Summer Road Trip - RV, car, or a mix?

HEY JAMIE! 

I was SO excited to find your website! It is amazing!

My boyfriend and I are from western Australia and we are planning a big big USA trip for next summer June/Aug 2012. Both of us love the idea of a cross-country drive and we were playing with the idea of the touristy Route 66 nostalgic trip. BUT after reading the Oregon Trail..... I'm smitten. It covers everything we want to do and I'm thrilled to have come across it. 

I have a few questions though, firstly we were going to hire an RV.
 How long would it take us to do the Oregon trail roughly? Just so we can have an idea about how much the car hire will be costing us. 
Secondly, if we plan to sleep in the RV are there plenty of places we can park safely?

We are also going to drive from San Francisco (my most favorite place in the world) to LA and from LA to Vegas. 

I AM DYING TO GET MY HANDS ON YOUR BOOKS! 

THANK YOU! 

Bec & Gonz

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Hi Becs -- 

Many thanks for the nice message -- I hope I can help you plan  a great trip!  

As far as timing a cross-country drive, I recommend giving your self at east 10 days to do a trip like the "Oregon Trail" route; longer if you can linger in places like Cape Cod, or Yellowstone National Park. 

About parking overnight, as a general rule it's hard to simply park overnight in an RV, as most towns and cities have laws against sleeping in vehicles.  One exception is that the biggest chain of retail stores, Wal Mart, usually allows RVers to park in their lots overnight. But generally you still have to find and pay for a place to park -- and campgrounds for RVS can cost nearly as much as a cheap motel room.

Maybe you can do some RV-ing, and some "normal" car road tripping?  You have a long trip -- 3 months, June to August? -- and having a RV rental for the whole time could get expensive (about 4 or 5 times as much as a rental car -- RVs can cost $600 a week plus 30 cents a miles, while cars more like $200 a week with no mileage charges.)

An RV could be perfect for the wild national park areas of Utah and Arizona and the Rocky Mountains, and a car would be better for your Oregon Trail drive, and other explorations (especially in the eastern USA, where there not are so many wide open spaces!)

There's a lot to see, all over the USA -- hope you do manage to get a hand on my books, and hope they help you have a great trip! 

Happy Trails, 


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

Rocky Mountain Road Trip

Hi Jamie --

Love your web site – there is nothing else like it – I was just after some advice on a forthcoming Road Trip that my wife and I would like to do – we have a family reunion in Hawaii on 17th March then intend flying to the mainland on 22nd March before flying back home out of LA on 2nd April.

Essentially 8 -10 days for seeing some of the USA by road – Originally wanted to get up to Yellowstone and Mt Rushmore but understand the snow will be too heavy. What do you think of driving the start of the Oregon Trail then down the border to border route then back across to SF or LA ? Is the snow or weather going to be too bad for relaxed driving up North ?

My wife and I have done the major cities in the states but never the country so interested in what you would recommend – essentially we could fly anywhere from Hawaii then start back from that point for 8-10 days ?

Thanks

Paul

(from Melbourne, Australia!)

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Hi Paul --

Many thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA -- glad you like the website.

St Patrick's Day in Hawaii, huh? Then Mt Rushmore, and on to LA. Good stuff -- apart from all the snow, that is.

If you flew from Hawaii into Denver and picked up a rental car there, you could head north and see Mt Rushmore, and the Badlands (and some of the historic Great Plains, like General Custer's Battlefield, if that appeals...) before heading west. As you've learned most of Yellowstone is closed down in late March, so maybe you will be better off visiting more winter-oriented places -- like the Grand Tetons (which are beautiful, and much more of a snow-season destination. Great skiing in Jackson Hole, for instance.)

From the Grand Tetons area I'd be tempted to head south, toward the Four Corners region and the amazing scenery of Utah and Arizona, like Canyonlands and Zion National Parks, Monument Valley, even the Grand Canyon if you've not been there on your other travels. Santa Fe New Mexico is also a pretty special place -- and you could "get your kicks on old Route 66", which is still main route across this part of the country, passing thru teh Pueblo Indian lands and the Grand Canyon, too.

In a week or so you could make a great trip, maybe relaxing in Joshua Tree or Palm Springs in southern California before ending up in LA to catch a flight home.

Hope this helps yo have a great trip -- and I hope you get a chance to check out the book version of Road Trip USA, which has lot more fun stuff than what we've put up on the website.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

Vintage Pontiac Road Trip - Florida to Washington

Hey Road Trip --

My dad and I are taking a cross-country trip starting on Sunday in a 1941 Pontiac from Jacksonville, Fl to Poulsbo, Wa. It would be fun to take one of the old highways but without ten million red lights the whole way.

Is there any particular way you suggest?

Thanks for any information you have.

Justin


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Hello Justin --

Thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA, and for letting me know about your big (brave?...) trip. I hope the weather co-ooperates; from what I've been hearing the roads almost all over the country are pretty challenging -- maybe lots of red lights are just what you need to get there safe and sane.

From Florida I'd say you should start off with a short day trip down to St Augustine, to stage a "starting line" picture at the picturesque marker for the Old Spanish Trail, which used to run all the way across the USA, ending up in San Diego CA. Though you probably don't want to ride "two-lane" highways all 3000 miles, there are some regions I think you'll want to explore on something more intimate and personal than a 80-mph Interstate freeway.

