3 girl road trip, PA to FL to AZ

[Natalie Pfeiffenberger]

Hey there!
After we graduate, a few of my friends are going on a road trip from pennsylvania, down to florida, and eventually ending up in Arizona. They asked me to go, so I'm trying to help by figuring some stuff out. How much money would that take? Like, an estimate. We'd probibly be camping a lot and motels or something. And we'd use one of our cars, maybe I can get my moms van, although it's doubtful. In Arizona we can stay with my moms aunt, so there's no charge there. And passing though Texas someone has family there... Will this cost a whole lot? Like, should I get a job and save for the next year and a half?

[Jason Capriotti]

The amount of money required depends heavily on how hardcore you want to be. If you are taking a straight shot back to PA from AZ, lets assume the trip total mileage is 5,600 miles. If you do 800 miles a day, and take no breaks (which would suck, and thus is hardcore), that means 7 days of driving and 6 nights of lodging to pay for. So what am I getting at? You should figure out where exactly you want to stop along the way, how many miles a day you will drive, and that should give you how many days you will be gone. Expect to pay at least $50 a night for a hotel (maybe more, if you don't want to stay at Ma and Pa's Sleep 'n Eat). Camping on the other hand (especially at state parks) is MUCH cheaper. Expect something like $10-$20.

Also, gas. That is a fairly easy calculation. Not to sound condescending, but it is [Total Miles / Vehicle MPG] * Avg Gas Price. For a car that gets $25 MPG, on a 5,600 mile trip at a gas price of $1.35, it is about $300.

Finally food. My friends and I (http://www.roadgeeks.org) always eat cheap. We bring a supply of Poptarts, crackers, and the like. The 1 or 2 meals a day that we eat are usually at fast food places. So you can probably figure out an average daily food cost ($10 for each person?), and take it from there.

[imported_Jason Capriotti]

The amount of money required depends heavily on how hardcore you want to be. If you are taking a straight shot back to PA from AZ, lets assume the trip total mileage is 5,600 miles. If you do 800 miles a day, and take no breaks (which would suck, and thus is hardcore), that means 7 days of driving and 6 nights of lodging to pay for. So what am I getting at? You should figure out where exactly you want to stop along the way, how many miles a day you will drive, and that should give you how many days you will be gone. Expect to pay at least $50 a night for a hotel (maybe more, if you don't want to stay at Ma and Pa's Sleep 'n Eat). Camping on the other hand (especially at state parks) is MUCH cheaper. Expect something like $10-$20.

Also, gas. That is a fairly easy calculation. Not to sound condescending, but it is [Total Miles / Vehicle MPG] * Avg Gas Price. For a car that gets $25 MPG, on a 5,600 mile trip at a gas price of $1.35, it is about $300.

Finally food. My friends and I (<a href="http://www.roadgeeks.org">http://www.roadgeeks.org</a>) always eat cheap. We bring a supply of Poptarts, crackers, and the like. The 1 or 2 meals a day that we eat are usually at fast food places. So you can probably figure out an average daily food cost ($10 for each person?), and take it from there.

[imported_Darrell]

I just had to say, that road geeks site is kick ass!

[Ed Mathein]

Thanks, Darrell!

[selena]

i don't know if any one replied to you yet, but i will tell you this. i am from pa and i now live in az. the trip out here was great. the way we did it was we kept switching off drivers. this minimized the amount of time and money spent on motel rooms. and as for camping there are a lot f areas where you can camp over night for free. just bring your tent and sleeping bags. this is probably the better idea. but be careful because there are a lot of strange people out there.
since your driving out her, it will probaly un you about 1000 dollars with out hotels but that is adding a little on for emergancies like flat tires and stuff. so i would ay yes, do save your money. the more you save the better time you'll have i promise i came out here with 1200 dollars in my pocket and when i was finally here. i had about 400 left over which was nice. you'll also want to make sure you save enuff to catch some sights on your way here. although there are a lot of places to visit without paying. oh and to cut down on costs even more pack some picinic lunches everyday. you'll never go wrong with stuff from the grocery store and you'll save lots of money by not eating out all the time.
well, good luck ad enjoy your trip.
if you have anymore questions, please contact me at
selenaelizabeth@yahoo.com

selena