LL's Road Trip Fall 2018

I am going to sit on the idea for the trip for a while.

My #1 Priority is to get a new car, and if I take out a loan it will be harder to save up for a big road trip like this.

And I do get what others say that this trip is a bit overreaching. Granted, I did all this research in a day and nothing is final as it's not going to happen until Fall of 2018 so I definitely have enough time to plan.

I'm debating on taking smaller trips before getting ready for the big one as others have suggested. I know I want to go to Oregon for a week or two to look at the places my parents would like to retire, and that should be a summer trip because I don't care for the rain. There are out-of-country trips I'd like to go on as well. But the idea of a big road trip is something I'd like to do with my new car and I think with the right preparation it will be quite the adventure.

You can check for hostels along your route they are generally cheaper and have a younger crowd. Most now offer private rooms if sharing a room is not your idea of fun. You get lots of info on where to go and what to see that's off the beaten track. Bring your own towel and not too many of them accept pets though.

I have driven back & forth across the country 1 1/2 times (2100 miles one way)...2 alone with my dog & once with someone I would have rather NOT been with.

So from my experiences.....use GPS instead of maps. It got me through some really complicated cities I would have otherwise struggled through. Cant drive & look at maps at the same time but its easy to listen to the directions being spoken while driving.

The MOST SERIOUS point is to KNOW what parts of the city there are. Driving back to Ca in my truck with my dog & didnt judge distance well & ran out of gas just outside Albuquerque.....that was JUST THE START of a bad night. It was late, I was exhausted, the first motel I came to was where I decided to stop....BAD IDEA. The next morning when I went to leave, I found the back seat window of my truck (crew cab) BROKEN. The bag that was stolen had receipts I was going to go through when I arrived in Ca. It was the catch all bag that had all the last minute expensive things in it....GONE. that was just the tip of the ice berg. Found out the debit card I used had the number stolen & the number on the back of the card. There was ONLY one person working in the motel when I checked in the night before but the police did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to help me recover anything & I had to wait for the insurance window repair. Ok, if you have any anxiety issues a situation like this is NOT GOOD.I was half way between my farm & my home & marriage I was leaving in Ca....& I was alone without anyone who coukd even help me drive in the state I was finding myself in.

I had already driven a moving truck across that route once. Never expected how something like that would effect me add to that messed up credit card & getting cell phone calls as I drove about more issues that theft caused.

Never stay at cheap motels just to save money & NEVER stay in a bad area of a town...RESEARCH....RESEARCH....RESEARCH!!!!

Honestly I would NEVER suggest a young woman ever travel around the country alone....you NEVER KNOW what one might come across....suggest having trained self-protection if that ends up being the final choice.

I absolutely LOVE driving...I drove to my winter vacation in Wyo every year (15+ years) & to Banff Canada & beyond for a ski vacation. I love driving alone...BUT...its important to realize that serious problems can & do happen when we least expect it & being alone isnt always the best place to be when it happens. All the planning in the world cant forsee things like that...The longer the trip & the linger the time the more chances something WILL happen.

Not meant to scare but just to bring to light some of the not so goot things that happened to me & are not that unusual when out there traveling alone...its like a target they look for especially if not VERY CAREFUL of the locations to stay at.

Thank you. These are all very important points made.

Its still a good idea. Many people my age (boomers) made it a life goal to visit all fifty states, for example.

My parents didnt encourage me to have ANY life goals - they were just, youre gonna hafta do whatever your husband wants to do, so shut up.

Well, unfortunately for you I am not holding off on a trip to be environmentally friendly.

This is the wrong thread to be preaching about environmental mumbo jumbo.

Lol....this boomer was a serious rebel & made my own goals in spite of no encouragement...yep many went to college to get their MRS. I went for my computer engineering career. Though I met many who took off to europe for a year after graduating from high school, I wasnt in that financial class as those people were. That freedom to just get out & go is nice.

One time after finishing summer school in college I wasdriving home. Thete was a thunder storm & lightening....the Grand Canyon Suite (music) popped into my head & then the thought that I had never seen the Grand Canyon. So that weekend I booked a flight to the GC & went there for a long weekend. Did the mule trip down to the point one day & wandered & hiked around therest of the time. Sometimes those spur of the moment focused trips can be great too.

Did someone leave a quote like that???

Yes its part of my previous post in this thread.

Many people think, if a female travels on her own, shes looking for trouble; even if she is minding her own business, she is acting against society's norms. It is believed she needs a male to protect her.

Thats what its like outside California!

Sorry LL, I should have referred as to who I quoted....I struggle doing quotes usnig my phone so didnt think about referring to who I was responding to....my apology for not being more careful on that.

The Grand Canyon trip was about how you can just pick a place you want to see & sometimes just make a nice trip out of doing it that way. Fill i the holes you might not do on a road trip