Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: niknak on November 20, 2003, 07:58:03 AM
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I am about to embark on a round the world trip, the last leg of which will overland from L.A. to Miami taking 5-6 weeks. What i want to know is what would be a good route to take and what is the cheapest/best way to do it. By the I very much doubt i will be able to hire a car as i am 21 with <1 year driving experience.
Any advice will be much appreciated.
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Cheapest: Fly commercial airlines
Best: By Amtrak train.
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Maybe you should consider getting a train or bus pass?
They seem to be more expensive than in Europe but you will save a lot of money anyway:
http://www.amtrak.com/savings/northeast/promo-passintro.html
http://www.usitnow.com/countries/northire/bus/namerica.htm
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I think the best route would be to go from LA up the coast to Seattle... stopping in San Fran. and Portland along the way. Then I would travel East across the Northern US to Chicago. From Chicago I would travel east to New York. Then from New York I would travel south to Miami... maybe stopping in D.C. along the way. I think you could easily do this in 5-6 weeks staying in some of the cities for a few days. This would be the way I would go. LA straight to Miami would be boring.
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Thanks for the replies, some very useful stuff by all.
What would be the advantages of travelling amtrak over greyhound ?
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Originally posted by niknak
Thanks for the replies, some very useful stuff by all.
What would be the advantages of travelling amtrak over greyhound ?
Train: You get to see beautiful countryside. You can get up and have a bite to eat while moving, or a beer. More room. They usually have a "Lounge" car or Smoking car where you can light up.
Bus: Cheaper than train, but you're limited to eating what you bring with you in a sack. No Food/Beer services on the bus. No smoking or drinking.
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I can't recomend reading this book enough:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140053204/qid=1069343023/sr=1-6/ref=sr_1_6/103-2763655-0044619?v=glance&s=books
I really enjoyed taking the train from LA to Del Rio Tx, you get a chance to meet people, and make their aquaintence, plus as has bee mentioned there's a lot more room. I think I only spent about 20 minutes in my seat the whole trip.
-Sik
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Originally posted by Ripsnort
No smoking or drinking.
Of course you can drink, you just need to bring your own a be a little discreet. They have toilets don't they?
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Don't hitchhike
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Enterprise rental car will rent car to those under 25 specifically all you have to be is 21............however the rates are a bit higher than if you were 25.
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Originally posted by mora
Of course you can drink, you just need to bring your own a be a little discreet. They have toilets don't they?
Yes.
I've been to 42 states, by train, bus, airplane, car. Train is/was my first choice if I have the time to travel.
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weird thing about being on a train for any extended period of time is that as soon as the train stops and you get off at your destination it takes your body several hours to realize that it is no longer moving. Kinda like getting and losing your sea legs on a cruise ship.
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Originally posted by niknak
I am about to embark on a round the world trip, the last leg of which will overland from L.A. to Miami taking 5-6 weeks. What i want to know is what would be a good route to take and what is the cheapest/best way to do it. By the I very much doubt i will be able to hire a car as i am 21 with <1 year driving experience.
Any advice will be much appreciated.
If you come thru Dallas on the way and need anything holler.
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the bus sucks, you'll meet 'interesting' people that you'll wish you hadn't.
I've taken a few cross country trips on them and every one of them was a horible experience.
that said you can go from anywhere to anywhere (in the US) for about $100.
pack your own food. the places they stop for meal breaks usually suck and the food is overpriced.
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The train is a blast. Almost as expensive as flying (maybe even more) but well worth it. You can take the coastliner from LA to Seattle then go east from there.
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How hard would it be to buy a cheap used car, register, and insure it in California and then sell it on the East coast? If you plan on taking several weeks,a month, or more to cross the country, it might be worth the trouble for the freedom of diving your own car.
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5-6 weeks, plenty of time.
America is best experienced in a car.
Maybe consider buying one and selling at the end of the trip. Rental could be very expensive.
If I were going LA to Miami, I would go east to the Grand Canyon.
Then Four Corners area, see some ancient ruins.
Then cut up North and take I-70 through the Rockies.
Then up to Mt. Rushmore.
East to Chicago.
Skirt the lakes on I-80/90 and hit NYC. Then south down the coast to Miami.
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Originally posted by Jack55
How hard would it be to buy a cheap used car, register, and insure it in California and then sell it on the East coast? If you plan on taking several weeks,a month, or more to cross the country, it might be worth the trouble for the freedom of diving your own car.
That's a good option if there is maybe 4 travellers. If you are travelling alone this might be quite expensive. What kind of car do you get for 500$ from a dealer?
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Originally posted by midnight Target
The train is a blast. Almost as expensive as flying (maybe even more) but well worth it. You can take the coastliner from LA to Seattle then go east from there.
And train seats get MORE expensive for the date you set for departure, the closer you get to that departure date.(For long distance, sleeper cars) Kinda sucks. But if you book in advance, it can be as cheap or cheaper than air travel. Especially if you go coach. The last two trips I've had on a train were both sleeper cars. 3 times the price of coach, but the best fricking way to travel!
