The American roadtrip - DIY

Some people have been asking us about how we planned our roadtrip and what to think about when driving from coast to coast, so here´s a few tips from us based on our experience.

We got the idea for our roadtrip when planning a vacation to the US. Neither of us had ever been in America so we had a lot of places to choose from. When we couldn´t make up our minds on where to go we decided to go everywhere.


How to get started:

The first thing you need to do is to make up your mind. How far, how fast and for how long? Once you answer those questions and decide which places you definitely want to see and which you can leave out you pretty much have your route lined out. We wanted to visit LA, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Telluride and New York so we planned our trip according to that. San Francisco was also on the list, but we had to leave it for another trip because we didn´t have enough time. Our trip lasted 17 days, and 14 days we spent crossing the continent. Of course you can never have too much time, but you do see a lot in 17 days. At least if you have a good plan.
Once we had decided the route we started to plan a schedule of some kind. We used Google Maps to check routes and distances to plan how much time we needed to get from one place to the next. Google Maps estimates pretty accurately how long the drive will take but it always took less time to cross the distance compared to what Google Maps said. When you know how much time you need on the road you just have to decide on how much time you want to spend in each place.

Lodging:

We booked approximately half of our lodging in advance, which took away some of the spontaneity but also made the trip somewhat smoother. In four cities we stayed with friends and of course we had to agree in advance on which days we would show up on their doorstep. Staying with friends is a good tip; aside from spending time with them you also have someone to tell you the do´s and don’ts of the place. That saves you both time and money.
We also booked a motel at the Grand Canyon in advance as it is a major tourist attraction and fills up pretty fast in the summer. In bigger cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas we booked hotels in advance because we knew which days we needed to be there and because we thought it would be easier to arrive in a big city and have an address to go to, which turned out to be true. But some times during the trip we just decided to stop for the night at a roadside motel when we didn´t feel like driving anymore that day. As long as you have a plan of some kind of where you´re going and when you need to be there, be as spontaneous as you like. Some of our best and worst stops were unplanned.

The car:

On a coast to coast road trip your best friend is the person sitting next to you and the car. Even though we do not condone the use of big gas guzzlers, on a trip like this they do feel like a good choice. The best reason for driving a big car in the US is simple: everyone else does. If you don’t you´ll feel like an ant zick zacking between lanes on the highway. And of course a big car is comfortable on such a long drive, and since gas is cheap over there it won’t ruin you. The whole 5500 km drive only cost us around 350 euros in gas money.

One thing you want to have in the car is a GPS. Pay the extra 100 dollars for it, you won´t regret it. It not only guides you to the place you´re going, it also tells you where the closest restaurant, gas station, outlet, ATM or you name it is.

Except for paying an extra 100 bucks for the GPS, we also bought an insurance that covered all costs up to one million dollars even if we smashed someone else´s car. It made us feel more secure, but do as you like. We rented our car from Avis and we made the reservation at home online before we went, but you can also walk into a car rental and rent it when you get there. The biggest cost for us was the “leaving cost”. Since we rented the car in LA and left it in NYC we had to pay almost 1000 dollars for leaving it so far away. The total cost of the car with insurance and GPS was a little more than 2000 dollars.

We dropped the car of at JFK Airport and took a cab into Manhattan. You don´t want to take your car there if you don´t have to. Believe us.

We spent the longest time in New York, 4 days, which was a good decision. In retrospect we´re amazed at how well everything worked out, we didn´t have any problems along the way. The only thing that would have made the trip even better would have been more time. We experienced a lot, but for example a few more days in LA would have been nice, and it would have been fun to make that extra stop in Nashville if we would have had the time. But then again, even with a few more days the feeling of wanting to do a little bit more would probably still be there.

The total cost of the trip for us both including everything – food, lodging, flight tickets, car, gas etc was 6200 euros.

We'll be adding more tips soon - if you're wondering about something - just ask jonas@forth.fi

The next chapter

The journey is coming to its end and it’s been great all the way. In retrospect we planned the almost perfect journey and the small mishaps actually made everything better. So this will be the final post on this blog.









We had the perfect ending on our final evening in New York by going to see Up in 3D by Pixar. The lesson in the film is that we all have dreams and by waiting for them to materialize you might not ever fulfill them. You just have to go out and make it happen. The second lesson was that along the way other things might come up but the main thing is to follow your heart. This trip was a small dream of ours and soon other dreams will follow. It’s time for the next chapter. Turn the page.

A couple of final endorsements

We especially liked a couple of places on our trip so here are our recommendations:

Prestige Jewelry at the Miracle Mile in Las Vegas - Thanks to the nice lady in the shop

Thumbs Up Johnnie - Johnnie will keep on reporting from around the world

The New Sheridan Hotel in Telluride - a fabulous hotel

Telluride Historical Museum - Thanks guys - We'll be back

The Antique Emporium in Manitou Springs - Thanks to Max for the stories and the directions

The Barracuda Bazaar in Old Colorado City - Great selection on vintage and clothes

The Sweet Life in Telluride - Our first corndog and homemade ice-cream

The Rag-O-Rama on The Loop in St. Louis - Anna was in heaven and bought three dresses, Jonas paid 45 dollars.

Ihop restaurant classic pancakes - Amazing pancakes and the best service on this trip

Kramerbooks & Afterwords in Washington DC - Great books, free internet and do try the Obama family chili.

Naturally we would also like to thank everybody who supported, fed, instructed, guided and took us in during the trip. You made this possible and for that we are grateful.

