Help Needed for First US road trip
 

Hi

Firstly, I really do appreciate any tips you can give me!!thank you very much for any advice you can give me.

We are planning to undertake a road trip from Florida to California in September 2016, we have 3 and a half weeks in the US and I want to cram in as much as possible without feeling like we're sprinting across the continent. Our dates are flexible but will be around the 11th September to the 5th of October.

This is hopefully going to be our once in a lifetime holiday and we really want to make it an experience!.. before we need to start saving for a mortgage..

-BUDGET-

Our budget is flexible but I could use some advice in a few areas, I wanted to keep it around £5,000 ($7,600) but I am unsure of how realistic that is and have a credit card if I have to spend a bit more. I don't mind shopping smart while we are out there i.e. cheep motels/camping and not eating anywhere fancy/buying food from supermarkets. We really are in it for the memories and experience.

I have so far been shopping around and have gotten estimates of the following, I could be on point or way off:

Flights: ~£1100

Car Hire: ~£700 (Mustang Convertible, I am aware that i'm a cliche :D)

Fuel:~$500 (Based on 3,500mi)

Accommodation: $90 per night is ~$2,000 (Not sure what I should expect, won't be staying anywhere up market. Don't mind camping if we can't find a place to stay) AirBnB any good?

Food: Is $50 enough a day for the two of us? Too much? ~$1,200

--ROUTE--

I have a few ideas for the route but nothing concrete, any advice about places to visit or routes to take would be a great help, as I don't want to miss something amazing and want to make sure everyday has something special. Some ideas we have had:

- Start journey in either Miami or Orlando (any pros or cons to either?)

- My partner really wants to go to Disney World Florida for a couple days when we land so that takes up the first three days. This will also be a chance to explore Florida, key west etc.

- I am a fan of big cities and the hustle and bustle but would really like to get the southern state experience too. I am hoping to be able to see the big contrast between the big cities and the small towns. The national parks and beaches and the wide open nothingness of some of the desert roads.

- We both love food so proper American food will be at the heart of the holiday, Texas BBQ is something I would love to taste!

- Don't mind rouging it or sleeping in the car if we can't find a place to stay. AirBnB looks like a good option too.

- I am a keen photographer so will be looking for some amazing places to snap and send as postcards.

- We both love nature and the outdoors, hiking is something we wish to do. Don't mind getting lost of diverting our route to explore. Love the American National Parks so I would love these to be part of the route. Yosemite national park is a must

- Las Vegas, we really want to visit Las vegas and the grand canyon towards the end of our journey

- Finish the journey in California, hoping to spend the last few days there to wind down and relax before having to go home but will sacrifice if theres something else to see!

As a footnote its my first time to the USA but my partner has been a couple times!

I would really appreciate any help you can give us and would be sure to blog about our adventure so you could see how it worked out :D

3 months ..out of a life ?

life time say 70 years .. take off the first 20 leaving 50 years

600 months ...

sleep 8 hours/24 = 33%
work 8/24 * 48/52 * 40/50 =24%

Leaving 63% ... and your using 3 months .. 0.5% as a 'life time trip? (and a third of it will be spent sleeping, so 0.35%)

=========================
20% of your trip is spent on the air fair (two way) ...

if you took a longer time (and a bit more money) you'd have a longer holiday and spend less, as a percentage, on the air fair.

In most large cities a car is a liability .. even with a GPS.

Don't know. It is your trip. Have fun. I do hope it is not your last 'life time' trip!

Just do it, as one tends to say.

The USA is designed around road vehicles and cars in particular.

3 1/2 weeks won't be enough for what you want to do, but that's your problem.
I have spent a total of about 8 weeks in the state of Florida alone over the past 30+ years; for instance you won't get around all of the FLA places that you mention in your time frame and drive across the route you want.

As another instance, if Disney World has to be done then so be it, but what about Sea World or Cape Canaveral (was named Cape Kennedy for a while)?
They are all designed to relieve you of the contents of your wallet.

