Cross Country From Tallahasse, FL to Seattle, WA!

Hey all,

So I'm planning on driving to Seattle from FL at the end of this month, and I just wanted to share with you the general plan(s) and possible routes! I'll have one other person with me, but most likely I'll be doing most if not all of the driving.

First route: Includes stops from Tallahassee, FL - Dallas, TX - Albuquerque, NM - Salt Lake City, UT - Portland, OR - Seattle, WA. 5 days/4nights

Second route: Includes stops from Tallahassee, FL - Dallas, TX - Albuquerque, NM - Las Vegas, NV - San Francisco, CA - Portland, OR - Seattle, WA 6 days/5 nights.

In both situations we plan on using Airbnb along the way, you can find decent places to crash for only around 50/night or so in most large city areas. The second route adds an extra day as well as 400-500ish miles to the trip, but I think it may make for a more interesting trip with possible stopping points to check out. Any advice or opinions on both routes are welcome, as well as if anyone has ideas for possible better routes to take!

Welcome to RTA!

You are starting off on the wrong foot the very first day. It's 825 miles from Tallahassee to Dallas, which cannot be safely driven in 1 day. This would wind up being at least a 16 hour drive, which will make you tired with the whole rest of the trip ahead of you. You need to limit each day's drive to no more than 600 miles, which is the limit professional drivers are limited to by law.

Dallas to ABQ is also over 600 miles, as is ABQ to SLC and SLC to Portland.
I'm not even going to analyze your option (2), it looks just as bad. If you are in a hurry to get there, this will be 5 full days on the road using US-27/US-84/US-231/I-65/US-78 (I-22)/I-40/I-540/I-49/I-29/I-90. Overnights need to be near Memphis, KC, Rapid City, and Butte.

If you want to deviate from the fastest route and/or do some sightseeing, you need to add some more days to your trip.

You need to plan this trip the same way a marathon runner plans his event. If you burn up all the fuel in the tank (energy) you will be exhausted. The following days will only add to this. Fatigue is cumulative, and only a good long rest will get you over it. Limit yourself as mentioned above. Consecutive days of 600 miles are quite exhausting if you are not used them. Fatigued driving is akin to drunk driving, and just as dangerous.

For an enjoyable trip I'd add at least another day, and take it a little easier, with some time to enjoy the land through which you will be travelling.

Lifey