The US is such a brilliant travel destination as you have a massive country with so much to see and do. Not only that but the country shows a lot of diversity in terms of climate and natural surroundings. Depending on where you are, you could have a completely different experience from another traveller in a different city or state.
For these reasons, we believe that road tripping around the US is your best bet. It’s a country that’s made for road trips, with so many different highways for you to journey down, complete with excellent views and fantastic tourist spots along the way. From coast to coast, there are endless things to enjoy on your trip.
Before you set off, you need to get a few things in order. Here’s what you should do prior to your US road trip:
Check that you have the right travel documents
First and foremost, get your admin out of the way! Check that you have the right travel documents to go to the US, this will include:
- A valid UK e-passport
- A visa/ESTA visa waiver
You need a passport; no other travel documents will be valid at all. This passport needs to be an electronic passport as well, and it should remain valid for the duration of your stay.
As far as visas go, there’s some good news for people taking short trips. As mentioned here: https://official-esta.co.uk, you can travel to the US from the UK without a visa for up to 90 days. Instead, you need to fill in an ESTA application to get your visa waiver. For those of you that are planning an extended road trip that lasts beyond 90 days, you need to apply for a travel visa.
Plan your road trip route
Once you’ve got all the admin sorted, you should plan your road trip route. Understandably, there are tonnes of exceptional US road trips you can try. Below, you can see a map of a road trip that a lot of people recommend – it’s a long one, but it’s well worth the time and effort to see so many amazing places and sights.
Now, you can plan a road trip to be as long or short as you want; it’s completely up to you. Obviously, a lot depends on how much time you have during your trip, and how much you can afford to spend. The longer your trip goes on, the more costly it will be because of fuel consumption, etc.
Rent the right vehicle
You can’t go on a road trip without having the right vehicle at your disposal. Here, you have two different options:
- Rent a car
- Rent a motorhome/caravan/camper
Motorhomes will be more expensive, but you have the benefit of not needing to book anywhere to stay. You can live out of your motorhome, gaining a proper rural travel experience. Most road trippers will recommend this – you don’t need a massive motorhome, even a small campervan will do the trick, or a little caravan.
You might find that you want to stay for longer than you had originally planned, if you find yourself on an open ended trip it might become quite expensive to rent. The rent itself would be a lot but it’s likely the rental agreement will only last for so long. Another option in this case would be to use a website such as https://rvwheelator.com/ and find a cheap RV to buy outright, not only will this mean your trip can continue longer, but you’ll likely save money over continued rental payments. An added benefit of doing this is that you can usually sell the car back to recoup some of the money you spent, so you’re not stuck with an RV abroad when you return home. This is likely much less stressful than trying to rent a car and then have to contact places ahead of time for somewhere to stay. The only reason to rent a car would be that it can be more reliable and will let you get to your destinations a lot faster. But, it only really makes sense if you have accommodation booked or plan to stay somewhere for a few days every time you stop.
Check the weather
Make sure you have a pretty good idea of what the weather will be like during your trip. As mentioned in the intro, the US has some pretty strange climates. Part of it is like a desert, while you have other regions that are mountainous and snowy. Depending on where you travel during your trip, you could be presented with all sorts of weather conditions.
Consequently, you need to be prepared by packing all the most appropriate gear you can find. This might mean you need hot weather clothes, wet weather clothes and dry weather clothes. Check the average weather forecasts before you go, just to be sure you don’t pack for one location and end up with completely inappropriate clothing for other locations during your trip.
Pack some essentials
On the topic of packing, don’t forget to bring some essentials for a road trip. This will include a reusable bottle, some water purifiers, some washing powder for your clothes, a first aid kit and much more. Arm yourself with these things to ensure your trip goes swimmingly.
And there you have it; five things to do before road tripping around the US. You’ve got everything set, you’re ready to go, now get excited for the trip of your dreams!
This is a collaborative post
