This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Nottingham chapter.

This time last year I was studying for finals on my year abroad in a small southern town in Virginia, USA. Little did I know I was about to have the most amazing summer of my life. I’d dreamed of doing the American ‘road-trip’ thing ever since I could remember and after all the planning and saving, it was finally about to happen. I know the idea of travelling around South-East Asia, South America or Australia is very popular these days but if you’re planning a gap year after uni, a year studying abroad, or just a summer adventure, America is the place to go.

There’s really nothing like the feeling of driving down a seemingly endless open road in the sunshine, windows down, playlist on, with your best friends next to you and surrounded by the sort of space we can hardly dream of in the UK. There’s something magical about the variety of the American landscape that makes you understand the whole Kerouac thing. Trust me – this isn’t the M25.

We may joke about Americans not having passports but it’s easy to see why. Whatever you’re into, they’ve probably got it – the best beaches in California, the best city life in New York, the best parties in Miami, the best Bar-B-Que you’ll ever taste in Texas…. Not to mention the mountains and deserts, but there’s also a hell of a lot in between waiting to be discovered. So if you’ve been thinking of traveling the U.S.A or need some inspiration for a post-graduation blowout, here’s some useful advice I learnt (the hard way) last summer.

How?

So that’s the why covered, now for the how. We were incredibly lucky as my friend’s brother bought a used car from a dealership in Toronto and drove it across to the West coast where we bought it off him at the beginning of summer and proceeded to drive it all the way back, through the American South and up the East Coast, returning it to the same dealership the boys bought it from in Toronto – needless to say we got very attached to it. Buying a car, then, is a possibility. UK licenses are fine to use over there and depending on the time you want to travel for and how much ground you want to cover it’s likely to work out cheaper than renting. There are some complexities like registering license plates but just do your research online, figure out a starting point and get in touch with some second-hand dealerships there who will happily provide you with the necessary info. To give you a rough idea of price we paid $3000 for our Chrysler people carrier, getting most of this back when we sold it, and petrol is almost half the price it is here!

There are other options however, and if you’re thinking of doing a shorter amount of time or focusing your travel in a certain state or area, exploring rental options would be a good idea. RVs are available from places like Cruise America which saves money on accommodation but are hardly NYC appropriate so think about your particular needs. Some companies advertise for drivers to transport cars for them from one place to another although this adds time constraints and the added pressure of crashing someone else’s car! STA Travel also do some road tripping excursions if you can’t be bothered with all the planning! Amtrak (train) or Greyhounds are also options (although I spent 24 hours on a greyhound once and let’s just say I won’t ever be doing it again!)

Where to go?

Although you don’t need to be too rigid with your route as the best experiences are often had when you find yourself ‘off the beaten track,‘ it helps to have a rough idea of the places you want to go and the things you want to see. This way you can plan how long the drives in between will take and ensure you’re not wasting time going back on yourself. It’s so much bigger than us islanders can even conceive and a five hour journey becomes a short one; a little bit of planning will make sure you get to all the places you want (Google maps will be your saviour!) In terms of areas to cover, figure out what you want from your trip. If you’re looking for sunshine, beaches and beautiful scenery head to California; cowboys and fried chicken, head to the South; wide open spaces, head to the plains of the north or midwest. Do you want to drive all the way across? Or all the way up? You probably can’t do everything (unfortunately) so think carefully about what cultures you want to experience and what sites you want to see and work around that.

It also helps to do a bit of research into what’s going on in the places you want to visit so that you don’t end up leaving the day before one of the biggest dance festivals in the world comes to town or missing a once-a-year event that could be the highlight of your trip like the ‘bay-to-breakers’ festival in San Francisco.

Where to stay?

Motels are actually the best way to stay cheaply and easily in America. Ok, from the outside they may look exactly like that creepy horror movie, but (most of the time) they’re just as nice as a hotel for a fraction of the price and you don’t have to book in advance. In America they charge by the room (for two people) and more for every other person. BUT… for two people you’ll usually get two double beds [insert joke about Amercans’ weight here] and because motels don’t have a foyer and you usually just drive up to the door it’s possible to just pay the basic price if you’re sneaky. On Average a room cost $50 between us so not much at all when you take into account the exchange rate. The website Hotwire is also a great way of finding nice hotels for really cheap prices especially if you are planning a few days ahead and know roughly the area you want to be in. You don’t find out the name of the hotel until after you book but you can normally figure it out by knowing how many stars, its location and googling it. N.B Hotels in Vegas, especially on Hotwire are ridiculously cheap ($23 between four on the strip) so there’s really no excuse.

In big cities such as L.A. and Miami staying in hostels can be fine and is often a great way of ensuring you’re near all the action. However, hosteling in the U.S is just not the same as the culture we have in Europe and is likely to be sketchy and just as, if not more, expensive than sharing a motel so do your research – hostelbookers works out there too.

Must-Dos

Buy a sat-nav – Not only will this save you from getting lost (its not as Romantic as you might think), it will also help you navigate the unfamiliar roads, locate motels when you need to make a last minute stop over, and find the nearest gas station to avoid those all too familiar horror movie scenes.
Buy a lonely planet guide – i.e. The traveller’s bible. Like I said, often the things that you don’t plan are the most fun so you don’t need to stick to it religiously. It can be incredibly helpful in getting to know a bit about the next place your heading to so you can make the most of your time there. You don’t want to miss the biggest sandwich in America or find out after you leave that the best live music in Austin was just a few steps away.
Make a great playlist – This goes without saying really but make sure it’s long and varied. After a 12 hour car journey hearing that same David Guetta song for the 5th time is not gonna be fun. Also buy an iPod lead otherwise you’ll be listening to country music radio the whole time.
Choose your company wisely – Make sure you are beyond comfortable with the people you travel with. Patience is a virtue but even the most virtuous get snappy after a day of driving on no sleep and in 40 degree heat. Cooperation and listening to each other is obviously important but you should also feel comfortable enough to pipe up if there’s something you really want to see or a detour you’ve been dying to take – it’s your trip too.

Travel Blog: The Great American Road Trip

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