New member seeks advice for cross-country trip

[Lifemagician]

Thank you for your replies. A couple of follow-up questions:

1) What about couchsurfinmg?

How much experience do you have with couchsurfing, and its members? I would get in contact with local members and attend some of their functions, to build up a reputation with references. Very few members - yours truly included - would welcome a member who does not have references and is not verified. All very important issues.

2) Part of my reason for wanting to take a van was to have ade quate space for belongings and finds...I could mail stuff home but I would think that would add up quickly. Anyone ever take a Honda Civic or similar car on this kind of trip?

You would do well to research some of the vandweller websites. It is amazing how they cope in vehicles as small as a VW Bug

3) I do understand your emphasis on not purchasing a van for a single trip like this, but if I were to find something reliable and affordable, how much might the value of it go down for re-sale when the trip is over? (The baseline road mileage of the grand trip is 8,000; note this is largely interstates so the actual mileage may be quite a bit more).

For a mere 8000 mile trip and two months, I would have to agree wIth Michael. I also wonder how much research you did before coming up with this plan. ; Did you look at Adventures on Wheels? I recall making enquiries with them, some years ago, for a 6 month rental, which was going to cost me $5000. You could not buy a van for that.

4) Any solo travelers out there, I wonder what you budgeted per day (or week, month). Is $6,000 for a 2-month trip seem way off? (For either option - combo of cheap motels, hostels, couchsurfing, etc.; or with van. Note that perhaps about a 1/3 of the nights I would be at a family or friend's home.

Budgeting would drive me crazy. I make sure I have the funds before I plan my next trip. I have a refrigerator in the van, to keep my perishables. I carry basics like Cereal with me. Each morning I have a bowl of cereal with milk, and some tinned fruit. I do not know how you price that. I also have a mug full of hot milk with instant coffee. I keep a loaf of bread and some butter and buy cheese ham, etc., a couple of slices at a time. That along with a bottle of water and a glass of orange/fruit juice is my lunch. Sometimes I go out to eat in the evening to a place like Panera Bread, Perkins or such which never costs me more than $10. Other times I purchase a salad or chinese meal from the supermarket. This is never more than $10. I figure my daily meals come to between $15 and $20

That is about the extend of my budgeting. As I said, I make sure I have the funds before I leave home, for all possible eventualitiies.

Thanks for your help. I want to make this dream a reality.

You might have to spend a bit more time dreaming (and researching/planning).

Lifey

[gorillabay]

Thanks Lifey for the perspective. I'm just getting into couchsurfing and will begin contacting members. I had not heard of this until last month. I put a post up there which no one has responded to; my concern is that though there seem to be lots of members, most of them have not "checked in" for a long time, like a year or more. So I wonder about the actual availability and how much I could rely on this outside of big cities.

I have seen some vans on craigslist for under $5,000. I recently was given the idea of leasing which has some distinct advantages--but given that I have seen it mentioned on this or any other post, I wonder if there is something I'm missing here. For instance, it would cost less than $1K to lease a 2016 Honda CR-V. That car is just large enough to sleep in, at least some of the time, while having better mileage than a larger car.

I found out my car is worth about $2K to a dealer, maybe more with private sell. I am open to getting a vehicle which could be my regular vehicle after the trip, but I know that wouldn't be a mini-van.

I am doing a lot of researching now, but I can't tell by your last line if you think this trip is possible. I believe it is, but I do need to figure out what I'm doing on the transportation side. Thanks again for the links, I am checking them out.

[Merkeller]

In any case, such gear is not cheap, and the experience isn't for everyone. While I actually enjoy cool weather camping, it's not something I'd necessarily recommend for someone who is not an experienced camper.

Fair enough. I am, in fact, too inexperienced to actually do that myself so I only brought it up beсause it seemed appropriate to mention.

[gorillabay]

Research is continuing. I will make one last post here and then check back in when things are a lot more fine-tuned.

I have gone back and forth with the mode of transportation, but currently the van idea seems to be losing out. If I can get the right combination of cheap motels, hostels, couchsurfing (though see my previous concern with this), and family and friends, with perhaps some camping thrown in, then I think it will just do fine. My main concern with camping is that I don't really like it, and have little experience with it. I think having to camp solo is compounding my hesitancy. Of course, I realize the economic benefit cannot be ignored, so I will not rule it out by any means.

Here is the basic route as of now:

1. Oakland, CA across Nevada to Salt Lake City, UT
2. Salt Lake City - Taos, NM
3. Taos across Texas to Natchez, MS
4. Natchez to Selma, AL
5. Selma to northwest South Carolina
6. Northwest SC - Alexandria, VA
7. Alexandria - Louisville, KY
8. Louisville - Indiana
9. Indiana - Madison, WI
10. Madison - Mt. Rushmore
11. Mt. Rushmore - Int'l Peace Garden
12. Int'l Peace Garden - West Yellowstone, MT
13. West Yellowstone - Salt Lake City, UT
14. Salt Lake City across Nevada to Oakland

Weather will be taken under consideration and this route is definitely not set in stone. There are family stops in UT, NM, VA, IN, WI, and MT. I am hoping that others will pop out of the woodwork once the trip is publicized.

