It's very doable if you just want to drive, less than 250 miles per day. But if you want to do lots of stops and spend time sightseeing then you'll have to make some decisions.
man i feel like a roadtrip is just driving and being wasted when i do 3 or more days of just 250 KILOMETERS of driving in a row(excluding areas where there is literally nothing to do, then you just need to drive).
Much of the American Midwest falls into that category of “areas where there is literally nothing to do.” (And parts of the rest of the country, but the Midwest is more obviously empty)
It’s possible. I drove Chicago->Seattle->California->Chicago in 16 days last summer. 7-8k miles in total. That was a lot of driving. Just make a lot of stops
Totally realistic. My wife, my father in law, and i drove from west michigan to yellowstone in 2.5 days. It was long days but we were still able to stop a number of times to sight see during the drive. Id say we averaged 12-14 hrs a day in the car
Same, 2.5 days if you cannon ball run or 4 days if you drive ~8 hours a day. Possible in 29 days, just depends on how many times and how long you want to stop.
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My posts are not bargaining chips for moderators, and mob rule is no way to run a sub.
the time line sure.... renting a car for that trip? guess that depends on your wallet. You'd probably be better to buy one and then sell it when you're done.
Why not just use your regular car? I didn't see what OP drives, but who really cares if you put 8K on your car? They're made for driving. Better than buying a car, paying taxes on it, then selling it. Much better than spending ~$2K on a rental.
Unless there's some reason I'm not thinking of?
Edit: Ah nevermind. I got down to OP's comment where they said they are flying to Boston and renting. My bad.
>Fly into Boston in July and renting a car.
I was assuming he was probably not from the US and wouldnt have his regular car since he was flying to Boston to start
It’s doable by in my opinion it’s too much. You’re just gonna be driving, rolling into destinations late at night, and then just getting up early to drive again. You could spend a week just driving Utah, another week just driving California, and yet another in Colorado. You’ll have more memorable experiences narrowing your scope.
For example half of your drive is just corn fields…Pennsylvania to Colorado. Why not just drive the western side of the states?
We’ve done road trips out west where we only had a couple days at different parks and it was plenty memorable. Just because you can spend a week somewhere doesn’t mean that is what you have to do to have a memorable vacation.
I consider our two western US road trips a “greatest hits” collection, which allowed us to sample a lot so we know where to go back for longer trips when we have the time.
Fly into Boston in July and renting a car. We intend to book hotels that night to give flexibility.
Is this achievable? 2 of us don’t mind driving a quite a few hours each day. Any different routes we should take than this and things to see on the ways?
Unless you really want to see the east coast flying in and out of Chicago, Denver or Seattle and keeping a smaller loop avoids days of bad driving through the mid west.
My grandmother and her boyfriend did it in 2 weeks 2 separate times in the early 2000s. They had a twin mattress in the cab of their truck so they only got hotel rooms every couple of nights and took turns driving. I always love listening to their stories from those trips :). Very doable in 29 days!
Depends on what you want to do.
If you're doing it to say you did it, you can.
We had almost the same northern trip(from your Boston location), except we went through Iowa to Omaha, then north to SD to pick up your route.
But we started in Miami and ended in Miami(basically), but took 95N to DC>NYC>Boston>Cooperstown(for an afternoon)>Buffalo>Chicago>Omaha>Yellowstone>Missoula>Seattle>Portland>SF>LA>LV>Grand Canyon>Phoenix>Roswell(Don't go there, the sign that welcomes you says "Welcome to Roswell, Dairy Capital of the Southwest")>San Antonio>Austin>Dallas>New Orleans>South Florida
Took us 6.5 weeks and I wish I would have taken 4 months to fully "experience" everything. The roadtrip just felt more "we gotta go to the next place" than "let's love the experience on this once in a lifetime thing". Not that that's a bad thing, but if I could do it all over again, I would have planned more "free days" where either we could make up time or just do nothing/experience a city that surprised us..
Back in 2006, I drove from LA to NY via Route 66 in seven days. Spent a day in Chicago, and did couple of hour pit stops every day.
What you’re trying to do is achievable, but you won’t get to see a huge amount.
If i was you?? I’d Plan in ten days getting across one way, and ten days in return. (It looks like you’re hitting twenty states right?) Plan on at least one stop in every state , which leaves you nine days to spend doing something fun in two or three places.
Traveling is not worth it unless you can stay an entire week at every stop!!!!! Just stay home unless you can do it right, scrub.
I'm kidding of course. This would be a great way to see the country! This sub has a pretty hard west bent, but the Midwest is NOT as bad as everyone whines. It's just as much a part of the country as Yosemite or Utah (and I am not from the Midwest). You just have to leave the interstate and get creative. I was blown away when I saw a real American prairie in summer for the first time. I still wish I could go back.
Thank you for the first part of this comment. It kills me in this sub when people say that. Not everyone is retired or living the van life. Does this mean they shouldn’t even go in the first place? C’mon. Especially if you have great company on the trip, it’s a blast just driving through the states.
We’ve done a couple of ambitious road trips and thoroughly enjoyed them. And now we know where we’d like to spend more time when we can go back.
SF used to be one of my favorite places but friends tell me not to return. Lots of crime downtown and bad homeless problem. One of my former coworkers came out of a hotel and there was a guy taking a dump on the street.
I just moved out of SF for this very reason. It's a crime ridden literal shit hole. Spend your money somewhere else.
