Summer 2016 From August To October

[zippo.g]

Hi, my name is Gil. Me and my friend are planning big road trip next summer.
I searched for information over the internet and found this forum.
after reading few good and helping posts decided to open account here.

Our trip divided by two parts.

1) From Key West, Florida through Miami, New Orleans, Dallas, New Mexico and Las Vegas, Nevada.
2) Head up north from Vegas all the way to Seattle, Washington.

We start our plannings very early to save money and time when we get to the US.

We did a non-accurate calculation of how much money we need including
buying car, manage loans and insurance, gasoline,
hotels (for few cities, rely on overnight parking and camp sites), food, flight tickets.

We still have shortage of information about:
1) Hiking and traveling
2) Second hand car sites
3) Information about loans and insurance
4) Overnight parking

And any suggestion will be helpful.

Thank you
Drive safely :)

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

As you continue to read through the many posts here that deal with the purchase and resale of a car for use on a RoadTrip, you'll quickly realize that we continually point out a couple of facts. First, it is NOT cost effective for trips lasting roughly three months. That is because renting a car is cheaper when you factor in the fact that you will be buying retail and selling wholesale, and you will be the 'motivated' party in both transactions. Then there is the cost of sales taxes, registration and licensing fees, insurance. Next factor in the cost of any possible repairs to the vehicle as well as routine servicing while you own it and are responsible for its upkeep. And none of that accounts for the time you will have to 'waste' doing the buying and finding someone to take it off your hands at the end.

Secondly, and perhaps even more important, is that it is virtually impossible for a foreign national with no permanent address in the United States to register a car and get insurance. Without registering with a specific state (where you can prove residency) and getting tags (license) from that state, you can own the car sure, but you can't drive it on any public highways.

So, the first thing you'll need to do is to jettison your plans to buy/sell a car and start looking at rental possibilities. Unfortunately, those too will be expensive. You're looking at leaving the car thousands of miles from where you pick it up, so there will most likely be a fairly substantial one-way drop off fee to cover the cost of getting it back 'home'. I also suspect that you and your friend are under 25 years of age and that will add another big hit. You will need to pay a substantial fee to allow both of you to drive and a further penalty for each of you that is under 25.

In short, this is going to be a very expensive endeavor, so you need to take a realistic look at what those expenses are going to be before you proceed much further with your planning.

AZBuck

[zippo.g]

Thank you very much for your information AZBuck.

any information about toll road and driving in US with international driving license ?

[Midwest Michael]

Toll roads are a very minor factor that will be insignificant in your overall costs. Based on where you're planning to go, there are only a few places where you'd even encounter them, and the total costs for all your tolls will, at most, be equal to a tank of gas or two.

An international drivers license is simply a translation of your home country's license - it doesn't provide anything else. If your current license is not in English, it would be a good idea to have one, to make things easier, and it may be required from the rental car company.

I will also say that "overnight parking" shouldn't be an issue, because with 2 people, sleeping in your car should not be something you really consider. If you're camping, you'll have no problem parking, and if most hotels/hostels either provide parking, or can tell you where you can safely park during your stay.