Incidentally, one time I was there I also had to have a convertible; I can't remember which one but the hire car was chopped in for a ragtop; then it was necessary to drive it along Daytona beach.
From that, I learnt that there was/is a 10 MPH speed limit on that beach.

Second memory: It was in Florida that I saw my first "chain gang"; all out there cutting the grass in the mid-day sun.
A Cool Hand Luke likeness.
That was about 20 years ago, so maybe they don't do that any more in Florida state?

3 months is sufficient. First of all, let me wish you a great journey ahead. I would suggest you that you should carry a road map with you whichever country you visit, It helps you save your time and effort to visit a particular place. Also, I would like to recommend watching some travel videos to understand the people, places, and culture better. In this way you will enjoy the vacation and will cherish the moment to the fullest.

Travel Slowly
 

My advice would be to travel short distances and slowly.

That would mean driving about 180 km a day for each of those days. But pick your stopping points wisely where there is something of interest. That way, you have time to speak to people, smell the air, feel the culture, taste the food. You will feel the landscape change, not just see it from a glass insulated window. When you travel short distances, it would be more likely that local people would have been where you started from that morning. They would have opinions about that place. A good conversation starter.

Travel short distances. It will give you more time to meet and talk to people. It doesn't matter where you go. Talk and start conversations with people, that's important. You can see landscape in photographs. What you can't get is an understanding of the people who live in those landscapes. Travel slowly, talk to people.

Sounds like a good trip to me. yeah, 3 months might seem like not enough time to some people, but American's so that trip (and back) in 2 weeks vacations, so there isn't any reason you can't do it.

Your food budget might be low - it's possible to spend a lot of money on food here. Again, doable if that's your budget but (especially if you want to eat out from time to time) expect to handle some of your cooking. In the SE, look for the BBQ pork and sweet tea. Texas is Brisket, further west is fry bread, In Florida (more likely Southern LA) try some fried gator. I'm liking the fried gator lately. Always, always look for small local places rather than chains.

If you can, get a National Parks Pass. They aren't cheap, but if you are looking to hit more than a couple they are totally worth it. Be aware they are good for entrance fees only - tours, parking, all that other stuff is extra. I found this particularly annoying at Mt Rushmore - which is technically free but they charge for parking.

I like AirBnB, but have limited experience.

It's hard to make real suggestions on what to see, without knowing what sort of stuff you like seeing. Just about everything is available along the way, from the weird to natural and man-made wonders - a fair amount of history too. Lots of little towns and ghost towns and big cities. This is where the 3 months will seem like not enough - you really don't ever run out of stuff. But that's not a reason to not go.

I'm right in the middle of a trip like you're planning - we've done about 5000 miles so far with about the same again to go. I'm writing this from a hotel in Vegas (yes I know!) and we're heading off to Los Angeles tomorrow. I'm happy to give you any advice / help I can but you asked a lot of questions and it'll take forever to tap out a comprehensive reply on my IPad. I'll try to do bits as and when I get the chance but in general there's nothing in your plans that couldn't work.

First bit of advice - don't underestimate how big the U.S. is. Orlando to L.A. via the Grand Canyon and other photogenic stuff in the area is a really long way. With your time scale you'll be driving past stuff you really want to spend time at. Some US friends I showed your post to gave the "Irish" response - if I was him I wouldn't start from there, but I know how much of a non negotiable item something like Disney or Universal can be from our previous US trip. This time we had Graceland as the "don't argue" destination (and it was really good!). :thumbup1:

1. Not enough time for that distance if you want to see anything very much rather than drive 8 hours per day every day.

2. Consider using car delivery companies like (?) Driveway - you pay for gas, they get the car delivered. Could probably find one from Miami to LA. It'll save you 700 quid....

3 weeks, 3 months, 3 years?
 

For the the sake of the OPs' original questions.
Yes, I wouldn't start from Florida either, but there you go.

As a reference point ...
I have probably spent some 2 to 3 months in the UK. Say 7 months in western Europe.

None of my trips have been long enough!

