New Here - Planning a 2 week trip this summer

Hey everyone,

I need a serious change of scenery and have decided to plan a 2 week road trip this summer with my husband (and possibly 2 friends). We're based in the Boston area but want to get away! We've all traveled pretty extensively around the Northeast and would love to escape that area. So I need some advice!

1) Where should we go? We'd love to head south or west, but understand that time constraints make it difficult for us to go far and still be able to see things at a leisurely pace (i.e. not spend every waking hour driving).

2) Is it worth looking into renting an RV? I've been doing some research and this seems pretty pricey. Add the rental fee to the campsite fees and it seems we may be better off getting hotel rooms. Thoughts? Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you everyone for your help! These boards have been a pretty great inspiration so far and I appreciate any feedback you may have!

R

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

You are right that with 2 weeks it could be tough making it to the Southwest. Since you need close to a week to travel cross country, you would really have to be driving most every day to do that.

I think most things about as far as the Rockies would be possible though. You could focus perhaps on the Southeast or out to as far as say, Texas. You could spend some time exploring areas along the Mississippi River. The Black Hills and Badlands would be within reach, or even Yellowstone or Colorado might be on the out reaches of how far you could go.

RVs can be a great way to travel, but really aren't a budget choice. If you want to look at RVs you should consider them as a way to enhance the experience and enjoyment of your trip, not as a way to save money. Traveling by car with motels is usually the cheaper way to go.

Thank you for your response! We're currently weighing the positives and negatives of RV travel vs. Car travel. Especially if there will be 4 of us instead of just 2.

I've Google mapped a possible route:

http://tinyurl.com/9yyjvj

what do you think? too ambitious for two weeks? Anything we should add? Anything I should ditch? (The stop in Raleigh is to visit some friends)

Thanks again for your feedback!

Michael has given you a number of good general options, but I'd like to put in my 2¢ for the 'Southeast'. That one word covers a multitude of possibilities and in fact lets you have the most diverse and rewarding trip that I think you can have in two weeks from Boston. Even taking the time to stop at historic sites and national treasures in Philadelphia, Washington and a few other cities along the way, you could be on the Outer Banks of North Carolina in a few days for some warm ocean waters and undeveloped beaches. Taking the ferry across from Ocracoke to Cedar Island is almost like a short ocean cruise and only costs $15-20 and puts you in good shape to continue down to Charleston SC to enjoy some southern charm and visit some old plantations as well as Fort Sumter and the CSS Hunley. Next up would be a drive northwest to Great Smokey Mountains National Park. You'd then return home through Asheville NC and along the Blue Ridge Parkway, past Gettysburg, through the Delaware Water Gap and around (not through) NYC to New England. Although what I've described sounds like a lot of driving, in fact you could do the trip as a number of ½ to 1 day drives separated by 2-3 days each in one of the several different venues I've listed.

I agree with Michael about RVs. The posters here who sing their praises will generally say that they prefer the RV 'lifestyle'. And if that's the case with you, then they are worth the premium. But they are not a cost saving measure for the one-off two week RoadTrip. And something else to consider is that, particularly if you do this trip with another couple, they put everyone in the same tight space for each and every one of the 14-16 days.

AZBuck


PS: Looks like you posted while I was writing my response. Clearly I think your choice is wonderful!