Your Booking Pack
Starting in Los Angeles
The Coyote Trip is the all-encompassing, flexible trip for adventurers seeking to discover the real America, showing you the very best parts – including cultural, historical and adrenaline-inducing attractions, jaw dropping scenery, and mind-blowing nightlife! Over the next week, it’s our goal to show you a side of America you’ll remember for the rest of your lives.
Joining your tour in Los Angeles?
Meeting Point:
There is a pre-departure briefing at the lobby of HI Los Angeles Santa Monica Hostel at 5pm on Day 1 of your trip. Here, you can meet your Adventure Leader and the rest of your first group.
If you are going to be late to the pre-departure briefing, please inform us of this by emailing our Ops team on trips@thecoyotetrip.com.
Your hostel’s address:
HI Los Angeles Santa Monica Hostel
1436 2nd Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Phone number: +1 310-393-9913
How to get to your hostel:
By taxi:
By Public Bus:
Insurance
Don’t forget your insurance! It’s compulsory to have travel insurance on our trip.
Please bring details of your travel insurance along with you to the pre-departure briefing. In the event of an accident, we may need to contact your insurance company on your behalf, so we will need the insurance company’s name and phone number as well as your policy number.
Please make sure your insurance offers ‘Bad Weather or Natural Disaster Coverage’.
Please fill out our online emergency contact and insurance form: https://www.wjx.cn/vj/hBmmJzh.aspx
Don’t forget your passport!
Have you sent us your passport details?
The Coyote Trip needs your passport copy to book accommodation and transport tickets in advance of your trip.
Please ensure that you passport is valid for six months of onward travel with a spare page for every country you plan on visiting (all those stamps). If you need a new passport, make sure you send us your new passport details as soon as possible or you may experience some difficulties whilst on tour.
Do I need a visa?
If coming from the UK, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries, you can enter America on an ESTA. This is an electronic permit which allows you to enter the country without a visa.
You can apply for your ESTA here: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov
Ideally, you should apply for your ESTA around 6-8 weeks before travel. The latest possible time to apply is 72 hours in advance of travel, but be aware that leaving it this late means there is no guarantee it will be issued in time.
If you are not from a country mentioned above, then do check online to see if you are eligible to apply for an ESTA. If not, then you will need to apply for a visa to enter the US.
Visa information is subject to change without notice. For the most current information, please visit your nearest embassy.
Keep in Touch!
We want to hear all about your amazing travels across America.
Whether you’re on the tour or reliving your amazing experiences, be sure to use the hashtag #thecoyotetrip to join in with our amazing community of fellow Coyotes.
In addition, if you tag our profile in your photo with the handle @thecoyotetrip, we might just feature it! We love to see all the fun you get up to on your adventures.
Lastly: if you don’t want to have your photos appear on our social platforms, please do email us to let us know.
Meeting Your Fellow Coyotes
Part of the joy of group travel is making new friends – and we want to help make that as easy as possible. For every trip, we create a WhatsApp group in advance, where you can meet and chat to your fellow Coyotes. By the time you touch down in America, you’ll be firm friends!
Our Ultimate Packing Checklist
On all of our trips you will be required to carry your own bags, so pack light. America is full of markets and shops in case you forget something, and you can always borrow from others in your group – that’s what friends are for!
Documents:
- Passport (with a copy of the photo page)
- Details of your insurance policy
- Student card (if you have one)
Money:
- Your credit/debit card (be careful of high fees when withdrawing cash or using your card overseas, and make sure your bank knows you’re travelling ahead of time.)
- Currency – US Dollars
The Essentials:
- First Aid Kit (with any mild painkillers and medications you need.)
- Phone (and battery pack for nights camping)
- Camera and charger (unless you use your phone)
- T-shirts
- Shorts/Skirts
- Long pants (for walking)
- Swimming costume
- Flipflops
- Sensible walking shoes/hiking boots
- Towel
- Washbag
- Mosquito repellent
- Sunscreen
- Hat
- Sunglasses
- Lightweight waterproof jacket
- Hoodie / fleece, hat and a thermal layer if you’re camping.
- Earplugs (for a better sleep in the dorms)
- Locks for bags
- Waterproof backpack cover (optional)
FAQ’s
DO I NEED TO BRING POWER ADAPTORS?