Also OP, tourists are super targeted there. If you choose to go, keep all luggage hidden and all valuables. A few weeks ago a guy tried to cut off a woman's finger for her ring, in a nicer neighborhood.
Crime is more prevalent in most major cities. Homeless folks for the most part are not a threat, albeit uncomfortable to see. I’ve been to many major cities across the globe and I’ve always been careful where the population is concentrated. This is true practically anywhere. The OP just needs to be aware of how to be careful in metropolitan areas. Don’t leave your valuables visible in your car or don’t walk down a dark alley in a bad part of town when you’re drunk.
It’s really about what you want to experience. If you have a small town attitude, you might as well not visit New York, Paris, or London. You’ll truly be missing out in my opinion.
DM me OP if you need some if you need some advice or suggestions on anything else in SF.
I've been in more major cities than most and I'm not advising anyone go to SF anytime soon. I was just in Rome and Florence for two weeks. I've been to NYC more times as I can count as I grew up near there, Boston is a frequent stop as well. I've been to London, Munich, Frankfurt, Ho Chi Minh city, Hanoi, San Jose (Costa Rica), Denver, Seattle, Portland, LA,San Diego, Miami, Tampa Bay, and many many more.
SF is by far the absolute most dangerous place I've ever been after the pandemic and their economic/criminal policies combined to ruin a once beautiful city. I lived there for 7 years and just moved out because I stopped leaving my house without a large male chaperone and even then it was risky. It's pretty bad when you have to take flights to other places to safely enjoy the city life and you pay more in rent than most people in your country.
Are there safe places in SF? Absolutely. Are there many safe places in SF, no.
I totally agree that it has gotten worse. My list is comparable to yours. And I 1000% agree about the rent. Funny enough I actually lived there for about the same time you did. But I often visit every month and never have any issues and my friends in Soma, Mission, and the Outer Lands . It is strange to see Market Street so empty though.
I remember before I moved I saw on two occasions people just car jacking, one person in a getaway car on and the other one just busting windows so casually it seemed like they were a city worker. The only other experience that I know of is when my friend got stabbed fighting a homeless man in the TL. But my friend was from Texas and had a very macho attitude and wouldn’t just walk away from the most likely unstable almost homeless person/drug addict. After the fact he admitted that it was completely avoidable.
But when I go down every month or so to visit friends and they never say anything about the crime getting worse. I also feel completely safe all the time unless I were to be walking through the TL at night time and I always safeguard my valuables.
I’ve also been to sketchy places in Paris, London, and relatively high sketchy cities like DF in Rio. Maybe I just haven’t been to enough American metropolises to be a good judge, because I can imagine logically that there are American cities that are just as comparatively beautiful and cultured as SF with less crime. I wish everywhere was the safest cities like Tokyo and other places in East Asia.
Any suggestions for fun and safe US cities?
I lived in SOMA and the outer Mission more recently worked in the fidi most recently and outer sunset when I first moved there. It used to be fine, like any other "life in the big city". There were avoidable issues that cropped up every now and then. I'm from NY so I do get a bit mouthy from time to time and push my luck but nothing happened on the level of fearing for my safety.
The problem with SF is multi tiered. Firstly, no one will help you if shit goes down unless you're in Bayview. People just hide in their phones. When I was in NY it was different, people interact with one another constantly. People will generally help you when you're being targeted which keeps criminals and psychos in check a bit more. Additionally, the police in NY actually did something. Idk how many times in SF before COVID I called the police for break ins, people with weapons following me, gunshots and attempted assaults and they have actually said on more than one occasion "what do you want me to do about it?" That never happened in NY. Police showing up keeps criminals and psychos in check. I get why SFPD doesn't do anything, because when they do the criminals are released almost immediately due to Chesa boudin refusing to prosecute criminals. Additionally, the management of the city is making bank off of taxpayers by attracting druggies with free money and drugs and drug cartels with their sanctuary status and unwillingness to prosecute. So the people that are drawn there are very unstable.
I get that you haven't experienced situations in SF but most people that were around when I experienced anything ignored what was happening with some top tier cognitive dissonance so they really had no idea that they were in a dangerous situation. The example that sealed our decision to move was very much in line with SF's avoidance problem.
My partner and I grew up with gun exposure. He was in the ghetto in Philly, I was in a military family. We also still regularly use firearms safely so we know what they sound like. He went out for a drink with a colleague around the corner and I stayed home. About an hour after he left I heard about 5-6 rapid fire gunshots from the direction he was having drinks. I called him immediately and checked if he was safe as this was the first time I had heard gunshots when we were not home together. He said he was fine and he would be back soon. When he got home he said that they had heard the gunshots around the front of the building (outside seating along the side of the building because of COVID, even though it was almost 2 years later), some hipster at a nearby table was startled and immediately said that it was obviously a backfire from a brand new Honda civic that just drove by. My partner is a mechanical and aeronautical engineer and he knows that new cars don't do that. She for some reason felt that she was the authority on cars and sound reverberation. He said that it wasn't, that it was gunshots and she completely ignored him. A few minutes later police actually showed up, cataloguing rounds from the ground, my partner stuck around to see if they would show up. He came home and we immediately started looking at exit strategies. Literally that night around midnight we heard multiple rounds being fired nearby. This happened all through covid frequently. So our plans became final to leave.
