Solo Cross-Country road trip [Part 1]

{Preparation}

(Photo: Visit California/Mason Trinca)

Holaa!! After postponing for almost a year, the COVID-19 lockdown gave me enough energy to write my first medium post! This is going to be a very long post, divided into five parts, please apologize if I put you to sleep, rest assured, I will try to make it as entertaining as possible. Just a quick background about why I did this — Took a new role at work, wanted to move closer to family, and to experience the amazing west coast beaches. Decided to take this as an opportunity to do a solo adventure road trip, moved from Northern Virginia to Seattle, Washington (Approx 3000 miles).

** Cinematic time-lapse to last year Nov 2019 **. I packed my 1BR apartment into as many cardboard boxes that could fit into the car, while still working a day job, and with very little time to plan my travel (3 weeks). Here is a quick summary of my six-day trip plan:

Day 1: Herndon, Virginia to Romulus, Michigan (505 miles)
Day 2: Meeting friends at Michigan (175 miles)
Day 3: St. Joseph, Michigan to Sioux Falls, South Dakota (672 miles)
Day 4: Sioux Falls, SD to Buffalo, Wyoming(570 miles)
Day 5: Buffalo, Wyoming to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho (671 miles)
Day 6: Coeur d’Alene, Idaho to Seattle, Washington (314 miles)

Google says the total travel time is less than two days and I know folks who did the move in two days. However, I have decided to take it slow, relaxed, and enjoy the journey.

Before Travel

A little bit of background — For the entire road trip, I drove a full-sized two-wheel-drive sedan with more than 100K miles. Though I purchased it with 94K miles, there weren’t any major issues and it did have new tires at the time of purchase(as per my local mechanic).

Between, there are other cheaper options to transport/move the boxes cross-country — Greyhound shipping (Cheap & Best — Used it once in the past — impressive service), USPS shipping (Okay), and Automobile movers (Good), who even allows you to fill in the car with items (A friend did this one, filling his car with more than 400 Pounds). I did consider all these options, but to me, driving was much more fun than flying on an airplane for six long hours.

Before the trip, I took the car to the mechanic, spent a mere $28 for oil changes, fluid top-up, and an 18-point check, and got the confirmation that the car is in a good condition for the long trip. A couple of useful tips which I collected before the road trip:

1. The threads on the car tire should be in good condition. A quick test is to take a quarter, insert it in the thread, and Washington’s stylish hair should still be visible [1]. An important part of the road trip is the car, however other than these two things I did not think much about the vehicle.
2. Things to pack — I did a rough calculation to decide what was worth carrying all across. If it was less than $20 and it weighed more than 4 pounds I tried to skip the items.
3. Regarding selling the furniture and the household, I posted in Letgo, OfferUp, and Facebook marketplace. I had 100% success with the FB marketplace.
4. I did pack the clothes and toiletries for a week and had it in a handy duffle bag. Along with this, I carried a backpack to hold the laptop and important documents, both of which I had in the passenger seats.
5. A thermal flask — More than one liter is preferred. Especially when you are traveling during the cold season, this is very important to either hold hot water, coffee/ tea. You can also carry Instant cup noodles, pour hot water — in case you don’t find anything for the next 250 miles.
6. One thing I made sure of was to munch on healthy snacks — cooked some snacks before the trip and brought a lot of nuts, which is also easier to eat while driving (Preferably less-sugar snacks). Sugars, however, will keep you active, so have some chocolates handy.
7. Chewing gum — I felt this was really helpful, especially when you are driving a long way and in case you are feeling a little tired, chewing gums helps you to keep you active (At least for me). Should you drink a lot of water, remember you need to make a lot of stops to hit the restrooms.
8. I did have a dashcam but did not have a good enough memory card to record the entire trip, unfortunately, did not have time to buy it. If you are planning to do a time-lapse, this is a good option, and also additional security when you have parked your car in the hotel with your entire 1BR apartment packed.
9. Phone apps used — Roadtrippers (recommended), Spotify, Google Podcast, Uber eats/ Grubhub/ any food delivery/pickup app, State Farm Drive Safe and save, and Gasbuddy.
10. Two good phone charger cables— one for use and the other backup, phone holder, good polarized sunglasses, and a portable power bank (Never had a chance to use it, but preferred to keep it). A good thermal jacket, gloves, and snow scraper.

Photo credit: Eagle Creek

I decided to do approximately 600 miles a day — an average of 10 hours giving enough buffer to relax, eat, and explore. Apps like Roadtrippers give you in advance what places to cover on your route along with eateries, rest areas,..etc. I had no clue where to start, randomly picked large cities from Google maps at around 600 miles mark.

Since I had to hit the highway quickly, I did not plan to stay in major cities, which not only increases the price but also the time. Also, there are lots of wonderful options in the outskirts where you can get hotels for a cheaper price. With all the credit card points that I accumulated, I used them to book the stay in Holiday Inn, Staybridge Suites, and Candlewood Suites (< $80), thereby I paid nothing for the stay + free breakfast.

I was on limited internet (1GB) plan, but I would highly recommend having an unlimited Internet plan. Also, I downloaded the maps earlier night just as a backup.

With the help of a friend, moved all the boxes to the car, placed the heavy items in the trunk and in the back seat. There was definitely no room for any extra stuff, the car was literally stuffed with boxes. We tightened them all with the ropes, so none of it moves. I did not weigh, but I’m sure we filled more than 500 pounds (~225 Kgs).

To be honest, I don’t know if I’m still prepared for the trip. Fun fact, I don’t even know how to change a flat tire (even today). I took a week off from work, rather than starting on a weekend, I planned to start on a weekday for two reasons — less traffic and restaurants are still open.

Check out my experiences in Part 2 of my Journey. 😃

[1] https://www.goodyearautoservice.com/en-US/tire-basics/tread-depth