You seem to be going back and forth in this thread between trying to prove the US kinda sucks and/or isn’t as good as other places, and sincerely wondering what someone might do there.
On the former, it’s kind of a pointless endeavor - some people love it; some people hate it; some people are indifferent. If you’re not interested or think other places are better, that’s fine - personally, I think lots of other places are better myself.
But that doesn’t negate why someone might visit the US. For example, most people probably think France is a better/nicer country to visit than Bulgaria. But even though you might logically prove that everything in France is nicer and better, there’s still at least one good reason to visit Bulgaria - it’s Bulgaria. There’s an essential Bulgarian-ness there that you don’t have in France. It has it’s own history and style and vibe and culture, and for many people that might be worth seeking out. Same thing with the US - or, per your post above, with New York: yes, in your opinion things in Sydney might be equal or better, but for a curious mind, New York still probably has some interest because it has its own, different personality. That personality may or may not appeal to you, but still - it’s different. Ditto for New Yorkers wondering what the point in visiting Sydney is. If you put barriers up on a piece of land and call it a city or a country and give its inhabitants enough time, a personality of sorts is going to emerge. Discovering those personalities is kind of the point of traveling.
I think several people above have made the same point more eloquently.
I stand corrected, I guess we should also add Southern soul food restaurants as well, I tried it at “international night” at my university but I couldn’t find it anywhere.
Look, your entire tone is “USA sucks, prove to me why I should go there”. And the fact that you (A) don’t know what half my NYC references (Times Square used to have the brothels, not Rock Center, dumbass) are and (B) think Sydney Austrailia is in the same league as NYC (or London for that matter) makes me think you have spent too much time in the Outback on walkabout or whatever.
Sydney may have different versions of many of the same things that NYC has, but the point is that NYC stuff is different just as Buckingham Palace in London is different from the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
And with 8 million New Yorkers living together, it’s the friendliest place on Earth!
Also, I find it bizarre for someone to say “The Statue of Liberty isn’t unique because other countries also have famous things.”
Yes, but what if you don’t want to see just any random famous thing? If you want to see the Statue of Liberty specifically, there is one place you can go, which is NYC. If someone told me they wanted to see Ayers Rock, I would be an idiot if I told them, “You don’t need to go to Australia. There are large geographical attractions in most countries that you could visit instead.”
Yes, but ‘they both have very famous iconic landmarks’ is a valid comment. The Statue of Liberty is something good to visit because of its history and the way it’s been used in so many movies, and that’d true for a lot of places.
I was simply trying to find out what the hypothetical tourist would miss by boycotting the entire USA and their infamous TSA.
Okay, I admit I am not an expert on New York or American culture, One time, I started another thread to find out whether Newark was another name for NYC.
I really shouldn’t knock what I don’t understand, but you shouldn’t expect me to know things that only an American would know.
Good point, some tourists like unique twists on otherwise familiar things, these kinds of people would definately miss out going there.
Bad pun, sorry, I didn’t drink enough vodka this morning
To clarify, I think the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island would be well worth visiting.
It’s only valid if any famous landmark is an equal substitute for any other one. “The Statue of Liberty” is a perfectly reasonable answer to the question of what makes the US unique. The fact that other places also have historic, interesting, and noteworthy landmarks doesn’t change that.
That’s slightly different from how I interpreted your OP. If the TSA continue to worsen their hijinks towards people who are afforded zero rights at all, and you decide to boycott, you would certainly lose out on all the many great things listed in this thread. As a vacation destination in the light of the TSA’s shocking abuses of potential tourists, the US wouldn’t necessarily be near top of the list. But that isn’t what you initially asked, IMO.
How about diving? California, Puget Sound, and Florida are all well known diving locations. Florida in particular, you have the crystal clear shallow reefs of the Keys, the famous Florida springs. Numerous wrecks, including the largest artificial reef in the world for tech divers, and we are the cave diving capital of the world. Plenty of other countries have great diving, but Florida has a greater variety of locations in a small area than anywhere else I can think of.
I’m going with “wide open space” and good roads to get to it. A couple years ago we drove on US 6 from Ely, NV to Tonopah, NV (160 miles with no services). We saw one other car .
And it’s incorrect, anyway. His cite indicates that the Cape Floristic region is home to an admittedly-impressive 9,000 vascular plant species. The lowest estimate for number of vascular plant species in the US is 17,000.
Not that I find this a particularly relevant reason to visit the US. I just like to get my facts straight.
Well, when you get that specific, then you might as well say that a good reason to visit the US is that your Uncle JimBob lives there. Note that I’m not bashing the US in this thread, btw. I wouldn’t mention, say, Buckingham Palace as a reason for England being unique either.
I just like to get my facts straight.