Route I-10. California to Florida.

[runnawayfemme]

Hi All,
I'm planning a road trip on the southern route 10 from California to Florida getting off at all stops.
http://www.squidoo.com/southern-route

I've found plenty of information on places to go but not so much on costs and how long it will take.

We have a month to make the trip, there will be four people so petrol/gas, food etc will be shared

How much money would you recomend having to do this trip?

Would you recomend renting or buying a car?


All tips and tricks are greatly appreciated.


R.

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

First of all, that is an interesting article you've been looking at, but please don't let that limit you. There is a whole lot more you could see and do - and personally, if I was going to be on the road for a month I'd never let myself be tied into one specific highway or someone else's preplanned route idea. The book/website "Roadtrip USA" also takes this linear approach, assuming a roadtrip is a plan to follow a specific route, and while it's got lots of good information, I also disagree with it. I'm a huge believer that a roadtrip is special because the car goes where you tell it to go - not just where a route sign or a guidebook says.

Now onto your specific questions, actually most of them really can't be answered at this point. We simply don't know any of the variables that are needed to come up with a budget. Your basic cost break down into Transportation/Fuel, Lodging, Food, and Entertainment/Misc Extras.

For transportation, if you are not a US resident, then renting is your only real option. Even if you are living here, buying a car just for a one month, one way trip will likely not be cost effective. Fuel will depend on what you'll be driving, and how many detours you're looking at.

Lodging, again, it depends on where you're going to sleep - be it camping, RVing, motels, etc.

Same with food, if you can cook many of your own meals, you'll save a lot vs. always eating at restaurants.

As far as the time it will take, you can drive from coast to coast in 5-7 days, if you are just driving and making minimal extra stops. 500 miles is a good round number for a long (8-10 hour) day on the road, with time to make just a couple short roadside stops.