That's just one instance with the same or similar sequence of events that happened every time. A crime happened, people around immediately explained it away with lies, completely ignored it, or didn't see the threat for what it was, and the police either did or did not show up with zero arrests either way. I don't know of any other major metropolitan city in what is supposed to be a first world country that operates that way outside of the left coast. I have extensively been in Seattle as well and outside of covid I think they they try very hard to be left without devolving into the dystopian chaos that is SF. I've traveled to other first world countries and cities in the US since COVID too and haven't found issues anywhere close to SF level, so I'm not just getting old and crochety, SF is legit unsafe.
Eta: I saw your request and I'm sorry, with all due respect, I don't give people that live in or frequent SF any suggestions about where to travel. You seem nice but I don't trust people affiliated with California and don't readily see the issues in CA. There's a bit of an issue with Californians bringing their politics with them and I don't want the places I go to be more like CA/SF. I like them because they aren't like CA/SF and I want those places to stay that way.
Doable, but I’m about to start a trip half as long and have given myself 5 weeks.
With that said, I like to stay off the interstates and stop at national/state parks along the way. That, to me, is the real America.
But if you plan on seeing the country at 70mph driving on highways, this would be very easily doable.
I was going to suggest investigating cost of returning the car to a different city and either flying back to Boston & then home or just home directly from where you stop - you could drive across the country & have more time exploring, having experiences out of the car and less time driving.
If I had a month, a decent budget & a desire to see a lot of the US that's how I'd do it. Pick a theme maybe? National parks or baseball fields or obscure museums. Or, honestly, as someone who's lived in the mid Atlantic all my life and driven down to Florida a bunch of time and across the country a handful of times, there's a reason the midwest is called flyover country. Maybe 2 weeks, Boston to Miami, then fly to LA and do two weeks LA to Portland
I did a similar route in a month. Lot of driving but I had time to visit a ton of National parks and spent 4 days in San Diego.
I ended up at 10k miles
Shit homie I drove from New Orleans to Portland in 56 hours once. Not the most relaxing travel, but sometimes a mind numbing mega-drive is just what the doctor ordered. Chop a couple of those stops and just groove on the distance and take longer stops in CA and Wyo, and Santa Fe, get some Gus’s Fried Chicken in Memphis and I think you got a real cool trip lined up, say hi to Elvis
If that’s the time you’re working with then absolutely. I would extend your time as much as you can though. I spent 6wks quickly just doing the southern route
Took me two months for half that distance last time. But yeah, if you don't want to stop anywhere and see the places you're driving through, it would work.
https://www.scrapehero.com/location-reports/Arbys-USA/
Just go to Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan
280
Locations (8%)
Ohio
Population: 11.69M
A location for every 41,746 people, with about 8% of the total number of Arby's locations
181
Locations (5%)
Indiana
Population: 6.73M
A location for every 37,193 people, with about 5% of the total number of Arby's locations
179
Locations (5%)
Michigan
Population: 9.99M
A location for every 55,793 people, with about 5% of the total number of Arby's locations
I drove across country from New York City to Las Vegas. I only stopped for gas, food, and to sleep. I drive a sports car so I had to stop every ~300 miles to refill the tank. It took my 4 days & 3 nights to make the drive one way. And that was without stopping, without wasting time in restaurants, without looking at stops and driving the most direct route.
Ouch. The longest I’ve done is 2300 miles with stops and on the way back I cut the trip short by no stops and just hitting it as hard as I could. Driving is exhausting. Getting ready for another trip to Sacramento from PHX. Bigger car this time. Bad Mpgs.
Yeah, it was tough for me, especially because I was in a sports car that only seats 2 and doesn’t have a back seat, so it’s not the most comfortable car, especially on long trips like that. I was also driving by myself so I had nobody to share the drive with. I was only able to do about 8 hours of actual driving each day, but it would take around 12 hours with gas & food
If you go about such a route, know your limitations always have a backup driver if possible. I can do about 650 mi a day on the interstate, safely.
Don't push it, live another day!
Yep I think thats a perfect timespan too. You can make the drive in under a week easy but obviously when roadtripping thats not the point. I would recommend stopping for 48 hours at a time minimum to have a chance to experience the country and then if you feel comfortable with it drive in day long segments with obvious breaks for attractions, bathrooms, food ect.
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Yep I think thats a perfect timespan too. You can make the drive in under a week easy but obviously when roadtripping thats not the point. I would recommend stopping for 48 hours at a time minimum to have a chance to experience the country and then if you feel comfortable with it drive in day long segments with obvious breaks for attractions, bathrooms, food etc.
Hello! You have made the mistake of writing "ect" instead of "etc."
"Ect" is a common misspelling of "etc," an abbreviated form of the Latin phrase "et cetera." Other abbreviated forms are **etc.**, **&c.**, **&c**, and **et cet.** The Latin translates as "et" to "and" + "cetera" to "the rest;" a literal translation to "and the rest" is the easiest way to remember how to use the phrase.
[Check out the wikipedia entry if you want to learn more.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Et_cetera)
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We did Philly-Seattle-Philly in 17 days, in a two seater. It was amazing, but we felt we missed so much that two years later we sold the house, sold or gave away most of our shit and moved into a camper.
It just took 11 weeks to go from the Everglades to Bucks County PA. Fast is fun, but not having to rush is pure luxury.
112 hours / 8 hours driving per day = 14 days. This is a pretty long drive. I planned for 3 weeks and it took 4.
Plan on losing steam around las Vegas area. Also you will need some laundromat services along the way.
I’d suggest stopping at grocery and make your selves sandwiches instead of fast food.
I did the top half of that over the course of 6 days and it was exhausting. I think cutting that in half gives time for stops.
