Maybe you said yes to any one of these questions, but you're not sure how to approach such a trip? What about safety? What about speed? How much time can I drive before I need to rest? Etc. etc. etc.
This post gives you tips on how to approach your trip. I'm a veteran of the cross-country trip:
Seattle to Boston: 2000
Boston to Nevada to Boston: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2011, 2014
Boston to Orlando to Boston: 2003
Boston to California to Boston: 2016 (upcoming)
I'm focusing on the U.S. because that's where I've done all of my trips. Driving across Canada, I think, can be more remote, in general.
I've tried to organize this in order of decision-making process. Here it goes:
Tip: Don't Panic
Driving across the country is not as hard as most people think it is. The knowledge in this post should help give you reassurance. Cross-country driving is a lot of fun.
Tip: Fuel will cost you plenty. Consider a better gas mileage vehicle. Go when gas prices are low, like they are today.
A trip across the country and back is approximately 6,500 miles. At 25 mpg, with gas currently at $2.313, fuel will cost you $601. That's a lot, but I once took my Ford Expedition at 15 mpg, with gas at approximately $4, approximately 6,500 miles, for an approximate cost of $1,733.
Tip: Your biggest expense could be lodging as long as gas prices stay low. You can save $ by staying in cheaper hotels, camping, or even sleeping at truck stops. Driving through the night will save you a bundle.
I like to stay in Holiday Inn Express, which runs you on average $135/night. But there are cheaper options, not just cheaper hotels.
Tip: Bring the Following:
- A first aid kit
- A flashlight. Probably two
- One full-sized blanket or sleeping bag for every person in the car
- Bottled water. Especially if you'll be driving in the desert. A case of 24 should do.
- Some form of audio entertainment.
- A full-size USA road atlas. I prefer the Rand McNalley trucker's (laminated) road atlas
- A GPS-enabled device
- A Web-enabled device (with Web sites forcing the use of crappy apps on mobile devices, I recommend a laptop)
Tip: Make Sure Your Tires Are Properly Inflated
Both beginning and during the trip. So bring a tire pressure gauge.
Tip: Don't Let the Fuel Tank Go Below Half Full
Any time you are in an unfamiliar area, where you don't know where you're going to get your next fuel stop, you should err on the side of caution and fill before it gets down to half a tank. This is especially true when in remote areas of the country where gas stations are few and far between. I'm sure the gas stations in the little town in the middle of nowhere would appreciate the business no matter how small. And even when on the Interstates, all sorts of things could happen to prevent you from getting to a gas station (and even Interstates go through remote areas). Picture you're stranded at the side of the road, it's night, it's cold, and you need the car's heater. Well, that car will use gas while idling.
I also find that if I take a bio break every two hours or less, roughly the car will need to be filled up (at half a tank) every other stop. I've timed this. Filling up the tank really doesn't cost you any time when it's also a bio break (for me it adds one minute).
Tip: You May Want To Travel Light And Stay In Hotels With Laundry Facilities. And Then Bring Lots of Quarters.
Tip: Go To Places When The Climate There is Mild
You need to first determine where it is you want to go. This may be an iterative process, since it can depend on when to go. Assuming you can choose, this depends on a lot of factors.
- Every passenger's availability
- Climate along the route (including severe weather potential)
- Amount of sunlight available
(3) is important because you may only want to drive during the day. You'll have a lot more time for both driving and sight-seeing if you go in June rather than December. www.sunrisesunset.com has sunrise and sunset data for any date and location in the U.S.
Tip: Drive at Night In Non-Scenic Periods
I find the U.S. west of the Mississippi river to be very scenic. East, not so much, but there are some exceptions. I always drive straight through the Eastern U.S., even in the dark. In the Western U.S., I only drive at daylight if I can, so I can take in the scenery. This means that, when I drive from Boston to California, I drive all the way to the Mississippi river (or thereabouts) without staying at a hotel, throughout the night. And I'll go further than that as long as it's daylight.
Tip: Blast Through The Areas of Non-Interest
This is pretty much a corollary of the previous tip. For blasting through, I typically look at a 28-hour driving session. Most hotels have check-out time at 11am, and check-in at 3pm. So I drive from 11am on day 1, through the night, to 3pm on day 2. With no time change, that's 28 hours. Remember because of the time zones, if you're heading west, it will probably be 29-30 hours, and heading east, 26-27 hours. This way I can travel 1400-1700 miles in one driving session (two days, 700-850 miles per day), but I still get a long break (check-in to check-out time) to recover.
Tip: Yes, I And My Wife Have Driven From Boston To Nevada Without Stopping Anywhere To Sleep, Pulling A Travel Trailer, No Less
But I don't recommend it. We only did it because forces beyond our control connived for us to leave really late but we had to get to our destination at the time we originally planned on. On the return trip, we had to sleep for three hours at a truck stop before I was rested enough to drive. If you're driving across the U.S. just to say you did and want to keep lodging costs to a minimum, this is an option.
