1st Road Trip 1st time driving in the USA.

OK after much deliberation I have booked the car for the cross country road trip. I started looking at loops and soon saw that any decent radius loop starts to hit milages similar to the cross country run. Also due to me finishing Friday lunch I can get a good start on the Friday if I can jump straight in the car. Flying to the west coast would have taken all day and I would have arrived late evening - not the best time to start the adventure.

Rental is _really_ expensive but since work has paid for my fight to the US and I only need motel+food+gas on top of the rental+flight back for SanF to NY I can justify the outlay.

I got a couple of AT&T go-phone sims off ebay recently one for my ipad one for a phone that I have yet to source (my old gsm handsets are only dual band). I really don't want to do this without a cell phone, fingers crossed I can activate the sims. Maps and GPS I also have to sort out.

I am going to pin down the route in great detail, but remain flexible about where to stop. Ideally I would like to do the the first 50% quicker as I think I am going to be more wowed by the second half of the journey more.

Worst case scenario is I don't make it, have to drop the car off somewhere else and pay for another flight back to NY in time for my journey back to the UK.

I am a little bit apprehensive. I am sure 25 years ago I would have done thing like this without a second thought!

Thanks for being so helpful.

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I am a little bit apprehensive. I am sure 25 years ago I would have done thing like this without a second thought!

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Don't worry it will be a great experience ! Don't figure on covering any more than 500-600 miles a day to stay fresh and enjoy the ride. That's the equivalent of about 9-10 hours of driving with time to stop for short breaks and to fill with gas. That could get you to Denver in 3.5 days, perhaps 4 with a couple of longer stops, Chicago, St Louis perhaps. That would leave you a nice bit of time to drive through some incredible scenery of Colorado, Utah and Arizona perhaps. Once you have some dots on the map we can help fill in the detail.

Congratulations on your decision. I am absolutely sure you will not regret it.

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I am a little bit apprehensive. I am sure 25 years ago I would have done thing like this without a second thought!

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Yup, I know what you mean. But hey! the first time I hit the road I had attained my senior citizen status. In those days I did not know anything about planning a trip, in fact, I was not aware that a trip should be planned. I got in a car, and drove. All I knew was my final destination. Now, a decade later, I am still unable to 'plan' my trips, and mostly head for the horizon.

So allow me to give you a few tips.

Do not be tempted to rely solely on the GPS. They can be deadly! Go to the AAA and get a good set of maps, of the whole country, of each State you think you may traverse and of the major urban centres through which your possible route may pass. I say 'possible' because you may change your mind along the way, and divert from your plan. If you have your UK automobile club membership with you (or know the number), this will all be free to you. (or call home and get the number. lol)

I would not pin the route down in detail. Why not just see how you go. You have enough time. You will very likely find that you will do more than 350 miles on many days. On others, you might want to take it a little easier. But make sure that you have the flexibility to check out anything the locals will point out to you.

I love travelling on my own. People are much more likely to chat with you. And it is always a good idea to sit at breakfast, lunch or dinner, at a table where there is another lone traveller. No telling what interesting characters you might meet.

The other thing you may like to checkout. I have heard on more than one ocassion, that it is cheaper to rent from Newark than it is from New York. You might like to check it out.

It is true that the western half of US 50 goes through spectacular country, but don't discount some of the scenic parts it passes through on the eastern half, and especially Small Town America.

And lastly, but by no means least. Do you think you can take a few notes (and photos) along the way, and let us know how you got on? You can post this in the Field Report either as you go, or when you get home. We will be very interested in reading it, as I am sure future cross country trippers will too.

Have a safe trip.

Lifey

Why not just buy a whole go-phone for 20 bucks?

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Why not just buy a whole go-phone for 20 bucks?

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If I can do that I will. I actually only ordered one sim card for the ipad - which I really wanted to be able use over 3g and they sent me 2 sims in separate packages - I think by mistake. I did a lot of googling and came to the conclusion that if you walk into an AT&T shop with a non US (unlocked) Ipad you might have problems convincing them that they can sell you a go-phone (micro) sim. The advice was to buy online, the only issue being that you had to use a visa gift card to top-up since a UK credit card won't work.

Can I just walk into an AT&T shop (there seems to be one close to where I am staying the first week) and get one? I was not certain if it needed a US credit card US address etc.

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If you have your UK automobile club membership with you (or know the number), this will all be free to you.

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Very interesting - yes I am a member of the AA - and was going to bring my card to get discounts on rooms. Free maps sounds great.

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And lastly, but by no means least. Do you think you can take a few notes (and photos)

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I will certainly do this. I was going mad thinking about what the right thing to do was - and this forum was a real help in me getting my head clear.

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... and was going to bring my card to get discounts on rooms.

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You will find that some do, but it is always worth asking... especially where discount for AAA members is advertised. Explain that you belong to an organisation which has a reciprical arrangement with AAA.

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... and this forum was a real help in me getting my head clear.

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Good to start with a clear head. Relax, and enjoy your trip. You will have a lot of stories to take home, and will get an even clearer picture of where you'd like to bring the family.

On the other hand, you will probably see so much, that you won't be able to decide. LOL The US is like that!

Lifey

You shouldn't need any sort of address information for a GO phone.

In fact, you don't even really need to go to AT&T. Walmart and several other big box/electronics stores sell GO phones, as well as several other brands of prepaid wireless service. Such places will also usually sell "minutes" to recharge your phone if you are running low.

Walmart is probably the easiest and cheapest for buying a go-phone, and you can buy cards to add minutes almost anywhere - I've seen them in most convenience stores in gas stations along the highway. You can pay with anything the store accepts - they even take cash!

Well the count down has started. I fly out on Saturday morning.

What can possibly go wrong ?!?

I am going to try and post a report as I go. But I can't test the technology till I am on the road.

Not sure yet how I will post - blog - website - facebook - but I will put some link to what I post in the Field Reports forum.

We look forward to your report, but would appreciate it if you can provide a written summary in your field report and not just an outside link, thanks. You can also upload pictures to your 'Photo share' page and put them in the thread, we like photo's ! ;-) Any friends or family you want to share your travels with, just send them a link to your RTA report.

Have a great trip !