Since you've got such a cool old car, the obvious road for you to drive is that living legend of a highway, Route 66. That offers a good mix of vintage experiences with modern-day convenience -- plus it has that fabulous theme song.

If you have more time, feel a little more brave or are concerned about weather, I cover a lot of other possibilities in the "Southern Pacific" route in my Road Trip USA book (and on the website, too).

One nice "old highway" alternative to I-10 is the loop that US-90 makes across southern Louisiana, from New Orleans (well worth a detour on any road trip!), through the scenic Cajun Country. where there are many little towns and scenic drives -- the area around St Martinville and Breaux Bridge is especially nice.

Because of winter weather, I think you'll want to avoid as much of the Rocky Mountains as possible, so I'll keep your route as far south as possible -- Interstate-10 will be the main cross-country road, with as many side loops as you want. After Louisiana, another nice place to escape the Interstate tedium is the famous "Hill Country" region west of San Antonio Texas (home of the Alamo, another great photo opportunity !) In the Hill Country and on to the west, US-90 is once again a good through route -- and if you have time, towns like Utopia, Marfa and Fort Davis will give a good sense of the range of life out here "on the range".

Continuing west, another good off-the-Interstates detour loops south from the New Mexico / Arizona border, following old US-80 to Bisbee and Tombstone, with some wonderful detours (to Chiricahua Natiional Monument, for example, or to Kartchner Caverns). If I remember right, there are only 2 red lights in about 200 miles.

From Tucson (which is worth exploring), I'd suggest a run north along US-93 to Las Vegas, stopping for another photo at Hoover Dam, which is very much a classic of late Art Deco styling. The Las Vegas Strip would also be a great place to show off your car! Unless you want to make the drive up the West Coast, I'd say you could follow US-95 north, or make the run thru Death Valley west of Vegas, then up US-395 (which makes a very scenic and red-light-free run along the eastern foot of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains).

The Oregon coast, along US-101, is another great drive with stunning scenery, very few stoplights and some fine old bridges that were all designed and made about the same time as your Pontiac.

OK, it's been fun thinking about your trip. I hope my suggestions help you & your Dad find some fun on your way west, and that you have a safe and enjoyable drive. Please let me know how it goes!

Happy Holidays, and Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

PS: Is the picture above anything like your car? Very very cool !

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Hey there Jamie --

Thank you so much for the advice! We took Route 66 for as much of the way as we could. The old car did great with a few setbacks but there were plenty of old time mechanics along the way. The scenery was beautiful and the old motels and service stations were just as I hoped they’d be. I will try to send you a few pictures of the 41’ at vintage rest stops, etc. Thanks again for taking time out of your busy schedule to help plan the trip.

Justin


P.S. My car looks like the one you sent but it's an all original black sedan J

SC to SD -- Charleston SC to San Diego CA

Hi Jamie! Thanks for being there! Maybe you can settle a dispute between my husband and me. We were both born and raised in Los Angeles and know little about the East, but my husband is flying to Charleston, SC and picking up a car and he's trying to plan his route back.

He and I have driven from Dallas to San Diego which gave him a mortal fear of the west Texas roads, so he's considering routes that take him up and over Texas, but he is in a hurry to get home. It's not a tour, although he is excited about it and does want to make the most of it. I think he is crazy for not going straight through on the 8 (and 80) to just get home, but he is twisting himself in to a pretzel to avoid that long open stretch between Dallas and, say, Yuma.

Help me convince him that he's not going to be happy driving sooooo far out of his way and he should see the wisdom of just drinking a Red Bull, cranking up the CD player and taking the Southern Pacific route.

Thanks!

Cindy

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Hello Cindy --

Thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I hope I can help!

Your husband's worry about Texas reminds me of the movie Thelma and Louise -- though with a different back story. I agree with him about the tedium of 1000-mile drives across endless plains of tumbleweeds, and think I have a semi-sensible solution: how about he heads a little bit north, and swaps a nifty cruise along Route 66 for that long stretch of Texas?

My outline route would go something like this: Charleston (stay a while, it's really really pretty... Savannah GA is nice, too) -
Atlanta (avoid rush hour!) -
Birmingham (visit Vulcan! -- not Spock's home planet, but the "World's Largest Cast Iron Statue of the Roman God of Fire")
then maybe Tupelo (Elvis' Birthplace!) --
veer north to Memphis (eat / drink / listen to music!) --
then zoom along to Oklahoma City, on old Route 66 (good baseball stadium!) --
west to Amarillo (in Texas, but home to the very cool Cadillac Ranch!) --
then home via Santa Fe and the Grand Canyon.

Makes you want to join him, doesn't it? :-)

I don't actually think these "detours" add more than 100 miles to the I-10 freeway drive, but I do think the addition of daily destinations to look forward to and enjoy (and stay awake for!), will more than make up for an extra hour or two on a week-long drive.

The question I have is: is it a cool car he's picking up in Charleston? That would make the trip even better...

Hope my ideas help to ease your domestic tranquility, and let me know how the trip shapes up.

