Cross country trip on a tight budget?

[scrapbookbuzz]

My mom is not doing well - dementia is setting in and moving in rapidly. I'd like to take the kids to see her in about a week or so but money is TIGHT.

We would be driving from Arizona to Illinois so it is about a 1200 mile drive. According to Mapquest it will be a 25-27 hour drive, depending which way we go.

I do NOT plan on driving straight through as I'm the only driver! Will also need safe, affordable accommodations along the way.

 

anyone else done a drive like this? Any suggestions or helpful hints? THANKS!

[DawnM]

Is this according to Google Maps?  You must be going from the NE area of AZ to the SW area of IL.  Phoenix to Chicago is over 1,700 miles, but says it is 26 hours' drive.  I realize I am picking cities arbitrarily, but just questioning if it really is 1200 miles.

 

I personally would find a hotel in a decent sized city and stay in a Marriott or other well known hotel.

 

Do you have AAA?  They can help you find safe hotels in safe areas.

 

Dawn

[Rachel]

Do you have a friend you could stay with part way through? If not I've had good luck getting rooms through Hotwire and Priceline. Packing your own food will help and using an app like Gas Buddy will help you find the best gas prices.

[umsami]

We did upstate NY to FL and it was a similar drive.

 

Get a cooler…pack it with drinks, snacks, sandwich stuff for the road.  It's nice to pull into a rest-stop and have a picnic, if you want to save money.  We actually also did it so the kids could run around.  We used Google Maps to find playgrounds/parks too if things were tough.  A 15 minute stop at a park made all the difference with a 2, 4, 6, and 8 year old.

 

For hotels, I looked on Expedia.com and Hotels.com   I was able to find good, relatively reasonable hotels under $100.  We did use Priceline too and had good luck, so try that.  You can pick a point on a map and then use Google Maps to search near it for hotels.

 

Biggest expense will be gas.  Be sure your tires are inflated properly.  It does make a difference.

[Ottakee]

We just did an out west trip from Michigan.  If you have a smart phone, you can try hotwire for a hotel once you get close to a city you know you want to stop at.  Stick to one with higher ratings.  We did OK with that.  They are non refundable so you might want to wait to make a reservation until later afternoon to know more where you would be.  With only one driver even 12 hours of driving (with 1-2 more hours for stops/gas/traffic) is a LONG day.  So if possible I would plan on 2 1/2 days of driving each way to give you more breathing room or plan an hour at a rest stop where you could safely nap in the car if the weather is cooperative (not too hot).

 

I brought along snacks and some meal foods so that was a money saver as well.  When we stopped EVERYONE went to the bathroom....even if they didnt' have to go at the time.  We also found that stopping at a rest area or for gas for 5-10 minutes every 2 hours was better for us than taking longer breaks less often.

[justasque]

On a recent road trip instead of stopping at highway rest stops, I did planned stops at Whole Foods and Wegmans upscale grocery stores.  They were near the highway, in nice neighborhoods, easy to find, and well-lit.  The stores had clean, welcoming bathrooms with no line, and healthy take-out food choices that weren't cheap but weren't junk either.  Some did close at 9:00ish, so I had to keep that in mind.  

Consider also -
~ Water bottles for all.  
~ Apprentice the kids as navigators.  
~ Borrow a GPS if you don't have one, but don't rely on it - map out your journey too.
~ A cooler with healthy snacks will save quite a bit of money.
~ Campgrounds are an option, if you're good with that.  Cheaper than a hotel, but more work as well.
~ Bring bedding in case someone ends up sleeping on the floor of a hotel room.
~ Pack light.  Minimize unpacking at each stop, so pack one bag each (or one bag together) that will be actually used, but at the same time it might be safest to bring all your gear into your room even if you don't need it.
~ Bring zip-locs; use them for ice for your cooler and a myriad of other things.
~ Also consider a stash of utensils, paper cups, and such so you can eat from grocery stores rather than restaurants.
~ Consider books on tape from your library, or mp3's from Librivox.  If you can get something that's tied in with where you're going, all the better.
~ Food like hummus, yogurt, decent muffins, cheese (spreadable or hard), peanut butter, nuts, fruit, bread, carrot sticks, pepper slices, and so on are good car food as they can survive less-than-ideal refrigeration and can mix-and-match well.  Make sure you've got a decent amount of protein and fiber to keep everyone in a good mood.  Our road trip food groups also include salt (pretzels) and chocolate (muffins or cookies).
 

