How to travel across America on the cheap.

One of the most interesting ways to see America is a Road Trip. I have travelled many times in the United States by road, train and air and the first mode is by far the best for sightseeing and is cheapest in the long run. Of course in today’s Covid-19 situation I think this mode will be even more appealing to the health conscious traveller.

The best route by car which I think is both energy efficient and taking in Tourist spots is Interstate 40 (I-40). Best road trip is starting from New York and finishing in Los Angeles, can be done in around 8 days with major sights along the way including the Blue Ridge Mountain in Virginia, Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock Arkansas, Amarillo, Northern Texas, Tucson and Phoenix in Arizona covering a full day doing the hike in the majestic Grand Canyon with trip down to the bottom of the Canyon. For example, if you want to camp or stay at a lodge at the Grand Canyon you’ll have to make bookings months in advance. Similarly, if you’re traveling in the winter, it will be useful to know which roads through the Rockies usually close due to snow. This is why i think I40 is the better option.

There’s no escape when you’re in a car together for days or weeks on end, so make sure your travel buddy(s)is one you can get along with. Bonus points if you share a similar taste in music and can make small-talk easily. I travelled with people i knew from months back and some were college buddies. Its really important to have at least Three members on your trip for safety in numbers.

Once you have your team together who you will travel with together for safety, and share travel expenses and cost of petrol (or gas as they call it over there) the next thing you need to consider is getting a dependable car.
With regard to a car, you could get a rental car as one option, but the second option would be to lookup a Car Transport Company in the directory. Examples of these would be under heading of Transport Companies with examples like AAACON or Dependable or similar. They insure the car and take a Deposit from you just like in the rental firms. When you deliver the car at the other end to the owner, they give you back your deposit. Gas is very cheap in the US but still driving 2000 miles will add up so need to plan efficiently.

You can never realize how big the country is until you travel across it. You see its size on the map, but you can’t imagine it until you hop in your car, drive hundreds of miles and are still in the same state. To give an example of how big the country is imagine you are driving along a straight road, the road goes all the way to the horizon, secondly you will see some features in the distance like a mountain range, well after driving an hour the mountain range still looks the same size! The country is really big and to do a road trip justice, you need weeks ideally to cover it.

Many places in USA offer camping grounds where you can pull over, tent up and in the morning use toilets and wash facilities. The road trips would be suitable for all ages. One thing to bear in mind when the auto transport companies give you a choice of car try to get an economical one and large enough to sleep in the back. I remember when I did my first trip it was in a Volkswagen Beetle, needless to say it was a bit small for the three of us. However it was a nippy little car very economical and it’s little air cooled engine got us across 2500 miles to San Diego, way to go Volkswagen!

Most Transport companies include roadside breakdown and recovery so one less thing to worry about.

I have omitted talking about the tourist attractions along the route as that would be another subject blog in-itself. Meeting people along the route for instances Hitchikers, or how you will deal with flat tyre, best time of the year to travel are some aspects to ponder during your planning.

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