Road trip circle! Need advice!

[MaevaC]

Hi everyone,
I am new to this thread and I plan on taking a road trip next summer 2011 in a circle around Utah. I'm from Southern California and this is my first road trip, so any advice would be great. I plan on taking a few months off for this, but here is a rough draft of my stops:
Starting from my home in Riverside, CA to Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo to San Fransisco
San Fransisco to Tahoe
Tahoe to Reno
Reno to Blackfoot
Blackfoot to Yellowstone
Yellowstone to Grant Teton
Grand Teton to Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains to Denver
Denver to Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs to Taos, NM
Taos to Santa Fe, NM
Santa Fe to Gila National Forest
Gila National Forest to Sedona, AZ
Sedona to the Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon to Tempe
Tempe to Joshua Tree
Joshua tree to home, in Riverside.

I would be taking the whole summer off for this trip so any advice/anecdotes/ideas would really help me out! Thanks!

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

You've got a nice outline of great places to see, and with 3 months available for your trip that's a great amount of time to really dig into some of these areas.

My only concerns would center around this being your first time trip. This is a very major undertaking for a first time trip and that does bring up the thoughts of how much you'll really like spending that much time away from home. The other big factor is the budget - a trip like this will take quite a large amount of money, so I'm curious how much you think you'll have saved away for funds.

[glc]

How can you take a trip like this and go around Utah? To me, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Capitol Reef, and Monument Valley are must-sees!

[MaevaC]

Thanks for the reply guys!
I have started saving already and hope to have about three grand saved up. Two or three of the spots I will be able to stay with friends, and a few of them just pitch up a tent and stay there, and the rest I hope to find hostels to make my stay cheaper. I'm not exactly sure if that's enough though, I'm having trouble figuring out an estimate of what that trip will come out to.
I didn't really look into Utah, but now you are making me reconsider! I definitely will look into those places and see if I can fit them in because I'd like to see as much as I can, although I do have to be back in time for fall quarter to start at my school.
Thanks again! Keep it coming!

[Southwest Dave]

The longer you are on the road the further your budget is going to be stretched, so I would start cutting back [if possible] on every day "small treats" now and try and increase the budget. Every Dollar saved will slowly add up over the next year and could make a huge difference. If you are on the road for 3 month's and your budget works out to $250 a week [3 grand] it's gonna be tight. Camping or Hostels for 5 nights a week [depending on how long staying at friends houses] I would allow $100 a week. Depending on your vehicle [I presume you have your own road trip vehicle ?] I would allow $50 a week for gas which only leaves around $15 a day for food and everything else ! You could possibly camp for $70 a week but only adds $5 a day to your budget. You will need to get your vehicle checked and serviced before heading out and have an emergency fund for any breakdowns, which could be anything from a puncture to a water pump or more.

You can save some money by purchasing the National parks annual pass for $80 but my advice would be to save, save, save !

Any sacrifices now will be worth it, what a great trip !!

[glc]

$50 worth of gas doesn't get you very far!

That budget is only $35 a day. I don't see how that's going to sustain you.

[Southwest Dave]

$50 worth of gas doesn't get you very far!

Over a period of 12 weeks that is $600, I would estimate the OP's journey to be around 3500/3600 miles long. It's a ball park figure but at $3 a gallon and a return of 18mpg it comes back to $50 a week. Of course there is a significant risk of clocking up many more miles with just small detours.

That budget is only $35 a day. I don't see how that's going to sustain you.

Agreed.

[MaevaC]

I failed to mention my sister is coming with me, and she is also planning to save the same amount. I was thinking we could pack some canned foods and such for the first few weeks to try and save money on food. This is extremely helpful!

[glc]

I'm used to putting $50 a day in my truck when I'm on the road - and that only gets me about 300 miles!

[Southwest Dave]

I failed to mention my sister is coming with me, and she is also planning to save the same amount. I was thinking we could pack some canned foods and such for the first few weeks to try and save money on food. This is extremely helpful!

With 2 of you travelling and sharing gas and camping costs and a budget of $3000 each, it will make a huge difference.

Posted by glc] I'm used to putting $50 a day in my truck when I'm on the road - and that only gets me about 300 miles!

I think the point has got lost somewhere. The OP has to travel 300 miles a week over 12 weeks to roughly cover the mileage, and is not a trip that requires covering 300 miles and $50 a day.