This Summer my son (SU '09) , a teacher, and girlfriend spent 7 weeks traveling from Seattle to Cabo San Lucas and back, going thru Arizona, Utah etc on the way back. Over 7K miles. He was driving a 2007 Honda Odyssey with 140K miles. He took out the back seats and built a platform bed in the back with a solar panel on the roof that ran a refrigerator. Together they spent less than $1500. He ate a lot of fish tacos (usually 3 for $5) and swam in Pacific every day for over a month - cold in Oregon awesome in Mexico.
At the same time, my daughter and her boyfriend (both graduated in May) spent 2 1/2 months traveling from back and forth across the country Starting in Tacoma WA to Yosemite to Vegas to Santa Fe to Outer Banks to DC to NY to Montreal, across Ontario to the UP to Chicago to Madison to Minneapolis to Badlands to Tetons/Yellowstone and back to Tacoma. 26 states and 2 Canadian provinces and over 10K miles. They were driving a 2004 Dodge Sprinter diesel van with over 150K miles. Together they spent less than $2000. Favorite free camp sites: On a beach on on the north shore of Lake Superior in Canada and another near Badlands NP.
Here is the advice from their trips: Biggest expense will be gas. Staying with friends saves money and gives you access to a shower. Walmart allows you to camp for the night in their parking lots for free and since they are open 24 hrs you have access to a bathroom. There is a lot of places for free camping out west - the official name in National Forests (not National Parks) is "dispersed camping." Here's a helpful website: freecampsites.net (2 years ago my daughter spent 5 weeks traveling to western NPs by herself as part of a college summer grant and stayed in free camp sites 80% of the time). Avoid popular NPs around holiday weekends. Cook your own meals whenever possible. When the weather sucks or you need AC and a shower book an AirBNB or cheap hotel.
People you meet are great. Both of them got stuck 2-3 times had to towed out of sand/ditches etc. - my son in Baja and my daughter in Santa Fe National Forest and near Badlands NP. At all times someone helped them out.
Here is my son's lengthy instagram posts about 1 of his experiences:
The last 4 days have been pretty special, forgive me if I ramble for a sec. 2+ weeks ago we stumbled upon Laguana Manuela in hopes of finding a campsite by the beach. 30 mins down a dirt road we found it and immediately got stuck in the sand .Thanks to two awesome fishermen and the seatbelts cut right out of their work truck, Octavio and Noe tugged us out. We enjoyed a night on the beach and on our way out the next morning found ourselves stuck again This time the security guard living near by working with the fisherman, Antonio, was our savior. Him and a crew of others helped tug us out again and we went on our way feeling silly, incredibly appreciative of the help and inspired by the kindness of strangers. And now 4 days ago on our way back north, we 100% knew we had to stop in again to say hi for a night with a 12 pack of gratefulness. And thank goodness we did! Antonio was delighted to see us again because we came back! He insisted we stay another night for a fish taco feast and we had the best day finding sea lion colonies and hanging on the beach with Antonio, his wife Carmen and they’re adorable doggos. The next day wouldn’t be our last either as we ran into Octavio and Noe again who offered to take us out fishing with some of their family. We watched in awe as these guys rounded up fish after fish. When we got back, Antonio and Carmen cooked up two of the biggest in a delicious fish soup that was perfect after a day on the water. That evening we got to meet all of Octavio and Noe’s family and they insisted we take some lobster tails with us that made for a perfect lunch today. Holly nearly convinced me to bring one of the adorable puppies with us too but that will have to wait till the next time I return to this special place.
Language may have been a minor barrier the last couple days but it didn’t stop us from genuinely getting to know some amazing humans. Laguana Manuela has filled my heart with authentic kindness and I am eternally grateful.
Sorry for the story, couldn’t help myself. And after experiences like that I find myself thinking : A F***ing Wall!?! Really!?! #baffled