Road Trip after J1 this Summer

SantryRed

Hi all,

I know there is already a thread about US Road Trips but I didn't want to derail that thread with my questions. Basically this summer, a couple of us are heading over to Chicago again for a J1, but at the end of it, we're planning on doing a big US Road Trip for 3-4 weeks, driving from Chicago to California.

I was just wondering if anyone here has done a road trip similiar to the route we are going to take? We're 22 so we'll be looking for cities/towns and college towns to stay in for obvious parties but also to take in a lot of the scenery the West has to offer. A rough route we were thinking would incorporate places like St. Louis, Kansas City, Wichita, Colorado (prob Denver), Vegas and then probably to San Fran, as I'm not sure how we'd do LA and San Diego too in the time frame. Obvious we'll be very flexible in where we go and be up for suggestions if people were to give us any along the way.

Also, being 22, renting a car is out of the question as it would cost way too much. Is it possible to purchase a car and drive in across the country and then sell it in San Diego? What would the situation with insurance be, I would be the only one driving.

Would people have any other suggestions on places to go?

Thanks everyone.

InTheTrees

The major thing to sort out is a vehicle. Generally each state has slightly different laws as regards vehicles, a lot of them even have different laws regarding exhaust emissions, crash worthiness, etc.

Selling an "out of state" car can be difficult. You'll need to do some research on what it takes to sell an Illinois car in California. California is the strictest state as regards emission controls so it may not be easy.

Really the easiest way to do it would be to drive a loop and end up back in illinois so you can sell the car easily. And thats not a bad way of doing it either, you can go the southern route out, drive up the coast to Seattle and drive the northern route back.

InTheTrees

SantryRed wrote: »

What would the situation with insurance be, I would be the only one driving.

Eugh. Thats not going to be much fun for you after about day four... Let alone day 14, or day 28...

Six or seven (or more) hours driving every day can get pretty nasty after a few days.

Can you get at least one other driver?

lil_lisa

Also look into maybe getting an Illinois drivers license, that might help a bit.

Dave1442397

I wouldn't even consider buying a car for a trip like that, assuming you're talking about a cheap car, say $2k or less.

At your age, car insurance will still be expensive. You'll need a Social Security number (I think all J1 workers get one) and an Illinois driver's license. You may have to pay up front for six months car insurance, then get a prorated amount back when you cancel it. Ask for details up front...pro rated is always in their favor.

If you take into consideration the cost of the car + insurance + likely repairs + time lost waiting for repairs, I don't think a rental car could be any more expensive. It could also take a lot longer than you think to sell the car at the end of the trip. Friends of mine did that once. They bought a Honda Civic for $4k and used it while they were here for almost a year, then left it with me to sell. It took a couple of months to finally get rid of it for $1200.

With a rental (from a larger company like Enterprise or Budget) you have a network of offices that can help you out if the car has a problem. Also, you'll have a relatively new car and much less chance of a problem in the first place.

Your route depends on what you want to do, of course, but if I were going from Vegas to SF, I'd do Vegas --> Lake Tahoe --> SF. South Lake Tahoe has a good nightlife scene (casinos, clubs, etc) and the scenery is stunning.

ProudDUB

My nephew and his 3 buddies did something a few years back. They bought an old Volkswagon camper van in Chicago and threw a matress in the back. They took it in turns to sleep in the back and drive/navigate. They used campsites and lakes along the way for shower/laundry facilities. Yanks are big into their outdoor activities in the summer. Any body of water larger than a puddle will be well signposted and have lots of facilities. They saved a ton of money on motel/hotel bills & put it towards the running costs of the van.

The van broke down once along the way and they were stuck in a small town in Arkansas for 5 days waiting for a part to arrive. As it was such an old model, the garage didn't keep the parts in stock. They did plan on trying to sell the van on at the end of the trip, but it died at the last destination and they just abandoned it.

Taxing the van wasn't hugely expensive. Motor tax in Illinois is calculated on the purchase price of the van or its market value, so the tax on an old banger wouldn't be all that much. Insurance wasn't mega expensive, as they only took out the mandatory third party insurance that you are obliged by law to have, to cover any one else involved in an accident. They didn't take out any cover on the van. It just wasn't worth enough to insure it. They couldn't get insurance without a US license. Getting a Illinois license was a pain as they had to prove that they were Illinois residents. As they were staying in rented student accommodation, they weren't able to provide the household utility bills to show that they lived there. One of their girl friends friends who was there full time was able to help them out by putting one of her bills in their name, but it was all a big hassle.

