2 18 year olds on their first road trip.

My friend and i are planning a road trip for the summer after we graduate highschool in 2010. We are starting in san diego and were hoping to get all the way to portland maine and back.

We have about 7 different places to stay for free with relatives and friends along the way. Were thinking about making a B line to Atlanta Georgia then making our way up the coast to Philli, NYC, Boston, and eventually Portland. We will then turn around and stay fairly north, going through Columbus Ohio, Chicago, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Then we will head south to Salt Lake City and Las Vegas and finally returning home. First of all how long do you predict this will take? 2 weeks? 3 weeks?

Second do you know of any interesting scenic or entertaining places we could see along our route (mainly Alabama, Georgia, South and North Carolina, and Virginia because those seem to be dry for us with nothing so far).

Third, what do you feel the estimitated cost will be? We are willing to live cheap in motels, campgrounds, and even our of our car if we have to. Speaking of which, would random campgrounds be safe for us?

Lastly, we need a car. My car would not make it cross country and my friends is too small for all of our luggage and comfort. We know renting is out of the picture because you have to be 25 in california. We are willing to buy a cheap used car (under 1000) but we dont know if it would make it there and back or if its worth the price.

Thanks for your help and i hope to hear from as many of you as possible. =)

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

It sounds like the first thing you really need to do is come up with a practical method of transportation for this trip. Buying a used car that costs less than $1000 certainly is not one of those practical ways. At that price point, its unlikely that you're going to get anything more than a small, old, unreliable car. It sounds like you've already got that, so you'd just be spending money to buy someone else's problems, without solving any of your own. It sounds like you are either going to have to cut back on you luggage and find a way to fit into your friends small car, or really start saving where you can buy a reliable car (I'd be looking at $3000-4000 minimum).

Time wise, I'd say you'll need at least 3 weeks, and even that will just allow you to scratch the surface where you'll have to be staying at a new location almost every night.

Once you figure out your transportation and timeframe, then you can get better grip on the other details of how you will travel, and ultimately, how much it will cost. However, there are several threads here, like this one, that can help you get a feel for how to build your budget.