I have to drive 2500 miles to Calgary from Hartford to get to school. I am 19 years old, I need to arrive in the 27th of April. I don't no when to leave on the 24th or 23rd, 24th would be 13 hrs a day driving and idk if that's what I should do, or should I stretch it another day. I plan on sleeping at motels when I stop then getting right back in the road. Please give me your thoughts, where I should stop, and any advice you have I appreciate any help.
Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !
You really have no choice, this trip requires a minimum of 4 overnight stops and the best part of 5 days to complete safely. Firstly mapping programs do not reflect real world drive times. They pretty much calculate the speed limits and divide it by distance with no thought for human needs such as rest breaks, the need for food and others like congestion and construction delays, never mind sleep. (It takes extra time getting off Interstate and checking in etc) In other words to do this trip in 38 hours is impossible, it's more like 45 + hours. Secondly, even if it were possible it, doing a one day marathon drive is one thing, to get up next day and do it again and again is a different animal, fatigue will set in and you will become a danger to yourself and other road users. What you need to do is divide up 4 days of driving an average of 550 miles, which is 10 hours per day and then you could leave yourself a shorter run into your destination on day 5. If you stop over near a major city try and find lodgings on the 'other' side of town so that when you leave in the morning you will be heading away from the morning rush into it. Try and find lodgings that will set you up for the drive with a good breakfast included.
Safe travels !
As Dave indicated, you absolutely need to plan for 4 overnight stops on this trip, so you the 23rd really is the very latest you can leave and safely make this trip.
Assuming you leave fairly early on the 23rd, you should be looking at overnight stops near:
Cleveland/Akron, OH
Wisconsin Dells, WI
Jamestown, ND
Swift Current, Sask.
Each of those drives are right around the 550 mile mark, and will be a full day on the road, and leave you at a spot at the end of the day with plenty of hotel options. Since your last day is a little shorter, you've also got some flexibility if you get a little later start that first day - where you could adjust your stops to say Youngstown, Madison, Fargo, and Moose Jaw.
Thank you, I'm going to leave at 1am Sunday morning the first day I will drive the most then reduce over next 3
Please read back over the advice you got. Both responders said you needed four overnight stops in order to complete this trip safely. You are now planning to do it with only three. Both responders indicated that you needed to evenly space out your miles driven on each of your WORK days in order to maintain a sustainable pace that will not wear you out. You now plan to leave in the middle of the night and drive a 'killer' day at the beginning.
You have been given sound advice that will let you have a safe and pleasant journey and you are ignoring it for a plan that will put your safety and the safety of everyone else who is on the road with you in jeopardy. Lack of sleep and changed sleep patterns are perhaps the biggest cause of accidents on the road. As bad as or worse than drunk driving.
Why? What could possibly be worth that risk to yourself and countless others?
AZBuck
You need to leave TOMORROW, no later than noon!
Add me to the list of those baffled why you came on here for advice at all - if you are just going to ignore anything everyone had to say AND are hell-bent on engaging in homicidally dangerous behavior anyway.
As others have said, you are doubling down on the danger by not only taking significantly less time that is needed to complete this trip safely AND by driving at hours when your body will be expecting to be asleep. If you have any respect for the people with whom you will be sharing the road with, scrap this insanely dangerous idea.
Add me to that list as well. None of us are talking down to you. It would seem, from what little you've actually said, that you're more concerned about saving the cost of an extra night in a motel than you are in having a safe and enjoyable cross country trip. Even apart from starting a 2500 mile drive with a sleep deficit, by driving all those hours in the dark, you'll miss a lot of pretty countryside, and that's a wasted opportunity! Driving cross country is a big investment in time and fuel. If you're going to do it, do yourself a favor, and do it right!
Back to the notion of drowsy driving, here are some statistics for you:
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conservatively estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes are the direct result of driver fatigue each year. This results in an estimated 1,550 deaths, 71,000 injuries, and $12.5 billion in monetary losses.
That's every year, and I can guarantee you, every one of the drivers involved in all those crashes figured it would never happen to them. Even the most minor accident would be a lot more expensive than a night in a motel, so why push your luck (not to mention pushing the luck of all the innocent folks who will be sharing the road with you).
Spend today packing, get some sleep tonight, and leave tomorrow. And enjoy your trip! I wish I was 19, taking my first cross country drive!
