First ever road trip (hopefully)

Hey there!
I'm from the UK and I'm really hoping to go on a road trip in two years' time for my Gap Year. I'm not sure whether anyone knows what a gap year is but it doesn't really matter. Anyway, I'm quite young at the moment I'm 16 and hoping to go when I'm 18 and I can drive. I want to go from New York, then South through North Carolina to Florida then to Texas, California, Colorado, Chicago, Pensylvania then back to New York again. It's just a great dream of mine to be able to do this and I just think it'd be a great experience. I know there'd be a LOT of hardships along the way and I'd try to deal with it the best I can. I will be bringing one or two friends, no more than two.

Does anyone have any idea approximately how long it would take noting that we would stay for a bit in a few destinations, what kind of vehicle I should use and how much money I would need for the entire trip?

Thank you very much! =)

Heck, I think us middle-aged folks should get a gap year, too!

Anyway, I think you should start with finding out more about travel in the US by reading some good books. I would recommend starting with Drive USA, written by an English man for international visitors to the US. It will give you a lot of good tips and ideas for what you'd need to do and plan for.

Another place with lots of good info is the International page on this website. Check out the links and read through them for lots of good info.

Now, for some bad news. It's extremely difficult for anyone under age 25 to rent a car in the US. If you can find one, there will be a surcharge. And it can be hard for an international visitor to purchase a car and get insurance. You really need to do some research here to see what you can swing to make it work best for you.

Your trip will be a minimum of about 6900 miles. That's minimum with no side-trips or other explorations. Figure a good 120 hours to travel this, at minimum. That doesn't include time for stops for food, fuel, sightseeing, traffic congestion or construction, etc.

Time to travel? 2 weeks to 2 months to 2 years. The minimum time to travel would probably be 2 weeks but you wouldn't get much sightseeing in and you would be pretty darn tired most of your trip as you would be driving long hours each day. The US is huge....even bigger than all of Europe. You need to get some perspective on the size of this undertaking.

I think you should spend some time exploring the web resources and book I mentioned above. It's good you have a couple of years for planning! And enjoy the planning....it can be almost as much fun as the trip itself. (Well, that might be a bit of an exagerration, LOL)

I do have an idea of how big the US really is, I know that even Texas is bigger than the UK itself.

Thanks for the book referances! I've been looking for a book to help me for a while now and I'll check that one out in a bookstore.

I was told once that I would probably need about £/$15,000 for the entire trip which is a little scary but would you say around that price?

For the vehicle I'm thinking a kind of motorhome or something similar to that.

Here's a post I write about budgeting that might help you start getting some ideas about how much you need to save.

Personally, I'm unsure about how you would go about getting a motorhome for your trip. It's going to be hard enough getting a car at your age. For the long miles you're planning on traveling, I believe a motorhome will end up costing you more than driving in a car and staying in inexpensive motels.

When you're reading my above-post on budgeting, please remember that the camping fees I'm referring to are for tent camping. If you need hook-ups, you can easily pay a minimum of $20/night on up to about $35/night. You won't be paying all that much less than you would be paying by staying in inexpensive hotels and the slight savings will definitely be spent in the extra gas.

Consider this:
A mid-size car averaging 25mpg would cost you roughly $700 for fuel at $2.50 per gallon.
An RV typically gets closer to 10mpg and would cost you about $1,750 just in fuel.

You can stay in a lot of hotels for the extra $1,050 you'd spend in fuel alone.

Yes, there are times you might be able to get away with paying no camping fees....like stopping for the night at some Wal-Mart parking lots...but that's not the most pleasant way to spend the night and I don't think you'd do it enough to offset the higher fuel costs.

Just my 2 cents. I'm sure some will disagree with me and, hopefully, they'll chime in so you can get both points of view.

To me, it makes far more sense to drive in a car because the driving itself is more enjoyable. And, if you want to camp sometimes, you can purchase very inexpensive camping gear at places like Wal-Mart for about $100 and do some tent-camping. Just donate your camping gear to a Goodwill or Salvation Army store before you head back to the UK.

Driving in the US is going to be daunting, especially if you will have only recently passed your test... How about looking into a working holiday? www.bunac.org organise working holidays for British students, and will help you to sort a Visa, social security number etc. I'm going to Vancouver, Canada on one of their Work Canada programmes this summer, and they definately provide some much-needed help.