With best wishes and a "bon voyage",


Jamie Jensen
--
Road Trip USA


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Subject: Charleston, SC to San Diego

Thank you very much Jamie! I'll let you know how it turns out.

Cindy

Southwestern USA, in Springtime 2011

Hi Jamie,

We have two weeks to go on a holiday early next year (February/March), and we are looking for wide open country, a little bit of physical adventure and to see something of America. We are from Sydney Australia, and will be celebrating our 1 year anniversary as Michelle's 30th birthday, and are prepared to stay in a range of accommodations.

We will fly into LA, as we can get relatively cheap flight to and from Sydney, but beyond that aren't really sure what route we should consider. We are prepared to fly internally and then rent a car from the start point of the route you suggest, however our two-week-only time limit is not negotiable (as much as we would love to stay longer).

Michelle has only been to the USA once to run the NYC marathon, but was hoping to avoid revisiting places she has been to (New York and Washington) for this road trip.

Do you have any suggestions as to what route at that time of year would make a lovely road trip holiday?

Any other key tips would be gratefully received.

Thanks Jamie - we both love your website - it's awesome!


Michelle and Jeff.

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Hi Michelle & Jeff --

Many thanks for your nice message -- and congrats on the wedding and next year's anniversary!

In February & March (which is our winter time), I think you will have the most fun if stay in the warmest and driest corners of the USA -- so LA is a good place to start.

March in particular is a great time to explore the deserts, because that is "wildflower season", when the landscapes come into brief but spectacular bloom. Arizona is a great place to explore -- and it has lots of the "physical adventure" possibilities such as Sedona, seen in the picture above, or the Grand Canyon, or another hundred or so less famous but still amazing scenes, almost all of which are open to the public as national and state parks, full of hiking trails, river rafting, rock climbing and more.

You could also add in a visit to Las Vegas -- if a bit of garish spectacle and adult indulgence suits your celebratory needs. Las Vegas is surprisingly convenient to some of the amazing red-rock landscapes of southern Utah (Zion National Park, and much much more), as well as desolate Death Valley to the west.

Whether or not you take in Las Vegas, in two weeks you could do a great big loop trip around the southwestern US, incorporating some of the classic roadside Americana of Route 66. (Maybe even driving as far east as Santa Fe New Mexico, a beautiful and historic place). On the second leg of your trip, consider taking in some Wild West history of Tombstone and Bisbee Arizona (southeast of Tucson) in what is my "Southern Pacific" route along old US80, then looping back to LA via San Diego.

Or you could do a similar loop in the counterclockwise direction, starting off down the coast from LA, heading east then north then back again. Lots of possibilities -- and all very desirable. One thing about traveling at that time of year -- the weather can be very variable, ranging from sunny warm and dry (ideal), to stormy and wet and cold -- it frequently snows at higher elevations, including the rim of the Grand Canyon and much of the surrounding "Colorado Plateau" country of Arizona and Utah. But when it snows in the mountains it can still be warm and sunny in the lower desert areas (like Phoenix, which in March is in the middle of its main tourist season.)

This region is also heartland of what tourist bureaux used to call "Indian Country", so there is a lot of cultural diversity (Navajo and Hopi Indians, plus Spanish colonial heritage) to complement the wide open scenery.

I actually wrote a 500-page book just on "California and the Southwest" many years ago, covering a lot of these places in greater detail than I do in my big Road Trip USA book; it's filled with ideas and pictures (even though some of the details are 10+ yrs out of date!).

Hope these ideas help to whet your appetites -- and good luck with the trip.

The desert Southwest is one of my all-time favorite places to travel, so I hope you enjoy it.

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
----
author,
Road Trip USA

La Dolce Vita on Route 66

Hello Jamie,

I'm Paolo from Italy and last summer I had a wonderful road trip on Route 66 with four friends. I just wanted to thank you because your Route66 book was of big help on the road (and actually also in the previous weeks\months to get us hyped!), and I still visit and appreciate the website. Actually I would love to make another road trip in the US this summer, but I still have to find the right trip-mates and to choose the right trip - I have to admit that after our practically perfect Route 66 vacation everything looks second-choice now!

In case you or your readers might be interested, here you can find some of the pictures that I took:

http://picasaweb.google.it/paolo9/Route66200902?feat=directlink

and here a little video that I made with the driving footage along the road: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1n1mkj2nFo

(actually I have 3-4 more videos, but there's people appearing and talking on them, so I didn't put them on YouTube. In case you might be interested, just let me know!)

But - I didn't write you to showcase my pictures or videos. My first and only goal was to thank you.

So thanks, and good luck with everything.

Paolo

===>>>


Hello Paolo from Italy --

Thank you for your very nice note -- I am very glad to hear my Road Trip USA book helped you to have such a great trip!

I will check out your photos and videos as soon as I can, and am glad you've said it's OK for me to show them or link to them on my blog / website / Facebook page? It looks like you had a great trip, and your pictures might inspire others to "get some kicks" on Route 66.

( I am still pretty stupid about all this digital social media, but think other readers and travelers might enjoy them ! )

So anyway, "molto grazie" for writing to me, and rest assured: Route 66 is only the most famous 2000 miles of the many millions of great American highways that are all over the USA, just waiting for you to drive them. So I trust you will have many more perfect vacations ahead of you!