Downtown

We spent Sunday exploring midtown and Broadway. Yesterday we headed downtown. There we watched busy people running around on Wall street while we had cupcakes in the sun. We took the ferry to Staten Island to see the Statue of liberty from deck, and spent abut 3 minutes on Staten Island before we took the ferry back to Manhattan.





In the afternoon we did some shopping in Soho, got caught in a rainstorm and had dinner in Chinatown. This day we´ll spend in the park.

At a good pace

We've been busy busy going through our to-do-list in New York - so far we've seen Chicago on Broadway, had picnic in Central Park, visited MoMA and bought an Eames Hang-It-All at a good discount. We visited the Empire State Building at night, the early morning Hell's Kitchen flee market and shopped away at Macy's and Muji. Tomorrow Downtown, Soho and Chinatown. And probably more shopping. Starting to see why there is a luggage store on every block.

Served us well

3231 miles/5200 km (there was 5 miles on it when we got it) behind us and not a scratch on the car. We said goodbye to our companion that kept us going and cold through all those miles. We'll miss him (and her).

Goodbye DC, hello NYC

We left Washington DC after 2½ wonderful days in a historic city. The extra day was truly needed and in the end all turned out for the best. We saw the usual sights, visited the must-see museums but foremost got to know our hosts. So thank you Luther and Doris - you're the best.

Day 1 in DC

We're in Washington DC at the moment. We saw the White House and all the stuff you should see when in Washington. Now we're having lunch at this great bookstore/cafe called Kramerbooks. Baseball after this, should be interesting ;) The Nationals against the Red Sox. As soon as we get a better internet connection we'll upload some pics.

We keep on clicking

We have currently over 400 images and around 15 videos on Flickr. New ones every day. Just click play.

Johnnie traveling around the world

Thumbs Up Johnnie is coming with us back to Finland and he'll show up here and there around the world, Iceland probably being next during the autumn. Here he is in St. Louis. You will find more of him on Thumbs Up Johnnie. Check it out.









Our biggest thanks to Michelle, Wayne and Mark. The hospitality and the food get four big thumbs up!

St Louis

From Kansas we moved on to St Louis. And St Louis was busy! Stayed at Michelle´s and Wayne´s house, met some of their friends and explored the city. We started at the Arch, St Louis´ famous landmark, went to the Loop, a busy street where we found a great vintage store and Chuck Berry´s regular hang out the Blueberry Hill. We also got our first parking ticket on this trip, don´t really know what to do with it though.

The Arch and an angry sky.










The Loop.


Laid back in St Louis. Simon.

A change of scenery

We've experienced cityscapes, deserts, mountains, forests, hills, valleys and great plains. At the start of the journey we feared that the long drives might be tiresome and tedious. But time just seems to fly by while the scenery keeps on changing. There is just so much to watch along the way.

With the cruise control on, in a comfortable car, the trip is a true joy. And anyone wondering about driving in the US, we can can only tell you that it is one of the most elementary things.

Killing time

We made two MP3 discs out of all the radio documentaries that Swedish Radio's P3 has produced over the years. Listening to it while driving makes time fly. Amazing stuff, check it out.

Economically speaking

One of my friends advised me not to go on this trip out of a hunch he had that there might be riots here, due to the credit crunch and the possible ensuing social problems. Nothing could be further from the truth. Either we are visiting the 'right' areas or the problem is greatly exaggerated. Sure there are Sale, Going-out-of-business and For sale signs everywhere but people are optimistic.









As one of the people we on the journey said - the financial crisis is for the best. People have been blinded by money and greed and now we're returning to a more normal state of being. Maybe we'll learn something but probably not.

Colorado Springs

We left Telluride this morning and headed for Colorado Springs. Just when we thought the view could´nt get any better we ended up here. Breathtaking, once again.


In Colorado Springs (or Old Colorado city) we felt a bit adventurous and left the navigator at the motel. Of course we regretted this five minutes later when were reading our crappy map upside down. We sure missed the lady in the box. But our small detour led us to Manitou Springs where we´d never gone had we not got lost. There we once again met some great people and had the best pizza on the trip so far.


PS. We think we´re done looking at rocks.

Good people, good view

Still in Telluride, still think it´s great. We have met so many great people here. We had breakfast with Eric, a great guy with roots in Finland, took a walk around the town and the graveyard with Vicki whose grandmother was part of the Finnish community here, and ended the day by having drinks with Beth and John and some of their friends. It is the people that make Telluride such a great place, we understand what Tom and Katie sees here. And the view is ok too.


In between being social we hiked down the mountain (yes down, we took the gondola up). And we learned that the weather is unpredictable in the mountains and that everything is much more exhausting at an altitude of 3300 m.

Colorado Avenue

The screening of Colorado Avenue at the Telluride Historical Museum went great and the turnout was double. Many thanks to Beth, Lauren, Pam, Scott, Dan and Vicki for the arrangements. This was so much more than we expected. I hope people enjoyed it as much as we did.

Telluride

What a wonderful place Telluride is an what great people. The film showing seemed to be a success, a lot of people turned up and hopefull they liked the film. After a lot of food and conversation with newfound friends Beth and John we´re now happy, exhausted and eager to go hiking on the mountain tomorrow and try the hot tub on the roof.

Gas guzzler

The car runs 22 miles on the gallon or approximately 9 km per liter. Gasoline is fortunately cheap though. We've gone 1000 miles on 60 euros. You start to realize why were running out of it.

On higher ground

We left the Grand Canyon this morning and headed for the Rockies. Driving in the mountains is a great experience. Just look at the view.









And up in the mountains we met these nice people. They´re also on a crosscountry trip. Respect.