Solo road trip from Maine to Miami in October. Advice and Suggestions please.

[RobManners]

Ok here it is! I love America and I love driving!
Only ever been to Florida in America and so want to see all of it!
I have a 5 week plan in September or October to take in the best sites, the best roads and meet the best people.
I will be hiring a car and will have a budget or around 10,000USD.
I desperatley want to see the West Coast, New Jersey as I am from UK Jersey and any other must go places!
I am looking for some tips of places to go or not to go. I would like to know if I am being too ambitious in the timeframe? I am 23 years old and will be travelling on my own so I wish to know where I would be able to meet new people etc..
Where would be too dangerous? Where should I start? Its worth noting that my parents have a residence in Florida.

I hope people can come to me with some good suggestions or questions they need answering!

Thank You,

Rob

[Mass Tim]

Welcome to the RoadTrip America Forum!

Five weeks will give you a decent amount of time to get a feel for the country.
It takes, on average, five days to go from coast to coast.

The things that are the "best" for one person may not necessarily fit the bill for what you want to do. What are your interests? We could give tips on the best urban cityscapes to visit, and/or the best National Parks, etc. all depending on what you like to do.

[RobManners]

I really like National Parks and great cityscapes. I dont like the big tourist things. I would ideally like to meet people from different places. I was maybe thinking hostels would best suit this idea.
Id like good scenic driving roads and am interested in getting a taste of the really local things. For example Philly cheese steak to the San Fransisco trams to route 66.
Just need a good idea of a route and what to avoid etc.

Thanks

[Midwest Michael]

I do find it a bit puzzling when people talk about not wanting to do touristy things, and then list off things like the San Francisco Trollies or Route 66, which are things that are almost exclusively captured by tourists. Locals in SF take the bus and Route 66 was decommissioned because the vast majority of people use the Interstate.

You want a little bit of everything, and that's great. It really shouldn't be to hard to find an overabundance of things that you'd want to check out by browsing the forum or doing any sort of other reading about places in the US. However, at this stage of your trip, when you've got 5 weeks to travel and the entire US as a slate, its virtually impossible, and fairly pointless to start throwing out a couple places or routes, because there's just too many great options.

[RobManners]

Basically I will clear up a few things for you.
What I mean by touristy things are, A tour of Alcatraz or a booking on the maid of the mist. I would like to see things like Yellowstone or drive route 66 but with my own freedom.
I would just like a general idea of what i must not miss out if I am planning and what I could miss out.
I need to work myself a route that is manageable in 5 weeks and not packing things in a tight schedule.
Im here just toi get an idea of where to start on my planning process ansd things I should think about with my situation.

Thank You

[UKCraig]

Guess everyone's interpretation of 'touristy' is gonna be different. Mine would be places like Disney, Universal, Sea World, etc. Rob includes Alcatraz and Maid Of The Mist and Michael includes Route 66 too.

For what it's worth, I would actually highly recommend a trip on Maid Of The Mist and I really kinda enjoyed Sea World too! Personally I'd definately avoid Disney and Alcatraz was decidedly average.

[Mark Sedenquist]

As a travel writer, I can't think of any place in North America that is not tourist-oriented, (well, I guess inside some of the several thousand jails and prisons would qualify), but every one town and roadside attraction is working hard to serve the needs and interests of tourists...

Mark

[Southwest Dave]

I really like National Parks and great cityscapes. I dont like the big tourist things. I would ideally like to meet people from different places. I was maybe thinking hostels would best suit this idea.
Id like good scenic driving roads and am interested in getting a taste of the really local things. For example Philly cheese steak to the San Fransisco trams to route 66.
Just need a good idea of a route and what to avoid etc.

Thanks

hi rob.
were from the u.k. and just returned from an r.v. road trip.
if your in san francisco then a trip to yosemite is a must in my opinion,it's one of the nicest places i've seen,and although both places maybe "tourist attractions", by october [when we visited]the main crowds have gone.
zion and bryce,along with the grand canyon are great places to visit.
as part of route '66 is on the door step of g/c it's well worth a look.
if you head for vegas,then a trip over death valley is well worth it,it's a landscape that you won't see the likes of over here.
depending on where your route starts,g/c,las vegas,death valley,yosemite and san fran form a link[zion and bryce off track a bit but well worth it imo].
good luck with your plans.

[RobManners]

Thank You thats exactly the sort of information I am looking for. I appreciate your input!

[jcorb2d]

Basically I will clear up a few things for you.
What I mean by touristy things are, A tour of Alcatraz or a booking on the maid of the mist. I would like to see things like Yellowstone or drive route 66 but with my own freedom.
I would just like a general idea of what i must not miss out if I am planning and what I could miss out.
I need to work myself a route that is manageable in 5 weeks and not packing things in a tight schedule.
Im here just toi get an idea of where to start on my planning process ansd things I should think about with my situation.

Thank You

I think a lot of the problems people are having is that there are just too many options to give you any sort of reasonable recommendations. I can tell you that most Europeans whom I run into on my travels seem most taken with the Southwest because it is so unlike anything back home and is so starkly beautiful, but it really depends on what you are into. But even talking about the Southwest, it really depends on what you are into -- for example, I am into hiking, backpacking, and checking out the ruins, so I would place an emphasis on Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelley, Hovenweep, Grand Gulch, etc. My wife loves the food and shopping, so she would be more into Santa Fe and Taos, etc. It really depends.

i would suggest looking for clusters of places or things that interest you and trying to see if they connect in some easy way just to try to narrow things down a bit.

--Jon