As I mentioned before, the summer of 2017 was my second summer on the Work and Travel USA program. Unfortunately or fortunately, I didn't manage to travel anywhere after finishing work last summer. That is exactly why I wanted to return to this country to see the places I had dreamed of visiting for so long.

And then, a real miracle happened. I was hired to work practically in the suburbs of the most interesting city in America - New York. For a long time, I couldn't believe my luck; I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that I could go to this city every single day all summer long. But that's exactly how it turned out. In the first month, we went there at every opportunity, walked through parks and museums, visited the Statue of Liberty, and just breathed in the atmosphere of this metropolis. We were also lucky to have a personal guide—an American who worked with us and often kept us company on our trips there. We even saw the Independence Day fireworks on July 4th with our own eyes. We visited a museum, paying only a dollar for entry. We saw a Broadway show, which I would like to talk about in more detail. To be precise, I assure you that by spending money on this spectacle, you won't regret it one bit, simply because it is incomparable: the sets, music, costumes, and acting are all so professional and beautiful that I can definitely say: it is the best show I have ever seen. And, by the way, if you buy tickets on the day of the show, they are sold at a good discount.

By the middle of the summer, when all the J-1 visa students arrived and there were 13 of us, that's when the real fun began. On our free evenings, we had late-night hangouts with talks and dancing, got to know each other better, and planned trips together. I was very lucky to travel more during the summer on my days off: we visited Niagara Falls and took a trip to Washington for a couple of days.

We bought the trip to Niagara Falls through an agency, deciding that everything would definitely be well-planned there, and the price was good. However, we were wrong. As soon as we left New York, the guide told us that everyone would need to pay an extra amount of money for excursions that were marked as "optional and paid for at your discretion" in the brochures. No matter how much we fought with our guide along with the Italian girls, calling ourselves the Russian and Italian mafia, we had to pay that money, otherwise, we would have just been kicked off the bus. The only thing that saved the whole tour was, of course, the waterfalls. We enjoyed them to the fullest: admiring them at night and getting soaked under them on a hot day. After this trip, I realized that I want to plan and organize the rest of my travels myself. That's what I did with our visit to Washington: we found and bought inexpensive bus tickets ourselves, booked a hotel with a large room, a pool, and a buffet breakfast. Honestly, this city earned the status of a boring city for us. We went there for two days, thinking that even that wouldn't be enough to get to know the capital of the states. However, we walked through all the sights on the very first day and understood what was what. And the whole trip was saved by our chic hotel, where we had a lot of fun that night.

And, of course, this year I managed to visit Los Angeles and Las Vegas, which I had dreamed of meeting. This was our trip in September, which we also planned ourselves. We lived for a few days in this shining, sleepless Vegas at night, appreciated how inexpensive the hotels were there, and just plunged into this crazy atmosphere. Then we left for a few days for Los Angeles, where housing prices are much higher. We were there for four nights: one of which we spent via Airbnb near the Walk of Fame, another we spent in a hotel with our friends, and the last two we lived near Santa Monica beach, renting a room in a cozy little house via Airbnb. Our return flight was from Las Vegas, and before it, we managed to go to the Grand Canyon. We saw this natural beauty that cannot be described in words. Standing on the edge, I realized how great the power of nature is, and how small we and our problems are compared to something global. I don't know exactly how, but visiting this place impressed me so much and gave me the strength and determination to start changing myself and my life.

I want to advise you to travel as much as possible, especially if you went to the USA on this program. After all, if you are left without travels, returning back, you will feel a certain emptiness; you will realize that you didn't do something important.