My 21 year old son just told me that he would like to go on a ten-day to 2-week vacation to see the "West Coast". He plans to start in Seattle, drive thru Oregon, down thru California including San Fran, Los Angeles, San Diego, go over to Las Vegas, Death Valley, to Utah and over to Yellowstone. Initially he said then back to Seattle but I convinced him that was too far.

This sounds like way too much for one trip. He will be the only driver because he is the only one of three going who is over 21. He found out National rents cars to 21 year olds.

Help needed from those of you familiar with the driving distances involved. Will he be able to stop to see the sights if he tries to cover so much territory? He said college students always cover alot of miles because they have more time than other people.

He's 21, let him decide how to spend his vacation. That's the best way to learn about traveling, get out and do it yourself and have an adventure. Time to let go, mom.

So much to see, so little time. Sounds like it will be exhausting. I would cut out San Diego, Death Valley, Utah and of course Yellowstone. And Vegas, too, as he is the only person over 21.

To Traveling Man--kind of harsh don't you think? Can't a Mom help her son out a bit?

I don't mean to sound harsh, but we can seriously answer this question with a great deal of detail and he will probably do what he wants anyway. Do you remember being 21, Alisa? I have vague recollections of road trips with friends where more ground was covered than seemed conceivably possible. My 21 year-old niece just did Wyoming to Seattle to San Francisco in less than two weeks. I did six countries in Europe in two weeks when I was around that age, granted on trains not driving. It sounds ambitious but he'll only learn that through experience. My two cents.

MJH,

Personally I feel that it is WAY too much ground to cover in 2 weeks. My concern is that your son will be the only person driving, and with a group of young people on a road trip like that, it is a disaster waiting to happen. If it were my son, I would not let him go. My concern is that he may get into an accident. You never know with all of the careless drivers out there.

I'm with Traveling Man all the way. The "kid" is 21!!!!!!! He will be fine.

David:

You've got to be kidding. At 21, you can do ANYTHING. You should have cut the strings 3 years ago. New luggage and a one-way ticket. Call home collect. You are now on your OWN!
Get a grip!

URKIDDING

URKIDDING:

I think that you would change your tune if your son ended up coming home in a box. The idea of letting a group of young kids go on such a long road trip is not good. Obviously alot has to with their maturity, which is information we do not have. But I remember when i was that age how easily influenced one can be due to peer pressure. My main concern would be drinking and driving. The police today do not pull any punches when it it comes to punishing such offenders.

I don't believe there would be any drinking on my son's trip. He's quite serious and the other 2 guys are good kids -- real high achievers -- not much on partying ever.

My son and one guy who's going on this trip, and another college friend of theirs, drove up the East Coast to Boston last year -- but that seemed managable. Two had never seen the East Coast and loved the trip through New England with the snow (not on the road, fortunately).

I worry more about the fatigue of driving so far and the other crazy drivers.

21 year olds really do think they can do anything. If his flight could be out of a reasonable location at least he would not be forced to drive so far after he discovered it was tiring -- he said Las Vegas.

When my DH and I were younger and didn't have much vacation time we did trips that were that many miles in two weeks.

If they take the coast roads it's going to be slow going. If they want to do site seeing in Utah it will take time. Yellowstone really needs a couple of days, but they are young and probably just want an adventure. If they run out of time they can always cut Yellowstone out.

Utahtea

He could drive across the country and back in 2 weeks if he really wanted to, but what's the point? Getting to know a place and some different people just a little bit better is the point of traveling, in my opinion, not seeing how much ground you can cover in XX number of days.

Of course he is 21 and you can't make him do one thing or another. But if he wants your advice - tell him to cut off Uytah and Yellowstone. Since they are starting out from Seattle am I correct that you live in the Pacific NW? if so he can head out to yellowstone on some othet trip.

It just doesn't fit in his itinerary this time.

If they have a full 14 days then they could make it down the coast to San Diego and then over to Death Valley and up I-5 back to Seattle. it would be alot of driving but manageable.

Las Vegas is not a place for anyone under 21 since the casinos are VERY strict about carding anyone who looks under 25. It is a REALLY boring town when you can't go into any of the casinos and few of the clubs. there isn't much at all for them to do.

So if they cut out the LV, Utah, Yellowstone legs they will have plenty of time and se tons of stuff. If they only have 10 days or if the time runs short they can cut out San Diego and just head north sooner.

Thanks for all of your suggestions. For those of you who think I shouldn't be involved in a 21-year-olds trip, I must tell you that his parents are paying for a large part of the trip. Also, he is not yet living on his own -- has just had some summer jobs.

We want it to be safe and enjoyable for him, and (it may not be realistic) we want him to come back well rested.

mjh:
That is a tremendous amount of territory to cover, and as a mom of a young man, I would worry about driving fatigue. They may want to reconsider "only" going as far as LA and flying out of LAX. Two items I definitely would consider footing the bill for: a navigational system in the rental car and a cell phone with car charger. A satellite phone is great for areas where a cell phone cannot be used; but is very expensive (my son does wilderness treks). Just hearing his voice once a day (my requirement in exchange for the money!) is worth everything. I hope he has a wonderful and SAFE trip!