Can't Wait To Hit the Road!

I'm hoping that my high estimation for food and my low estimation for gas will balence out a little bit. Hopefully, I can do the trip for around $2,500, with maybe an extra $500 for emergencies, souvenirs, gifts, excursions and the such. It's a huge chunk a' change, but I can't think of a better way to spend it.

When I was about 9-years-old my family and I drove from Long Island to Utah in a rickety old RV, and spent a few days in Yellowstone. That was part of my reasoning, but you're right, how could I not at least drive through (I'll probably get plenty distracted). If I'm going to do this trip, I may as well do it right. The same goes for the Oregon coast. Thank you for taking the time to offer some suggestions and tweak my map.

Now I have to force myself to not think about this trip all day long, and actually graduate from college.

Once a trip gets in your mind and under your skin, pushing it aside to take care of business can be tough.

Keep posting while you plan and we'll continue to try to help you get things figured out.

Congrats on the upcoming graduation!

Graduating college right now is an uncomfortable feeling, and this trip is definitely a way for me to avoid the painful job search just a little bit longer. With that in mind, I want my road trip to be productive in some way. I’m hoping it will help me see things more clearly, and that opportunities may come out of my little jaunt around the country. I’ve been thinking about different ways to make the trip take on a new dimension, so that it isn’t just about me driving around and getting my kicks (not on Route 66 this time).

As shirohniichan said, road trips are an incredible opportunity for learning (“geography, geology, history, zoology, linguistics, etc.”) and I whole-heartedly agree. Why not pass on the knowledge? I think that it would be cool to use a road trip as a pedagogical tool and correspond with a group of youngsters from the road. I would let them (their teacher) know approximately where I am and they could send any sort of questions they may have (Are there grizzly bears in Yellowstone? How hot is it in Death Valley?). Those questions are kind of lame, but you get the idea. It seems kind of far-fetched, but this sort of learning experience would open their eyes to how vast our country is, while making them aware of some incredible destinations (national parks, monuments, etc). What do you guys think? Has this sort of thing been done before?

One of our members, laydownthelaw, actually developed a class for this students based on such an idea. It was accepted as a bonafide part of the curiculumn in his local school district.

Mark

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Originally Posted by Ecvoorhis

I think that it would be cool to use a road trip as a pedagogical tool and correspond with a group of youngsters from the road. I would let them (their teacher) know approximately where I am and they could send any sort of questions they may have (Are there grizzly bears in Yellowstone? How hot is it in Death Valley?). Those questions are kind of lame, but you get the idea. It seems kind of far-fetched, but this sort of learning experience would open their eyes to how vast our country is, while making them aware of some incredible destinations (national parks, monuments, etc). What do you guys think? Has this sort of thing been done before?

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Absolutely!

You may have heard of the Flat Stanley project. If you haven't, the short story is Flat Stanley was developed by a Canadian teacher as a way to encourage writing skills in elementary school students; through a pen pal system based on mailing a paper doll (Flat Stanley) around and "hosting him".

My wife and I recieved a Flat Stanley from a friend's son... we took Flat on our European vacation, and I ended up developing a blog of Flat's adventures in Central Europe. I tried to write it for a 2nd grade audience, and tried to focus on a mix of history and things that would be interesting to 8 year olds. I hope it worked.

So yeah, I agree this sort of thing could be a very educational opportunity. I think Flat Stanley is a great tool for this at that level... if you can find a school running one. Our blog and the Flat Stanley model isn't really an interactive (ask a question/get an answer) model.

If you look at my avatar, that's Flat sitting on the dashboard of our car as we go over the Golden Gate Bridge.

For the curious, our blog is at Flat Stanley Goes to Europe

(as with most blogs, the most recent entry is the end of the trip, so if you want to follow along start at the bottom; also, clicking on a photo will open a larger version up in a new window).

Hmm. Interesting. I've been working on the idea here and there since my last post, and I'm excited about it. The big issue, of course, was trying to find a group of kids--and a friendly, open-minded teacher--during the summer.

Eventually, I got into contact with the director of a day-care center at a local State University who loved the idea. We've worked out most of the details and I think it will be a really great experience. They are in first grade, which is younger than I imagined, but it will be fun to try and engage a group of children so young.

I've been trying to think of ways to make the road trip unique and interesting, while trying to benefit others. I'm going to have a blast no matter what!

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Originally Posted by AZBuck

There are major problems to finding short-term part-time work on the road.

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I dont know, it was never a problem for Bill Bixby. :)

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Originally Posted by PNW Judy

When I'm by myself, I can easily eat out of my cooler for about $10/day but I keep it cheap and simple. Of course, I also splurge on a good restaurant meal once every other day, or every third day, usually at someplace known for some good local cuisine. So I think $25/day is a good budget as it will allow for a few splurges in a restaurant and/or finer dining in camp.

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I hit a nice balance on my last outing. I had a small cooler with sandwich fixings and some yogurt and a bag of nuts and some breakfast bars from Trader Joes. I'd snack on the nuts and bar in the morning on the road, find somewhere nice to pull off the road and have a sandwich for lunch and then stop somewhere at a mom-n-pop diner for dinner. That way I didn't get tired of the same thing day after day, but saved a couple of bucks here and there.