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

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Route 66 via San Fran -- on motorbikes or with a car?

Hi there Road Trip USA !

We a couple of kiwis (New Zealanders in our 40’s) coming over to do route 66 in Aug 2010. We have 4 weeks to spend over there. What book, maps etc would you recommend us to get to best plan our trip. We have a Harley Davidson over here but don’t think it would be safe to ride over there so are looking at hiring a car.
We are starting off in San Fran and want to head to Chicago to visit an Aunty.
Any tips would be most welcome!
Cheers Robyn and Mark

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Hello Robyn & Mark --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I hope I can help you have a great trip down Route 66. First off, I'm a bit surprised to hear that you'd consider _not_ riding your Harley -- a motorbike is many people's preferred way to cruise this great old road. Shipping one over from "down under" could be complicated, for sure, and if you want to do a "test ride" there are a couple of places where you can rent Harleys for a day or a weekend, and get a feel for the American road.

(Like these guys in LA: http://www.route66riders.com )

As for books: I would very much like to recommend my Road Trip USA book (there's a chapter on RT66 in my big 900-page Road Trip USA book on cross-country drives, and a "mini-book" on Route 66 ) I cover the whole road, and recommend the best places to eat sleep and have fun along the way -- and there are a number of other books covering different aspects of the culture and history. There are also lots of souvenir maps (one map series is called "Here It IS!), but the road is very well marked (as "Historic Route 66") so you don't really need a special map unless you want to track the various different alignments Route 66 followed over its 1920s-to-1980s lifetime.

RT66 is a big deal -- and very well served by hotels / motels / diners / etc all the way between LA and Chicago -- so you will have fun, for sure. And August is a great time to do the ride -- in a rental car, or on a Harley -- though September is when most of the big annual "events" and classic car rallies are held. Anytime (except winter, maybe...) is a good time to be on Route 66.

And if you start in San Francisco, you can cruise south from there down another great road, the Pacific Coast Highway via Big Sur, to meet the west end of Route 66 in Los Angeles (Santa Monica, actually, right on the beach!).

Have a great trip,



Jamie Jensen
-----
Road Trip USA

PS: Here are some links to my Road Trip "mini books"

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Norwegians on GRR and RT66

hi Road Tripper!

we are a couple from Norway going to USA for a month by car. We are flying to Washington DC, renting a car there and drive up to wisconsin to visit some relatives. From there we thought to take route 66 and drive to LA and drive up to San Fransisco and take plain from there

We are waiting for ur new book about USA where i hope i will get stuffs about where to drive. we love to drive small and cosy ways, and dont want to hurry

do u have any suggestions where we should drive, what to see, where to eat and where to sleep ??

thanks,

-- Robbie

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Hello Robbie -- and thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA.

I hope you have had a chance to check out my book and website, because I think they'll have lot of the info you are searching for.

As far as specific route suggestions, the Great River Road is a great drive, and a way to get from Wisconsin onto Route 66 -- the small towns of LaCrosse and Galena IL are very nice places to explore.

Further south, you can hop onto old Route 66 in St Louis, then follow it all the way to LA (via the Grand Canyon and amazing redrock deserts of northern Arizona!)

North from LA, the coastal route up to SF is lovely (make sure you follow Hwy-1 thru "Big Sur", the stretch of coast between San Luis Obispo and Monterey!)

Let me know if you have any trouble getting my books -- which have lots of good ideas about places to see / stay / eat / enjoy along the way, as well as 40,000 miles of suggested drives all over the USA.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

====>>>>

Belgian on Route 66

Hi Mr. Jensen,

My name is Griet and I'm from Belgium. I'm planning a trip to the USA next year and I came across the 'Road Trip USA'-site.

It's an amazing site so thank you for it!

I also have a question. I'm starting my trip by car in Florida (possibly Miami) and I planned to go to Chicago to start the route 66-travel there. But what is a great road to follow from Florida to Illinois? One with many beautiful things to see?
Are there also any important things I have to know about travelling through the States?

With kind regards,
Griet

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Hello Griet --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA -- I'm glad you like the site (and hope you will check out my Road Trip USA books, which have a lot more info and images that I couldn't fit on the web. They're generally available in Europe thru Amazon.de )

Some important things to know about traveling in the USA: it is a big country (3000 miles across, 2000 miles top to bottom, roughly as big as all of the EU, inc Bugaria.) But the people here are generally nice, and the prices for food and drink are pretty low (though I have to warn you that our beer, and our chocolate, are nothing near as good as in Belgium!).

My main tips, after years of driving around the USA are pretty simple: don't drive at night if you can avoid it, because you won't see anything other than headlights . And take time to stop the car and get out and walk -- you 'll notice and enjoy things on foot that you never would have seen traveling at 65 mph.

As for your route from Florida to Chicago -- if you like beaches, I would suggest following the Gulf of Mexico, or veering inland to explore the "Civil Rights Movement" towns of Selma and Montgomery Alabama. Then, from New Orleans winding north through "Plantation Alley" along the Great River Road, continuing on through Memphis to St Louis (where you can veer onto RT66 to Chicago). The sections of the Great River Road in Louisiana and Mississippi are especially pretty -- rich in history and architecture, especially the lovely pre-Civil War towns like Natchez and Oxford in Mississippi. I've covered all of these in my Great River Road chapter, and in a new Road Trip USA mini-book.

