Toronto to ? on next to nothing.

[Ryden]

Hello all,

I'm new to the forum, but have visited this site many times in the past. Me and 2 or 3 other friends are all graduating this year and are planning a celebratory road trip. However, the big problem is we all have basically no money and what we do have is mostly tied up in college/university. So the big plan in to set a reasonable budget and see how far we can make it down the east coast towards miami before we have to turn back. We plan on making this the cheapest road trip possible bacause of all our low funds. So the question is, can we have a worthwhile trip for say, $500 a person? How far can we make it? Can it be done?

[RoadTripper Brad]

It could probably be done, just very 'conservatively'. First, is your car a high milage car? If you have something that gets high MPG/MPL, you could make it pretty far. Second, you'd probably want to pool the money together, and set a specific amount aside for gas, food, lodging, then 'misc'. You can save money on food by taking food in a cooler, taking on the "dollar menus" now popular at most fast food joints, and the gas station hot-dog (actually, depending on what chain, these are quite good). You can save some money on lodging by camping and staying in low cost chains such as motel 6, etc. As far as gas... that's more difficult. I know out west there is a wonderful absence of toll roads, but back east... they are everywhere, so you'll probably want to avoid as many of these as possible.
The rest is just luck, and knowing when to turn around. Remember- every time you stop to fill up your tank, take a total, as that will be what's needed to make it back home (at minimum), so if you have $200 for gas set aside, don't drive until you've spent $200 in gas, turn around sooner.

The rest is just deciding where you want to go.

[Mark Sedenquist]

I'm new to the forum, but have visited this site many times in the past.

As we say, lurkers are always welcome, but posters are revered. Thanks for making the leap and becoming a poster!

Me and 2 or 3 other friends are all graduating this year and are planning a celebratory road trip. However, the big problem is we all have basically no money and what we do have is mostly tied up in college/university. So the big plan in to set a reasonable budget and see how far we can make it down the east coast towards miami before we have to turn back.

Unlike the west, where you can stretch your dollars by staying over-night in the forest lands for free, low-cost travel along the eastern seaboard is tricky.

How about if you went west to Chicago over to St. Louis and then down the Mississippi until you ran low and then zoomed back?

On your budget, I think you could make Memphis, before you turned around.

Here are some tips for stretching the dollars.

Mark

[AZBuck]

While perhaps not as prevalent as in the west, free or very low cost (less than $8 per site) camping is available in at least the following eastern National Forests:

Allegheny (PA)
George Washington (VA)
Jefferson (VA)
Uwharrie (NC)
Sumter (SC)
Francis Marion (SC)
Osceola (FL)

It is advisable, given their higher usage, to check ahead regarding the particular days you plan to be in the area.

AZBuck

[Ryden]

Wow, thanks everybody for the help so far. It was quick and very helpfull. One last thing, were all 18 and will be when we go, will we run into problems with age limits in motels?

[RoadTripper Brad]

No. Motels in the US require that the person signing for the room be at least 18, and require a debit or credit card with usually a Visa or Mastercard logo (many of them). Also, they will require a photo ID.