Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

As for where to go ? Well the Roadtrip is special in the fact that it is an individual thing and you get to choose where you go, and with 8 day's there are thousands upon thousands of possibilities. I wouldn't try and cover so much ground that you don't get to enjoy the places that you visit along the way. Sometimes the best plan is to have no plan at all, except one that will allow you enough time to get home. A loop that would have you spending half your day's driving and half enjoying the other side of a road trip [exploring] would be New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, [Great Smokey mountains] Savannah and home.

Here are some budgeting tips [be sure to check out the other link at the beginning of thread] and another article on travelling solo.

You will find everything you need to know by digging around the site a little and if you have other questions, just ask.