Do go, but allow that the 'plan' you make will not be what you do. You will miss things ... sticking to the 'plan' or not. Not sticking to the 'plan' will mean you see different things. And maybe less of the country .. but in more detail. No matter what you do .. there will always be more to see. bier

I did something similar but we took 10 weeks and took the Northern route to include Route 66. Here are my thoughts

3 weeks, that's a long way to drive

Have you considered rental car drop off fees as you are doing a 1 way rental

If you use hotels then join the frequent stay programme, we did Choice Hotels which includes lots of the not quite so budget hotels. Every stay gets points and we used the points to get a room for free in expensive cities

Choose a hotel that gives free breakfast to save on costs

Use supermarket for lunch

The park pass is $80 but if you are going to visit a lot of parks it will save you lost of money

September it will be quite warm

3 1/2 weeks. That's going to be tough.

If Disney World is non negotiable then I would stay on the east/south east coast and explore. However, it's going to be hot and humid.

I know you want to do as much as possible, but you might consider significantly downsizing your trip. For 3 1/2 weeks I would fly into California. You could see Yosemite and Death Valley (from your well air conditioned car) National Parks (amongst others along the Sierra Nevada). There is amazing hiking on the west and east sides of the mountains. Do not attempt hiking in Death Valley, it will be 100+ in September.

Drive from the west side of Yosemite to the east until you get to Highway 395. You'll drive over and down Tioga Pass (Tuolomne Meadow is a must stop and hike). At the bottom is Lee Vining (cute little town, try the private campground on the north west side of town) and Mono Lake (visitors center in town, the lake is a very interesting part of California history and ecology). South of Lee Vining is Mammoth Lakes (ski town, try the campgrounds above town, Lake Mary is nice). Very cool geology and again great hiking. Visitors center on the way into town. North of Lee Vining is Bridgeport, another neat little eastern Sierra town. The canyons above are fabulous. Try the hike from Virginia Lakes to the top of the pass (passing Blue and Frog Lakes).

There are other amazing roads in the Sierra, pm me if interested.

Read up on Highway 1, the drive from Morro Bay to Monterey (or continue to San Francisco) is spectacular. Make sure to stop in Big Sur and tour Hearst's Castle. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a must. Also lots of great hiking along the coast.

San Luis Obispo is just inland of Morro Bay, fun college town. Plan to be there for Thursday night Farmers Market.

We don't have Disney World but we do have Disneyland.

San Diego is a very fun city. Make sure you hit the Gas Lamp District. Rent bicycles and ride Silver Strand.

My favorite beach town in SoCal is Laguna Beach.

Las Vegas isn't too far from Southern California.

You could also loop out to the Utah National Parks and Grand Canyon.

We do have hostels, I'm not sure if you'll need to make reservations or not. The cheapest motel chains are Motel 6 and Super 8. Best Western prices really vary with location (like the other motels/hotel chains) but are pretty consistently good. I would pick up a Frommers Guide to help with lodging choices, I've had good luck with the California one over the years (and I live here!). You'll have to really be careful with your lodging budget.

Bed and breakfasts here tend to the expensive, we have very few of the inexpensive B and Bs you have in the UK (which were amongst my favorite places to stay when I was there this summer).

If you use grocery stores you should be ok on $50/day for food. But that's eating out very little. I would do some really, really cheap food days and save up, there are fantastic restaurants wherever you end up.

Happy planning!

Las Vegas is a great place for travelling. There are some place listed here http://casinority.com/most-expensive...uildings-ever/, which are really worth visiting.

New Orleans ?
 

If food is important....I would not miss Louisiana cuisine. bier

Hi Skyroads,

My opinion is that 3 1/2 weeks is too tight for what you want to do without spending too much time driving.
I am a bit biased since I live in Southern California but I really, really like Little Bikes suggestion, hitting San Diego, the coastal route to San Francisco, (skip LA) Yosemite, the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, etc.
You won't have a rental car one way drop off fee if you do a loop.
At any rate I would focus on a smaller part of the US if you only have 3 1/2 weeks wherever that may be as long as it is seasonally appropriate.
Have a great trip!