Tip: Use At Least Two Drivers
I find I can't drive for more than 6-8 hours before I'm too fatigued to drive (though it's variable based on road conditions). And the longer I drive, the more rest I need later. If you do have only one driver, I would expect only 6 hours of driving per day. But the important thing to know is what your own limits are. Driving is dangerous if you're too fatigued.
I recently tried a 12 hour trip as the sole driver. The results were a disaster. I had to continually ingest so much caffeine that it made me sick for the next day and a half. Or maybe it was the fatigue from driving that made me sick. Either way, stick to a 6 hour day. Not that I couldn't do the 12 hour trip in a day--I did, but the price was heavy.
Having said that, you can drive much more in a day with two drivers. I find 4-6 hour shifts are ideal. I leave the back seat free (which means in a standard car you can only have three on the trip) so the driver next up can sleep lying down, though it might be fine to sleep sitting up, depending on the person. 4-6 hours driving. 4-6 hours sleep. 4-6 hours driving, etc. So you can break up your 26-30 hour blast-through in 6 4-6 hour shifts.
Tip: If Driving Overnight, Three Drivers, One Actively Driving, One Navigating (And Using the GPS), And One Sleeping, Is Ideal
Rotate your shifts: driver, navigator, sleeper. And you don't want more than three people in the car so that the sleeping one can stretch out on the back seat. This applies to all standard cars and SUVs. Extra-long SUV's and large Vans may allow for more passengers. The point is to have room for one person to stretch out and get a decent sleep. I've tried sleeping in an upright seat, and the rest is not near as good, at least for me, as it is stretched out in the back seat. With two drivers, then just alternate driver and sleeper. I and my wife do this all the time. Sometimes we can get through the night, sometimes we have to stop for both of us to nap, but usually not for long.
Tip: Full-Day Driving Should be Kept To 10 Hours Or So
Wake up at 6am. Hit the road by 8am. Reach your destination by 6pm. In bed by 10pm. Repeat.
Note that if you're driving in or around December, you may be driving some of this at night. In June, it is tempting to drive through all 14 hours of daylight, but I don't recommend it, unless you have three drivers. By keeping it to 10 hours, you have two driving shifts of 4-6 hours each.
Tip: Never drive when fatigued.
You find yourself ever-so-slightly closing your eyes, nodding off, shaking your head back awake. Just don't drive in this condition. Once you see the first symptoms of fatigue to set in, find the nearest truck stop/travel plaza and bring on the next driver. If no drivers can drive, just you all sleep in that truck stop (see below) until one of you wakes up and feels they can drive. Screw the schedule. By driving impaired you are putting at risk your lives and those others on the road with you. A day at the Grand Canyon isn't worth that.
Tip: Truck Stops And Toll Road Travel Plazas Are Your Friend, Rest Areas Not So Much
Truck stops are open 24 hours (including restaurants, but not always). The bathrooms are kept clean. The parking lot is well-lit. They've got most things you could want for a road trip. They have free wi-fi. They have showers if you want that. They are everywhere. They are a great place to sleep in your car when there is no driver capable of driving, or simply if you want to save the $ of a hotel stay (they're designed for that purpose). On toll roads, travel plazas take the place of truck stops, but they are similar.
Truck stops almost always have one or more restaurants, usually fast food but TA's always seem to have a sit-down restaurant (but usually no fast food). The truck stop's web site can tell you if the restaurant is open 24 hours. Your GPS may have a phone number with which you can call ahead.
You can't miss a truck stop (usually). They are flowers trying to capture the bees on the road. They have big signs, usually with gas prices on them. There are generally truck stops or travel plazas every 30 miles or so. But for some places (like eastern Wyoming on I-80) the gap is longer. If you never let your tank fall below half full, then you should be fine just getting to the next truck stop.
The various brands of truck stop:
- Pilot (http://www.pilotflyingj.com)
- Flying J (http://www.pilotflyingj.com)
- TravelCenters of America (TA) (http://www.ta-petro.com)
- Petro (http://www.ta-petro.com)
- Love's (http://www.loves.com)
- Bosselman (http://www.bosselman.com/travelcenter)
- and others
Tip: Use a Good GPS Hopefully With The Feature To Search For POI (Point Of Interest) Along Your Route
Twenty years ago, few people had ever heard of GPS, but now they're everywhere. Between me and my wife, we own at least seven GPS-enabled devices (there may be more around here somewhere . . . ). Though I have driven across the country three times without a GPS, I wouldn't recommended it. Having one that searches for POI along your programmed route is ideal. If not that, then one that searches for a POI closest to your current location (which could yield results outside your route path which is why you want one that searches along the route, but maybe that's just not available to you).
