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hey atinybird I wanted to make a comment on the money situation.
First off I wanted to let you know gas is going to get far more expensive once you hit the west coast. I just went cross country this summer and I don't know if its just that gas prices raised that much but by far the most expensive gas I found was in California... maybe I'm crazy but I remembered the gas in New York being around 2.50 a gallon (this was in late July) but by the time I hit San Francisco it was in the upper 3s, like $3.50 a gallon. Again I could be way off, but this is what I am remembering. It might just be all gas rose during the month I was on the road though. Anyway the reason I bring this up is just make sure you have th emoney to get to Seattle and all.
Hey I wanted to make a suggestion on the work situation. there are plenty of pay-for-the-day work places where essentially you need to get up liek 5 in the monrnig, go to the pay by day place and wait to see if they have any placement for you. YOu wont make much, usually about 50 bucks, typical labor day salary (at least here) and its not much because a big portion is going to the pay by day place. But regardless its very good for making a tiny bit of cash that you need quickly and you won't have to worry about people hiring locals or anything because they are expecting workers just for one day. But be prepared this is usually really hard labor work. It might have been easy for me and my group of friends to get the work because we all had carpentry experience so im not sure it might be difficult wihtout labor experience but i dont know. But beware there are just a lot of really shitty labor jobs out there. I once had this job 50 bucks a day and i was on this endlessly large property and i was to trim just this infinite amount of thorn type bushes that were all hanging from trees and stuff and all I had was a reciprocating saw he didn't even give me any gloves or anything and it was just too hot for long sleeves. by the end of two days my entire arms were just lacerated to pieces, only later to find out the whole area was infested with poison ivy. it was hell. so ya a lot of jobs like this suck but I think somebody pointed out you might have a hard time finding work so this sort of thing might be your only option if you are really in a rush
Another possibility albeit unhealthy if you do it in the long term is donating plasma. I used to live in this kind of state run place for teenagers and about 3 times a month everyone would run out to donate plasma. I never did it because I didn't need money for anything but this was a popular thing. There is a limit on how many times you can do this each month, but around here it was about 25 dollars the first time, then i think something like 50 the second time, 50 the third time (in the month). Anyway it's not smart to do this a lot but if you are in desperate need of the money there are always plasma centers. But it's not something you can just run in and do the same day in a lot of places if it's your first time, first timers have to fill out application, etc and make an appointment but usually its just a couple days later.
Just some things to keep in mind in case you get really desperate for gas or food whiel you are on the road. I like your spontaneity and sense of adventure and I hope you find what you are looking for on the road!
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Our cargo van (now dubbed 'the escape pod') only cost us $1200 off craigslist, pretty darn good considering we'll be selling both our current vehicles too. High miles, but they're built to take tons of miles too, and the thing runs great and appears to be extremely easy to work on should something go wrong mechanically. I'm working to insulate it right now, then we'll slap some carpet down, throw a bed in, and voila! :) Well, a bit more complicated than that, but only because we have tons of extra time before take-off to fiddle with it.
As far as places we have picked out - not too many really. We'd like to see things that we otherwise wouldn't bother going out of our way for but should probably see someday such as the grand canyon, rushmore, etc. I'd like to spend some time in random places we think we might like to live someday to sort of absorb the atmosphere there some - so probably several quirky small towns along the way. Other than that it's really just about seeing whatever and not overcomplicating it hopefully. Once you get to California, if weather is possibly still a problem for yosemite I'd say the redwoods are a great thing to see. I'm in redding, which I hear is nice to see ;) I obviously can't stand it here, but honestly I really can see appeal in checking it out for a day or two, we've got some neat stuff.
For us, in the end we'll be landing in manhattan. Or, the end goal is to get a small apartment or just a room in manhattan at least. At first we'll probably be landing in brooklyn somewhere we can get away with stealth parking while we look for jobs. And while I realize it's expensive, I tend to argue that it's not as bad as people tend to think usually. Housing is indisputably more expensive, but I feel as if that's offset at least fairly significantly by transportation costs. We figure we spend roughly $700/mn on transportation (car payments, insurance, gas, amortized licensing/registration and maintenance/repair costs), and that will be replaced by two metrocards and perhaps a taxi here or there. So assuming we get jobs paying at least as well that's a good bit do dump into housing instead. Oh.. one piece of advice I'd give you taken from the pages of our honeymoon - be careful where you park. We had a rental car in seattle that got towed off, it would not have been fun if we hadn't been able to figure out where it had gone, and if we'd been depending on the vehicle to sleep in lol.
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Hey escape, thanks for the tips! I will definitely keep the pay-for-the-day jobs in mind. Hopefully it won't be a terrible experience like yours! My boss suggested finding pumpkin farms, apple orchards etc and seeing if they need help during their seasons. That could be fun and interesting.