Rick
I can arrive on the 28th of April so it will be 4 days, I booked a motel for my first stop in Wooster OH not far from Akron, after that Idk
So when EVERYONE who has responded to your post has told you that you need a minimum of 5 days to do this safely - and provided you numerous facts about exactly why it is extremely dangerous to do it in anything less than that - you think we're joking?
Wooster, OH is a reasonable distance to cover in 1 day - hopefully that means you've scrapped the very bad idea of trying to leave at 1 am - however Wooster is 30 miles south of Akron - which means it's 30 miles in the wrong direction! From Wooster, you are still 2000 miles from Calgary, meaning you still need THREE MORE overnight stops.
Ok all you geniuses tell me flat out, if I leave today Saturday the 22nd, where do I stop each and every stop for the day please, and just so you know I am not rich I live with my grandparents and worked 2 part time jobs just to save up 5 grand for thks school and this trip and will be losing 50$ booking I already place for Sunday but since, I've been scared to death I'm going to leave around noon today maybe a little after. Tell me where I should stop tonight and rest up, tomorrow, the next day, the next day and the next day.
I have to arrive on the 27th before night time, I'm going to leave today around noon
If you look up to the second response you were given, you will already see a full list of cities that have been recommended as stopping points. You can click the "Lodging" tab at the top of the page to see what you can find for budget motels in each of those places. If you look back at those recommendations. That list also included a second list of cities if you decided to leave a bit later on the first day - which would apply if you are planning to leave at noon.
If you look at that list, you'd also see that the 5th day is a bit shorter, so If you leave on Sunday, you still could get to Calgary by Thursday Night (and if you can arrive on Friday, like you said before, you're in even better shape) - you just couldn't plan to get there on Wednesday like you had previously been saying.
No one is here is saying you have to be rich to do this, but we are saying that it's not worth doing something every bit as dangerous as driving drunk in order to save $50 by avoiding one extra night in a motel room.
Ok everybody listen to me I just spent the last hour mapping it out tell me if I'm good to go and if it sounds good.
Day 1 leave from Hartford at 6am to hubbard,OH 485 miles away to travel lodge. Rest overnight.
Day 2 leave from travel lodge in hubbard, OH to rockford, IL motel 6 484 miles. Rest overnight.
Day 3 leave rockford motel 6 to fergus falls MN super 8 508 miles. Rest overnight.
Day 4 leave fergus falls super 8 to Weyburn, SK,CA circle 6 motel 494 miles. Rest overnight.
Day 5 leave Weyburn SK to My School in Calgary 510 miles.
Based on this plan I would be able to leave Sunday the 23rd in the morning and arrive in Calgary on the 27th at night.
That's my plan please give me your thoughts now
That looks like a good plan, but be sure to book all that accommodation before you leave home, lest you be tempted to go farther. Approach this like a marathon, and pace yourself carfully, so that you never end up in danger of fatigue setting in. Fatigue is the unseen enemy of long distance drivers. It creeps up on you without you knowing. By the second day your reflexes and concentration starts to deteriorate, and by day three you will be driving dangerously.
If you stick to this plan, and have not just posted it to please us, then you will be in good shape when you arrive.
Lifey
This is my actual plan and yes I am sticking to it thanks
It looks a solid and safe plan that will give you a little time out along the way to enjoy the trip. Those first couple of days will leave you thinking you could have gone further (and you could have a little) but it will keep you fresh and relaxed throughout the trip. My sarcasm radar was beeping a little after reading your post, so just to let you know, we have your best interests in mind when we make these suggestions, even if at times it's harsh to make you understand and take note, so we wish you a safe and enjoyable journey and please update us to let us know it all worked out.
The new plan you've come up with actually has you driving less each day than the stops that were originally recommended, and this time it looks like you've paused to look at a map to make sure your hotels are actually on your route, so yes, you should be in good shape by sticking to this plan.
Congratulations and safe travels.
If you haven't done so already, give your vehicle a health check before setting off. You need to check oil and water, (including screen wash )plus the condition of your tyres and check they are inflated correctly, including your spare. While there you may be able to see that you have enough wear remaining on your brake pads and discs for the trip. It doesn't hurt to carry top up fluids and check your levels at the end of each days travel.