Tip: Use a Good GPS Hopefully With The Feature To Search For Truck Stops
If your GPS won't search specifically for truck stop POIs, then maybe it can search for named POI. In that case, put the name of the truck stop you like (i.e., "Pilot") and see what comes up. Unfortunately, if you don't find one, you'll have to use a different named truck stop to search again, and iterate until you find one that will work.
Tip: When Someone Needs A Restroom, Use Your GPS To Find The Nearest Truck Stop/Travel Plaza And Stop There
Truck stops are so much nicer than regular gas stations.
Tip: Walmart is Everywhere And Your Friend
They have practically everything you need and they're everywhere and, except for New England, almost all of them are open 24 hours. They have well-maintained restrooms. At most Walmarts (but not all), you are allowed to sleep in the parking lot.
http://www.walmart.com
Tip: Starbucks is Everywhere And Your Friend
Good for that caffeine fix, or just a snack and a drink, but also they have clean restrooms, free wi-fi, and no one asks if you've bought anything before or after using them.
http://www.starbucks.com
Tip: Use The GPS To Find Your Next Hotel As Soon As Possible If Not Selected Already
Usually the POI information from a GPS will include the phone number to see if there's room available. You want to do this early, as hotels can get booked up.
Tip: Web Search Also Works For POI If GPS Can't Do The Job
All truck stops and Starbucks have free wi-fi. If your GPS is lacking, you can do a web search to find your next stop (or one down the road).
Tip: Try To Do All Of Your GPS Searches While Stopped
This means figuring out your next stop at your current stop. It means searching for hotels proactively. It's really difficult to find stuff while driving. You'll do it when you have to, but you'll quickly realize that you don't want to.
Tip: RVs Use A Ton Of Gas
My Ford Expedition towing my Travel Trailer got 4-7 mpg. I had to fill up every two hours. It cost a bundle. Your standard non-trailer RV gets about 10 mpg. However, they're a great way to travel and allow for drivers to get plenty of good sleep.
Tip: Have A Bio Break Every Two Hours Or Less
There's not much worse than really needing a bio break, but you're still 30 miles from a truck stop. I find that if you stop every two hours or less, and you instruct your crew that they MUST use the restroom every time, discomfort is minimized.
Tip: Use The Restroom To Urinate Whenever Available
If you don't do this, you risk needing to go way before the next stop.
Tip: Know Your Next Sleeping Destination
You should be able to calculate how much distance you can cover in a day, and then use map tools like your GPS or HERE Maps or Google Maps to determine where you will want to stay the next night. Remember to subtract for sight-seeing time. Then you should be able to pick your hotel using a site like www.hotels.com, but there are countless others. One time we had to settle for the Lazy Inn in Fernley, NV, because we had no reservations, and I would not want to repeat that experience.
Camping can be a fun and cheap way to go, but it's harder to do research on campgrounds, and usually you still need reservations (http://www.reserveamerica.com). If you don't have an RV, you need to set aside extra time to set up and take down the camp.
Tip: Expect Approximately 52mph On Interstates and Rural Highways Including Bio, Fuel, and Meal Stops
Thus in a 10-hour driving-day you can cover 520 miles. In a 28-hour blast through you can cover 1456 miles (conveniently, a little less than half the width of the U.S.). Not including stops, here's the average speed I get on the Interstates and Rural Highways:
Speed Limit Target Top Speed Average Speed
65 70 64
70 75 69
75 80 71
80 85 71
Note that I try to maintain 5 mph over the speed limit, but, as you can see, traffic has some say in the matter. I would caution that if you try to maintain 10 mph over the speed limit, that those numbers won't go up by 5, not even near that much. As you can see from my table, increasing my target speed from 80 to 85 does not actually increase the average speed. Contrary to popular opinion, raising speed limits at the high end does not induce the highest-speed traffic to flow faster. It does induce the lower-speed traffic to flow faster, thus minimizing speed differential and thus reducing collisions (which is why you shouldn't target much more than 5 mph over the limit). It also lowers the number of speeding tickets.
Tip: Go Around Large Cities
If you're not stopping in a large city, consider going around it. It may be more miles to travel, but traffic in large cities is unpredictable, and the speed limits are usually lower. The worst cities I find are Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Cleveland, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and Seattle. I'm sure there are others, but smaller cities are generally fine. Don't bother going around Omaha on I-680, for example.
Tip: You Don't Have To Do This
No matter what your situation, you don't have to drive cross-country. You can have your things shipped, you can have your car shipped, and you can pay for plane tickets. Once you've planned the trip you may find that flying and shipping is cheaper. If you want to see the countryside, consider taking the train. There are pros and cons to everything, just be aware that you have choices. But it is great fun and worth doing as long as you can afford the time and $. If you're not sure it's your cup of tea, you still may want to try it once, if nothing more than to say you did it.
Well, that's it for my tips. Actually planning your trip ahead of time is good if you have the time (time you'd otherwise spend while on the road). But that's a whole other blog topic. If I write that one, I'll provide a link to it here.
Happy Road Trip!