[elegantlion]

Ds and I did a 1800 mile roundtrip last fall. We skipped sit down restaurants, ate at the breakfast buffet and one fast food meal a day. I did not make hotel reservations, but looked up hotels along the route. I tried to pick names I knew, and pinpointed a few locations where I might stop. 

 

We packed light. I would also plan for weather. We hit a huge storm and had to stay an extra day to accomplish our task - so that ate into the hotel room budget. If you have AAA, check for discounts. We actually took a different way home and staying a day later allowed us to avoid an ice storm on the drive home. 

 

We were set to park in rest area and parking lots for a few nights, but our fuel costs were better than expected and we splurged for the hotel.  

 

I also stopped when I needed and stopped for the night before it was too dark (I have a hard time driving at night). 

 

Know your point when it's not safe for you to be on the road anymore. 

 

 

[JFSinIL]

If you do not have one, a AAA membership is a great idea, if only for roadside assistance if you break down, have a flat, get locked out of car, etc. AAA will also provide an itinerary if you like, listing mileage and places to stop for breaks. They have discounts on motels, too....which have to pass inspection by AAA to get their recommendation. You can also get discounts at various restaurants, etc. with AAA. Free maps and guidebooks. And if you get stuck with a dead car and need to alter motel reservations, AAA will handle it all for you (as we found out when our van died middle of nowhere and we lost a day years back.)

[bettyandbob]

That would probably require 2 nights to stop over night for me as the only driver.

 

If you camp, I would pack a tent and find two KOAs along the route. Otherwise pick an inexpensive motel chain like La Quinta or Days Inn and find smallish cities along the route at 10-12 hour intervals. I make reservations so I have specific goal in mind and stop. That way I don't get some place and convince myself to keep going and then find myself in a very isolated area when I'm exhausted. Also, I don't arrive some place and find I got there during a major event when all rooms are booked.

 

Leave early morning (5-6) first day drive 10 to 12 hours. Do that again the second day. Third day you should arrive by midday.

 

Pack a cooler with food for lunches and dinners. I like cut fruit and veg it munch on while driving. I cannot eat fast food and expect to drive long distance, so packing meal makes me a safer driver--it's not just about saving money. If you stay at a chain hotel and make reservations be sure to look at "free breakfast" offerings. You can grab yogurt, boiled eggs, fruit, cereal and Danishes there. You should be able to restock your ice at a KOA or motel.

 

I personally would arrive at each stop in time use the pool before going to bed. This would keep me from being incredibly stiff by the third day of driving. You may have your own thing you can do to unwind and stretch, but you probably need to do something because you are looking at more than one long day of driving.

 

Take the kids to the library before the trip and pick out 60 hours of audio books. They might sleep through some, but I find audio books help me stay awake. While I advise driving 12 hours before evening, I have driven into the night when circumstances made earlier stops impossible. Audiobooks helped me tremendously.

 

Know your limits. Some people can marathon drive and some cannot. Your goal is to arrive safely.

 

AAA membership is a good idea.

 

My initial suggestion is more leisurely than most might take it. I might also consider a 15 hour first day. Then hope 10 hours would be enough for the second. Hopefully, no accidents or road construction. 15 hours would be actual driving, not counting rest stops, meals , and walking to get my blood flowing breaks. I would leave no later than 5am the first day, if I were trying for fifteen hours of driving.

[NotSoObvious]

We road trip a lot. I would recommend looking at hotels ahead of time for a few reasons. Some cities are very expensive and it will be hard to find a reasonably priced hotel in a good area, so you'll want to try to book those ahead of time, especially on a weekend. If you are the only driver, it will be very hard to book hotels on the road and the route your are traveling May have long stretches of nothing. Plus, I'm pretty picky about hotels, so I tend to scope them out ahead of time. Hamptons are usually a safe bet and average around $100 (but up to $150 in some areas, so watch out).