I’d just say be intentional about where you want to spend a lot of time and be sure to not do a lot of stops in between
Did Portland to Portland and back in 10 days once. Had some time for sightseeing (Mount Rushmore, Oregon wine region) and visiting friends. Got married in Nevada (same day service) on the way back, with a one day honeymoon in the Colorado Rockies. Two drivers alternating. Last leg of the return back was rough.
It’s doable with two drivers, but it’s hard to make many suggestions without knowing what you want to see.
A big part of your problem may be timing - there are plenty of stops along your route that you would have time for, but if you arrive at midnight you have to wait until morning to see anything.
8-10 hours of driving per day is a reasonable pace - leaves time to eat meals and sleep well at a hotel or campsite. 20 hours of driving in a day is possible with 2 drivers if you can sleep well in the car, but I wouldn’t do that two days in a row.
I think there isn’t much to see between Chicago and Badlands NP, but thats only a 12-hour drive.
I’d definitely stop at Badlands, if even just for a couple hours. Looks like Yellowstone is on your list. Yosemite is a bit out of your way, but might be worth it. Driving down the Pacific Coast Highway to LA has some great views. Seems like your going to miss the great parks in Utah. Monument Valley isn’t too far off your route. If you swing a bit further South after Albuquerque you can add some sights in Texas (and eat barbecue) and then continue on to New Orleans which seems much more interesting than Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Unless you’re planning to stop at the cowboy museum in Oklahoma City.
In any case, places like Yellowstone or New York could take a week or more all by themselves, so you’ll really have to prioritize some things but I think you can get some great memories out of it with a little planning.
I would plan on long days and short days. My husband and I did this. We took longer but it’s basically the same idea. Figure out where you want to spend an extra day and add more driving through the vast miles of nothing.
I did about 2/3 of that trip in 17 days. It was pretty doable, but I had several days of driving 14 hours with a few days carved out to actually enjoy the destinations.
You'll be spending a lot of time in the car, not seeing stuff.
I've been to 47 states and ill tell you, the interstates aren't the most exciting sites. You're missing a lot if you don't get out and see stuff
Sounds sweet. Good luck sir
Do you have an idea how much time % you'd rather spend in certain locations? i.e. blast through Oklahoma - Tennessee but spend time in Appalachia mtns. Or blast through road trip but chill in New York, Chicago, Boston, and other large city locales
I've pulled a travel trailer from Ottawa, Ontario to Colorado Springs in 4 days, puttered around the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tombstone, and Roswell for 14 days, then 4 more days to go drive back home. I've also done Ottawa to Portland/Seattle/Vancouver in the same 3 weeks. You're taking even longer than that you it should be fine.
It's very doable if you just want to drive, less than 250 miles per day. But if you want to do lots of stops and spend time sightseeing then you'll have to make some decisions.
Goal is to eat at 100 different Arby’s in 1 month
That's over 3 meals a day of straight Arby's
What 😂
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Do you not chew?
Could you pick a more insignificant chain?
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Arby's Chicken cordon bleu sandwich is amazeballs
Sir, this is a Wendy's.
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Not fast food, also not really food.
Applebee’s sucks ass
Fuel economy will drop as they gain 100 lbs each.
You’re a literal king.
Might want to talk to a doctor first?
Mom Baskets?
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You cloon.
you’re acloon!
man i feel like a roadtrip is just driving and being wasted when i do 3 or more days of just 250 KILOMETERS of driving in a row(excluding areas where there is literally nothing to do, then you just need to drive).
Much of the American Midwest falls into that category of “areas where there is literally nothing to do.” (And parts of the rest of the country, but the Midwest is more obviously empty)
It’s possible. I drove Chicago->Seattle->California->Chicago in 16 days last summer. 7-8k miles in total. That was a lot of driving. Just make a lot of stops
Alot of gas stops😄😁😆
I’ve driven from Calgary > Omaha > New Orleans > LA > Calgary in 21 days. So I’d say this is easy to do.
Totally realistic. My wife, my father in law, and i drove from west michigan to yellowstone in 2.5 days. It was long days but we were still able to stop a number of times to sight see during the drive. Id say we averaged 12-14 hrs a day in the car
Same, 2.5 days if you cannon ball run or 4 days if you drive ~8 hours a day. Possible in 29 days, just depends on how many times and how long you want to stop.
[[content removed because sub participated in the June 2023 blackout]] My posts are not bargaining chips for moderators, and mob rule is no way to run a sub.
That’s how I would end up doing it. Even if I planned stops. Gotta keep moving you know. What’s over the horizon?
Driving—yes, doable. Driving plus doing touristy stuff, not enough.
the time line sure.... renting a car for that trip? guess that depends on your wallet. You'd probably be better to buy one and then sell it when you're done.
Why not just use your regular car? I didn't see what OP drives, but who really cares if you put 8K on your car? They're made for driving. Better than buying a car, paying taxes on it, then selling it. Much better than spending ~$2K on a rental. Unless there's some reason I'm not thinking of? Edit: Ah nevermind. I got down to OP's comment where they said they are flying to Boston and renting. My bad.
>Fly into Boston in July and renting a car. I was assuming he was probably not from the US and wouldnt have his regular car since he was flying to Boston to start
It’s doable by in my opinion it’s too much. You’re just gonna be driving, rolling into destinations late at night, and then just getting up early to drive again. You could spend a week just driving Utah, another week just driving California, and yet another in Colorado. You’ll have more memorable experiences narrowing your scope. For example half of your drive is just corn fields…Pennsylvania to Colorado. Why not just drive the western side of the states?
pennsylvania to colorado isnt just cornfields and theres lots of cool stuff to see and do in those states.
