Where do we start?

[Aliextrm]

Hey,
My husband and I (just married a few wks ago) are trying to plan a road trip for the summer of '06. The problem is we've never done anything like this before, and we have no idea where to start. We don't know how to start planning, what places would be good to see and decide what we want, how to save money, the type of RV we need, budgetting, etc. Can somebody help us to just get started and place us on the right path??? We need help!!! Thanks.
AB

[Midwest Michael]

First things first, decide how much time you have for the trip and think of where you want to go and places you'd like to see. If you post some starting and ending points, I'm sure you'll hear about get some great ideas for things to do along the way.

As far as budgeting, Other than planning for gas money, a roadtrip can be as cheap or expensive as you want to make it. Renting an RV can be expensive, so are you sure you need to get one at all? It might be cheaper just to stay in motels if you don't want to try tent camping.

Remember, a roadtrip doesn't even need to have a plan to be a good one, but once you've figured out what you want to do with your trip, you've come to a good place to get some more ideas and advice.

[Aliextrm]

OK, that's what we'll start on right away.
About the transportation, we live overseas, so if we don't rent an RV or Winnebago, we'd have to rent a car. Would renting a car for a wk or 2 be more or less expensive than an RV? Another problem that we have to deal with is the fact that we keep strictly Kosher, so we were thinking that the only way to eat would be to rent an RV or Winnebago or something like that. Any other ideas? We don't want to make it too regimented a trip, but we do want to get a general idea of what to do. Thanks for posting so quickly.
AB

[PNW Judy]

Renting a car is MUCH cheaper than renting an RV. Not only is the rental of an RV far more expensive, but your fuel costs will be higher as well because an RV is a gas-hog. I know very little about eating Kosher so I'm not sure how to advise you on that.

If you like tent camping, you might consider renting a car and then going to an inexpensive store like Walmart and purchasing camping gear. For just a couple hundred bucks, you can buy a tent, sleeping bags, a campstove, and the things you need for basic camping. This way you can still cook your own meals along the way to ensure you are eating Kosher without the expense of an RV. If cost is an issue and this works for you, even if you have to dump your camping gear at the end of your trip, it will be cheaper than renting an RV. You could also look for a Goodwill or Salvation Army to donate them to at the end of your trip.

Whether an RV will make sense for you or not also depends on where you are going to be traveling and what you want to see. If you want to spend a fair amount of time in cities, an RV is going to make getting around rather tough. But, if you're mainly going to be in wide-open spaces around national parks focusing on outdoor activities, than an RV might be just the thing for you.

I'm not advocating getting an RV or NOT getting one, just trying to point out some of the things to consider. They can be great or a curse depending on the trip, the people, how you like to drive, etc. Things to think about.

As for what to see....that all depends on your interests. Do you have a list of "must-see" stuff? If not, work that up first and plan the rest of your trip around all that. You will get lots of good hints via these forums and other parts of the website. The International page on this website is an excellent place for you to start. "Drive USA" by Andrew Vincent is a particularly good book for international visitors to start with.

I know many of us will be thrilled to help you further with your planning once we have a better idea of what you want to do.