US, Canada, Mexico Road trip

KlodaX

I have this notion in my head to do a road trip of the US. I'd also like to see Canada and Mexico. Want to rent a car over there.
Has anyone out there done this? .. are there problems with crossing borders? .. or getting an American driving lisence for a rental car? ... Not planning on heading till September and have bout a grand saved so far. I was thinkin flights would be cheaper in September, plus time to adapt to the heat. Would like to start in the middle .. get a car... head south and then north by the following summer. workin from place to place, staying in hostels and motels. I've been informed that there is a place in Dublin that does hitch hiker insurance and plans routes and advises on hostels ... has anyone tried this?

tanks.

Exit

I've crossed the British Columbia-Montana border (not very busy) and back again twice so take this for what it's worth. First time going down with Canadians everything was fine for them but once they found out I was Irish, they were told to pull over and I had to go into the border office. The guy asked me some questions (why I was going, where I was staying, how long, etc.) and he was a bit stern, but once I showed him passport, filled in the form and paid the $10 fee, he was pretty cheery. Only took about 5 minutes.

Second time was a bit different. Once again going with a Canadian. The US officers rooted through the boot of the car fairly thoroughly, and again I had to go into the office for the usual routine. But this guy was a prick this time, asked me the same questions, but also asked for my plane ticket to prove I was going back to ireland and not staying on illegally in the US. Of course, I didn't bring my ticket down to the US with me and left it in the house in Canada because I didn't want to lose it. Anyway, he was going on saying basically I needed to have my plane ticket or else I couldn't get in. (The plane ticket doesn't prove I'm going back to Ireland, it just proves I've paid for a flight :rolleyes: ) Added to that was he couldn't understand my accent which is just a plain Dublin accent, not that strong, which led to me repeating myself numerous times. It was embarrasing because there were a few other people there and they were all listening to this. Anyway, after about 15 minutes and him going back to consult with others, he relented but told me to make sure I came back when I said I was coming back. It just really pissed me off.

Bear in mind that the first time was 2 weeks after September 11th and they were more lax, whereas the 2nd time was a year later and they were a lot stricter. I hadn't needed a plane ticket the first time around.

Never had any problems going back into Canada. They just ask about duty free stuff you've bought. Although, I know someone who had bought a whole load of cigarettes, drink and perfume and it was confiscated because they had forgotten about a carton of cigarettes under the car seat and didn't mention it to the officers, but the officers found it and presumed they were sneaking stuff back in.

KlodaX

thats a bit mad... I was thinking Sept 11 might make a difference on the journey.
hmmm .... this is going to be fun.

Jip

If you're doing it by hire car you'd better check the insurance you get with it, alot of hire companies will not cover you when you travel to Mexico, not too sure about heading from the USA into Cananda. You won't need an American licence, you're Irish one will do but I recommend you get an International one, you can get them in the RAC who I think are on Mount Street. Some places look at you a bit funny when you present your Irish licence, after all, it does look a bit **** when you compare it to the nice credit card ones they have over there.

ToxicPaddy

that sounds like a class trip.. are you planning on travelling on your own or are there
othgers going with you? If your plannin on going that far and doing that much
driving it might be worth investing in a car yourself.. its easy enough to pick up a
cheap enough car in canada and they are cheap to run aswell unless you buy an
expensive european model.. Might be worth checking it out.

Do you know anyone in Canada or the US? If so, get them to keep an eye out for
you for a good second hand car, something with not too many gadgets, although
air conditioning might be an idea, the more popular and common the make, the
easier it will be to get it service and replace parts if need be..

Tox..

Exit

Air conditioning is definitely a good idea. If you don't have it, you're gonna have to be driving with the windows down due to the heat over there. Driving for hours with the windows down gives you bad fecking headaches because of the constant noise of the wind as you're speeding down the highways.

ToxicPaddy

or u cud just get a convertible but thats a bad idea in canada, waaayyyy too cold
there in the winter...

id go for something like an SUV/4x4 thingie.. much better..

Tox

Zaph

Drove from Montreal to upstate New York a few years back. We knew nothing about having to pay an entrance tax (or whatever it is) and hadn't got any US dollars on us. The border post must be the only place in America that doesn't take credit cards, nor would they take Canadian dollars, even though we offered the equivalent of about 50% more than the tax due. In the end I was officially "refused" permission to enter the USA, a card was stapled into my passport stating this, I had to walk back across the border to the duty free shop on the Canadian side and change Canadian dollars for US dollars. When I got back the the US side the card was removed from my passport. The border guard told us that it happened a couple of dozen times a day. Some system, but the moral of the story is always have US dollars on you.

cerebus

Originally posted by zaph
The border post must be the only place in America that doesn't take credit cards, nor would they take Canadian dollars, even though we offered the equivalent of about 50% more than the tax due.

