I've been planning a road trip for this summer for a few months now and it's coming together very beautifully. But I still need some help around the edges. I'm really excited and want everything to go smoothly so we have a great time and see everything we can.
Here's the basic facts of this trip:
-Two people, me and my boyfriend, both age 20
-Driving from South Jersey to a city near portland, OR (we have friends there so it's a general stop point on the west coast)
-We were thinking of getting to OR as fast as possible through the northern states, then dropping down to cali and spend more time in the southern states working our way back over and up the east coast to Jersey
-approx 5 weeks for this voyage, we'll be leaving for the trip on or around May 15th
-I estimated about $6000 between us for the whole thing including food and gas, that's our minimum to save up to, hopefully we can get together more than that, but definately planning on 3000 each for now.
-We'll be taking my 2003 Camry, averaging 26-30 mpg with a 16 gal tank, the car will be fully serviced for efficiency and safety before the trip.
-I figured about $1000-$1500 to be safe for gas, we'll need at least two oil changes on the way, and I'll have new tires before the trip.
-We're both hiking and camping enthusiasts so we'll be camping as much as possible as opposed to staying in a motel which is boring and expensive. We're thinking on average 4-5 days a week camping and 2-3 days a week in a cheap motel or bed and breakfast on average.
-I'm very good at cooking and being resourceful, especially outdoors, I grew up in the pine barrons.
-We want to stop and camp at as many national and state parks as week can, and see the beautiful natural parts of this country.
-I am also a big music lover and go to many different rock, jamband, classic rock, etc. concerts and a few festivals around the area, and I would love to stop at a few good festivals and as many concerts as we can afford around the country. Plus that is a source of money since I make and sell jewelry which tends to do very well in a festival.
we have a big list of destinations we want to make sure we stop at, things like national parks, natural wonders, museums, interesting cities, and a few friends along the way. We're doing all we can to save money like buying an annual national parks pass that just arrived, and maybe using a gas card. This list is what gave us our general route. it will be narrowed down a lot more and become more precise in the coming months.
I guess I would like some advise.. does all this sound realistic? is it possible to get to our destination in OR in about a week and a half? (there aren't too many stops along the north that we'll be staying at for more than a day or two) So then we have maximum time in the south where most of the national parks we want to see are. What are good ways to keep costs down? Is there anything I'm forgetting?
Any advise, questions, or criticism is appreciated.
Thanks a lot!
-Happy trips for everyone!