Solo 2Months Roadtrip - renting a car ? RV ?

[gshlomit]

Hi everyone,
I want to go on a solo two month road trip (Auguest~September) I don’t have a car and my level of RV understanding is limited. What would do you think will be better renting a car or renting RV? In term of overall coat the total experience etc?
Thank you for your help,

~ Grace

[zxa]

I've only done it with cars because I wouldn't like to drive an RV thru mountains for one reason and I'm not really used to driving them either. Thrifty seem reasonable value for full size car (Taurus) - about $235 a week including ldw. An RV would be a lot more expense, although you could sleep in it and save on hotels.

[Utahtea]

The two RV rental places that I know of are Cruise America & El Monte RV Renting is NOT cheap. It's going to run you at least $100+ per day for a motorhome. Figure anywhere between $7000 and 10,000 for two whole months! Then they charge extra per mile if you go over their daily mileage alotment. You will probably get about 10 MPG and at today's gas prices that's going to hurt.

If you want to stay in private campgrounds they run between $15 and $30 & up per night and you will get full hookups. National Park, State Parks, national forest, BLM campgrounds usually won't have hookups and will be a lot cheaper from free to $18.00. Many Wal-Marts will let you park in their parking lots overnight for free. You do have to check with the manager before spending the night, because there are some cities that have banned this parking and Wal-Mart has no choice but to obey those laws.

Motorhomes are a little more work. If you get sites with electrical, water, cable and sewer...then you have to hook all of those up. If you want to drive off in the RV, then you have to disconnect each time you drive off. Even if you don't get a full hook up site, you will have to dump the sewer system every so often. You will have to do your own cleaning and laundry of the bedding.

On the plus side! (Finally!) You won't have to pack and unpack a suit case at every motel. You can cook your own meals and save money. You will have a refrigerator, freezer, stove, oven, microwave to use when needed. You will have a comfy chair or couch to relax in anytime you want. You will have a bathroom on those long stretches of freeway where there are not a lot of exits! Motels can be expensive when you go to popular places and areas near National Parks.

Where are you going for these two months?

Utahtea

[Mark Sedenquist]

Hi everyone,
I want to go on a solo two month road trip (Auguest~September) I don’t have a car and my level of RV understanding is limited. What would do you think will be better renting a car or renting RV? In term of overall coat the total experience etc?

Well, there is no doubt that operating a RV solo with no prior experience for two months would be a life-changing experience. I lived and worked in an RV for 6.5 years and I would say it took me at least two months to get fully relaxed in the process. There is almost the same level of maintenance required for a house and a RV over an 8-week period, with the exception that due the movement -- there is more to do with RVs. I would probably counsel getting a car -- less to learn.

[gshlomit]

Thank you everyone for taking the get back to me and your great comments. I must admit I’m a bit intimidated about the RV options both money wise and the level or expertise needed. Perhaps I should look more into the renting option or buying a car. I liked the renting option because I am not a car aficionado and knowing my luck the car I’ll buy will break down in the first week. I’ve been dreaming about a road trip for ages and it seems it’s now or never. I plan to drive from Cambridge Ma to Seattle.

Are there long term (2 months) renting options ?

[PNW Judy]

Don't rule out car camping. A cooler, a camping stove, a self-inflating mattress, a tent, and a comfy chair are your's to use whenever you want, camping is cheaper than in an RV because you don't need hookups, so you get the best of both worlds, imho. That only thing you're missing is the portable toilet. :-)

As to your question....www.CarRentals.com lets you plug in the parameters for your trip and compares prices amongst the leading car rental agencies. Plugging in Aug 1 to Sept 30, picking the car up at Boston's airport and dropping off at Seattle's airport, resulted in prices started at $3,324.48!! Wow.

http://www.carrentalexpress.com/ is an agency that specializes in long-term rentals. I found it by googling "long term car rental". Their prices seem a bit better starting at around $1800.00 for the same time frame. However, that doesn't include picking up in one place and dropping of in another. I didn't see how to get a quote for that or know if they even have it available. It might be worth checking out.

[zxa]

I'm looking to do a similar trip (maybe longer than 2 months), but since I'm outside of the US, the hassle and expense of insurance is a bit of a problem (no US driving record. no permanent US address etc.), so for me the only real option is rental. To cut the cost I've been trying to work out where I wouldn't need a car and the possibility of using some Amtrak trains between certain cities and picking up a local car hire when necessary. I don't want to pay too much money to a hire company, but maybe it's the only option. I don't like camping and would probably stick to cheap hotels, I've never slept in the car before, but it would certainly cut costs drastically even for a couple of nights a week. Pity I can't bring my car from Europe and drive it around.