Need advice for the first trip in the US!

[ElleHarries]

Hi everybody,
I am a international student. My friend and I are planning to take a road trip on this fall. However we've never ever taken any trip road before. So I need some advive for preparing. We are live in NJ and we also don't have much money.
Thank you very much!

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

To start a road trip you need a vehicle, your own or to rent one. If you are under 25 years old, renting can be expensive due to 'young driver' fees which isn't helpful without much money. Of course this isn't so much of a problem if you have your own vehicle, but it will need to be serviced/checked over before travelling and you will need funds available for repairs on the road if needed. Once you have the transport part out of the way you need to figure out what budget you will have available and whether it will match your goals for the trip, whether you want to camp, stay in hotels, how far you want to travel what you want to see etc and see how the two match up. You will need to do some research, look at good paper maps and see what appeals to you and then see how your dreams match the reality of your budget and time. Once you have the basic details sorted that are realistic, we can help answer more specific questions and offer suggestion.