I think this might have changed - we drove across the BC/Washington border two weekends ago and were told they are now accepting credit cards for the visa waiver fee. I'll see if I can confirm this if anyone is interested...

KlodaX

ok.. I have a shopping list

1. International driving licence
2. Spare supply of both Canadian and US dollars
3. Credit Card
4. Convertable (I was plannin that anyway!

I don't fancy being in Canada during the winter .. I'm going to try to plan the journey to be warm... I have one mate coming with me .. we'll take turns driving.

MrJoeSoap

Sounds like it could be a great trip, be sure to send us all some post-cards! Im going to do something similar during the summer, only I cant drive, and wont be heading into Canada or Mexico so I'll have to take the trains. If you are anywhere near Alberta in Canada, make sure you check out Banff National Park. Its quite possibly the nicest place on earth. Are you planning on getting Visas to work, because it might be very difficult without them?

ToxicPaddy

Originally posted by KlodaX
....I have one mate coming with me .. we'll take turns driving.

If ya need someone else to come along to share the driving.. Im available

ToxicPaddy

Not planning on heading till September

Wouldnt the best time to go be the spring time as then you would only have to pack
light clothes as then you have clothes for spring, summer and early autumn.. so
hopefully by then you will have a few quid to spend on winter clothes as they are
much cheaper over there...

Tox

ToxicPaddy

Dunno why, but I keep ending up back at this thread.. maybe something to do with
the fact that its something Ive wanted to do myself..

Here are some cool sites Ive found that may help with the journey..

Some good hints and tips on here too

http://roadtripfever.com/

http://roadtripamerica.com/


Tox

KlodaX

ahhh ... itchy feet... was thinking of postponing ... but my mate who is coming with me is just back from Austrailia ... I'd only a quick phonecall.. wasn't out for pints yet.. but the stories already are unbelievable...

must vacate the area.
asap

That fever site is deadly Tox.... everything you could possible want to see is listed on it. It suggests more than one car for the journey ... but if its a rental how do you return it? ... might be best buy cheap and trade along the way.
This is going to be interesting.

I want to head in autumn to the south ... somewhere it will be sunny enough .. and follow the sun! ... not planning on being anywhere near north come winter.
I don't like the cold.

Then come next spring I'll travel towards the north .. by summer I'll be in Canada ...

This is a vague map ... realistically will be confined to the states ... but there is no harm in trying to go cross border!

as for a visa... this is my plan:


http://www.usembassy.ie/consulate/walsh_visa.html

ebowdia

I was in the states a few years ago on a J1 for the summer. Myself and 3 mates bought an old car between us for $500 and it was the job for the summer while we worked.

Before we returned back home after we went on a 3 week road trip from San Fran, through Nevada, down through New Mexico, over to Florida, and back up the coast to Boston. While we could also have done this trip with a rental car, it was way better to do it with our own set of wheels - for many reasons:

One, the price of rental cars will add up big time - take a gamble on a second hand car, the more you can afford to spend the better. Two, as you plan to travel a lot you can also live out of the car to a certain extent. Three, it's much more fun with your own wheels.

When we did the trip we camped whereever possible - I would highly recommend this in the summer months, it's good fun, and very cheap....

Ponster

I did a New York -> LA driving trip last year (Sept/Oct) but fly inbetween the boring bits (Dallas to Denver) so PM me if you have any specific questions.

You can easily get a car and drop it at a different place/city than where you picked it up but from what I can remember only the major rental agencies do that free-of-charge. And in fact I'm not too sure if any do so from one coast to another.
The term 'drop-off fee' is what you need to look out for.

I remember companies that would need a car driven from one state to another (which you would do for them) but there was normally a fixed time-limit that you had to do it in so no time for stopping or changing route.

KlodaX

I remember companies that would need a car driven from one state to another (which you would do for them) but there was normally a fixed time-limit that you had to do it in so no time for stopping or changing route.

that sounds pretty sweet. Not sure if I'd trust myself with someone elses car though.

My plan is going down hill ... traveling buddy now wants to go to New Zeland.

... I don't want to go to New Zeland. This is going to take a little more planning.

K!LL!@N

If i was going to do it ( and i'd really love to ), i'd suggest starting in Canada first in late spring. Canada can get really hot in the summer. If you went in late spring you'd get adjusted to the rising temps. You could spend the summer going across canada and then maybe down the west coast of the states, maybe cutting inland if there was anything you wanted to see. By the time it got to autumn you could be in california and you'd have nice weather there, then you could go spend winter in mexico. Then if you wanted you could head back towards florida which would still be nice in spring and end up around new york in the summer. You'd have nice weather the entire trip, following the sun.

Ok, i got a bit carried away there and you're talking over a year's travel, but that would be some trip.

Killian