Driving Around the United States

When you're young, it seems that your life is set up step by step until you are out of College wondering where the time went. I've realized sometimes you need to step out of this assembly line of life and actually experience it. When my boyfriend, Noah, asked me to drive across the U.S. with him, I thought it could never actually happen until we were older--this mysterious place where everyone says they will do things. We kept talking about it more and more and before you knew it our parents were taking our picture in front of my good ol' Subaru Outback, and we were off. 

Good-Bye Massachusetts!

There's a lot of things you need when traveling around the country. Here are some of the most crucial things I found during my three weeks on the road. 

First off, your travel companion: whether it's your best friend, a group of friends, or your pup, having a travel companion will keep you sane on those 10-16hour days of straight driving (or at least you'll have someone to go insane with). Make sure you're ready to be really close to the people you pick, literally and personally. Keep car space in mind- we had only two people and our car was filled to the brim, and Subie isn't a little guy. 

Luckily, my travel companion and I are a pretty good pair

Money: This is something you obviously have to think about. I did a bunch of research on how much money I was going to spend each day on the road. There's a lot that adds up; gas, food, parks, sleeping arrangements, the list goes on and on. To give you a base number to think about, for two people you probably want to be prepared to spend about $2,000(this does not mean 1,000 per extra person-gas and a camping sites will stay the same cost-really only food goes up and personal purchases). Now that number is going to change based on how you want to travel. We spent a good amount less than that. But it's good to have extra for emergencies. If you are driving a gas-guzzler, or wanting to spend every night in a nice hotel, well you're going to spend a heck of a lot more. Here are some things we did that saved a lot of money:

Camping: Not only does it save money, but it makes your experience so much more real if you are trying to see what the U.S. is really like. We spent most of our nights in our tent, most of the time in the middle of nowhere. Even just being able to sleep under the stars and make hot dogs over the fire, because trust me, food tastes so much better when you're camping. Most campsites are between ten and twenty dollars but we also found a few cheaper ones and some free ones(but also some more expensive). It did rain a lot actually, but as long as you have rain gear, you should be ok! 

Hells Canyon, ID

Food: My biggest no-no for food is eating out for every meal. You will burn a hole right through your pocket. Pack a big cooler instead, fill it with food that will last you a while like cheeses, veggies, yogurts, PB&J, cold cuts, etc.. We also brought a ton of dry foods. Everything from bagels and granola bars to a giant can of peanuts. You are going to want lots of snacks as you'll be driving so much. My favorite road trip snack is a big bag of Munchies. 

Rest Stop Lunch, Somewhere in NJ

You should definitely go out sometimes, though! We made a point to make it to Mobile, Alabama to go to the Brick Pitt for some real authentic BBQ, and I've craved it every day since. Food is so different all over the country, I would highly suggest also adding authentic Mexican to the list. 

The Brick Pitt, Mobile AL

Connections: Wanting to hit some big cities? There's not too much camping there, but we stayed with people we hardly knew(luckily my sister seems to know someone in every city ever). It was super fun to see them again--or for the first time--and meeting people while traveling is one of my favorite parts of traveling. We also stayed with some good friends and family, luckily we had some scattered in all corners of the country. But also look into couch-surfing or airBNB if you can't find anyone else. 

Pretending we went to the Space Needle, Seattle, WA

Gas: There is no magic way to save money on gas. Gas prices are different all over the country. We were loving the prices down south, under $1.60, and then cried once we got to California. So maybe just fill up before you cross that boarder. We spent around $700 on gas our whole trip(10,500miles).

Where my love for bison began, Yellowstone National Park, WY

We spent most of our trip--other than driving--going to National Parks. It was truly amazing to see how incredible they all were, and how insanely different they all are. If this is on your radar, make sure to get your hands on the "America the Beautiful" pass. It's $80 and allows you to go to most of the National Parks around the country and it's for your car, so everyone you're bringing can just have the one pass. Most big Parks are $30 without the pass, so it adds up fast. 

