Hello all,

My family thinks I'm crazy for doing this, but I really want to see America since I've had so few opportunities to travel. So, I'll be driving from New Jersey to Seattle in a few weeks.

I'll still looking over various routes and I plan on printing out my route to have a hard copy just in case my gps drops which I will expect.


Any tips suggestions?

Find out the local news/weather stations in each area and listen to each am before you leave and double check during the day. You should be in the good weather - but esp in the mid/southern route (versus northern) bad weather/tornados can be an issue.

Never let your gas tank go below half full.

Be sure you have a membership to AAA or another road service just in case.

In case of emergency carry a small emergency kit in the car (besides flashing lights to attract attention up the car if you have an accident or flat after dark, be sure you have a blanket and water/food for one day in the car.)

If you hit bad weather (even very heavy rain or fog) get off the highway at the next exit if there are no services and find a truck stop or fast food place to shelter until it passes.

Sorry, but your family is crazy for thinking you're crazy to drive cross country alone. It's fun, sort of a rite of passage and can be much more enlightening than your run of the mill vacation. If I were related to you, I'd encourage you on! But stay safe and use your common sense.

Trip report on a high-speed transcon road trip (NJ - Seattle) I did a few years ago, for what it's worth: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...back-ford.html

Good advice above except the "accident or flat after dark".
Don't drive past 6PM local time. Do you have a list of things you always wanted to see between NJ and the west coast?
What prompted the choice of Seattle? Are you coming back to NJ by another route?
If this is a truly solo trip with no pets or large amount of luggage, I would suggest taking the trains on a 15 day USA Rail Pass.
I had a nice day yesterday riding the Amtrak Coast Starlight for about 6 hours for National Train Day.

Gardyloo, very enjoyable travel report thank you so much for sharing!!!

Nytraveler, thanks I didn't even consider tornado's.

Nstevey, I've heard that solo travel in general is very empowering "kinda like jumping out of a plane"

tomfuller, I've not narrowed it down yet what to see a long the way. I should probably look at landmarks.

I90 goes thru Austin MN so you can tour the Spam Factory!

And you can spend a day at Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio if you like roller coasters.

Here is a link to a 2 hour 45 minute video showing nothing but the drive between Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Seattle... so you can sit there and watch <b>the whole road</b> along a couple of northern freeways in the western USA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq2Q6rjNd-I


That same YOUTUBE poster has numerous videos capturing various roadways around the country - might be worth some research, just in case.