff calls her Mols all the time like they're BFF but in a perfect world I like to think Molly Sullivan and Sheena Parveen get drunk on wine coolers and watch Katherine Heigl movies and relive their experimental college days.

I love my home but shit gets pretty bleak in Philly sometimes. Sheena's ass & Molly's rack are straight beacons of hope.
Show ya luv.

I found this to be very informative :)

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_014600.pdf

These are the books I use when I go gem hunting, they're great!
When I first started gem hunting I found having sunglasses a regular hammer and a screwdriver was enough to get out some really cool stuff.

https://www.amazon.com/Gem-Trails-Pennsylvania-New-Jersey/dp/0935182853

Happy hunting friend !

Never been to Maui, but the Big Island was amazing and much less "built up" - you can go on a day trip?

I would recommend a book called Maui Revealed - the authors write books about Hawaii, and their book on The Big Island was the best we found.

This is the book where I discovered the history. It tells it chronologically, with great old photography of the city. I found it years ago at Barnes & Nobles right after I moved to KC, and it really accelerated how quickly I fell in love with the city. I was working on my graduate paper, so I had free time whenever I wanted, and I used that book as a guide to explore the city and see the places I was reading about. It's surprising how many cool and/or beautiful places there are in KC that most people don't know about or just drive right past every day.

Ok well here is the best place to start. It is absolutely gorgeous. Also The Frogs Leap winery in Napa does free tours, its a blast.

http://smile.amazon.com/Fodors-Northern-California-2014-Full-color/dp/0770432662/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420487093&sr=8-1&keywords=fodors+northern+california

On Saturday I went to Rider Park in Lycoming County. Nobody seems to have heard of this place because it is not a state park. I was the only person in the park for most of the day. The trails were exceptionally wide and easy to follow and there were interesting things to see like a mountain meadow, the foundations of old homesteads, and even a little graveyard.

The park is also nowhere near Philadelphia but my point is that there are obscure places for decent hiking. I think Bucks County has many green spaces for hiking. I've been reading Explorer's Guide Eastern Pennsylvania which lists many places.

My project this summer has been to explore the Poconos. I visited Bushkill Falls which is not free, but pretty spectacular. Big Pocono State Park had some great views and the Indian Trail was nice but very rocky. I also went to Hickory Run State Park and saw Boulder Field but I only ventured out into the boulder field a little. I drove to a few overlooks to see the Delaware Water Gap but I need a better trail map before I attempt to do any hiking there.

There is the official BaD Tour from the ABQ Trolly Co. that is pretty good. Informative guides with anecdotes and fun facts from personal experience on and around set. They have trivia contests with goofy little BrBa or ABQ themed prizes. They also show some clips from the show that pertain to the set you are at.

There is also the Breaking Bad Experience tour that is run by The Candy Lady, the independent candy shop that made the original rock candy used for the meth in the show. They go to the same locations, however the major differences is that that tour is done in an RV that looks nearly identical to the one on the show. Weather you take that tour or not, be sure to stop by the shop to buy your meth as well as to look at the selection of unique shirts and BrBa merchandise only available there.

If you're not looking for an official tour and just want to do your own, Marc Valdez maintained a high detailed blog that maps out every location from small time placement shots to big event scenes. If you are feeling generous, or want a physical guide that doesn't require the internet, he also published a book of the locations.

Personally, if you are a extremely devoted fan, the self-tour is the best option. The official tours are fun, but they can get expensive for big groups and only take you to the convenient main stops. You also spend almost all of the time driving by in the trolly and not stopping. So if you want nice pictures that dont have blurry backgrounds and heads in the way, you'll have to stop yourself.

An older article, but still good: http://www.archdaily.com/137692/architecture-city-guide-san-diego

Another good article, but leans more to the modern: http://www.ranker.com/list/san-diego-buildings-and-structures/reference

A few more: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g60750-Activities-c47-t3-San_Diego_California.html

You might also enjoy reading one (or both) of these books:

https://www.amazon.com/San-Diego-Architecture-Mission-Modern/dp/0972602003

https://www.amazon.com/San-Diego-Architecture-Downtown-Highlights/dp/0972602011

Bob Wells' How to Live in a Car, Van or RV. Good overview and only $3.

For boondocking I liked:
Sunny Skye's RV Boondocking Basics: Living Well on the Road Less Graveled and pretty much anything by Difley.

Yes, the One Tank Trip books & videos still an excellent resource, readily available via local public libraries or bookstore. Protip: Many other major cities also had a locally produced One Tank Trip series, available via local library, local bookstore or Amazon, they continue to be quite useful for vacations and such.

We'll be coming down I-75. So, it would be nice to find a trail towards the top half and/or west of the park. [The book] (http://www.amazon.com/Kentuckys-Land-Arches-Robert-Ruchhoft/dp/0940029006/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334535002&sr=8-1) you recommended looks good. Thanks.

I really liked this book for my trip. It cuts the park up into segments along the grand loop and made it VERY easy to plan exactly what we saw and did each day.

http://www.amazon.com/Yellowstone-Expedition-Guide-Modern-National/dp/1933763000/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452694990&sr=8-1&keywords=travel+brains+yellowstone

It's got an audio guide that's nice too.

Plan on LOTS of driving within the park. We did 187 miles in one day (@ 45mph) and only left the park by a few feet when we went up to Gardner MT for lunch. Make your most important things you want to see the FIRST visit of the day. Get there before the tour buses show up and unload.

Make sure you check http://geysertimes.org/ to see when predictable geysers are in their windows to go off. And then find the Geyser Gazers and hang out with them. You'll learn TONS about the park from those veterans.

I'd plan on spending the last bits of daylight in the Hayden or Lamar valleys. Those are just such magical places.

Take your bear spray. Take your bear spray. Take your bear spray.