Safe travels! Most of us have been where you are, in some version or another, and we all wish you the best. Calgary is a wonderful place to be based, especially if you enjoy the outdoors. You'll be very close to some of the most beautiful mountain scenery on the planet. If you can swing it, take some weekend road trips. You'll find good advice on this forum for that sort of thing as well.
Good luck in school!
Rick
Leaving tomorrow thanks for your help
UPDATE
Im currently in Weyburn, Saskatchewan tomorrow i will be arriving in calgary.
Ive used google maps the whole way here are some tidbits of my thoughts during this trip.
1. Motel 6 houses prostitues
2. Travel Lodge is Nice
3. Canada is awesome, i love how diverse it is and everyone is friendly.
4. North dakota is an absolute ghost town i almost ran out of gas going though it
5. I've driven through New york, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois(TOLLS ARE RIDICULOUS), Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and Saskatchewan.
6. there are so many truck drivers and farms in America, if i were running for president i would target them and pandora to them and i guarantee i would win the popular vote and electoral college by a record landslide.
7. had to fill up the tank (Lexus ES300 2000) one a half times each day
8. I got 1 speeding ticket in Wisconsin
9. When crossing the border they didn't even check my car, took about 40 mins of paperwork and simple questions had my passport and letter from school simple as pie.
10. I DID THIS ALL ALONE!!!
11. I thought there would be more scenery but i didn't even see anything really just a lotto farms
12.On the second day of my trip i got 1 hour of sleep but still drove from hubbard Oh to rockford IL with a giant hemorrhoid, i wanted to get there ASAP so i dint drink any water at all the entire day so i wouldnt have to stop to pee, HUGE MISTAKE, my hemorrhoid got a million times worse and over the next two days driving 16 hours sitting on it was hell, but I'm a champion so i toughed it out and thank god for PREPARATION H.
13. Did i mention the ILLINOIs tollway sucks... IT DOES!!!
14. on the 3rd day of my trip, when i drove from rockford to fergus falls, i don't remember what state it was but they had service plazas that are basically mini malls with bathrooms every 50 miles and after learning that dehydration worsens hemorrhoids on day 3 i must of drank 12 bottles of water and was stopping every hour and half at a plaza to piss, so thank you to them
15. THANK YOU JAPAN!!! your cars are so reliable. Sure my lexus has taken some beating during this trip, but is pulling through like Rocky. Before i took the trip all i did was get an oil change and get a new air filter and new snow tires, I will only drive japanese cars from now on for there reliability.
16. i miss my cats
17. Ive only had a free breakfast Once while staying at hotels, some raisin bran cereal, Ive never checked out properly, i just leave my key in the room and leave, because I've departed every morning at 6 or 7am and arrived at my rest stop around 2-3-4pm.
18. 1 red bull does wonders, i was getting tired 2 days in a row with about 2 to 3 hours left on each of my drives, 1 red bull and baby i was riding like the wind.
20. FINALLY, i have to thank the people not his forum who scared the shit out me when i first posted that i was gonna do 13 hours a day and make this trip into 3 days. LMFAO. NOT POSSIBLE is right! Thank you for scaring me into planning it out. Im going to be traveling a lot in my life and this is the first of many road trips i will experience as i will be wrestling around the world in the very near future.
THANK YOU
Anyways I'm just bored so I'm venting about that i thought about or things that happened during this trip, this is what happens when you drive 2500 miles by yourself and you don't have your cats, you get lonely and bored.
Thanks for checking in.
We're glad you have made it this far, and we're glad you adjusted your route appropriately - although it doesn't seem like the importance of getting rest really sank in. If you have to rely on red bull to keep you going, your driving abilities are already being impaired by fatigue, and if you only got 1 hour of sleep in Ohio, then your chances of being in a crash were about 20 times higher than normal during the following day. Something to keep in mind for those future trips you have planned.
Your outrage at the tolls in Illinois is odd. You should have paid somewhere between $7-13 in cash tolls (half that if you had an ezpass) - and I suppose if you were blindly following google, you might have taken the quite expensive Chicago Skyway, but even there, you would have paid quite a bit more for tolls in Ohio.
Of course, the tolls costs, and the amount you spent on motels combined is probably about the same as the $200+ speeding ticket you got.....
Haha. Thanks for checking in and yes, always keep water and snacks in the car ! I think this learning curve will hold you in god stead for future road trips when you have time to explore the things all around you.