From Chicago, you'll have all of Route 66 to enjoy -- by the way, one of the main figures in the RT66 world (online, at least) is a Belgian: Swa Frantzen , who made this great and very useful website (starting way back in 1994!): http://www.historic66.com/

Have a great trip!

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

Good Maps for Old Roads

RT66 and Lincoln Highway road maps

Dear Jamie --

I have some questions that are linked, or the same but on different roads.

How can I follow:

a) Route 66;

b) Lincoln Highway?

Are there maps etc.? Which are the most accurate?

thx

John W

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Dear John W --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA.

You asked about maps for two great historic US highways -- Route 66 and the Lincoln Highway. The first is much easier to follow -- on the ground, Route 66 has been signposted all the way from Chicago to LA as "Historic Route 66" (though to be honest there are many different alignments and eras of Route 66, and the signs tend to present the easiest route for today's drivers to follow. There are quite a lot of RT66 maps and guides (including my own attempt...), but the best cartographic efforts I've found are the "Here It IS" series, designed by Jim Ross and organized state by state along the whole route.

The Lincoln Highway is less popular, and so the documentation is harder to come by -- but to my mind it is a more interesting route (all the way from NYC to San Francisco!). There are some good-to-great Lincoln Highway books (most of them by Brian Butko), but I have not come across a map that covers it as well as it should be covered. There are also some fascimile editions of "original" 1920s / 1950s maps and guidebooks out there, too, which have a lot of useful info.

The best single source of maps online for Route 66 is at: http://www.historic66.com/kansas/dw1.html

While the best maps I've found for the Lincoln Highway are at: http://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/maps/

I'm sure someday someone will superimpose an olde highway map onto a modern GPS database, but until then following these grand old roads is a bit still cumbersome -- but very worthwhile!

Hope this helps you, and Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
------
Road Trip USA

The Return of Road Trip Travel Advice...

According to Mr Google, today would have been the 116th birthday of artist Norman Rockwell, the man who created all those homespun Saturday Evening Post magazine covers. Though conservative and sentimental, his pictures trace the arc of mid-20th century America, and are worth a look (especially if you're traveling in New England, where most of his pictures are set, and where his studio and a massive museum document his life and work).

But then again, it's still the middle of winter, and New England is snowy and sub-freezing, so here are some ideas & questions-and-answers about plannning future road trips at other times and in other parts of the USA.

Kind of like the road warrior equivalent of a seed catalog, to inspire future adventures...

Here goes:


Funding a Life-Changing Road Trip Odyssey


Dear Jamie Jensen,

My girlfriend and I are putting together a 48-state, three month road trip starting this March. Its been a dream of ours for forever, and if we don't do it now, it might never happen. Susanna and I are community college students, full of curiosity for the world, anxious to meet brothers and sisters from all walks of life and corners of the nation. To us, its about the people! American people. Our people. We will sleep at hostels, campgrounds, rest stops, and even in our car if we have to.(For a chance to meet the ranch-hands of Montana, shrimp boat captains of Louisiana, and every hot dog vendor in New York City, we are more than willing to rough it!) The problem is that we are still short in the money department. Gas/food will set us back $4000, and a $15 daily campsite adds up to roughly $1,300 (not to mention pre-departure costs, emergency funds, and the ability to, on occasion, do the whole tourist thing.) When all is said and done, we cant expect to do this trip with less than $6,000.

My question to you is: Do you know of any scholarship programs for road-tripping students? Tips for saving money on the road? We want to put a purpose to the trip, and have talked about doing a blog/youtube channel, or a live show via Ustream, but that doesn't bring in money.We’re not famous and our trip isn't a record breaker or anything, but it’s important to us. A sort of windows-down, radio-blaring, wind-whipping, type of soul search, that might just have the potential to change us. If you have any suggestions, or ideas on how we can make this trip happen, we’d be forever grateful.

Wishing you well – Aaron G.

---

Dear Aaron --

Many thanks for your message. I hope you are still planning to take the big trip you outlined to me, and I also hope I can help you make it a great experience.

I wish I knew of a scholarship program or some sort of subsidy that would help you on your way -- and I've been holding out hope that some of this $$Multi- Billion "Economic Stimulus" money would be used like it was back in the New Deal 1930s, when needy young men were put to work planting trees and building parks, and writers and photographers were hired to travel around, explore the country, and write what turned into the still-fascinating "WPA Guides", one to each US state. Check them out if you're ever in a library -- most of these books have been out of print for 50+ years, but are still on the shelves (around Dewey Decimal ## 917.42) and still make evocative reading.