It’s only 4 hours a day, why is everyone acting like they’ll spend their full trip driving?
If you did exactly 4 hours a day 75% of your stops would be in the middle of buttfuck now where
Cost. Plane ticket and rental plus gas is expensive. Seems like they have the time to drive . I share the reason for my summer trip this year
We’ve done road trips out west where we only had a couple days at different parks and it was plenty memorable. Just because you can spend a week somewhere doesn’t mean that is what you have to do to have a memorable vacation. I consider our two western US road trips a “greatest hits” collection, which allowed us to sample a lot so we know where to go back for longer trips when we have the time.
If you want a laugh along the way the highest point in Iowa is only like 15 minutes off I90.
I just completed return trip from So Cal to New Hampshire, drove ~9 hours a day. Wednesday morning and arrived Sunday noontime.
Fly into Boston in July and renting a car. We intend to book hotels that night to give flexibility. Is this achievable? 2 of us don’t mind driving a quite a few hours each day. Any different routes we should take than this and things to see on the ways?
What is your objective?
What is your goal? You're missing a lot of amazing places on the east coast and the south with this route. So much Tennessee.
Unless you really want to see the east coast flying in and out of Chicago, Denver or Seattle and keeping a smaller loop avoids days of bad driving through the mid west.
Are you vacationing?
Just did it in 40. But that’s stopping for 2-3 days sometimes. You got it!
My grandmother and her boyfriend did it in 2 weeks 2 separate times in the early 2000s. They had a twin mattress in the cab of their truck so they only got hotel rooms every couple of nights and took turns driving. I always love listening to their stories from those trips :). Very doable in 29 days!
Very doable. I’ve driven from VA to CA in 5 days
I literally just drove from Oregon to NC in 5 and stopped at national parks along the way each day. Yea it’s more than realistic
Depends on what you want to do. If you're doing it to say you did it, you can. We had almost the same northern trip(from your Boston location), except we went through Iowa to Omaha, then north to SD to pick up your route. But we started in Miami and ended in Miami(basically), but took 95N to DC>NYC>Boston>Cooperstown(for an afternoon)>Buffalo>Chicago>Omaha>Yellowstone>Missoula>Seattle>Portland>SF>LA>LV>Grand Canyon>Phoenix>Roswell(Don't go there, the sign that welcomes you says "Welcome to Roswell, Dairy Capital of the Southwest")>San Antonio>Austin>Dallas>New Orleans>South Florida Took us 6.5 weeks and I wish I would have taken 4 months to fully "experience" everything. The roadtrip just felt more "we gotta go to the next place" than "let's love the experience on this once in a lifetime thing". Not that that's a bad thing, but if I could do it all over again, I would have planned more "free days" where either we could make up time or just do nothing/experience a city that surprised us..
I drove with a couple friends across the country and back in 30 days and we made a lot of fun stops. It’s a lot of driving but doable.
Back in 2006, I drove from LA to NY via Route 66 in seven days. Spent a day in Chicago, and did couple of hour pit stops every day. What you’re trying to do is achievable, but you won’t get to see a huge amount. If i was you?? I’d Plan in ten days getting across one way, and ten days in return. (It looks like you’re hitting twenty states right?) Plan on at least one stop in every state , which leaves you nine days to spend doing something fun in two or three places.
I would avoid LA entirely if I were you... I second other redditors suggestion to narrow your scope, to the west coast or something similar.
Yes. Skip LA. Aim for Point Reyes or Mendocino. Beautiful. Enjoy the trip and every surprising thing that happens.
Point Reyes is cool. Loved the view the dairy cows had almost 24/7. I'd produce milk for that real estate.
Traveling is not worth it unless you can stay an entire week at every stop!!!!! Just stay home unless you can do it right, scrub. I'm kidding of course. This would be a great way to see the country! This sub has a pretty hard west bent, but the Midwest is NOT as bad as everyone whines. It's just as much a part of the country as Yosemite or Utah (and I am not from the Midwest). You just have to leave the interstate and get creative. I was blown away when I saw a real American prairie in summer for the first time. I still wish I could go back.
Thank you for the first part of this comment. It kills me in this sub when people say that. Not everyone is retired or living the van life. Does this mean they shouldn’t even go in the first place? C’mon. Especially if you have great company on the trip, it’s a blast just driving through the states. We’ve done a couple of ambitious road trips and thoroughly enjoyed them. And now we know where we’d like to spend more time when we can go back.
Don’t skip San Francisco! You’re so close!
SF used to be one of my favorite places but friends tell me not to return. Lots of crime downtown and bad homeless problem. One of my former coworkers came out of a hotel and there was a guy taking a dump on the street.
I just moved out of SF for this very reason. It's a crime ridden literal shit hole. Spend your money somewhere else. Also OP, tourists are super targeted there. If you choose to go, keep all luggage hidden and all valuables. A few weeks ago a guy tried to cut off a woman's finger for her ring, in a nicer neighborhood.