 

Eat breakfast at the hotels, pack a cooler with food. It's cheaper to eat out for lunch rather than dinner, but I always find I'm much to tired to do dinner out of the cooler, so we eat lunch at a rest area from the cooler, then dinner in a decent restaurant.

 

Sitting in the car all day is draining and we don't tend to sleep well, so I always try to pull into the hotel by 8 so the kids can swim for an hour before bed.

 

For the mileage you are describing, I'd plan for at least three driving days, depending on your stamina. I can usually do a long day the first day, but then 400-500 miles a day after that is my limit, and most sites recommend not pushing that if you are driving alone.

 

Good luck! Honestly, there is no way around gas and that will be your biggest expense. I wouldn't skimp on a hotel as the only driver. You'll need your sleep. Also, KOAs tend to be almost as expensive as a cheap hotel. Choose sleep. :)

[MyThreeSons]

Lots of good advice already. I'm the only driver in our household now, too, and I know I would need to break it into a couple of days, at least. And I wouldn't be able to drive more than about three hours in one stretch. 

 

I would eat mainly out of the cooler for breakfast, snacks and the evening meal, but stop and get a good sized meal in the middle of the day or late afternoon. If you can catch the "lunch" hours, you can often save several dollars and still get a good meal. Even many of the budget motels have a free continental breakfast. 

 

 

[datgh]

How many of you are going?  Have you figured out what it will cost you to do the trip including wear and tear on your car, oil change needed, tolls, etc.?  Southwest has some pretty good fares right now.  You could do Phoenix to Chicago for about 450.00 each round trip if you fly midweek.  That is an awfully long trip as the only driver.   

[ThisIsTheDay]

I agree with the points about checking out possible hotels ahead of time.  I have found tripadvisor.com to be really helpful when going to unfamiliar areas. If it were me, I would likely plan out that first night in advance, figuring how far I could reasonably go on the first day, and then leaving the second night to plan out near the end of the second day.  Hopefully, you can spend a bit of time at your mom's, because after 2-3 days of hard driving, it would be really tough to quickly turn around and head back home.

 

There have been a couple of times when I'm the solo driver that I've pulled over in a rest stop and cat napped for 15-20 minutes.  For me, it works and I lose my sleepiness enough to continue driving.

[LostSurprise]

We went from the Midwest to the Coast a few years ago. The cheapest accommodations I found were KOA cabins. We brought sleeping bags to lay on the beds. Every child had a backpack with a few days clothing, toiletries, and entertainment. We washed clothes when we reached our destination. We had a cooler for snacks. We ate out of grocery stores. We borrowed some children's tv series from the library. I think the kids journaled and read in the morning and watched every episode of the Muppet Show in the afternoon. 

 

It was a great time. 

 

If you do go with KOA, they map them by state so it's easy to see if they match your route. Also, you can buy a card which will give you a percentage off ($30 for the card/10% off...or at least it was 3 years ago). You have to figure out the costs before you get the card, but with the number of places we stopped it was (a little) worthwhile for us. 

[Gentlemommy]

Hampton Inn, Fairfield Inn, and Homewood Suites are all mid priced hotels (at or less than $100 a night) which are clean and have a decent free breakfast. They also allow pets for a fee if that is a concern. We've traveled with dh some and those are the ones we've liked. They have been friendly with the kids and dogs, and extremely accommodating...upgrading our rooms without an extra fee, bringing us extra towels, sheets and pillows for our air mattress, ect.

[bettyandbob]

Hampton Inn, Fairfield Inn, and Homewood Suites are all mid priced hotels (at or less than $100 a night) which are clean and have a decent free breakfast. They also allow pets for a fee if that is a concern. We've traveled with dh some and those are the ones we've liked. They have been friendly with the kids and dogs, and extremely accommodating...upgrading our rooms without an extra fee, bringing us extra towels, sheets and pillows for our air mattress, ect.

 

 

Obviously this is subjective, but if I were doing something on what I felt were a "tight" budget, I would view these chains as out of my price range. 

