New York City to Seattle to Los Angeles to Atlanta and back to New York

[cortesej11]

Hello guys!

I want to take a road trip with my friends (all nineteen year old boys) around the country. What do you suggest for a trip of this size? How much would something like this cost? How long would it take (with many stops in between)? What is the most cost-efficient way to do this? Thanks!

[DonnaR57]

Welcome to RTA!

I'm not sure what you are asking about "what do you suggest for a trip of this size?" Generally, though, it will be at least 40 days, if not more. (My husband and I went CA-->FL-->Maine-->Missouri-->CA in 47 days and wished we'd had more time!)

Cost -- that would be hard to determine, because it would depend on the type of accommodations you are requiring (camping out vs. motels vs. luxury hotels), how much fuel costs at the time of your trip, and how you plan to eat on the trip.

We have a forum called "Saving Money on the Road". Check that out for how to do trips in a cost-efficient way. Usually it's done by choosing a car with good fuel mileage, either camping or using budget motels, and combining restaurants with eating from a cooler.

But to give you an idea:

Lodging -- we choose usually low-to-moderate priced hotels, and budget $65/night for 2 of us. This year, we were usually right around that except in high-tourist areas.

Food -- we budget $30/day for each of us, eating out of a cooler and taking along an electric fry pan with food as well. Except in high tourist areas, this was an acceptable budget. Many motels will give a continental breakfast, if you take advantage of it.

Fuel -- that will depend on the vehicle. BTW, hopefully one of you owns a vehicle that you can take. Most rental places won't rent to anyone under 21, and between 21 and 25 they charge a daily "young driver fee". It's often around $25/DAY per driver, over and above the price of the rental. There's a fuel cost calculator on this website -- look to the right of this post. Estimate highest cost you think you'll pay for the type of fuel you need.


Donna

[Southwest Dave]

Welcome to RTA !

Have you got your own vehicle ? Renting would not only be very expensive because of your ages, it might not be possible at all. Most major companies only rent to persons over 21 years of age.

To start your planning off, I would get a good wall map of the USA and get your friends together and start discussing your interests and goals for the trip. Once you found common interests and have some dots on the map, you can start routing it out. If this is to be your first trip together, I would consider doing a couple of smaller trips together and get used to each others 'annoying' habits. No matter how good friends you all are, eating, sleeping and living with each other day in and day out over a long period of time can be testing. I would also work out what your budget will be and then fit your trip around that, it's generally a good thing to build your trip around the smallest budget. If one or two of the group have not got the funds to join in all the activities etc , friction can build.