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Originally posted by mora
What kind of car do you get for 500$ from a dealer?
One that won't even make it out of California.
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Originally posted by mora
That's a good option if there is maybe 4 travellers. If you are travelling alone this might be quite expensive. What kind of car do you get for 500$ from a dealer?
(http://www.me.mtu.edu/~djhilber/beater1.jpg)
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You'd want to buy a pretty good car, 5 years old or so. Might cost you $15k. But the difference between buying price and selling price would be fairly small. You probably wouldn't lose more than $1000.
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Okay, assuming you're going one way LA to Miami, this is the route I'd take in the winter:
LA to Chicago
Chicago to NYC
NYC to Miami.
Total price in January for Coach is: $229
You'll see alot of the Rockies, plains states, Great Lakes and Eastern seaboard.
Go to Amtraks website ( http://www.amtrack.com ) and build your itinerary. You'll have several optional cities to pass through, but you have to usually catch a connecting train.
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I would rather get a $450 30 day rail pass and travel to anywhere I like. The biggest mistake you can do in travel IMHO is to plan ahead.
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One thing about the US is that you can't really travel anywhere you like by rail. Rail is used for freight here. People use cars or planes to get around.
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Originally posted by FUNKED1
One thing about the US is that you can't really travel anywhere you like by rail. Rail is used for freight here. People use cars or planes to get around.
Thats true, you are limited to the destination cities, however with his 30 day unlimited rail pass, I wonder if he can unboard at any of the towns they stop in to pick up travelers, and then resume his journey the next day?
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Originally posted by FUNKED1
One that won't even make it out of California.
hey, i bought a $500 VW Bug, drove it from Virginia to LA on the southern route then up the west coast and back across the country going across the top. Took 9 weeks doing it... Then again that was 1976 ;)
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Originally posted by Ripsnort
Thats true, you are limited to the destination cities, however with his 30 day unlimited rail pass, I wonder if he can unboard at any of the towns they stop in to pick up travelers, and then resume his journey the next day?
Yes, you should be able to go anywhere anytime at least that's how it is in Europe.
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It occurs to me that you could travel across America quite cheaply by by imposing yourself on the hospitality of all the Americans who post on this board:aok
Starting with Midnight target and wending your way across the country to Miko in NY. Stopping on the way to go shooting with Lazs.
You'd have to have a hard neck though. You could call it the Aces High tour of America.
Conversely Americans could tour Europe, Ireland, Britain, France Finland, Norway Germany, Spain. Naturally I would have been delighted to welcome any AH'rs to my place if I had a spare room. But I do know of a good hotel nearby.:p :lol
Actually myself and the girlfriend are planning to visit the US sometime this coming year. We haven't quite decided where as yet but wherever it is I will be renting a plane for a day or so view the sights. Having said that I stil think the best way to see America is by car.
But our main holiday will be to Vietnam just to be different. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the places I've only read about in relation to the war. Saigon, Hue, Tan Son Nhut, Da Nang, Marble Mountain etc etc.
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Has anyone here tried train hopping?
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Where I went to college the trains would stop near the campus to add engines for the pull over a steep pass to the North. (San Luis Obispo and Cuesta Grade for those in the know). We would sneak onto the train at the base of the grade and ride it to the top. It would slow at the top enough to safely disembark, and hopefully you weren't too stoned to remember to arrange a ride home.
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What Rude said. Don't even think about it.
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Originally posted by Otto
What Rude said. Don't even think about it.
All travel books always say don't hitchike and especially in US of A. If i'm travelling alone I wouldn't try it in many coutries. I don't think it's too dangerous to do if there's maybe 3 people.
Then again so many people have GUNS overe there so it might be a bad idea.;)
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Sorry for the punt but this board seems to be moving quicker these days and i have been busy preparing so have not been able to keep up.
i did want to say thanks for all the advice and kind offers.
I have done a bit of reasearch and found amtrak offer a 30 day pass for international travelers for $385 that goes anywhere in the US.
I am travelling with one other person but we are travelling thru vietnam, cambodia, thailand, malaysia, singapore, indonesia, australia and new zeland before we reach the US so god knows what will have happened but if i can manage to coral 3-4 people together a road trip may be on the cards.
On the other hand if i have managed scare off every other traveller near me and i am on my own i think amtrak is the way to go. If i run out of money though i may have to chance it hitchhiking :eek:
I set off thursday morning flying to hanoi so i'd like to say thanks again before i go.
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if you stop by Japan, buy a Japan Rail Pass.. must be used within 2 months of buying it, gives you access to ALL trains in ALL japan. And dang, in that country trains will get you anywhere.
I was seriously pissed finding out about the rail pass when I was already inside japan... you can only buy them outside japan before you enter the country. Still, awesome place to visit.
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Originally posted by niknak
On the other hand if i have managed scare off every other traveller near me and i am on my own i think amtrak is the way to go. If i run out of money though i may have to chance it hitchhiking :eek:
I set off thursday morning flying to hanoi so i'd like to say thanks again before i go.
well be careful and have fun !