White Sands National Monument, NM

You can also camp in a lot of the parks, which is an incredible experience. Just note-you should really book these in advance...FAR in advance. We missed out on Yosemite because we couldn't get a campsite. There are some first-come-first-serve campsites in most of the parks. Make sure to look into what time they usually fill up if you plan on doing this. We had to wake up at 3am Phoenix time to make it to Zion by 11am. We could have woken up later but we wanted to take the scenic route and see the Grand Canyon at sunrise, I would highly suggest it! 

Zion National Park, UT

Diving all day can get very boring sometime. Sure, there are the amazing views to look at most of the time, but a lot is just the same flatland for hours on end. There's a few things you should have up your sleeve to keep entertained:

Music: Duh. But really, the Subie doesn't have an cassette player(aka no aux. chord), so Noah made a ton of mix tapes for every possible kind of day. From "Driving in the Rain" to "Driving uphill", this was one of my favorite parts of the trip, just driving and listening to music. 

Games: I think Catch Phrase and Mad Libs saved us from the L.A. traffic and driving 16 hours up California. We'd have the passenger just ask all the questions for both games, just to make that clear, and when you've been driving hours on end, believe me, you laugh even harder at the Mad Libs outcomes. It's also nice to have something to do during downtime at the campsite. A deck of cards and Travel Scrabble are always nice. 

Get Out and Stretch Your Legs: See an outlook or cool market? Make sure to get out and look around! That's why you're doing this, after all. Even if it is just to take a picture of yet another state sign. 

Hello North West!

Nothing is Set In Stone: Be prepared for things to go wrong; a flat tire, broken ukulele, you cut your head open on a sign in Truth or Consequences... you never know. It can be frustrating so make sure you are expecting it, and try not to worry about it too much. The go with the flow kind of attitude will be very helpful on this trip. It's good to have an idea of your plan, where you want to stay and such, but it's also great to have a back up plan. Do lots of research before on the campsites in the areas your going to before you leave home. We are both still very sad we missed the check in time for camping in the White Sands National Monument, but thankful there was a KOA near by, but we will be back to try again. We switched our plans a lot. There were times we realized we had to add a night somewhere and we ended up taking things out as well. Once we got to my sister's house half way through and saw how cute her new baby was, we couldn't help but stay an extra night. 

Meet My Friend, Joshua

But Where Do I Start?: Good question, deciding you're going to is a good place. Start looking up awesome places you're interested in. We got a big map from AAA and marked them all. We obviously had to narrow it down after, or we would probably still be out there. You'll start to see a doable circle eventually. You have to figure out how long you want to go for, and get the time off from all of your "real world" duties. We went right after our spring semesters from college ended--I actually had to finish a final paper on the road--and before starting our summer jobs. 

Driving time: Also figuring out how long you are willing to drive in a day will really influence how long your trip will be. Remember: you can't drive 12 hours to Zion, and still see it that day. Being able to switch drivers is also such a relief. It was more that doable with two people. Make sure the car you use has insurance for other drivers. Helpful Tip: Please do not drive while you are tired...we brought a bunch of Awake candy bars so we could be alert early in the morning or after driving for hours. Neither of us drink coffee, but I'm sure that will help, too.

Car: Oh yes, you'll also need a car-who would've guessed! You want to know you have a car that's tough and will last. We took my 2003 Subaru Outback and had no problems(Subarus are great options), just remember you'll need to get oil changes on the road to keep it running. You owe the car that at least, it is driving you around the entire country. 

Redwood National Park, CA

No matter what point of your life you're at, you need to realize time is limited, and the world is big, so make sure to get out there. 

Want to see how awesome our trip was? Check out Noah's YouTube video with his original music: Trolley Stop - An Original Ukulele Instrumental by Noah Wisch 

Keep your eyes peeled for my next article I'm working on for What To Pack for your cross country journey!