I can push the trip back some; but the idea was to skip the summer due to heat and tourism season.

Thanks again for all your help and any follow-up posts to this one would be amazing.

[Southwest Dave]

Have you family in SLC ? I ask as I wonder why you would start and finish your journey the same way and not go to Taos via a southern route, perhaps take in the Grand canyon and Monument valley among other sites, including Southern Utah and Colorado.

I can push the trip back some; but the idea was to skip the summer due to heat and tourism season.

If you are thinking of a 2 month trip then I would be looking at starting out at the end of April where you will be arriving to Yellowstone mid to late June.

[Lifemagician]

.... I am doing a lot of researching now, but I can't tell by your last line if you think this trip is possible.

The one thing I left out in that line was keep saving and dreaming.....

All things are possible. There is an old saying which goes something like - what you can conceive, you can achieve.

Lifey

[gorillabay]

Thanks, Dave & Lifey, for your additional replies. Lifey, that makes me feel better. I have found the more research I do the more real of an idea it becomes.

Dave...I had certain notions which led to the route doubling up in SLC. Your words kind of echoed and then I realized I do not want to do the CA-SLC across Nevada route twice, esp. as it is not exactly the most exciting of scenery. So now I start by going south--Bakersfield to Sedona, AZ (family there), then to Taos, and then onward as planned.

Also I believe you can answer a question. I was using the MapWizard feature and disabled some kind of pop-up when deleting routes, and now I can't delete any routes. I made so many and just want to clean it up to make it in line with current plans. But when I click on Delete nothing happens.

[Southwest Dave]

I am not sure about the maps, but it sounds as though the problem is connected to the Pop up somehow. Leave it with me I will see if I can get Mark on the case.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Also I believe you can answer a question. I was using the MapWizard feature and disabled some kind of pop-up when deleting routes, and now I can't delete any routes. I made so many and just want to clean it up to make it in line with current plans. But when I click on Delete nothing happens.

First of all, there's no reason to delete any routes. As a full member, you can have essentially thousands of routes saved in your account. I personally have 456 in my account that I never look at. I can't really imagine a scenario where having a collection of routes would impact you in any way. You just create new ones for current planning purposes and ignore the rest.

But it does sound like you've enabled pop-up blocking on your browser. So, if you want the Maps program to work at all, you'll need to go into your privacy settings and enable pop-up windows on your browser.

I am also a little puzzled as to why you would be limiting yourself to the Map Wizard. The Map Wizard is a stripped-down version of the RTA Map Center. There are many more tools and capabilities in the full program --and your current Custom Places, Routes and Maps work there as well.

Mark

[gorillabay]

Hello, I had posted some months ago about a solo cross-country trip I am planning. I am 42-year-old male. The trip is much more defined now and I would like to give the specs and get any feedback.

Dates of trip: Depart 8/29/17 and return approx. 10/17/17

Route: SF East Bay (California) – Oregon – Idaho – Montana – Dakotas – Nebraska – Iowa – Wisconsin – Illinois – Indiana – Ohio – Kentucky – Tennessee – Mississippi – New Orleans – Arkansas – Oklahoma – New Mexico – Utah – Nevada – SF East Ba

Transport: By car. Which car is still TBD. I own a Honda Civic Hybrid with about 140K miles on it, has been very reliable since purchasing used in 2011. The primary issue there is space. I did a “dry pack” and things did not entirely fit; but even if I whittle it down some it leaves me very little wiggle room, and one objective of the trip is to add to my license plate collection by going to junkyards.

Lodging: A blend of cheap motels, hostels, Couchsurfing (if it works, I have my doubts), and staying with family. In all I will probably stay with family about 40% of the nights.

Objectives: Fulfill lifelong dream of traveling cross-country; see unique roadside attractions; travel mostly via highways that are not interstates but not entirely backroads either; go to junkyards; talk with/interview people connected to the roadside attractions and other stops (will be doing some more main touristy things like Mt. Rushmore); visit a lot of museums; take a lot of photos; write a book about my experiences; visit out-of-state family; take time to reflect on my life and future.

Inspirations: Blue Highways, Travels With Charley, and a host of other, more recent cross country memoirs (such as Turn Left at the Trojan Horse and Wild).

Miscellaneous: Though I have a detailed itinerary (using Lonely Planet and roadsideamerica.com as guides for stops), I am fully aware that half of it could be thrown out the window. There is a lot of unknowns about this trip that I cannot know until I am on the trip. For instance, I do not know how I will tolerate driving several hours every day for so many days in a row, detours and unplanned adventures will take place, it is difficult to predict how much time will be spent in certain locations, etc. I embrace this, however.

I also am not certain I will stick to the 50 days. This is ideal based on being able to return to a part-time job when I return, but I am also willing to forego the job if need be. I have been working a lot of hours and saving this past year for the purposes of this trip. I will be re-joining AAA and obtaining a National Parks pass.

The average time driving per day is 3.62. The actual total will surely be more; this figure is based on city-to-city calculations and these assume as much major highway driving as possible, and also there will be detours, getting lost, etc.

Merged threads. Please keep all matters related to this trip here. Thanks.