Trip planning- PLEASE HELP! New to this...

[moloko99]

Hey everyone this is my first post in this forum and my first attempt at a long roadtrip. I am 18 years old and am looking to go on a road trip with my girlfriend for one week in july. i live in northern new jersey, and ideally would like to go south. We threw around the idea of New orleans, but thats just one of many ideas id be open to. i would like to know favorite destinations, favorite trips, trip suggestions, or ANY other help that can be offered. very exited for this and any help would be greatly appreciated!!

please reply to this!

thanks
-JS

[Mark Sedenquist]

I am 18 years old and am looking to go on a road trip with my girlfriend for one week in july. i live in northern new jersey, and ideally would like to go south.

New Orleans would be a long ways to go on a first road trip, especially if you have to be back in a week. Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum! What are you driving and how much $$ do you have to spend? Is your girlfriend over 18 years old too? There are some challenges for roadtripping when under 18 years old.

Mark

[moloko99]

Thanks Mark! Yeah, she's eighteen also. We were feeling hesitant about New Orleans because its so far...

We're willing to spend $600-700? Not really sure if that makes sense but it all depends where we're going and for how many nights. Feel free to suggest any alternatives! We're open to new ideas.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Even though you are both legal adults (18+) there are some issues you need to be aware of. Some states have pretty strong curfews that could affect how much driving at night you can do. It's also pretty tough to rent motel rooms in this country when you are under 21 years old. Your budget is pretty good. Generally I recommend $100 per person per day, you can cut that down to $50 per person per day if you camp and eat one to two meals out of a cooler, but at $700, it would be tough to go a full week.

Here are some tips that I wrote for parents of teenage roadtripppers, but you may find some of the information helpful for you too.

If I were you, I would think about doing this first road trip on a slightly closer scale. Perhaps no further than a 1000 mile radius from New Jersey. This is still a huge area. Such an arc could encompass South Carolina to Tennessee all the way to Illinois.

What kinds of places, attractions, events are of interest to you at this point?

Mark

[moloko99]

thanks for the reply mark!

yeah i guess new orleans IS pretty far for a first roadtrip. wed be into nautre, city life, museaums, beaches, bull fighting, anything!
with the guidelines that you mentioned what would be some suggestions? open to anything!

JS

[glc]

How about a trip down the east coast - down to say, Charleston, SC, taking the ocean route (stay off I-95), then return through the Appalachians?

If you have the time and the money for tolls, you could take the GSP to Cape May, take the ferry (toll, reservations highly recommended) to Delaware, go down the eastern shore across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel (toll) to Norfolk, then down the Outer Banks - ferry to Ocracoke (free) then another ferry to Cedar Island (toll, reservations recommended) then US-17 to Charleston. You could return via I-26/I-77/I-81, and possibly detour onto the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive for a ways.

Thinking about it, a week may not be enough to go all the way to Charleston, or down the Outer Banks - but take a look at similar options. This basic trip will get you beaches and mountains. To be honest, hitting the big cities will stretch your budget, nothing's cheap and there aren't many cheap camping or lodging options in cities.

[moloko99]

Wow! Such great suggestions. Wer going to look into that. Please let us know if you think if anything else. Thanks again or all your help.

[moloko99]

Hi guys-

My girlfriend and i have a 4-5 day day window in which we would like to go on an amazingly beautiful, romantic, spontaneous, lively, exciting roadtrip/adventure. Now- Heres the catch: We are leaving from Northern NJ and must end up in Western massachsettes on the 5th day. We dont have any preferences or any specific destinations in mind, though would like to stay clear of the new england (Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, etc.);

I would love to hear any and all suggestions you have. desperately in need of help and guidance.

[Midwest Michael]

I'm a little concerned that you don't have any destinations in mind when you've already been given a number of answers that fit within what you claim to be asking for.

You'll generally get more out of a forum like this if you take the suggestions that you've been given, work with them, and continue to ask questions to refine your plan. Simply asking for "help" over and over, doesn't give us much to work with beyond what's already been said.

[moloko99]

whoa sorry Midwest Michael...