Though I can't point you toward a funding source for your great adventure (and if anyone out there can help, please put feel free to make an offer thru the blog-comments!), I will still encourage you to head out on the highway and see what you find. Many moons ago, when I was a college student myself, I set off on what I thought was going to be a summer vacation road trip, planning to hitchike back to California from Washington DC, where my Mom was living at the time. On the 5th of July, the day after Independence Day, I loaded up my backpack (tent, stove, sleeping bag, food and water!), and stuck out my thumb -- and I was still "on the road" three years later, having had all sorts of adventures and experiences -- truly "life changing" stuff. I don't think I ever had more than $100 in my pocket at any time, but I managed to get by, by:

1. subsisting on Cornnuts, and
2. being open to whatever opportunities presented themselves -- helping old farmers make hay in Kansas and Oklahoma, doing odd bits of building works here and there, selling popcorn and kites, even crewing a sailboat traveling slowly down from Cape Cod to the Caribbean. I don't remember ever getting paid very much, but I did get many a "free lunch", a place to stay, and an enduring sense that the world is not always the evil and soul-destroying place it can sometimes seem to be.

Because I had no real destinations to get to, or any time constraints at all (ahhh, the freedom of youth!), I think I was better able to be open to possibilities as they presented themselves. And also, because I was prepared to cope (sleeping out under the stars some nights, but more often on some new friend's couch..), I never panicked or got desperate -- at least not for very long. Having a car you can sleep in (comfortably!) will help improve your state of mind, I'm sure.

Travel wise, the best decision I made on my trip was to stay away from big roads and freeways, where everyone is in a hurry to be somewhere else. Instead, I traveled on small, local roads, where as a hitchhiker I was a non-threatening novelty, and people seemed to feel less fearful and more open to stopping to talk to me, maybe take me a ways down the road, or even to put me to work.

Thinking practically, prior to your big 3-month odyssey I would also suggest you try some shorter, "shake-down" trips, to find out what works for you. Practice living extremely cheaply; you have the rest of your lives to worry about money, and I think that trying to "monetize" this adventure would be missing the point entirely -- but by all means document whatever thought or insight strikes you. (Jack Kerouac took his big "On The Road" trip in the late 1940s, but he didn't write about it or see any cash rewards for 10 years or more...)

So: when you do mange to make this "windows-down, radio-blaring, wind-whipping, type of soul search" road trip with Susanna, my "words of advice" would be to encourage you to get out of your car as often as you can, stopping to watch rivers flow under bridges, walk around the small towns and big cities you'll pass thru, and really try to engage with the people you meet. You seem to be inclined to this already, so get out there and make it all happen.

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen

======>>>>>>
Route 66 -- via Las Vegas


Hi Jamie

I've been enjoying your website, but there are just too many exciting options when planning the perfect American roadtrip! With all your wealth of experience, what would be your road trip counsel in this (our) situation:

We are two Brits planning a 3 week roadtrip for next May or June.
I can't drive - fortunately, my boyfriend does...
He has spent two weeks in California - I have never been to the States.
We want to start off in Las Vegas.
We had thought Vegas to New York, but I am getting nervous thinking that'll be loads of driving and will be more of an epic trawl than a jaunty drive. Especially with just one person at the wheel.
We love great scenery - but are not really tent and campfire Outdoor Types.
We want to keep it cheap-ish and very cheerful.
We're not desperate for Theme Parks of famous landmarks - its more about the coffee and burgers and sliding in to a diner booth and pretending we're in a movie (maybe that's just me).

Any tips...?

Any advice you could punt our way would be very, very much appreciated!

Mimi.


Dear Mimi --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA -- and sorry it took me so long to reply. Your trip sounds like great fun -- a 3-week road tripping cruise around the USA from Las Vegas will give you a great sense of America.

Heading as far as New York is indeed a long drive for a first visit -- just to give you an idea of the scale of the country, NYC is roughly the same distance from Las Vegas that London is from distant Istanbul, so make sure you don't overdo it. In fact, I would suggest limiting your driving and focusing more on the western USA -- California has all the movie connections you could want (and your image of sliding into a diner booth reminds me of a scene from Pulp Fiction, where Tim Roth does exactly that -- then pulls out a gun and robs the joint... A life of crime isn't in your itinerary, I hope).

Factoring in the hugeness of the USA, I would suggest you consider a lower-mileage tour -- from Las Vegas, you can travel around the amazing John Ford / Wild West landscapes of Utah and Arizona, cruise along historic "Route 66" to see the Grand Canyon and other natural spectacles without needing to camp out (there are plentiful accommodations, often in truly charming old lodges). Then head west to California, for Yosemite National Park (not to be missed in May /June, when the waterfalls are running full blast!), the great cities of San Francisco and LA, and all the beaches, mountains and deserts you could want. Even if your boyfriend has been here before and "seen it all", California is still a fantastic place to visit and explore (esp if you like to pretend you're in a movie!).

To my mind, NYC and the East Coast in general is less of a road trip destination than the wide-open spaces of the American West -- but then again, New England has charming villages (and 1930s stainless steel classic diners aplenty). And then there's the South, with New Orleans, great food and music, and all that homespun hospitality. The Pacific Northwest, around Seattle, is also gorgeous...

You are right -- there are just too many options!

Take it one trip at a time, though -- the USA should still be here for a few more years at least. (Long enough for you to get yourself a drivers licence, so you can get the full road trip experience!)

:-)

OK -- that's a starter answer. Please write me again when your plans start taking shape -- and in the meantime I hope you enjoy my website, and my book, which has tons more info and ideas and roadside trivia (and maps and photos, too).

