Need advice!!!

[b0bb1e]

Hey,everybody!!!
I'm from Slovenia, Europe and a couple of my friends an I are planning this road trip across US for the past year. We were thinking of buying a car in NY(caprice or bel air maybe- supposed to be really cheap) and start from there. One of the friends is a mechanic, so we don't worry about car problems. We are all 20 years old except 4 me- I'm 21. Do u think that's a problem since we are not all 21? We thought we could sleep in motels, hostels or on campsites. We would try 2 visit as many interesting places as we manage. Do you think this kind of road trip is dangerous?What do u think how much would it cost (approximately) based on your own experiences? I would really need any kind of advice or reply!thanx

[Robert Schaller]

I don't think it is a problem that you are 20/21. You can get by and what better time to do a trip like this!

If you are reasonably careful about who you trust, and are safety conscious, then there is no danger. Millions of Americans travel on road trips every year and don't think twice about it. We believe that road tripping is one of our constitutional rights!

You'll need to have a "base" address in the USA in order to register and get license plates for the car -- and you'll need international driver licenses in order to insure it -- which is a necessity.

Estimating your costs is much more difficult.

Figure about 18 miles per gallon for gasoline, current price is about $2.35 USD I think, although that varies from place to place.

Camping can be anywhere from free to $20 per site or more. Average for a "primitive" site is probably about $10 - $15. Hostels also vary -- but usually $15 to $20 where you can find them, sometimes more. Cheap motels can be found for $25 to $40 per night -- sometimes not very nice, other times OK. I've had pretty good luck in cheap motels, actually! They might add a couple more dollars for your third person, sometimes not.

Food is widely variable -- you can eat for less than $5 a day if you are a light eater, willing to eat anything -- or willing to get supplies at a grocery store and prepare your own. Most people wouldn't be willing to eat this way for long -- the human soul requires more satisfying fare (doesn't it?) My own food budget is typically about $25 to $30 per day. Most people could manage somewhere between those two extremes.

Then you need to have some kind of a budget for the attractions you want to see -- one way to do this is get a National Parks annual pass -- split the cost among you and use it to get into most National Parks and Monuments.

Here's a link to more information about traveling inexpensively here on RoadTrip America! If you have more questions, just holler. Bob

[b0bb1e]

Thank you,Bob!!!u answered a lot of my questions.Expect me to hollar you again since I have a lot of more questions from my fellow RoadTrippers to!!! :) bbye