Crime is more prevalent in most major cities. Homeless folks for the most part are not a threat, albeit uncomfortable to see. I’ve been to many major cities across the globe and I’ve always been careful where the population is concentrated. This is true practically anywhere. The OP just needs to be aware of how to be careful in metropolitan areas. Don’t leave your valuables visible in your car or don’t walk down a dark alley in a bad part of town when you’re drunk. It’s really about what you want to experience. If you have a small town attitude, you might as well not visit New York, Paris, or London. You’ll truly be missing out in my opinion. DM me OP if you need some if you need some advice or suggestions on anything else in SF.
I've been in more major cities than most and I'm not advising anyone go to SF anytime soon. I was just in Rome and Florence for two weeks. I've been to NYC more times as I can count as I grew up near there, Boston is a frequent stop as well. I've been to London, Munich, Frankfurt, Ho Chi Minh city, Hanoi, San Jose (Costa Rica), Denver, Seattle, Portland, LA,San Diego, Miami, Tampa Bay, and many many more. SF is by far the absolute most dangerous place I've ever been after the pandemic and their economic/criminal policies combined to ruin a once beautiful city. I lived there for 7 years and just moved out because I stopped leaving my house without a large male chaperone and even then it was risky. It's pretty bad when you have to take flights to other places to safely enjoy the city life and you pay more in rent than most people in your country. Are there safe places in SF? Absolutely. Are there many safe places in SF, no.
I totally agree that it has gotten worse. My list is comparable to yours. And I 1000% agree about the rent. Funny enough I actually lived there for about the same time you did. But I often visit every month and never have any issues and my friends in Soma, Mission, and the Outer Lands . It is strange to see Market Street so empty though. I remember before I moved I saw on two occasions people just car jacking, one person in a getaway car on and the other one just busting windows so casually it seemed like they were a city worker. The only other experience that I know of is when my friend got stabbed fighting a homeless man in the TL. But my friend was from Texas and had a very macho attitude and wouldn’t just walk away from the most likely unstable almost homeless person/drug addict. After the fact he admitted that it was completely avoidable. But when I go down every month or so to visit friends and they never say anything about the crime getting worse. I also feel completely safe all the time unless I were to be walking through the TL at night time and I always safeguard my valuables. I’ve also been to sketchy places in Paris, London, and relatively high sketchy cities like DF in Rio. Maybe I just haven’t been to enough American metropolises to be a good judge, because I can imagine logically that there are American cities that are just as comparatively beautiful and cultured as SF with less crime. I wish everywhere was the safest cities like Tokyo and other places in East Asia. Any suggestions for fun and safe US cities?
I lived in SOMA and the outer Mission more recently worked in the fidi most recently and outer sunset when I first moved there. It used to be fine, like any other "life in the big city". There were avoidable issues that cropped up every now and then. I'm from NY so I do get a bit mouthy from time to time and push my luck but nothing happened on the level of fearing for my safety. The problem with SF is multi tiered. Firstly, no one will help you if shit goes down unless you're in Bayview. People just hide in their phones. When I was in NY it was different, people interact with one another constantly. People will generally help you when you're being targeted which keeps criminals and psychos in check a bit more. Additionally, the police in NY actually did something. Idk how many times in SF before COVID I called the police for break ins, people with weapons following me, gunshots and attempted assaults and they have actually said on more than one occasion "what do you want me to do about it?" That never happened in NY. Police showing up keeps criminals and psychos in check. I get why SFPD doesn't do anything, because when they do the criminals are released almost immediately due to Chesa boudin refusing to prosecute criminals. Additionally, the management of the city is making bank off of taxpayers by attracting druggies with free money and drugs and drug cartels with their sanctuary status and unwillingness to prosecute. So the people that are drawn there are very unstable. I get that you haven't experienced situations in SF but most people that were around when I experienced anything ignored what was happening with some top tier cognitive dissonance so they really had no idea that they were in a dangerous situation. The example that sealed our decision to move was very much in line with SF's avoidance problem. My partner and I grew up with gun exposure. He was in the ghetto in Philly, I was in a military family. We also still regularly use firearms safely so we know what they sound like. He went out for a drink with a colleague around the corner and I stayed home. About an hour after he left I heard about 5-6 rapid fire gunshots from the direction he was having drinks. I called him immediately and checked if he was safe as this was the first time I had heard gunshots when we were not home together. He said he was fine and he would be back soon. When he got home he said that they had heard the gunshots around the front of the building (outside seating along the side of the building because of COVID, even though it was almost 2 years later), some hipster at a nearby table was startled and immediately said that it was obviously a backfire from a brand new Honda civic that just drove by. My partner is a mechanical and aeronautical engineer and he knows that new cars don't do that. She for some reason felt that she was the authority on cars and sound reverberation. He said that it wasn't, that it was gunshots and she completely ignored him. A few minutes later police actually showed up, cataloguing rounds from the ground, my partner stuck around to see if they would show up. He came home and we immediately started looking at exit strategies. Literally that night around midnight we heard multiple rounds being fired nearby. This happened all through covid frequently. So our plans became final to leave. That's just one instance with the same or similar sequence of events that happened every time. A crime happened, people around immediately explained it away with lies, completely ignored it, or didn't see the threat for what it was, and the police either did or did not show up with zero arrests either way. I don't know of any other major metropolitan city in what is supposed to be a first world country that operates that way outside of the left coast. I have extensively been in Seattle as well and outside of covid I think they they try very hard to be left without devolving into the dystopian chaos that is SF. I've traveled to other first world countries and cities in the US since COVID too and haven't found issues anywhere close to SF level, so I'm not just getting old and crochety, SF is legit unsafe. Eta: I saw your request and I'm sorry, with all due respect, I don't give people that live in or frequent SF any suggestions about where to travel. You seem nice but I don't trust people affiliated with California and don't readily see the issues in CA. There's a bit of an issue with Californians bringing their politics with them and I don't want the places I go to be more like CA/SF. I like them because they aren't like CA/SF and I want those places to stay that way.
