Need some help, 1 month road trip!

hi,

I am from the UK and me and 3 of my mates are planning a road trip to the USA in 2012 (i know 2 years to go, but planning early). None of us have been to the USA before so it's a first for all of us.

we are planning to make it a 1 month trip and are going to rent a car from New York and head out from there.

we wanted to make it a loop trip, From New York to Florida along interstate 95 and then up towards interstate 40 to go across LV and LA etc. and then back across interstate 80 to New York.

Now i've been trying to work it out and it seems that 1 month is not long enough (or maybe it is). So what would you suggest, we want to see as much as we can of the USA in 1 month!

also we will have about $3200 each = about $12000 after plane tickets.

any suggestions and help? Thanks!

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

It's certainly a big place and you couldn't see it all in a lifetime, but with a Month it is possible to cover the areas you mention. The question you and your buddy's need to answer is what sort of a trip are you wanting, to stay in places for multiple days or to keep on the move ? There is nothing wrong with either, but "seeing as much as we can" doesn't add up to the same as clocking up thousands of miles while rushing through places, sometimes more is less.

As you have plenty of time to plan, I would sit down with your mates and make sure you are all on the same page, a good way to get the discussions started is the compatibility test. Once you have got the basics sorted, get a good map of the US and start looking for places that fit into your criteria. Use the forums as well as the planning and route pages etc [in tool bar above] to keep researching your options and as new questions arise just ask.

If you are under the age of 25 then you should know that with car rentals you will face quite hefty "young driver fees" on top of the rental price, that is for each individual who wants to drive. To keep costs down you could consider camping options, buying basic equipment and perhaps giving it to charity at the end of your trip, Hostels would be another possibility in some locations, but to get an idea of flights, car rental and Hotel costs, look in the tool bar above. [Air/Car/Hotel] The flights, you will find are considerably more than a couple of hundred dollars each ;-)

thanks for your reply :D. My mate will be 30 when we go and im gona be 23 (we are going college atm) and other mates will be 22 and 20 (so a mixture). the 30 yr old mate will be most likely driving.

with regards to what kind of trip we want, we want to drive and travel more than stay in one city or place for more than 1 day. So that is why it seemed to me that we could do the trip in one month if we did it that way.

and i will look at the rest of the site, it is a great website! thank you for your help :)

A one month trip with one driver is going to be daunting for that person. Do a lot of research on how long the travel will be so you get an idea of how large the country is and how many hours per day are needed to get to where you want. Be aware that what mapquest, googlemaps, etc. say are the estimated times are far less than what is really needed to complete each drive. If it says an 8hour trip plan on 10hours to actually get to where you are going (stops, breaks, bathroom, food, etc. are not calculated in the online mapping).

Also be aware that interstates such as 95 are not going to provide you with a lot of the "americana" type stuff you may be seeking. It will be a lot of nothing-trees, chain restaurants, rest areas, etc. that you see. Do some research a head of time to see what you want to experience and how to get there because just driving interstates is usually boring for people seeking a "slice of america". Remember, interstates were built to get people to there destination quickly not to explore and experience on the way.

Sounds like fun. But there's just too much to see to go blasting across the interstate and do anything. Remember the interstates were built to get you somewhere. Not to view the scenery. Personally, I'd recommend renting an RV. There are lots of folk from the Netherlands and Germany that do it. They usually plan trips of multiple years tho'. There's also a large contingent that fly in to Chicago, rent Harley's and ride the Mother Road. But, for instance Mammoth Cave. That would take most of a day to do everything. Same with Mt. Rushmore. Or Yellowstone. That's easily more than a day.
The four corners area of Utah and Colorado, could take a week by itself. As pancakesx said. Plan, Plan, Plan. Then enjoy what you can.

To piggyback off pancakesx and Drod's points, if you only take interstates you will miss out on a lot of scenery and local culture.

My suggestion: take the scenic byways. This site might prove useful:
http://www.byways.org/

Thanks everyone for your help, it is really appreciated. I understand that just driving across the interstates isn't the way to see the States, but i was just trying to give you an idea of what kind of route we are looking at so far.

I just wanted to know if 1 month is a good amount of time to do the routes suggested. I have a good idea on pricing, renting etc.

All the help is greatly appreciated :).

ROADTRIPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!