Prelimary Planning for a North American Road Trip

[SmartazzAzn]

So, just wanted some input into a road trip I was hoping to have underway. I'm the kind of guy that does a lot of planning before actually doing something, so this trip won't be for a while (year or so).

Here's the deal: I want to do something grand before graduating from university, so I want to take 3-5 weeks to travel North America with a few friends, of course, during our last summer. Wondering if this plan would actually pan out and doable. I was hoping to grab a car and start off from Edmonton, AB. From there head east, furthest I'd say would be to St. John. Once on the eastern coast, head south to the USA and make our way to Vegas. From there head back up north to Vancouver, and back to Edmonton. I just wanted to see if people had similar experiences, and if it'd be worth the effort and time on the road to do this thing. I honestly would very much love to do this, but I was hoping to see what I can expect if I do follow through. General costs, problems that could arise and the like. Places to avoid, pitstops, must-sees, and any other information you could provide.

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

[ElChico]

...don't drive northern Ontario...turn south from Winnipeg and got through Chicago and Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, St. John NFLD is way out of the way...and the ferry is crazy long, From New Brunswick, I'd take I-95 down through the eastern seaboard, and down to Florida, then take the I-10 across the south including Mobile, New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Grand Canyon/Vegas, then to California and up the I-5 through LA, San Fran, Portland, Seattle, and to Vancouver...then Edmonton is only a day away.

This would be nearly 20,000km

[CoffeeAddict]

Also, consider the cost of the car/rental

20,000km is a long ass road trip. Do you want to be doing that in your own car? Top Gear's most recent episode did a feature where they bought a car for $1000 USD and took it from Miami to New Orleans. All three cars they bought survived the entire trip.

The original plan was to sell the cars afterwards but they ended up just giving them away 'cause of the damage they saw in New Orleans.

It might be something to consider. Buy up a beat up car, drive it, then sell it when you get back.

Why would I recommend this? Personally I don't like taking my personal car for extremely long trips as the car takes a beating from all those highway miles. It may sound silly to some but that's just me.

[Carnage]

Why would I recommend this? Personally I don't like taking my personal car for extremely long trips as the car takes a beating from all those highway miles. It may sound silly to some but that's just me.

You'd also have to have the oil changed a few times along the way.

That kind of road trip is something I've always wanted to do, but never managed to plan.

Think about putting a giant map on your wall as you plan it. Put pins on the spots you're interested in seeing. Plus this is a nice way to be a constant reminder of trip planning.

I know when I was thinking about doing this I found all sorts of road trip websites via google. (mostly US focused ones). They had all sorts of advice. Stuff like how to drive through the desert and mountains. (which is pretty important)

[GangStarr]

A great way to end university and your friendships.

Start off small with some day trips to vancouver, you will see how quickly your firends turn into grouchs on a 20k road trip.

[MoonDoggy]

I remember trying to set something like this up with some friends before we graduated (but it never happened). Anyways, depending on the size of the party, you guys would need a much larger car/van. Even for 4 people, you have to add in the amount of clothes/food/emergency auto accessories for the 4 people unless you guys plan to eat out every meal, and stop every few days for laundry day. Some things to think about:

- food (eating at restaurant every meal). if not, you would need extra space to pack on extra cooking utensils and food supplies. Even a small gas grill would take up some room in the trunk.
- lodging. Would be best if you guys seek out all the places for (youth) hostels to stay since you guys would just need a place to shower and sleep (on some days). If you guys planning to take turn to sleep/drive, then places like YMCA would provide a good place to shower (since you can access all YMCA gym across Canada and the States on the same membership). The best would be to stay in a hotel/motel when you reach bigger cities since it's very hard to get a good rest in the car alone.
- car accessories (oil, fuel, coolant, tools, tire, etc). it doesn't help to break down in places that you would have to wait a very long time before any car passes by (if they do stop). Not everywhere have a phone signal.
- season? I assume you would go during the summer/fall time. It would be much pain in the ass to have to bring chains/snow tires for bad winter season
- time. Someone posted that the trip is about 20,000km long. If you were to drive 20 hrs a day (straigh thru with some time stopping for food, fuel, and washroom), it would still take you an approximately 10 days of driving. If you were to stop 1 day at each city, it would probably take about 4 weeks min for travelling. So it would be better if you do your budget for food, fuel, and lodging for 4 weeks, that way you wont run short.

Buying a beater sounds like a very good idea to keep cost low. no high rental/mileage fee, insurance, bumps and dents, oil changes, etc. The best part is that if it brakes down and you guys are running out of money, just ditch it and take a flight home. The only problem is comfort and reliability. It would be my choice if I were to go for a month long road trip.

You gotta remember, not everyone can handle a long trip especially if you're all cramped up in a car. It's much more realistic to plan something for 2 weeks, that only involves driving about 10-16 hrs a day so you can take breaks to see things and stretch your legs. Or you can just go camping and call it a day :D

[SmartazzAzn]

Thanks for the advice so far guys. Keep em coming.

About buying the beater, what about insurance for it? What kinda coverage should I be looking at?

[Ben Jr]

lol, I second this one...
Nothing like confined spaces with 3-4 of your closest pals for weeks on end. Sounds like a novel idea, but in my experience, 4 days of travelling was more than enough.
Personally, I'd fly to a few destinations somewhere, or hike south america/europe...

A great way to end university and your friendships.

Start off small with some day trips to vancouver, you will see how quickly your firends turn into grouchs on a 20k road trip.

[MoonDoggy]

Thanks for the advice so far guys. Keep em coming.

About buying the beater, what about insurance for it? What kinda coverage should I be looking at?

Of course, it should be one way collision. You basically just want to cover the other person if you're at fault. It would be best if you can also put it as 'occassional' driver but I dont know if they let you on that one.