Every summer we do lot of out door activities like Canoeing, White Water rafting, Jet Skiing, Speed boating, Hiking, camping etc… If you live in the northern states of US, you would probably know the beauty of summer and how good the weather feels…We would also go to the state parks once every two weeks or so to play games or hike…I would go to state park myself and do some bike riding in good bike trails…In fact, I purchase the state park yearly pass just for hiking and camping… Let me share with you some of my experiences with State parks, National parks, Vacation spots in US and share my perspective in comparison with India…This article is part of the series : Life in US vs. India
State Parks, National Parks, Tourism, Beaches in USA:
As I mentioned in previous article about Things to do in US – Outdoor activities, there are quite a few activities from those that you can do in the state parks and national parks in USA. For instance, if you own a boat or jet ski, you could launch them in State park lake…Also, if you want to camp and have a camper, you do it at any state or national park. Just to give some background about parks, on a high level, state parks are state owned and are maintained by state. You will have to pay a fixed amount every time you plan to enter a state park or you can get a yearly pass. Similarly, National parks are governed and maintained by national park service and US Department of interior. You have to pay a fee to enter the park…you can also get a yearly pass as well… Similarly, if you have a lake shore or beach, they are maintained by either county or national body depending on the type and location….you may have to pay fee or they can be free as well…
In USA, state parks and national parks let you do activities ranging from hiking, canoeing, horse back riding, camping, etc…They are very well maintained with roads, vantage points, etc…they have guided tours as well, depending on the history and popularity of the park…Same is the case with lakes and beaches… they are very well maintained you can do skiing, swimming, surfing, etc….In fact, I have visited quite a few state parks and also national parks like Rocky Mountain National Park, Great Smoky Mountain National park…they are absolutely amazing and very well maintained… On the other hand, if we consider India, we do have lot of the naturally formed water falls, rivers, forests, etc…but we may not expect the same level of facilities and maintenance at them or level of activities you can do in these natural valleys…Though this is changing, still we are not there yet…also, it can cost you lot of money to do all these activities…
Decision to Live in US vs. India – Outdoor activities, Parks
If you are a real out door person and love to do all the outdoor activities, you have a better options to do all of these activities comfortably in US…you can do most of the stuff in India as well, they may be expensive and reach might be limited… If you are not an out door person and you do not care much about all these, it is fine….does not make much difference where you live….but if you like doing all the out door stuff, you are better-off spending few years in US exploring all the stuff and then consider moving back to India, you can plan to explore the Indian natural forests as well…
What is your perspective on National Parks and Out door activities ?
Image Credit : http://www.thedailygreen.com/cm/thedailygreen/images/dh/rocky-mtn-np-lg.jpg