Summer Road Trip in June South West Area??

[Markmac]

Hi,

Great forum....

Hope you can help with this one. Myself a few friends are planning an American Road Trip. We plan to go next June 2006 (granted it's a little time yet, but want to be well prepared).

To be perfectly honest, being from the UK we are clueless with the whole 'RV thing' and would appreciate any advice.

I have been given the details of the below rental companies by an American friend;

http://www.mikethompson.com/cgi-bin/...e=go_mini.html

http://www.elmonterv.co.uk/C25.htm

Being a little tight, we are looking for the most competitive deals, what is a typical price for a 3 week vacation? Any other companies, we should check out?

Furthermore, being a group of 4 guy's in our mid twenties.. Any routes to recommend. We were thinking Los Angeles, Vegas, Phoenix then the West Mexican Coast for a bit???

Thanks in advance,

Mark.

[PNW Judy]

Welcome to the forum!

I have no experience renting an RV so I can't help you with rental fees. However, you should know that you can't take a vehicle into Mexico without getting a specific insurance policy for that vehicle. Further, I'm pretty sure that you can't take any vehicles rented in the US into Mexico. Before you get further with your planning, you'll want to confirm this.

Here's my take on RV travel....RVs use a LOT more fuel than regular passenger vehicles. If you're traveling significant miles, the savings on hotel stays will be more than outweighed by the increase fuel costs. And, to be honest, campground fees aren't that much less than budget hotels. Yes, you will also save on meals by preparing your meals in the RV. But you can do the same with a passenger vehicle.

And there will be things you will need to learn and become comfortable with like leveling it, dumping the grey and black water tanks, etc. You will also find some of the best routes more difficult to drive in an RV due to narrow roads, tight corners, and elevation changes.

If you want to rent an RV to get the RV experience, go for it. I'm not against RVs. I entertain dreams of living in one fulltime and traveling the country in one myself someday. And we used to have a truck/camper combination when my kids were little. We moved up to a truck/trailer combination when the kids were a little older and we needed more room. However, we only used this rig for shorter trips because the cost of fuel offset traveling this way if you were going to be traveling a lot of miles. So, for your type of trip, an RV doesn't make sense to me.

If you're budget is a little tight, it seems to me that you would get more for your money by renting a minivan, buying very inexpensive camping gear, tent-camping and eating out of your cooler. You can buy a good tent for $30-50. Sleeping bags for $10-15. A cooler for about $15. And a cheap cookset and stove for about $50-60. These purchases will quickly pay for themselves as tent campsites are far cheaper than RV campsites, and you will be saving a lot of money in fuel consumption.

But, of course, you still won't be able to take that US rented minivan into Mexico. If I'm wrong on that, I'm sure someone will pop in and let us all know.

Your itinerary sounds great. If you can find a way to get a vehicle into Mexico, that is.

[Bob&Cathy]

There is a company that rents VW campers. You might be able to save a little bit of money on gasoline. The website is: cooltrails.com. You might want to check them out.

I agree with Judy that any larger RV offsets any money saved by going to motels/hotels and restaurants. But, the pleasure of stopping where and when you want to is also something to consider. Be aware, the cost of gasoline here in L.A. is around $2.75/gallon. I don't know how to convert to the metric system. Sorry.

You might want to consider renting a minivan or even an SUV. (Chevy Tahoe, Ford Expedition, etc.)

I hope you will find the vehicle that fits your needs and when you finally decide to come here, have a great time.