So I’m taking a grand trip around the US & Canada for 2 months. I’m leaving in less than 2 weeks, so I’m super excited, but this is also my first major trip that way on my own, so I’m a littl nervous.
So 2 questions for the illustrious dopers:
Any particular destinations in either country? They’re pretty big.
You must go to Vancouver. You must.
Don’t argue, just do it.
Take an umberella
I know that Australians are used to distance, but IMO you need some sort of itinerary. Come visit Chicago–it’s a great city. It’s about a 5 hour flight from L.A. or a 3 hour (maybe less) to NYC.
Two months is a nice chunk of time for a visit, but it definitely won’t be enough to see the whole of the two countries. Probably best to decide what you’re really into (museums? art? theatre? outdoorsy stuff? drinking?) and then pick a handful of cities that have lots to offer when it comes to that one thing.
So, for example, if you were the outdoorsy type I’d probably suggest visiting the West Coast - California, Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alberta all have stupendously amazing scenery, and you could probably swing over to Nevada and/or Utah along the way. If you’re the arts/culture type, then New York, Chicago, Toronto and Montreal would be more your style.
Oh, and I’m horribly jealous. 
How are you planning to travel while you’re here? That will make a difference in what you can see. Two months isn’t very long really with two countries of that size. Also, what do you like to do?
That said, in Canada, I think it is worthwhile spending some time on the west coast. It is beautiful. If you go to Victoria (on Vancouver Island), touristy but beautiful (and still echoing the Empire days. Victoria has some nice pubs, including those that have live music in the evening, and good shopping. I’d suggest going on a whale watching expedition if you like that sort of thing. I had an amazing experience, and actually lost track of the number of orcas that I saw. Also in the Victoria area, if you like gardens, the Butchart Gardens are lovely. They are in what was a quarry, If you like being on the water, taking the ferry from Vancouver Island to Vancouver also can give you some lovely views of the islands along the way.
I agree with the initial sentiment, with this caveat: if Vancouver is anything like the Seattle area (can’t say, it’s been a really long time), do not take an umbrella. There’s no faster way to brand yourself as a “flatland tourister.”
Aside from that, be prepared for any sort of weather — just don’t expect whatever it is doing at the moment to last. Layering is your friend.
Apart from Austin, the city I live in, Toronto is the only city I have ever longed to return to. I highly recommend it. The Royal Ontario Museum is excellent fun, assuming you like museums at all.
I’ll meet you in Banff for beer and bison burgers. 
(Seriously, you need to give us a bit of an itinerary here - they are indeed two very large countries!)
What, no love for the East Coast? The scenery is lovely (unless you’re taking the 103), though I don’t know how it compares to BC. Lunenburg, NS is a great tourist [strikeout]trap[/strikeout] destination, and if you’re into history and culture there’s still pockets of Acadians in various places. Pier 21 in Halifax is another great stop–it was the point of departure for Canadian troops during WWII, and the point of arrival for their wives.
Peggy’s Cove is near Halifax and a popular tourist spot, though I’ve never actually been. I do know there’s a memorial there to SwissAir 11, if you remember when that went down.
If you end up in Thunder Bay, Ontario (about halfway across Canada), you can crash at my place. culpeperlaw@tbaytel.net
Hey! There will be no dissing Lunenburg while I’m around.
Well, let’s put it this way: my uncle(who lives in Seattle) told me that Seattle once bragged about the fact that they received forty more sun-hours in the average year.
What everyone else said…
It would be really cool to have two months for a trip like this, but if you don’t do some planning, you’ll see less than you’d hoped to.
You’ll also want to take weather into account since things will cool off fairly soon in the northernmost parts of this area, which may also make travel more difficult. I don’t think it will get too bad in most areas by mid-November, but there will definitely be a chance of snow in some of the places that would be fun to visit.
You should definitely make contact with Dopers along the way, especially if you’re traveling alone and don’t have other contacts in the areas you’re traveling to. I’m sure many of us would be glad to give you cell phone numbers that you could call if you need advice or help along the way, even if you’re not in our immediate area. (PM me for mine.) And your arrival would be a great reason to organize Dopefests if you’d like to meet people.
I’d second the suggestion to stop in Chicago. It’s easy to move around in the city and there’s LOTS to see. I spent a week there last year and we didn’t even scratch the surface, really.
Give us a better idea of your interests and whether you’ve already planned how you’ll be getting from place to place and I’m sure we can all be more specific with our suggestions.
GT
OK, so I do have an itinerary (sort of):
LA
San Francisco
Vancouver
Kitimat (visit rellies)
Toronto
Minneapolis
Pittsburgh
New York
At least, I have flights to/from each of those locations
Well, I’m flying in and out of the cities I mentioned, but when I’m there, I am hoping to stay in central-ish locations (or good public transport places) because I’m too scared to drive on the wrong side of the road, so don’t plan to have a car 
In terms of what I’d like to do… I really don’t know!
I want to get a good feel for the places I’ve been
I want to see creatures (my friend laughed at me when I said I wanted to see a squirrel, but I’ve never seen one before)
I do want to see museums and stuff, but I don’t want to overdo it either.
I guess I really want to do the things that I simply can’t do at home…
Posting to subscribe to the thread. I can help you out with some fun stuff to see and do in LA. How long you going to be out here? Are you into art, architecture, movies, the beach, hiking? LA is freaking huge and so most people only see a teeny tiny bit of it and leave thinking it is very shallow. But we have great depths if you know where to look. What types of things do you want to see here and how long will you be here, and are you willing to rent a car and possibly drive to SF instead of fly?
But I am about to leave work and don’t have time to get into it yet.
Feel free to shoot me a PM with questions as the trip gets closer, but I will be back to post more detail soon.
Make sure you have lots of time in New York. You could spend a month there.
If your itinerary can be changed, perhaps a visit to Montreal? You’d get to see a place where the majority language isn’t English. Quebec City is also awesome.
You should see
The Grand Canyon
The Meteor Crater
The Painted Desert
Tombstone, Arizona and the OK Corral
Las Vegas, Nevada
Houston, Texas and the NASA HQ
Cape Canaveral
The Smithsonian Institution
The Nation’s Capital
The White House
A Show on Broadway
The Statue of Liberty
and anything else that floats your boat.
Let me know if you’re coming to Houston. We can probably throw a HouDope in your honor.