With regards to the car, I have contacted the government office in charge of vehicles in British Columbia and they seem fine about a UK citizen buying and insuring a car. They will ask for a permanent address, however this will be the local SWAP (Student Work Abroad Program - Canada's version of BUNAC) office. Cars seem pretty cheap up there too, so you can expect to get something perfect for the trip for around £750 (CAN$ 1500). You may want to consider starting the trip in Canada and working your way down - Toronto is fairly close (relatively :) ) to NY and Chicago... Anyway, wouldn't it be cooler to say you toured the US AND Canada... ;)

Hope it all goes well!

Lunja.

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Originally Posted by Lunja

I'm going to Vancouver, Canada on one of their Work Canada programmes this summer, and they definately provide some much-needed help.

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Lunja, Is this your first time with this organization? We would very much like to learn more about this option.

Mark

It is indeed. If you go over to www.bunac.org you can find out more.

BUNAC organise travel and working holidays for British students to countries including the USA, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and South Africa, as well as volunteering trips to some African and South American countries. For a fee they will help an applicant to apply for a Visa allowing them to live and work in that country. My Canadian visa will allow me multiple entries for one year, and also allow me to work and earn roadtrip money :) Their Canadian equivalent is SWAP (Student Work Abroad Program, who may also be in the US) and is open to students and non-students aged 18-30 (I think).

I may sound like a rep, but I can assure you I'm not :)

Hope this helps guys. If you would like anymore info just ask!

Lunja.

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Cars seem pretty cheap up there too, so you can expect to get something perfect for the trip for around £750 (CAN$ 1500).

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I'm a little curious what kind of cars you are looking at in this price range. While it is possible to find a suitable car for that much money, you'll probably be looking at something that's at least 10 years old with high milage. I would probably be at least a little worried taking something like that on a long distance trip, especially if I didn't know the history of the car.

Generally I think you can find get much better value looking at cars in the $3,000 to $5,000 range.

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Originally Posted by Lunja

Cars seem pretty cheap up there too, so you can expect to get something perfect for the trip for around £750 (CAN$ 1500).

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I share Midwest Michael's concern about what kind of car this could be. This would convert to about $1,285 (USD) and I wouldn't dream of recommending such a vehicle to anyone who plans to go more than around the block. I would agree that you should not even consider a vehicle for use on an extensive road trip for less than 2,487.98 EUR. (CAN$3,479.64 and USD$2,981.31)

Mark

Ah, OK. I emailed the guys at autotrader.ca and they thought CAN$1500 would get us something good. I'll take your advice though- don't want the car to die in the desert :)

See, in the UK we have standard vehicle tests which a car has to take each year to check its roadworthyness. I've heard of AirCare in BC but as far as I know there is no standard vehicle test. Is there any way, other than being a mechanic, of ensuring a cars' quality?

Hi, I'm 16 years old and I'm from England and for my Gap year I've always dreamed of going on a great road trip across America. For those of you who don't know what a Gap Year is (most probably all of you) it's basically the time between, well High School and college where you take a year out to do your own thing, so I'll be 18. Usually most people do things that would be good to help their careers but I figured this would be a great opportunity to take.
This is my rough take on my route but I want to start frm New York and then go South down to Florida, then go West until I get to Texas. Then I want to go all the way West to Los Angeles and maybe go through Route 66 back East to New York, all the while taking detours to places I want to go to such as Milwaukee to see my Cousin (she's recently moved there so I can't ask her for tips) or to Las Vegas etc.
Has anyone got any advice, tips or anything for me? I've never been there before so this will make it all the harder.
I know this idea has so many bad things attached to it as in England we learn to drive at 17 so I'll only have a year's driving experience, I probably won't have enough money by then, it's not a particularly good idea to start going off in a car in a foreign country I've never been in...wow this is sounding worse to me by the minute but I'd really love to go.
I'd also like to have some kind of estimate of what amount of money I'd need for this trip for things like petrol, the car, food, lodgings and extra money for my own fun activities. I'm thinking of bringing along a friend so I won't be alone. Thank you!

I think the hardest part for planning your trip will be figuring out how you are going to obtain a car for your trip. Its very difficult for an 18 year old to rent a car long term, and purchasing a car has a whole other set of headaches not the least of which would be getting insurance, which could be very hard and very expensive if you only have one year of driving experience.

