NYC to TEXAS

[Monique Ward]

I'm leaving for Texas in early January to go down and live in Corpus Christi Texas. I'll be traveling with a friend of mine from NYC and we wanted to make it a fun road trip for her to remember me by. I don't want to take longer than 2-3 days trying to drive there. I've never traveled long distance by car alone so I just would like a few tips and suggestions as to how I can really go about this. I'm trying to plan early to get a gist of about how much I'd be spending. Thanks for any help ya'll can provide.

[Robert Schaller]

For any road trip, there are certain daily expenses;
Gas,
Food,
Lodging,
& Corn Nuts

Then, you add in whatever is a reasonable amount of spending money -- for you -- based on what you want to do, or what you can afford to do.

You also have to think about other indirect expenses -- what is it going to cost you to prepare your vehicle for the trip. Does it need new tires? Are you going to rent a car (and how much will that be)? Etc. Will you need an oil change while on the road?

Gas is easy to figure -- you can do the math yourself or use the estimating tool available here on RTA. Look for the link on the home page.

Food: you can eat in restaurants/cafes/diners/fast food, etc, or you can eat your own food from an ice chest, or a combination. I usually do the combination -- I eat breakfast in a cafe, lunch is a picnic beside the road with a sandwich, cheese, fruit and the like, and dinner may be my own food in a campground or a restaurant, depending on my mood. $25 to $30 per person per day is a generous allowance for road food, but you can make do with less if you focus on that goal. There's lots of other posts here on this topic, in particular, search for messages by Judy or Gen using the search function (also look for information on this site about security issues for solo or women travelers, which is something you should at least think about).

Lodging: Stay with relatives! You can spend anywhere from $19.95 to $300 and up for a room at the inn. Motels can be found almost everywhere in the $40-$90 range, and often the Mom and Pop places (pick them carefully) can be found for $20 and $30. Camping can be even less expensive, or even free if you want to "rough" it. In between, many private campgrounds have "camping cabins" (KOA's in particular often have them) and for the cost of a cheap motel room, you can "camp" in a little cabin, and have a shower/bathroom nearby.

Take your cell phone with you -- if you don't already have a plan that includes roaming and long distance charges, it is often easy to change to one that does (just for the time of the trip) without any problems. This could save you literally hundreds of dollars, depending on how much you use the phone. Happy planning!

Bob

[BJO]

I just have to say its going to take more than 2 days from NYC to Corpus Christi.. I know it takes 2 whole days just from Southern Missouri to Houston..

[Syv]

...can be done in two very long driving days (especially if you can share the driving), but better to take 3 days.

It will be about 31 - 34 hours actual driving time.

[Robert Schaller]

Given the two follow-up messages from BJO and Syv concerning driving times, you might want to consider adding a 4th day to your trip -- if the trip is 34 hours, split over 3 days that's 11 hours each day on the road. Eleven+ hours for three straight days, that's tough even for "veterans," and you'll find yourself very tired long before you get there. Why not slow down just a little and have some fun with this? New Orleans is on your way! Maybe even Nashville, if you want. Bob

[SusannaLeafPeeper]

Monique, I drove from Austin, TX to Ann Arbor, MI, in 3 VERY LONG, VERY GRUELING days - 10 hours each day with only 2 stops per day. The first 10 hours of that drive didn't even get me out of Texas. It takes 3.5 hours from Austin just to get to Corpus Christi, so I'm thinking you should plan on more like 4 or 5 days. Try to go around cities during rush hours - even a moderately sized city's traffic can slow you down by several hours. If you like rock'n'roll or other modern music, be sure to take a CD player - between Austin and Ann Arbor the only decent radio station came out of Little Rock, Arkansas.