Travelling the US & Canada this summer

[skegvegaspoker]

Hi guys,

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place, feel free to move it. This summer, from about mid May to August, I'm planning on travelling around US & Canada for a few months with my girlfriend.

Just starting to organise it all properly and would like to know your guys' opinions on it.

Route + Transport

Basically, we are looking to cover:

(North)-East coast US (Washington, Philiadelphia, New York, Boston etc)
Eastern Canada (Quebec, Montreal, Toronto, Niagra)
Vancouver, Seattle and North-west US
West coast US (San Francisco, LA, Vegas)

I guess our route depends very much on the transport we choose. I am 22 and had a clean driving license for 5 years in July. My girlfriend is 22 and only passed her test 3 months ago.

How easy is it to buy, and then sell a second hand car in the US? How much would you think this would set me back? How much more expensive is this than the Greyhound buses?

<u>Plan 1</u>

If we were to purchase (or rent - viable?) a vehicle, my proposed route would be something like:



I was planning to go South-West to North-East in order to enjoy the most comfortable weather conditions...

This route is something like:

(Flight to) Las Vegas, Palm Springs, San Diego, Long Beach, LA, San Francisco (via Route 101), Sacremento, Reno, Salt Lake City, Denver, Kansas City, St Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Washington, Philiadelphia, New York, Boston, Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto (and Niagra), Flight Home.

This would mean buying a car in LV and selling in Toronto. Is this at all possible?

<u>Plan 2</u>



This plan could be done in three ways:

Washington ---&gt; Others ---&gt; Toronto via Greyhound
Toronto ---&gt; Vancouver via Plane
Vancouver -----&gt; Others ----&gt; Las Vegas via Greyhonund/Purchased car/Rental car

Again, opinions on what is viable here.


Accomodation

Apologies at the lack of structure of this post. The next point is accomodation. What's the cheapest accomodation? Motels? Do you have hostels in US - are they any cheaper? Is it a good idea to book in advance?

Price

Finally, how much, very roughly, would you think that the method you prefer would cost? And obviously what method that is.

I appreciate any and all comments or suggestions as I really need to get this plan into action soon.

Edit: The final plan would be in the other direction. Or would it? You decide...

[housenuts]

too much to read it all but when you're in vancouver make sure to take the ferry boat across to victoria. for a foot passenger the ferry is $10. you could spend a night or 2 in victoria. it will be worth it.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

lot here, I'll just comment on a couple things:

[ QUOTE ]
Apologies at the lack of structure of this post. The next point is accomodation. What's the cheapest accomodation? Motels? Do you have hostels in US - are they any cheaper? Is it a good idea to book in advance?

[/ QUOTE ]

hostels don't exist to nearly the same degree as in Europe. roadside motels are numerous almost wherever you go, which is probably your choice for cheap rooms. think Red Roof motel.

Re: cars, it's easy to buy and sell cars provided you have an internet connection (craiglist) and a few days in metro area (supply). or just go to a used car dealer for (probably) worse deals. a bigger problem is going to be getting car insurance. I have no idea how this works for a foreigner, but you'll need to figure it out.

also, I would not rely on greyhound. you're probably best off trying to figure out the buy/sell car thing if you are going to be here a few months.

[Skoob]

I don't have any experience with this, but I would think you might have trouble buying the car in the US and selling it in Canada. Or not.

It's somewhat of a pain to buy and sell a car in the same city, with all the registration paperwork and whatnot.

I would think a medium-term rental with unlimited mileage would be the best route. You could spend $2K on a used car with unknown reliability, or rent a car for the same amount that's much newer and nicer. The only drawback is that wouldn't be able to recoup any of your money by reselling.

One breakdown could be expensive. And there's some wide-open spaces on your routes. You wouldn't want the car to die in Montana or North Dakota. There's a whole lot of nothing up there.

Let me know if you wind up coming through Minneapolis, MN. I could fill you in on some of the local sights.

edit: You might want to consider checking out AAA (American Automobile Association). Membership for 1 year is about $60. You get all the free maps you need, free trip planning, customized maps (called "triptiks") with all the decent hotel and restaurants marked, as well as tourist attractions, and explanations of the various traffic laws from state to state. Also includes free roadside assistance and towing. Probably be worth it if you're driving.

[mason55]

I'm in the middle of driving through the fly-over states right now. The Denver-&gt;St Louis leg is extremely boring and empty (not even good scenery). The Vegas -&gt; Denver drive through southern Utah is pretty barren as well but there's lots of big rocks to look at if you're into that. Basically, I wouldn't recommend wasting your time driving through the midwest unless you're really just looking for time to kill.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

[ QUOTE ]
You get all the free maps you need, free trip planning, customized maps (called "triptiks") with all the decent hotel and restaurants marked, as well as tourist attractions,

[/ QUOTE ]

a basic gps unit will do all of this easier

[ QUOTE ]
Also includes free roadside assistance and towing. Probably be worth it if you're driving.

[/ QUOTE ]

but it's worth it for this

[skegvegaspoker]

house - will definately check it out if I decide to take the second route. thank you.

kneel - the AAA thing sounds like a plan. You think it might be possible to sort out buying a car before I get there. Say I was flying to Vegas and landed, taxi to some dude's house/dealership, done! Anyone know of any websites that can help with this?

skoob - am worried about the US/Canada buy/sell split, but both routes would require me to do that. Unless I go to Niagra from Chicago and finish in Washington. That might be a good plan. What is "all the registration paperwork"? I've had no experience of buying a car anywhere before. Anyone else have any knowledge on the buying/selling of a car over two countries?

[deadbody]

[ QUOTE ]
house - will definately check it out if I decide to take the second route. thank you.

kneel - the AAA thing sounds like a plan. You think it might be possible to sort out buying a car before I get there. Say I was flying to Vegas and landed, taxi to some dude's house/dealership, done! Anyone know of any websites that can help with this?

skoob - am worried about the US/Canada buy/sell split, but both routes would require me to do that. Unless I go to Niagra from Chicago and finish in Washington. That might be a good plan. What is "all the registration paperwork"? I've had no experience of buying a car anywhere before. Anyone else have any knowledge on the buying/selling of a car over two countries?

[/ QUOTE ]

I would look at a long term rental option as well. Buyin and selling a car can be a hassle, and can also lock up funds that you'd like to spend on the trip.

[skegvegaspoker]

Cheapest rental I can find after a very short search is about $2300. Will this be cheaper than the money we lose on a buy/sell? I suppose I'm willing to pay more to rent as it is much less hassle.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

[ QUOTE ]
Cheapest rental I can find after a very short search is about $2300. Will this be cheaper than the money we lose on a buy/sell? I suppose I'm willing to pay more to rent as it is much less hassle.

[/ QUOTE ]

it all depends on how good you are at finding deals and negotiating. and luck.

you could potentially make money on buying and selling a car. you could also lose a bunch.