I see that my first thread I posted is here now, I posted it a couple months ago but couldn't find it for some reason.

I'm finding it all a bit stressful, mostly about the car situation.
I don't understand the whole thing about insurance etc. as I'm 16 years old and haven't gotten into that area of my life yet. Approximately how much would it all cost? Also, what kind of car would you recommend?

too much. i wouldnt even consider buying a car here an option. Perhaps youre best bet is to go by rail, you lose alot of the freedom of being able to go whereve you want, but its probably cheaper, and way easier on your nerves.

and in a lot of car rental places, you have to be 21 or even 25 to rent a car, so that right there shuts you down.

i know how you feel that this might be the only time you can take such an excursion, and it might be, but chances are, if you wait till maybe the summer after youre second year of college, youll have more money saved up, and a better head on your shoulders to go with it. you learn alot from 18-20, and obviously, even more afterwards, but at 18, in a foreign country, even the US, is iffy.

I'm sorry to say, I don't have any good answers for you.

Renting a car will be virtually impossible for you at 18, and purchasing a car would not only be logistically difficult, it would be extremely expensive. Full Coverage Insurance alone (which you'd want so you don't get stranded somewhere) could easily cost well over $200 per month alone. I'd say if you were looking to attempt this, for a car alone, you'll probably need in the ballpark of $6000-$7000 US Minimum to get you off the ground. That doesn't include gas or any of the other expenses for a roadtrip.

Using the train is an options. Amtrak does offer an unlimited ride pass good for all train routes throughout the US and Canada that is geared for foreign visitors. However, Amtrak's service does limit you to only a few cross country routes, and many of the country's biggest natural landmarks can not realistically be reached by train.

Unfortuantly the biggest sticking point for you is the infrastructure differences between the US and Europe. If you were an 18 year old American looking to spend several months in Europe, you can get a rail pass and see pretty much anything you'd want to see. With the US being such a car based society, it is much more difficult for a student from Europe to make the same kind of trip through the US.

Hiya! Im a 20 year old girl living in the UK and its been my dream for ages to travel through all the states of america(but thats a different thread altogether!!) I aim to travel next summer once I have graduated from Uni-I went straight into a degree course without taking a year out!! I think the way things are looking it could be a gap year as opposed to just a few months!

I wanted to take a gap year when I was between Alevels and Uni but it seemed to be a bit impossible-not least as it was looking to be expensive and I wasn't going to have much driving experience under my bonnet! Even now, when planning for my trip next summer I'm still having trouble raising enough money and sorting out cars and stuff.

From what I have foudn out-there is opportunity for students to go and work at summer camps in the USA and they will sort out the visa and such and you can also earn money whilst you are there! Once you've worked in the camp you then have spare time to go and travel the country with your new mates? Maybe this could be an option for you? At the end of the day though its completely your call!

With the way things are looking up it doesn't seem at all like I'll be able to do this as a gap year so I guess I'll be doing it some time in my twenties since I'll need a lot more money and I'll have years of planning as well.
Lacey it seems like a goo idea, it's not my first choice but I'll check it out if I need to, thank you!

I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations of books out there that can help me with the road trip? I've checked in the best bookstore there is called Waterstones but nothing specific. Also, not too expensive.

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Originally Posted by DreamerRT

I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations of books out there that can help me with the road trip?

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Up on the top of each page you will see a yellow tab called "RoadTrip Books." Listed there are book reviews of road trip guides and travel literature that the Editors of RTA personally recommend. Only about half of the books that are submitted to us reach the level of personal recommendations. But if they are included on this site, they are the best we know of. Three that I would suggest as a way to start thinking about your great American roadtrip adventure would be RoadTripping USA, Ramble: A Field Guide, and an excellent book written by a UK native -- Drive USA


Mark

Thank you for the recommendations.

I still do not have an estimate of how much money I'll need to save up, does anyone have any idea of how much I will need? I know it's a long shot to estimate but I'd like some kind of target. Thank you!

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Originally Posted by DreamerRT

I still do not have an estimate of how much money I'll need to save up, does anyone have any idea of how much I will need?

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There is an entire section of this Forum that attempts to provide answers to questions like this. For starters look at this this thread and then look through all of the threads in this section.

Mark