road trip with no real plans

[Andrew Ruslander]

hello! i stumbled across this site while randomly searching for road trip stuff late at night. in seventh grade, my friend and i promised that when we get out of high school, we would take a road trip to california. we live in southeastern pennsylvania, so its quite a trip! we plan to start around philly, then take a northern route and eventually end up in san francisco, california; then, a southernish route home.

never done this before, but thats half the fun, isnt it? we dont really know what were doing, but were the type of guys that like adventure, so we plan to get lost and just enjoy the beauties of the USA. anyone ever just wander out there? and how did it work out? if anyone responds to this, thanks a lot for input - just throwing my idea out there to see how badly it sucks :)

- andrew

[Mark Sedenquist]

Getting lost and breaking down in small towns is a great way to really discover stuff. You might enjoy our "RoadTrip Report" <a href = "http://www.roadtripamerica.com/RoadTripReport/March2004.htm">essay</a> about this topic.

[PNW Judy]

I personally think an unplanned, meandering-style roadtrip is one of the funnest kind. Follow your muse and enjoy any serendipity that comes your way. You might find so much fun stuff to explore that you don't make it to California but, what the heck, you're young and can do that on another roadtrip, right? Have fun and let us know how it went.

[Bids]

sounds like fun!

last december my friend and i went on a road trip from los angeles to nevada, utah, colorado, new mexico, arizona and back to los angeles. we spent most of the time driving with no real plans. we slept in the car for three nights as my friend was not that willing to spend money for lodging. the first was spent in a pastureland in the western part of colorado, the second in a farm in santa fe, new mexico and the third was on the streets of a residential section in barstow, california. it was very economical but we had to endure 13 degree and cramped sleeping conditions. i was scared of getting DVT sleeping in the backseat of an impala. my buddy slept in the front passenger seat.

it was funny and crazy. we still laugh about it to these days. we left wednesday morning in LA and came back saturday morning instead of tuesday as initially planned. we drove through las vegas, zion national park, bryce canyon national park, aspen, denver, santa fe and albuquerque, new mexico, sedona and grand canyon in arizona. we only stopped for fastfood, gas, and restroom break. we did not take a shower during the trip.

i know i missed a lot along the way like the arches national park. it was our first road trip together and it is weird how differences in our personal interests, decision as to where to stop, what places we want to stop at to take pictures, willingness to spend money and temperaments affect the outcome of the trip.

it is good to plan that's for sure but making it flexible adds to the fun of the trip.

enjoy!

[Kenyon]

Kind of funny...my friends and I have been planning a road trip for a while now...and said we'd do it as soon as we get outta high school. So July 19th we head off from here (Nor Cal) to Canada. If your coming to the bay area make sure to check out SF..along with some of the parties they supply.

[imported_mark]

That is awsome dude i also just graduated this year and me and my friend has been on my road trips since last year skipping school going over holidays what ever it takes and there is nothing better than doing it unplanned if you dont mind high-way travel then hit up I-80 never too far from a hotel gas or food but we try to stick with older roads but good luck im sure you willl have a blast

[Brett Dwyer]

I did exactly that with a few friends last year. We left from Washington DC with only our first stop planned, New Orleans. We spent the next 6 months meandering around the country. When I got back to DC, I packed my stuff and moved to Orlando. www.destunknown.com for logs and pics.

[imported_Andrew Ruslander]

wow, hey thanks a lot to all of you who actually replied to my post. i wasnt expecting anyone to read it haha. well, i read all your responses and was glad to find no one said something like "eh, might not be a good idea at your age" and so on... its still a year away though, so like june next year ill be frequenting these boards more often to post more in-depth information on our planned trip, because frankly, right now, we dont know what the hell were doing.
we are just getting in the car, pointing it to the west, and hitting the gas :) our goal is to get to san francisco and walk across the golden gate bridge. that would be the crowning achievment of my life. anyway, thanks again for the input and ill be back in a little less than a year ;)

- andrew

[PNW Judy]

I would suggest you hang out here for the next year and read the many posts that come up. You will get a lot of info by doing that and won't have to cram at the end of the year to learn what you want to have a great trip. And it would be fun to have you hang around. :-)