Braving the trip from North Carolina to California, First Time!

[jbf7934]

Hello all!

Brand new to this seemingly spectacular site! Currently out of the country, but soon after I return (Mid October), am planning my first long roadtrip (~3-4 weeks) with 3 friends of mine. We are very interested in seeing at least: New Orleans, Vegas, Grand Canyon, and all around California's coast. Maybe even go to Portland and come back through Yellowstone and places like Chicago. It is VERY EARLY in the works!! I am looking for any and all suggestions and advice!!

We are outdoorsy people, not afraid to do some camping, get dirty, and we want to see the sites and taste some amazing food on the way. Where should we go?? We are young, and like to go out (I hear Vegas isn't so bad for that : D), but we also appreciate very much so what nature has to offer, so please feel free to share your opinions!

Thanks so much for any help given. I am looking forward to traveling across the US!

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

To start with the basics, have you a vehicle that will comfortably carry 4 people and camping equipment and other luggage ? Are you going to have to rent a vehicle, and if so how young are you ? Under 25 years of age will mean a young drivers fee for each driver under that age, and anyone under 21 will probably not be able to drive at all. If you are over 21 then Vegas is the 'Fun' Capital of the world !!

This is the sort of stuff you need to work out with your buddies in the early stages and figure out your budget, what are your individual goals for the trip and then sit down with a good map and open discussions. No one knows where you "should go " better than all of you, based on your common interests. We can certainly help fill in the blanks and 'fine tune' your planning but at this early stage it's a case of discussing it between yourselves.

Should you go as far North as you are thinking ? Again that comes from what you want to get out of the trip, how long you might want to stay in one place at a time. A good mix of urban life and getting out into nature is always a good start. You could spend a month in the Four corners region and then you have the spectacular California coast and Sierra Nevada to look forward too ! The National parks never fail to amaze and having a few beers around the campfire and having a BBQ are often more memorable than partying in Vegas.

One of the things I notice a lot, is the rush people seemingly have to get from A to B, when there is so much to see along the way, and for me the journey is as much a part of the trip as the destination, so I would recommend taking your time and getting off the Interstates.

Your trip, as outlined above, would most likely be 7000 miles plus detours, which would equate to roughly a couple of weeks dedicated to driving. With 4 weeks you could make that a comfortable trip, with 3 weeks it isn't going to leave too long in any one place [or the Cali coast for example] for exploring/time out.

Have a good look around the forums and roadtrip planning resources in the tool bars above and keep working away at your trip and keep asking questions as and when they crop up.

[glc]

If you are not leaving till mid-October, I'd recommend you go north FIRST then come back south. Winter can hit early, especially in places such as Yellowstone.

[jbf7934]

Thank you guys both for the advice! Really helpful stuff. Like you mentioned, Dave, we are in the very early stages of this, and we haven't hammered down anything except the time of year and some areas we'd like to visit. I am actually getting together with the fellow travelers this weekend to have our first discussion on it, and to take some time to figure out the basics. One thing I don't want to do is rush the trip, especially since everything is new to me. If that means extending the trip a little bit, then we may do that too.

As far as vehicles go, we're looking to rent, since most of us will be just getting in to the country with no cars. That is completely up in the air right now, though. We are all around 23 years, so we'd have to face the extra fees. Two of us were in a business fraternity at school that has a deal with Enterprise, that should waive the fee for half of us. We really need to focus on comfort and affordability, so we'll factor that in too.