Yes – these are available to buy in airports or various stores before you arrive. Make sure you get adaptors that will work for America – Type A or Type B.
DO I NEED TO BRING A SLEEPING BAG OR IS LINEN PROVIDED IN THE HOSTELS?
All bedding is provided.
WHO LOOKS AFTER OUR BAGS WHEN WE ARE ON TRANSPORT AND/OR DAY EXCURSIONS?
Your bags will be stored at the hostels where they are tagged and recorded. On a couple of occasions, they will be stored at storage facilities in railway stations.
CAN I BRING LOADS OF STUFF?
We strongly recommend packing very light for The Coyote Trip. The cities all have places you can wash your clothes, and you can easily pick up supplies.
SUITCASE OR BACKPACK?
A suitcase is OK, but a backpack or holdall is much more convenient.
WILL MY PHONE WORK?
As long as your phone works overseas, you should have no trouble using your phone in the USA. Check your phone plan for costs – or stick to the WiFi that’s available at the accommodations.
Top Tips from The Coyote Trip
Try saying that tongue twister really fast.
On the weather:
- If you are travelling in the summer then expect some really warm days and pack accordingly. For our spring and autumn trips- the weather will be warm – especially in California but might be a fair bit cooler in certain places.
On how to travel sustainably:
- Packing as light as possible keeps your carbon footprint low. We recommend 10-15kg especially as you are expected to carry your own luggage.
- Use local laundry services. This money goes straight into the local community and is available in most of our hostels..
- Pack a reusable water bottle. You can use tap water which reduces your need for single use plastics on tour
Stay Connected:
- Your Adventure Leader will invite you to a WhatsApp group chat to keep in touch with you and the rest of your group.
- Maps.me: This is a great app to stop yourself from getting lost! You can download it to your phone for free. We recommend downloading many maps from different cities in America before your trip and using these maps later when you don’t have Wi-Fi.
- Bring electronic products at your own risk. Some customers choose to travel with iphones, tablets and laptops, but although theft is rare on The Coyote Trip there is petty crime in some areas we visit.
- Download the taxi app GRAB, an Uber-like app that you can use to book taxis online and pay in cash. It’s useful and safe and can be used across America.
Food & Drink:
- There will be lots of great nights out on The Coyote Trip, but please remember to always drink within your limits. Never journey home by yourself at night and never leave another person in the group alone. Always follow the legal drinking age limit which is 21 in America.
- Drugs are illegal in America. If our guides see you committing any crime while traveling with us, they are obliged to report to head office and to the police, so please don’t put them in that position!
- The food is delicious throughout America, and the cultural diversity across the country means there’s plenty to try. Your Adventure Leader will be ready to give you recommendations!
- If you have any allergies, please let your Adventure Leader know so they can help you out.
- HappyCow: If you’re vegan or vegetarian, this app is great for identifying local recommendations.
Pack respect for others:
- You may meet many people from lots of different backgrounds and cultures on this trip. You may have different opinions or ways of doing things. Treat everyone how you wish to be treated and remember to work together as a group.
- Always try to arrive a couple of minutes early to check outs or departure times. Being late may mean missing transport connections and you don’t want to delay the whole group.
Navigating a new culture:
- Be respectful of local culture and avoid talking politics, with strangers, as this can be a divisive issue with polarised opinions on both sides.
Tipping:
- Tipping in bars and restaurants is certainly expected and not tipping when you eat will be seen as rude. 15%-20% for food and a dollar a drink is a decent rule of thumb but feel free to be more generous if you receive very good service!
- While not compulsory, do feel free to tip your guides!
In case of Emergencies
No matter where you are or what you do, safety always comes first. We conduct our own health and safety checks but sometimes things happen that our out of our control.
Emergency services numbers are listed below:
United States: 911
To contact our staff:
Email: trips@thecoyotetrip.com
24/7 emergency contact number: +1 202 771 2944
Contact Us
Any questions or feedback? Contact our London Team: info@thecoyotetrip.com.
(Please note that this email is only monitored from Monday to Friday between 9:00 and 17:30 UK time.)
To read our full terms & conditions, click here.