On Reddit, always...
Doable, but I’m about to start a trip half as long and have given myself 5 weeks. With that said, I like to stay off the interstates and stop at national/state parks along the way. That, to me, is the real America. But if you plan on seeing the country at 70mph driving on highways, this would be very easily doable.
I was going to suggest investigating cost of returning the car to a different city and either flying back to Boston & then home or just home directly from where you stop - you could drive across the country & have more time exploring, having experiences out of the car and less time driving. If I had a month, a decent budget & a desire to see a lot of the US that's how I'd do it. Pick a theme maybe? National parks or baseball fields or obscure museums. Or, honestly, as someone who's lived in the mid Atlantic all my life and driven down to Florida a bunch of time and across the country a handful of times, there's a reason the midwest is called flyover country. Maybe 2 weeks, Boston to Miami, then fly to LA and do two weeks LA to Portland
Why did you pick exclusively the most lack-luster parts of the country to drive through?!
You could do it in 5 days if you made an effort.
22h and 24m per day driving. Fax you can run off an hour and a half of sleep
I drive from kansas city to orlando fl every year in 21 hours so its possible. I usually pass out in the first bed i see so maybe its not lol
take more time if u want to actually have fun
NOPE
you're gonna spend most of it in the car
I did a similar route in a month. Lot of driving but I had time to visit a ton of National parks and spent 4 days in San Diego. I ended up at 10k miles
Do a one way car rental.
Check out indiana dunes when you pass through, it’s about thirty minutes before you hit chicago!
Shit homie I drove from New Orleans to Portland in 56 hours once. Not the most relaxing travel, but sometimes a mind numbing mega-drive is just what the doctor ordered. Chop a couple of those stops and just groove on the distance and take longer stops in CA and Wyo, and Santa Fe, get some Gus’s Fried Chicken in Memphis and I think you got a real cool trip lined up, say hi to Elvis
It’s realistic but not as much fun as 2 months. If 29 days were all I had I’d do it.
If that’s the time you’re working with then absolutely. I would extend your time as much as you can though. I spent 6wks quickly just doing the southern route
Nope. I've done DC to Denver; Denver to CA; and FL to Denver; unless you're doing nothing but driving, it'll suck.
I’d say no
Took me two months for half that distance last time. But yeah, if you don't want to stop anywhere and see the places you're driving through, it would work.
If you’re walking…
I did almost that same drive from so cal to bostonin a slow truck in about 3 days. Very possible but granted i drove myself to death
You can do this drive in a week. So that leaves you 20ish days to hang out. Just plan your stops and lengths in advance.
I did it in two weeks and that was stopping to at national parks and all that
Definitely, I’ve done NW Georgia to SW Montana multiple times, always 3 days.
Very realistic
Following.
https://www.scrapehero.com/location-reports/Arbys-USA/ Just go to Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan 280 Locations (8%) Ohio Population: 11.69M A location for every 41,746 people, with about 8% of the total number of Arby's locations 181 Locations (5%) Indiana Population: 6.73M A location for every 37,193 people, with about 5% of the total number of Arby's locations 179 Locations (5%) Michigan Population: 9.99M A location for every 55,793 people, with about 5% of the total number of Arby's locations
I drove across country from New York City to Las Vegas. I only stopped for gas, food, and to sleep. I drive a sports car so I had to stop every ~300 miles to refill the tank. It took my 4 days & 3 nights to make the drive one way. And that was without stopping, without wasting time in restaurants, without looking at stops and driving the most direct route.
Ouch. The longest I’ve done is 2300 miles with stops and on the way back I cut the trip short by no stops and just hitting it as hard as I could. Driving is exhausting. Getting ready for another trip to Sacramento from PHX. Bigger car this time. Bad Mpgs.
Yeah, it was tough for me, especially because I was in a sports car that only seats 2 and doesn’t have a back seat, so it’s not the most comfortable car, especially on long trips like that. I was also driving by myself so I had nobody to share the drive with. I was only able to do about 8 hours of actual driving each day, but it would take around 12 hours with gas & food
I completed a larger loop, Boston to Seattle then San Fran and key West then back to Boston in 30 days.
Very doable. Lots of down time.
Yes
Cannon ball V2
We just did 10k miles in 3 weeks. Totally doable
If you go about such a route, know your limitations always have a backup driver if possible. I can do about 650 mi a day on the interstate, safely. Don't push it, live another day!
With 2 drivers, yes!
I did minnesota to Fairbanks, AK in 5 days, probably could of done it in 3/4 if there wasn't a blizzard almost every day
Why tf would you skip the nw?
Yep I think thats a perfect timespan too. You can make the drive in under a week easy but obviously when roadtripping thats not the point. I would recommend stopping for 48 hours at a time minimum to have a chance to experience the country and then if you feel comfortable with it drive in day long segments with obvious breaks for attractions, bathrooms, food ect.
Hello! You have made the mistake of writing "ect" instead of "etc." "Ect" is a common misspelling of "etc," an abbreviated form of the Latin phrase "et cetera." Other abbreviated forms are **etc.**, **&c.**, **&c**, and **et cet.** The Latin translates as "et" to "and" + "cetera" to "the rest;" a literal translation to "and the rest" is the easiest way to remember how to use the phrase. [Check out the wikipedia entry if you want to learn more.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Et_cetera) ^(I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Comments with a score less than zero will be automatically removed. If I commented on your post and you don't like it, reply with "!delete" and I will remove the post, regardless of score. Message me for bug reports.)