 

The OP has not given us an idea of what "tight" means to her. There are lower end chains that offer "breakfast". 

[Gentlemommy]

And yes, we packed lots of food, water, and entertainment.

Food wise- I get some snacks we normally don't buy, like chips or small candy. That helps when everyone is losing their mind. ;-) I make sandwiches and we stop at rest areas so the kids and dogs can potty and run around. There isn't a restaurant at the ones we go to (so no temptation or begging from the kids), just a restroom and picnic tables and plenty of space to run.

New $5 movies or ones from goodwill (about $2). Some new books from goodwill ($.30-$.77 each), and some new markers/crayons/colored pencils (saved from back to school shopping, about $.50 a package) with a coloring Dover coloring book from Cracker Barrel ($3-$4).

[BlueTaelon]

Our last trip was 1200 miles and we brought our own food/drinks which cut a lot of the costs. Pack everything in an ice chest then have a smaller one you keep in the car. Keep the days food in the smaller one and the supplies in the larger, fix the next days food while at the hotel the night before, plan on eating a lot of sandwiches/picnic foods that dont require heating unless you know for sure your room will have a microwave. Dont plan to use the in room coffee pots to heat water for tea or oatmeal packets as the water will taste like coffee. We booked our rooms online ahead of time and spent 2 nights in a hotel and made the trip in 3 days. 8 hours a day of driving when your not used to it is brutal even though it seems simple.

[TrixieB]

~ Pack light.  Minimize unpacking at each stop, so pack one bag each (or one bag together) that will be actually used, but at the same time it might be safest to bring all your gear into your room even if you don't need it.

THIS.  I would not leave any bags, gear, etc. in the car overnight.  They might not be there in the morning.

 

 

[Amber in SJ]

Pack a jump rope for each child.  Every time you stop for gas or a potty break everyone should get out and jump.  We did one minute challenges, to that post and back challenges and so on.  It was just enough exercise to keep my crazy active 9yo ds from making us crazy.  The other kids liked it too.  Raw fruit & veggies make great snacks and will keep in a cooler.  Inactivity and junk food can cause digestive problems for some kids.  If your hotel/ motel doesn't have a fridge you can fill gallon size zipper bags at the ice machine and keep things cool in a cooler in your room.  A big box of gallon size zipper bags was a life saver.  Muddy shoes?  Put them in a bag for now.  Wet swimsuits?  Zipper bag.  Car sick kid?  Zipper bag.  Bitty parts to a travel game?  Zipper bag.  Wastepaper bag for the snowflake making kid?   Picnic benches at the park all wet?  You get the idea.  The other can't do without is wipes.

 

HTH

Amber in SJ

[Catwoman]

Obviously this is subjective, but if I were doing something on what I felt were a "tight" budget, I would view these chains as out of my price range. 

 

The OP has not given us an idea of what "tight" means to her. There are lower end chains that offer "breakfast".

 

Where could you possibly stay for less than $100 per night?

 

I think it must depend on where you're traveling.

[ocelotmom]

Pack a cooler with food for lunches and dinners. I like cut fruit and veg it munch on while driving. I cannot eat fast food and expect to drive long distance, so packing meal makes me a safer driver--it's not just about saving money. If you stay at a chain hotel and make reservations be sure to look at "free breakfast" offerings. You can grab yogurt, boiled eggs, fruit, cereal and Danishes there. You should be able to restock your ice at a KOA or motel.

 

Keep in mind that "Free Breakfast" can mean anything from a small selection of cheap individually wrapped pastries to a full buffet with actual protein. The former would be basically worthless (for our family, anyways); the latter would keep us going for a good while. Comfort Inn is one with a full buffet. We discovered last trip that, though Comfort Inn was a bit more expensive than the Motel 6 we stayed at last trip, it would have been cheaper (and much easier!) than Motel 6 + breakfast at Denny's.

 

Of course, a less expensive hotel and buying food at a grocery store would be cheaper.

 

Planning your trip so that you're staying in hotels on weeknights will often be cheaper. If you feel you can wait until after labor day, it will be cheaper.

[Wabi Sabi]

Where could you possibly stay for less than $100 per night?