In hindsight, they were sorry they didn't just rent a car & suck up the additional cost, coz at least they knew they had a set budget to work with. They also had a safety net if something went wrong. They could also plan in advance and shop around for the best deal, as opposed to doing it all when they got there. The banger van was good craic at first, but it had no AC, so driving across America in the summer heat was pretty miserable. It had no charger sockets, so they couldn't charge cell phone or sat navs or iPads during the trip. One of the windows was broken so they got wet if it rained. If you buy a banger, odds are you'll have issues like that to deal with too. The worry and hassle and cost of it breaking down put a real dampner on the trip. All the paperwork of licenses and tax and insurance was harder than they thought too. Renting a car would have just been more stress free, which is something that they didn't really factor on when they were planning the trip and they were just looking at the cost of things.

dave2pvd

SantryRed wrote: »

I would be the only one driving.

I assume this is not set in stone? It's a pretty big (and arguably dangerous) problem, considering the scale of what you're trying to achieve.

iusedtoknow

dave2pvd wrote: »

I assume this is not set in stone? It's a pretty big (and arguably dangerous) problem, considering the scale of what you're trying to achieve.

Agreed.
We drove the 7 hours on the I-5 from San Diego back home to San Francisco, my wife and I took shifts driving due to the fact that the road from LA to SF pretty much straight as an arrow and you can almost go into a trance if you're not careful

Paul_Hacket

Over the course of the summer while in Chicago you're bound to find someone else who can drive and who is up for going on the trip with you. Doing a 3/4 week tour of the West with a single driver would be a nightmare, especially dealing with the endless tedium that is driving through Missouri, Kansas and eastern Colorado.

You'd be well advised to look out for an American with a license who is old enough to rent to share the trip with you. That will solve all your problems. Just ask around over the course of the summer and you're bound to find someone.

As for the route, if you have 4 weeks you'll be able to see some amazing stuff. St. Louis is worth a night or two if you're interested in it, though if you've just spent a summer in Chicago I'd personally be in a hurry to get out to the desert/rockies etc. to enjoy the scenery and better towns there.

I wouldn't bother going to Wichita (which will require a side trip) and would only stop in Kansas City to get some BBQ or if you need a night's sleep - there are just much better things to come.

Colorado is an amazing state and the people there are awesome - more like Australians than Americans. The scenery is very varied, there's lots of ghost towns, "clothing optional" hot springs and other fun things to do. Plus, pot is legal there now and you can buy pot flavored chocolate bars which make for an interesting evening's entertainment. I don't know if you're male but people there are friendly and the women are gorgeous.

After Colorado you could head north to Yellowstone and Glacier National Park and on to Vancouver (one of the greatest cities in the world, especially for partying in). If you go up to Vancouver you can drive back down Route 1 on the Pacific Coast Highway through Seattle, Portland (another amazing party town and hipster central), checking out Mount St. Helens on the way.

After that you get into Northern California and should go to the Redwoods National Park - the tallest tress on earth, some of which you can drive your car through and many of which are thousands of years old.

Then you have San Francisco which is worth several nights and on down through the best part of Route 1 to L.A. passing places like Big Sur, Monterey etc. Given the amount of time you have I wouldn't actually go to L.A. but would head on directly to Vegas. L.A. is worth a trip of its own but it takes forever to get around in it and will suck up a lot of your time. Plus it's not an easy town to go out in socially if you don't have a local resident to bring you to the best spots, many of which are deliberately hard to find.

After a couple of nights partying in Vegas you should drive up to Zion and do a night of back country camping there before driving on to Bryce Canyon and/or Arches/Needles and then back to Vegas. You could fly out from there as flights to Ireland or anywhere else in America are relatively cheap from Vegas.

I did a trip similar to this in 4 weeks about 10 years ago and it was a once in a lifetime experience.

P.S. Thinking about it, if I was you I'd fly to Vegas from Chicago at the beginning of the trip. Car rentals are dirty cheap there and if you do that you can skip the boring drive through the mid west and do a big loop per the above starting and finishing in Vegas. This will save you time and money.