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Backpacking across USA?
Rhino
TheRhinLOLRegistered User regular
TheRhinLOLRegistered User regular
Anyone do this?
Were do you stay [for cheap?]?
How do you travel for cheap?
Food?
Were do you stay [for cheap?]?
How do you travel for cheap?
Food?
Rhino on
0
Posts
2) I hear that hobo dens are nice this time of year.
3) You can prostitute yourself for five dollars at a time at truck stops pretty successfully.
4) Yes.
Camp + Tent
Feet.
I have a friend doing this right now. He brought $50 in travel cash, and a few changes of clothes + essentials.
He made it from Vermont to Minnesota on $10. Simply from hitchhiking.
Hitchhiking can be dangerous, and illegal in some states/counties, but it can be very effective/rewarding.
Peanutbutter. Granola. Water. If you stay on a main thoroughfare you will encounter civilization frequently and be able to resupply often, so you won't have to carry much in your pack from day to day.
Most camp sites are pay sites I thought. Do you mean $10 just for travel or is that also include camping/food?
I love hiking, but walking down busy interstate doesn't sound very fun.
#2: ?
#3: you mean hitch rides from truckers?
He paid $10 in travel. He only spent a few dollars on food from what he explained to me, but he packed a bunch of cliff bars and granola, and is very charismatic, so I'm sure he got plenty of free meals on the way.
There are tons of camp sites, especially if you are trail hiking for most of your journey, that are open to campers. No charge.
You don't need to hike down busy interstate to hitch-hike. You can hike portions of your journey through trails, then get to the interstate/highway to hitch a ride to wherever you are going next, staying on the exit/entrance areas of the highway. It might require you to stop and get a few different rides, but they'll usually be cheap (or free).
I mean, this is probably the easiest way to do this without spending a lot of cash. If you want something easier on you, without having to risk hitch hiking, then just ride a train across the country, then hike portions at certain stops, then hop back on the train again. This will require planning, though, and probably more money.
Thats a question you need to consult a park ranger about, or do research in the parks/trails you are hiking on.
BLM land is free to dispersed camping except where marked otherwise, and you can always just camp where no one can find you. The blm has control of 20% of the land in the states but mostly it's out west, you can look for maps online.
What other boarding options are there?
If you wanted to do it proper I'd look to do a combination of trains/buses/hiking. Yes, it would be more expensive, but should be doable still in under $1k depending upon how much you are going to actually rough it. If it is a long trip, I would imagine food would be an issue. Hunting/trapping/fishing + the fires needed to cook the stuff tend to be far more controlled than the simple act of camping, so a long trip will require a way to eat.
If you choose to backcountry camp, be careful of signs of human habitation.
There is a very, very, very serious problem right now with hemp growers operating illegal plantations in backcountry regions, and if the last couple years are any example they tend to shoot people who discover them.
It's pretty much a how-to guide on making a loop around the country for cheap.
There's also a significant difference as to how much preparation you need. If you're hiking occasionally but still staying relatively close to civilization, you have fewer things to worry about than walking the entire distance and providing it all for yourself.
edit: Also, when most people talk about, say, backpacking across Europe, I believe they mean "packing lightly so I can carry all my stuff, staying in hostels for cheap, and trying to see local sights instead of touristy things." They still usually buy a EuroRail pass.
Yea, this is what we're talking about.
To give some more insight: I'm a us citizen (born and raised).
Eventually we want to go to Europe to see the sites (actucally might even move there).
But in the mean time we have this whole great country to explore.
Lots of places to see. We are thinking of "touring the national parks".
Anyways, by "cheap"; I mean "cheaper then Europe". Not "eating dead raccoons" type of cheap.
We have some money, just trying to find out our options.
One option is to drive every were and stay in crappy hotels.
Another would be to get an trailer and/or station wagon and sleep in that.
We've looked into Trains/Buses, but seems like it would be a pain to "get around town" once we arrived?
Flying might be an option, but same with trains/buses. How do we get around once we are there? Some cities are transport friendly (busses, subways, etc); but most arent? Specially if we want to go out to national parks?
I think "driving and staying in shady hotels or camping" is probably are best balance between cheap and comfortable. ?
For food, eating out is pretty bad on the wallet and belly. I guess we'll just go "shopping" and buy real food. A used mini fridge might be a good investment.
Anyways, thoughts?
I think you should've worded your OP better.
I recently did something very similar in August with the whole 'drive coast to coast and see the sights' idea.
My route of travel was indianapolis -> denver -> portland -> seattle -> fargo -> chicago -> pittsburgh -> philadelphia, all over about two and half weeks and seeing some cool stuff in between (go 16 hr days!).
The total cost was around $600 dollars in the end because screw gas prices, and I'm a sucker for warm showers/sleeping in a comfy bed. It prolly would've been a couple hundred more, but I stayed with family / friends at numerous places along the way. I didn't do any camping though, so a cheap wal-mart tent could've saved a good bit of cash there.
My tips:
-Get a road atlas, make a list of places that look/sound cool, and just connect the dots.
-I'm not sure where you're going to be leaving from, but in regards to camp sites, the further out west I traveled, the more I came across. It might have just been because of the proximity to national parks / forests that I was traveling in. It's not that hard to find the camp sites though, just look for the little tents on your map, then follow the roads. Yes, there were those that would charge fees per vehicle, but just as many if not more that were free.
-Get a tent, just do it. I'm disappointed I didn't as the night skies were simply breath-taking out in the desert.
-If you end up driving, don't pass up an opportunity to top off the gas tank. There were a couple times in Utah and Montana were I almost got stranded because I decided to take what looked like a cool side road shortcut off the highway and it led to absolutely nowhere / abandoned towns. America is freaking huge.
-Go with someone else. I traveled alone and it was really hard to force myself to slow down and enjoy the sights. If i had been with a friend, it would'nt have been so much "oh i'm on top of a mountain, sweet, what's next?"
-Give yourself plenty of time. See the above remark about America being freaking huge. Having done nothing but fly for the most part of traveling, my sense of scale was pretty skewed. It was a rather rude awakening traveling across montana, haha.
One final note, limit your scope: If i was to do it again, I would've just chosen 1 park / city, flown there, rented a car and picked up a cheap tent, then explored the area. There is simply so much to america, and so much beauty in the parks, that I could've spend days exploring and not seen even a fraction of what's there. Trying to do a whirlwind tour gave me just a brief skim of the great sights to be found. That's why come spring I'll be limiting myself to just a motorcycle tour of some nevada back roads.
Hope some of this helped and good luck!
Baha.
We all thought this guy was hoofin it on foot with a backpack on his back
He's actually wondering if he should buy the deluxe RV or just the standard.