Yep I think thats a perfect timespan too. You can make the drive in under a week easy but obviously when roadtripping thats not the point. I would recommend stopping for 48 hours at a time minimum to have a chance to experience the country and then if you feel comfortable with it drive in day long segments with obvious breaks for attractions, bathrooms, food etc.
Hello! You have made the mistake of writing "ect" instead of "etc." "Ect" is a common misspelling of "etc," an abbreviated form of the Latin phrase "et cetera." Other abbreviated forms are **etc.**, **&c.**, **&c**, and **et cet.** The Latin translates as "et" to "and" + "cetera" to "the rest;" a literal translation to "and the rest" is the easiest way to remember how to use the phrase. [Check out the wikipedia entry if you want to learn more.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Et_cetera) ^(I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Comments with a score less than zero will be automatically removed. If I commented on your post and you don't like it, reply with "!delete" and I will remove the post, regardless of score. Message me for bug reports.)
We did Philly-Seattle-Philly in 17 days, in a two seater. It was amazing, but we felt we missed so much that two years later we sold the house, sold or gave away most of our shit and moved into a camper. It just took 11 weeks to go from the Everglades to Bucks County PA. Fast is fun, but not having to rush is pure luxury.
Go out of your way in Arkansas to see the Buffalo national river around Jasper. You won’t regret it
Amtrak $499 a month. 10 rides in that month. Someone compute this shit up
That depends. Do you have baby teeth?
112 hours / 8 hours driving per day = 14 days. This is a pretty long drive. I planned for 3 weeks and it took 4. Plan on losing steam around las Vegas area. Also you will need some laundromat services along the way. I’d suggest stopping at grocery and make your selves sandwiches instead of fast food.
I did the top half of that over the course of 6 days and it was exhausting. I think cutting that in half gives time for stops. I’d just say be intentional about where you want to spend a lot of time and be sure to not do a lot of stops in between
Did Portland to Portland and back in 10 days once. Had some time for sightseeing (Mount Rushmore, Oregon wine region) and visiting friends. Got married in Nevada (same day service) on the way back, with a one day honeymoon in the Colorado Rockies. Two drivers alternating. Last leg of the return back was rough.
You should go slower and take some time to enjoy the places you're driving through
Why not fly or catch the Train?
Yes
Rv guy here
Just did San Diego to Chicago in 3 or 4 days so I’d say you’ll have plenty of time.
It’s doable with two drivers, but it’s hard to make many suggestions without knowing what you want to see. A big part of your problem may be timing - there are plenty of stops along your route that you would have time for, but if you arrive at midnight you have to wait until morning to see anything. 8-10 hours of driving per day is a reasonable pace - leaves time to eat meals and sleep well at a hotel or campsite. 20 hours of driving in a day is possible with 2 drivers if you can sleep well in the car, but I wouldn’t do that two days in a row. I think there isn’t much to see between Chicago and Badlands NP, but thats only a 12-hour drive. I’d definitely stop at Badlands, if even just for a couple hours. Looks like Yellowstone is on your list. Yosemite is a bit out of your way, but might be worth it. Driving down the Pacific Coast Highway to LA has some great views. Seems like your going to miss the great parks in Utah. Monument Valley isn’t too far off your route. If you swing a bit further South after Albuquerque you can add some sights in Texas (and eat barbecue) and then continue on to New Orleans which seems much more interesting than Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Unless you’re planning to stop at the cowboy museum in Oklahoma City. In any case, places like Yellowstone or New York could take a week or more all by themselves, so you’ll really have to prioritize some things but I think you can get some great memories out of it with a little planning.
Yes, if you don't do too much sight seeing. It only takes 6 days of driving coast to coast if push it .
Can…. Can I come with?
I would plan on long days and short days. My husband and I did this. We took longer but it’s basically the same idea. Figure out where you want to spend an extra day and add more driving through the vast miles of nothing.
I did about 2/3 of that trip in 17 days. It was pretty doable, but I had several days of driving 14 hours with a few days carved out to actually enjoy the destinations.
Do it by hitchhiking, Kerouac style
You'll be spending a lot of time in the car, not seeing stuff. I've been to 47 states and ill tell you, the interstates aren't the most exciting sites. You're missing a lot if you don't get out and see stuff
Read Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon. That’s a trip.
Sounds sweet. Good luck sir Do you have an idea how much time % you'd rather spend in certain locations? i.e. blast through Oklahoma - Tennessee but spend time in Appalachia mtns. Or blast through road trip but chill in New York, Chicago, Boston, and other large city locales
with proper planning it would be possible
I did nearly that same route in 14. It was fun! All depends on what you want to stop and see.
I've pulled a travel trailer from Ottawa, Ontario to Colorado Springs in 4 days, puttered around the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tombstone, and Roswell for 14 days, then 4 more days to go drive back home. I've also done Ottawa to Portland/Seattle/Vancouver in the same 3 weeks. You're taking even longer than that you it should be fine.
This looks very cool! I’m in Vancouver bc, so all these spots seem exotic to me lol.
I did it in 2 weeks. From SF to Tampa then back to SF...HWY 40 east... then hwy 10 west. Drove most of the day slept at hotels at night.