Hahaha, 'plasma' donation. I'll let the boy take the reins on that if it comes down to it. But I don't think he'd be too keen on it ;p
Gas is actually pretty expensive over here at the moment. I think it's anywhere between $2.80-$2.90 a gallon for regular. In New Jersey it's slightly cheaper in the $2.50 range. Isn't gas usually more expensive in the summer anyway?
Max, the escape pod sounds awesome! Good luck with it! Are you guys installing outlets? We're thinking about putting some in my car.
Yeah, we're planning on stopping in the Redwoods. My best friend was just there and said it's beautiful. I think we have a friend somewhere in northern California, but not sure where :] so we might stay with him too.
We'd be heading south through California. If it's too cold for Yosemite, we'll just go to Big Sur, and hit Yosemite at a later date. But who knows.
I'd like to see how your route ends up shaping up.
I've certainly seen some suspicious looking vans and buses parked over in Williamsburg (brooklyn) that may or may not be housing travelers. And I've definitely walked by traveling crust punks sleeping in Mccarren Park. So I don't think you'll have a problem camping out here ;]
Definitely start checking craigslist out now...just to get an idea of what's out here apartment wise though.
We had a small scare where I thought we were going to have to find a new room for the month of September, and it was prooving more difficult then I thought. We were aiming to not spend more then $800 for a room. A lot of people don't want couples, want to raise the rent if it's going to be a couple, rooms are 9x9 windowless boxes etc. But who knows, maybe you'll luck out!
Keep some of the Brooklyn neighborhoods in mind too, they're cheaper and parking is usually (usually) easier then in Manhattan- which is just a train/bike ride away.
Oh, and a monthly unlimited metro card is, right now, $89. But they're planning on raising the price to $100, I think. AND put a limit, on the unlimited. WTF? Yeah.
Don't worry- living in the city area has made me parinoid about parking. Double, triple quatruple checking. Watch out of alternate street parking, no standing, and no parking signs! The tickets are anywhere between $45-$120!
Haha, it seems we're both giving advice on the places we can't wait to get out of!
Also- I was wondering if anyone else had any other advice/opinions on our choice of a northern route during October/November. My family and friends are being slightly discouraging about it and making me worry/doubt it. I know there's no way to predict the weather but I just to know if it's doable or not. :\ suggestions please?
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The northern route should be fine in November. Just keep abreast of conditions and either detour or wait it out if you do encounter a snowstorm. The Interstates will be cleared and opened very quickly.
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Ha, yeah - it's humerous how the grass is always greener on the other side, eh? ;) Be.. aware... of the gas price difference I would say. I don't foresee that being such a huge deal, but it might be of note. Gas around here seems to be about $3.20 right now for regular. Good ol' california :) And thanks for the tip off about the metro card, that is pretty lame :\ I suppose it's probably necessary to keep mta afloat, but bleh lol.
As for outlets in the escape pod - I don't think we'll be doing formal outlets, but we will have an inverter to use as needed. I've considered a secondary battery system, possibly even solar charged, but right now I just don't see a need for a secondary system. You won't want to run power too much while not driving as it'll drain your primary battery and you won't be able to start the car the next time. But for us I think we'll just charge everything necessary while driving and then laptops, cellphones, etc all have their own batteries to operate off of once we're parked for the day. And laptops/cellphones can always be charged at starbucks/library too. Inverters are cheap now too, it's great :) Have you figured out a plan for heat during the winter - especially if you go north much? Oh - and don't worry about the whole family discouragement thing lol... My wife and I got married up in the mountains in the middle of January - and all I heard about the preceeding 6 months was how it was never going to work out and what a terrible idea it was - but we loved the location and the time of year and were determined to do it. The whole thing worked out great despite the naysayers, and I'm sure your trip will work out relatively the same as long as you make necessary planning and preparation. If you do want to come through Northern Cali, through Redding, let me know and you can couch surf our place for a couple days too ;) We move into the escape pod in december for a local trial period and to ramp up savings, but as long as you're around before then it'd be great to have you.
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Update
We're leaving a month later now, so at the end of October/early November. Thus our route has changed.
If anyone can recommend anything to see/tips along the new route (throughout the winter months) that would be great (like, I nearly completely forgot about Graceland!).
Here's the first half.
Leave from Long Island
Philly
Pittsburgh
Somewhere in Ohio or possibly Ann Arbor, Michigan
Chicago
Milwaukee
St Louis
Memphis
Jackson, Mississippi
New Orleans
Baton Rouge
Houston
San Antonio
Austin
Dallas
Oklahoma City
Albuquerque
Grand Canyon
Las Vegas
Death Valley
Yosemite (Will still probably be too cold :[ )
San Francisco/Oakland/Berkley
Redwoods
Portland
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I know this is an old thread, but did you ever make the trip and how did it work out for you?
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It's great that you are searching the forums and coming up with old threads akanevsky but the original poster hasn't been active on the forum since 2010, so it's most unlikely you will get a reply. If you are hoping for this type of reply you can always look at the members profile by clicking on their name and then you can check if they are still active.