 

I think it must depend on where you're traveling.

 

I almost exclusively use Hotwire to find hotels while driving across the country. In the past year I've gotten rooms for $50-$80/night in Saint Louis, Indianapolis, Chicago, Tulsa, Houston, Birmingham and Nashville. I got a room at the Times Square Embassy Suites for $109 for Friday/Saturday nights, but I couldn't find anything for less than $220 Sunday-Thursday. I've found the same to be true of Chicago: weeknights are very expensive since the hotels cater to business travelers, but weekends are quite cheap unless there's a big event in town that weekend.

 

 

[Ottakee]

With hotwire on our Midwest trip we got decent rooms for dh and I and 3 kids for $55-60/night.  All had a pool and free breakfast and I felt they were clean and safe.

[bettyandbob]

Where could you possibly stay for less than $100 per night?

 

I think it must depend on where you're traveling.

 

you pick your stopping points outside of major metropolitan areas. You don't have to be in the middle of nowhere. 

 

I've stayed at Best Western, La Quinta and Days Inn for under $60-$90 a night. $90 was close to a tourist destination during spring break time and a weekend. You have to look and plan. All three of these places had breakfasts that included yogurt and apples (things that will keep me going if I'm driving and are gf for my dd) and waffles (to keep ds happy). 

 

If I'm planning a really long drive I'm sure I could find stops that were closer to $60/night than $100/night. It's a matter of looking at your route ahead of time, rather than deciding on the road. 

[elegantlion]

Where could you possibly stay for less than $100 per night?

 

I think it must depend on where you're traveling.

 

We can still find rooms for 39.99 in some places. I paid 45.00 in a very small town, little budget motor lodge, very clean. My entire trip the hotels were less than 100.00 a night. 

 

Where we travel you can get a decent chain for about 50 to 75 depending upon season and location. 

 

$100 a night is usually the top of my budget unless we're doing a destination vacation. Most are in the 60-70 range pre-tax. 

[Wabi Sabi]

Just for the heck of it I plugged a few different cities into Hotwire. These are the rates I could find for tomorrow night: 

St. Louis: $69, 4 stars, downtown
Orlando: $49, 3 stars, near Universal Studios
Portland: $85, 3.5 stars, PDX airport area
Austin: $59, 3 stars, downtown

Minneapolis: $66, 4 stars, downtown
Manhattan: $103, 4 stars, near Rockefeller Center and Carnagie Hall 

 

[ThisIsTheDay]

Where could you possibly stay for less than $100 per night?

 

I think it must depend on where you're traveling.

 

I have recently stayed several times at a Hyatt in the DC suburbs for <$75 a night in very nice area.  I've also stayed at the Mason Inn (on the GMU campus) for <$100 a night.  I do my homework ahead of time.  In general, Comfort Inn would be at the bottom of my choices.  We used to stay in them, but I was disappointed too many times.

 

There have been very few times I've ever paid more than $100, ever.  One was in Arlington, VA in a very, very nice Marriott, and even that was just $125.  I think we paid close to $100 in, of all places, Kansas City, and the hotel wasn't that great.

 

[milovany]

The cheapest accommodations I found were KOA cabins....

 

This is my recommendation as well.  We used the Kabins (grin) when we moved from Washington to Colorado a few years ago.  It was half or less than getting hotel/motel rooms.  When looking at the KOA site, you'll see some of their campgrounds are more expensive than others -- those tend to be the "destination" types.  You want to find ones that are just places to stop on the way to somewhere else in order to keep costs down.  

 

[Barb_]

I drive from Phoenix to Chicago and back every summer. As was mentioned upthread, it's closer to an 1700-1800 mi trip. We stay in Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, and St. Louis. A little under 500mi a day with a relatively lighter last day on the way in and first day on the way out.

 

It's counterintuitive but often the better deals are to be found in more populated areas because of competition.

[J-rap]

You could try KOA's and camper cabins at various state parks.  They're usually very nice/nicely maintained, with showers on the grounds.  You would need to bring your own sleeping bags.  Also, there are nice hostels in bigger cities where a family would feel comfortable staying.