From Vancouver to Miami

[swiss dude]

Dear guys
In Spring 2005 i went to Frisco for 2 months. So, it's allready 3 years ago and I need to get back to the Staates. I'd like to go on a Road Trip in Summer 2009 for about 4 months. There're lots of Informations I have to research and I'll be happy about any advice, etc...
My favorite Route after 1 month Alaska will be:
Vancouver- Montana- North Dakota- South Dakota- Nebraska- Colorado- New Mexico- Oklahoma- Arkansas- Mississippi- Alabama- Florida.
My cousin lives in Daytona Beach, so I'd like to visit him at least.
I'm really interested in your opinions, especielly Costs, Places, to buy a car, etc... I allready thank you for your answers.
Greetings Dominik

[AZBuck]

Willkommen! Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

That's a lot of ground to cover, both as a RoadTrip and as a set of questions, so I'm not going to get to it all in a single answer. Instead, I'm going to try to point you to some of the best discussions of the subjects you've raised so that you can start doing some background reading and see if most of your concerns get taken care of that way. You can, of course, always ask for more detail or clarification.

Costs: The best post on the topic is this one by Judy. As a general rule of thumb, I tend to budget about $100 (€65) per day for food and lodging and then add fuel and sight seeing on top of that. It is possible to travel for less.

Things to see: That depends on your interests, but a good place to get a general idea of the things to see, both big and small, in the states you'll be driving through are our A to Z lists for all the states and provinces.

Buying a car. I'm afraid I can't recommend that, especially since you will be a foreign national without a permanent address trying to buy and drive a car in two countries. To see all that would be entailed in such an endeavor, have a look at this discussion.

Best of Luck!

AZBuck

[swiss dude]

Hey AZ Buck, thanks for your answer. You're right, it is a lot of ground to cover, but I've got a lot of time for traveling. My idea is, to stay one month in Canada and Alaska. I've got a friend living in Vancouver. Perhaps der is a possibility to get an car ( or Bike ) enjurence on his name. Then two months on the road and to relax one month in Daytona Beach. Also to sell the car... About the costs, I had the same idea. Guess I'm gonna need about 100 Bucks per day, maybe less because I'd like to stay in hostels.
So, thanks for your advices about the disscusions. I'm gonna start reading now...
Have a good one, greets Dominik

[PNW Judy]

If your friend in Vancouver helps you with car purchase and insurance, that should make the purchasing issues go easier. However, if you want to sell a car registered in Canada in the US, that is going to be a whole other set of problems. I wish I had an answer to your problem but you will really need to research this.

The amount of miles you travel will impact your budget a lot. $100 per day may not be enough if you are driving a lot. I suggest you spend a lot time working out your route and figuring the total miles you'll be driving. Add about 20-30% to that for meandering off the roads to lodging, food, sights you want to see, etc. Of course, without knowing what kind of mileage your vehicle will get makes it hard to do a firm estimate. But I think if you use about 22mpg as a guesstimate, this will allow for an older car with lesser mpg. If you get something with better fuel consumption decreasing your fuel costs, then consider it a bonus.

[swiss dude]

Hmmm, thanks Judy
It seems to become difficult. What about buying a Harley? Would you recommend this to me? Do I need a bike insurence and is it easy to find one?
Lots of quetions, i know.
I've got a cousin in Daytona Beach, perhaps I get one of his bikes...

[AZBuck]

Whatever vehicle you buy, you are still going to face the same licensing and insurance problems. It may be cheaper to buy, register, and insure a motorcycle but nothing else changes except that you will need the additional motorcycle operator endorsement on your driver's license.

AZBuck