Thanks again for writing, and

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen

---

Hi Jamie

Thanks so much for your email. We had already purchased your book and with its sage advice decided on our route... from Vegas getting on to Route 66 as far as Chicago (maybe cheating on the end section, for the run into the city). We liked the idea of clocking some miles, and the nostalgia of the route won us over. We figure if it's about 2,000 miles then an average of about 100 miles a day, more when there's less to see, is totally do-able (says I - the non-driver!). We can't wait to take it all in - buy some art in Santa Fe, eat steak in Amarillo, and finish up in a cool boutique hotel in Chicago. And with Vegas as our starting point, who knows what fun we'll get up to to send us on our way.

Thanks again for the advice - we'll be most likely going in May - can't wait!

Mimi.

===========>>>>>>>>>>>>
Danish Kicks on Route 66


Hi Jamie!

We are a group of Danish travellers - 8 adults and 2 kids. We wanna
explore the USA in the Fall 2011 and I wanna hear your advise for our trip.
6 of us will be driving on Motorcycles and 4 of us in a car. We have 3
weeks to spent...
Can we do the Route 66 without being stressed in 3 weeks? And can we do it
on our own? I think it's to expensive to take a guide trip (sorry for my
English).

Hope to hear from you with some advise...

Best regards

Lene from Denmark

------

Hello Lene --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I hope you are still planning to make your big trip down old Route 66!

Three weeks is probably plenty of time to do that great drive -- and you'll still have enough time to enjoy the sights and sounds at either end (Chicago and LA) and soak up the scenery along the way (the historic wonders of Santa Fe New Mexico, plus quick detours to gape at Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon).

And the freedom of doing this without the expense of a guided tour is well worth the few possible hassles -- just be sure to do your research so you know what to look out for. In general, there are plenty of motels, restaurants and gas stations out there along RT66 (which to be honest runs in the shadow of some pretty major, heavily-traveled modern roads most of the way from Chicago to LA.)

And we Americans are a pretty hospitable bunch, plus I am sure you will find the USA a very "affordable" place to visit -- pizza & beer in America is a lot less expensive than in Copenhagen, for sure!

And bear in mind that RT66 is not the only great highway in America -- if you want a complete contrast from your hyper-civilized homeland, take a motorbike cruise along the "Loneliest Road in America", following US50 across Nevada, or on some of the many other great roads all over the USA. I cover 40,000 miles worth of fantastic road trips in my book, Road Trip USA, and that barely scratches the surface of the many wonders the USA offers to adventurous travelers.

I hope your RT66 trip gives you a great taste -- you'll have fun for sure!

Let me know how your plans shape up -- and feel free to write back if you want more details. For now,

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen

please check out my books:
Road Trip USA -- the Big Book
&
Road Trip USA: Route 66

===>>>>>

Scottish guitar strummers on All-American US-50 road trip


Hi Jamie, first of all I'd just like to say thank you for the website, it is a fantastic tool for budding road trippers!

My name is Stephen, I'm 23, from Aberdeen in Scotland. My friend and I are hoping to take a month-long road trip next year, probably just after Easter time. We are really keen on going either West to East or the other way round on Route 50!

Our plan is probably to fly to Sacramento with a bag of clothes each, a guitar and a chunk of cash, try and get a cheap pickup truck and just drive! Its a really exciting prospect, and we hope to get the best out of our trip.

I'm just emailing for advice really, is a month a good enough length of time to do the trip and get the most we can out of it? Also, we would love some help with ideal places to stop! We want to stay in little motels, eat at little cafes and just get to know the culture as it is so different from life in Scotland!

Thanks again for a great website!

Stephen

---

Hi Stephen --

Thanks for you note, and your kind words. Your trip sounds great, and I think you've got a good plan -- cars are cheap (thanks to the ongoing recession...); gas (aka "petrol") is cheap; and a guitar can come in handy out there on the mean streets of America.

A month is a good chunk of time, and US50 is a great trip -- lots of history, lots of scenery, and good full spectrum taste of the USA. You'll have a blast, but think about bringing sleeping bags and maybe a tent, because accommodations can burn a big hole in your budget without offering a lot to remember in return. Then again, camping gear is bulky, and probably much cheaper to buy once you are over here. Or are you planning to sleep in the bed of the pickup?? -- that can work great, especially in the wide open spaces of Colorado and Utah, and if you fear getting wet and snowed on you can get small pickup trucks with camper shells for not much money... Check Craigslist for an idea of what's available.

(And while I'm offering you advice: maybe think about setting up a UK bank account that gives free/easy ATM / cashpoint / money machine access in the USA -- cash is OK, but it _is_ asking for trouble, and a sudden end to your trip, to carry your whole wad everywhere you go. Barclays in UK works for free with Bank of America all across the USA -- while other banks charge around $10 a time...)

You've got some time to plan, so if you want to check in as you get closer to traveling, please feel free to write again and maybe I can suggest some specific stops.

Glad you like the website -- now check out the book version, which has a lot of extra trivia and pics and maps and stuff! -- and keep in touch.

Happy trails,



Jamie Jensen

Road Trip USA -- the Big Book

======>>>>>>

Irish Road Trip: NYC to Miami, and back!

Hey Jamie,
I've just come across this website and am weak with excitement!!! Myself and a friend are planning a road trip next Summer.

