Plenty of kids take a gap year to travel the world.

Fergie did and ran out of money and waitressed in Texas for a couple of weeks before moving on (and I'm guessing family money caught up with her). It's not that unusual a thing for middle income and rich Europeans to do.

Didn't say it was, starrs.

She just seemed most concerned about order of the itinerary and how long to be on the road. Most people ask about costs.

Oh. I misunderstood "I'm not sure how a "regular person" of that age would be able to afford to travel for 8 months to some very expensive places (living in NYC, the "expedition" in Alaska, etc.)"

My apologies.

I think she's planning to work remotely
"It's great being able to work to my own schedule, so I thought there would be no better time than now to take this opportunity of flexible working freedom"

Doesn't say how the money will catch up with her, etc.

Well if she's paid into her UK account couldn't she just pull via ATMs.

I'm still curious how she gets approval to stay in the US for so long - unless it's just to stay illegally, keep moving and hope she's not caught.

Apology accepted, starrs.

" for example North Carolina, I would only wish to spend a couple of days. In Texas, I think 1.5-2 weeks would be a good amount of time"

Personally, I would switch that plan. I'd prefer spending 1.5 - 2 weeks in North Carolina and only a couple of days in Texas. Austin and/or the Hill Country.

I do like Dollywood. It's a nice amusement park that is very clean (as clean as Disney) but not too big and the temps are much cooler than the Florida parks. Not a fan of Gatlinburg but the surrounding area is gorgeous.

Not sure what you want to see in Alabama. You could drive down from NC to Atlanta, return the rental car and take the train to New Orleans.

I agree that you may want to add Chattanooga to your TN visits. It's hard to know what to recommend when we don't know your interests.

I would just fly from NOLA to LA and skip Texas completely.

Foxs,

Please don't listen to Gretchen! Dollywood is hardly a "wart" on the smokey mountains. It is a wonderful park to visit. It is one of my favorite theme parks in America, it is very clean with good food, good music, and good rides. Yes Gatlinburg and Pigeon forge can be a mess but Dollywood is definitely worth visiting.

I do agree that if you are at all interested in the South then Savannah and Charleston are must sees.

I'll take back about Dollywood--LOVE Dolly anyway. It's Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg that are!!

"You will not want to fly to Virginia from NYC--just take the train or the Megabus.
Or take the Megabus to Charlotte."

This is not clear to me. Do you mean take the train or Megabus to Richmond and THEN the bus to CLT, or take the bus from NYC to CLT? Because Megabus doesn't go from NYC to CLT on a direct route so that would require a changeover or stay in another city.

I also have to add that I would NOT take the Megabus from NYC to Charlotte if that was even an option. That's nuts! I just spent the past year commuting from NYC to Charlotte, and the flight is maximum two hours from lift off to touch down. There are so many options from all three NYC airports (trust me, I researched it all and flew from all three on several different airlines). NYC to CLT on a bus is probably 10+ hours if not more (it never even crossed my mind before this post to find out). Charlotte is a nice city, and I enjoyed my time there, but if you are pressed for time and money I would HIGHLY recommend Nashville and Austin over CLT, Atlanta, Knoxville and Jackson, TN. You'd probably love New Orleans and if you really want a road trip through the deep south, don't miss Oxford, Mississippi! What a fun town!

As for how the OP is going to fund this I don't know ...and why people spend time obsessing about stuff that doesn't concern them personally baffles me.

This was the OP's first post and she hasn't been back. Probably best to let the topic rest until she comes back to comment.

Not suggesting Charlotte as a destination, in spite of the fact I live here. Just as a good "jumping off" place. People can do things on a one time and cheap method when not having to deal with commuting as skiergirl was doing.
I can't even really remember why Charlotte got in the mix. I just know that it isn't economical in time or money to fly to Richmond or DC with airport rules, etc.
And yes, changing might have to happen.

Seriously folks, FoxS only made the one OP and has never returned to this thread.

"As for how the OP is going to fund this I don't know ...and why people spend time obsessing about stuff that doesn't concern them personally baffles me"

No kidding.

So you want to keep fighting about it starrs? What happened to your apology above?

I'm not fighting about anything. I agreed with a poster's comment.

Yes that because I'm the first person ever on Fodor's who asked if the OP realized the costs of their proposed itinerary.

Size, to me it's you looking for a fight. Why so defensive?