The ultimate decision

Hello Roadtrip America fourm!

I'm in dire need of some advice. I would love to 'woo' this girl with a suprise roadtrip this coming summer (2012). The main question that I have been pondering is: East or West? We both live in a smaller town just north of Wichita, KS, and have been talking over facebook and the phone for months. We both share the same intresets in many activities and/or ideas. The ideal roadtrip that I would love to have is a spontaneous/memorable trip. I was hoping to end up on a beach to end our trip before heading back. Any great suggestions for either the East or West coast. Really I should have prefaced this with I am 19 and have a reliable vehicle. Is their any places that rents vehicles to adults under the age of 20? That would be preferable, instead of taking my vehicle.

Sorry if this is a little rambled :) Thank you for your time in reading this...Any ideas will be duly noted!

-Conor

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

There would be few [if any] places that would rent you a car at your age, but as you have a reliable vehicle it would make little sense to do so as the cost would be astronomical. It would be worth investing into an Automobile club such as the AAA for peace of mind though.

As for 'wooing' the girl, only you can really try and answer that question based on what you already know about her. To make suggestions covering the whole of the US would really leave you non the wiser, there would be tens of thousands of options, especially when considering you have not shared your interests and we don't know how much time you have etc. What I would suggest you do is get a large detailed map of the US and keep searching around RTA for ideas, and most importantly keep talking about your common interests and places you would love to one day visit with her. Not only do you have the forums to look around, but also many other resources in the green tool bar above, where you will find attractions and routes.

As you move through the planning process and new questions arise, just ask. Of course, if you want to keep it truly spontaneous you could just jump in the car and drive !

Thank you Dave for the speedy response,

We both love the outdoors, hiking, camping, etc. We have always talked about Montana, and the northwest area in particular. She really isnt fond of the 'big city' life style: I could do some searching on this fourm to find areas, but if you have any suggestions I would be happy to hear them :D We also love the beach life, some place possibly secluded so that we could have a good portion of the day to ourselves without the screaming and hollering of kids. I am hoping that we can travel for at least a week and a half (wishful thinking?) I know thats not enough time to see everything, but it would be an amazing trip to start with. I will definitely have to look into AAA, and get a check over before the time comes.

Thank you again for your time,

-Conor

With as little as a week and up to 10 days available you are going to be quite limited. You could drive to San Fran and down the scenic coastline around Big Sur but that would have you in the car for 9 hours a day for a week, which might not be the best way to 'woo' the girl. ;-) Heading up to Montana would give you some great options for hiking and camping in scenic surroundings, Rocky mountain NP, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and possibly over to SD and Custer state park, Mt Rushmore creating a loop home. Even then it would equate to around 5 days on the road, so you would really need to have 9 or 10 days available to relax, hike and get to know each other better. Reaching the coast and heading to Montana is going to really mean finding more time.

To have some quality time out of the car and enjoy some of natures natural wonders, I would look at doing a tour of the Four corners region. There are some great natural wonders to choose from like RMNP, Arches, Canyonlands, Zion, Bryce canyon, Monument valley and the Grand canyon, diverse scenery and great driving roads. If you headed straight out to RMNP you could perhaps follow some of this route to Taos and then head home from there.

As my user name suggests, I am biased towards these areas, but you have many choices and looking around for yourself to get started is the best thing to do. For instance, you could head east towards the Great smokey mountains and surrounding areas.

Enjoy the planning !

Rather than taking a full week, I'd suggest a three day trip closer to your home. A full road trip with someone you've not traveled with before could effectively end the relationship before it has much a chance to flourish. And as you chat online, you might want to take this quiz and make sure you're both envisioning the same kind of road trip adventure.

There are so many cool places to road trip -- I bet you can find a perfect spot within 500 miles of your home. As far as coasts go, I really like the central coastline of California.

Mark

Keep in mind that it's going to take you at least 3 days to reach either coast from your location. Also, if this girl is under 18, there can be some serious legal issues with trying to get hotel rooms and if anything were to happen to her. You will also find that not all hotels will rent a room to anyone under 21 even though you are considered to be an adult.

EDIT - Mark was posting at the same time I was - if you are looking for a beach, what about Texas? You can get there in a day and a half.

One thing that keeps popping into my mind is the approach of presenting the surprise to her. I would guess that the surprise of it would be limited - you're going to want to make sure she's packed the appropriate things and has the time available.

Thank you for the information everyone. I have duly noted everything, and if anyone else has anymore suggestions please feel free to let me know! I dont want it to be a complete suprise, but something that is more memorable and will be thought of often. Not something that is followed to the T...but has more pazazz and adventure if you will :)

I don't have a lot more to add, but I will say that I agree with a lot of what has been said already.

The idea of surprising someone with a big cross country roadtrip sounds like a great romantic idea, but while it would work in a movie, its not quite so easy in reality.

I think you would be much better off to go for a smaller trip where you work together to plan it, and can get to know each other's travel styles. Long distance travel is fun, but in some ways it is more challenging that even living together. Every decision that is made will affect both of you, and being together 24/7 in the small space of a car for several days in a row can test the best of friendships. And if this is a surprise, she won't have had the benefit of working with you to plan it, so you won't be starting this trip as two people who are equally invested in the process. That's really a recipe for someone to have their feelings hurt, because you will have differences in what you like to do and how you like to do it.

Based on the goal of hitting the beach, I think I'd be looking at the Gulf Coast, like the Florida Panhandle. That would also leave a lot of options elsewhere in the south to explore on the way, but won't require you to be in the car all day for days at a time. I'd also highly recommend that you get her involved in the planning right away, so you can work together to make sure you are both after the same things.