We are from Ireland and ideally want to travel from New York down to Miami. We would like to rent a car and to do it in two weeks. Is this possible?? We also won't have a huge budget for accommodation and are hoping to find motels, B&B's or anything else cheap and cheerful on a nightly basis as we go on our trip. We are both not into camping so this will not be an option for us. Would you advise this??

Basically we want to see as much as we can on this trip, taking in any little towns and villages and of course as much natural scenery as we can.

Any help would be reeeaaallllllly appreciated ;)

Mary

-----

Dear Mary F --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA -- and your road trip, from New York City to Miami (and back again!?), sounds like great fun. It's definitely manageable in 2 weeks, especially if you don't spend too much time and money in the boutiques and bars of Manhattan or Miami Beach. Summer is peak travel time, but even so you can usually manage to escape the crowds -- and if you feel bold enough to explore less famous places, you can have some fantastic adventures.

And you are in luck -- I have just finished two ** new, fully up-to-date guides ** to the two routes you are most likely to travel -- so please check them out, once they are available (in mid-April, I am told).

One great thing about traveling in the US, if you can stay away from big cities, is that accommodations are pretty inexpensive (at least compared to the Shelbourne or other fancy Irish hotels, where I was lucky enough to stay with my family last summer!) So you won't need to camp out and deal with all the mosquitoes and other annoying bugs that love the Florida coast.

If you rent a car, it is usually cheaper if you return it back to the place where you started, so think about planning a round trip. If you get pressed for time, you can bomb between NYC and Miami in 2 days, following the 75mph I-95 freeway, but it is much more fun to take the slower scenic roads, for sure. On the coast, I recommend making sure you visit the gracious cities of Savannah Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina -- they are "Georgian" in their architecture, with many nice squares, lush parklands and gardens, and excellent restaurants.

If you like beaches, venture east onto North Carolina's Outer Banks -- and if you like green mountain scenery, head inland to the mountaintop Blue Ridge Parkway, where the civilized mountain resort town of Asheville, North Carolina is surrounded by gorgeous forests and home to the most impressive mansion in America -- the 250-room Versailles-style Biltmore, open daily for unforgettable tours of the house and gardens.

Basically there is a little of everything along the road, and I'm sure you'll have a grand old time. Please feel free to write me again when your plans start taking shape -- and in the meantime I hope you enjoy my website, and my books.
Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen

------

Road Trip USA

** fully updated, brand-new editions coming out April 2010 **

Appalachian Trail:

Road Trip USA: Atlantic Coast:

RoadTripUSA.com

======>>>>>>>
Las Vegas, Yellowstone, Seattle Road Trip tour


Hi Jamie!

My hubby and I are planning a road trip starting in Arizona or Las Vegas, going through the Rockies and Yellowstone, and ending in Seattle. We're just not sure of the exact route yet... Do you have a suggestion for a specific route that we should take to see the most beautiful scenery? Also, what time of the year is best for this drive?

Thanks!
Vanessa from Miami

------

Hi Vanessa --

Thanks for writing (and btw, I enjoyed looking at your blog -- scrapbooking is not something I'm any good at, but I always intend to make a journal or diary of my trips, which seems way healthier than sitting in a motel watching ESPN...)

Anyway, about your road trip -- the country between Utah and Yellowstone is one of my favorite places on the planet, and wherever you go you'll have an amazing time. It's all at a pretty high elevation (more than a mile above sea level!), so summer is really best, extending thru October when you can get some nice "fall color", especially in the canyons of Zion National Park.

You didn't give me a time-frame, but for an outline route, how this: head out of Vegas (after winning big bucks!), taking the I-15 freeway for about 2 hours to gorgeous Zion Nat'l Park, maybe staying just outside in the town of Springdale. Admire the stunning red-rock (Zion is Sedona on steroids!), and if you feel brave, walk up the canyon to the "Narrows".

Then hop back in the car to wind south, to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (stay a night or two at the lovely old lodge here). Enjoy the views, hike down into the canyon, breathe deeply.

Then back on the road again: Glen Canyon / Lake Powell is spectacular, as is the entire swath of northern Arizona -- Monument Valley, the cliff palaces of Canyon de Chelley, Betatakin, also Mesa Verde Nat'l Park over the Colorado border. Fantastic places all!

You could spend a month here and not get bored, or have a fab time in 3 or 4 days.

After that, you have a big choice: head north via yet-more red-rock wonders of the Colorado Plateau (Canyonlands & Arches National Park, in Utah); or, wind up the Rocky Mountains via Colorado's "Million Dollar Highway", Hwy-550 north from Durango.

Destination: Yellowstone, which is a 600-mile 2-day drive (it's faster if you bomb up I-15 via Salt Lake City, which would only take one very long day from AZ).

You need at least a lifetime in Yellowstone to really "get" it, but 2 days / 2 nights would be magic. And be sure to enter Yellowstone from the south, via the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

After Yellowstone, head west to Seattle? I-90 seems the best bet (and Missoula MT makes a great stop-off), but if you have time there are many lovely winding scenic roads up here (US-93 across Idaho, for example).

Hope this helps whet your travel appetite -- let us know what you get up to!

-- Jamie J.