Rete

Why didn't you purchase camping gear and 'rough' it once in a while. The cost is minimal, especially if you use state parks, and you will meet up with great folks. Always found campers to be a bred apart and very relaxed and welcoming to one and all. Frankly, I could never ask a stranger to put me up for the night(s). Goes against the grain, so to speak. Thankfully, you are not me ;-)

Nice to be able to do a trip like yours but when you are doing it on an extremely lean budget, such as yours, it must be very difficult to enjoy the trip.

We live in the coastal area of Mississippi, at least the state claims our county is on the Gulf Coast and yet we are 1-1/2 hours from the Gulf, itself. You are traveling at the height of the season so rates are going to be expensive. However, southern schools start back next week, so you will find that the motel rates will probably go down a bit. I've found that when you stop at any of the rest areas on the major roadways there are free discount coupon books for the taking. There is a nice discount on those places if you follow the instructions.

Colin Robinson

Hi Rete

I've gone one better than that! A fabulous couple on here (<snip>) but they have been even more expensive than the motels! A small, one man tent for one night and they wanted upwards of $30 for goodness sake!

I know what you mean about "....relying on the kindness of strangers" and I hesitated at first... Airbnb at least charge so it's a business transaction, but for free....? And then I considered how I would feel about putting someone up who's profile I had read, who came with references from others and who I could tell something about by the way they had written to me and I thought, being slective, I would actually quite enjoy hosting them?

My budget does limit me to some extent but I am not sure if I were rolling in cash if I would want to spend $20 to stand on some arbitrary corner that 4 states meet? I am a Spurs supporter and have Scottish blood so I wouldn't waste money even if it were in plentiful supply? No, I can honestly say having a bigger budget would not help me enjoy the trip any more than I am already?

Great to hear the kids go back soon! As you say, that will, hopefully, bring prices down but also have the added benefit of cutting down on the number of flaming tourists! Damn them, they get in everywhere!

I know all about the Motel Coupon books and have blessed them on more than one occasion! My problems are that the motels in them tend to concentrate near the motorways (and I am trying my best to avoid them!) and that when I hit Kansas, they had never heard of them? Colorado had one that was three pages in total and again, in Nevada and California, they don't exist? I am hoping that my return trip along the coast/Mexican border might produce better results?

Thanks for your suggestions though......

Wintersong

Unfortunately the timing doesn't work out for me If only you'd been here a couple of weeks later!

Rete

Wow ... can't believe you think $30 is expensive for camping and that you can get motel rooms for less than that. Guess things are very very inexpensive in the UK.

Glad you are enjoying your trip.

AdobePinon

Congratulations on finding the USA's most expensive campground. Repeating myself here, but that's $30 more than you need to spend, particularly in the west. East of the Rockies would be harder. How can you not slow down and smell the roses, when you can camp for free?

Colin Robinson

So one of you thinks it's cheap and the other thinks it's the "...most expensive"? Aaaargh!

Things are not that cheap in the UK, it's just that "My fellow Britishers" voted out of Europe at the worst possible time (a few days before I came out here) and the pound, which used to get me $1.52 dropped to $1.18! But yes, many things are much less expensive in the UK, but others aren't.... PETROL for example! Ye Gods, we pay $10 a gallon and you pay anything from $1.76 to $4.36 depending on where you are?

As I said, it's the coast for me now so I will continue trying the campgrounds and hope you're the one proved right AdobePinon?

ddsrph

Colin
Google extended stay motels, or motels/hotels with weekly rates. There are several websites that list hundreds of these type hotels that offer extended stays. It's very common for them to do this. Also motels are usually cheaper on the freeways as many are grouped at the exits and must compete for business. Like I mentioned when you were here, Motel 6 usually has the lowest rates and their free book list everyone in the chain nationwide. I started staying in them when in college and driving from Albuquerque and UNM back home to Indiana. At that time (mid seventies) they were $6 dollars a nite, and named accordingly.

AdobePinon

Post #55. A developed campground on the CA coast is not likely to be cheap.

kodokan

There are literally millions of square miles of 'camp for free' federal lands in the West: Sleeping for free, or cheaply, on federal lands

You're much less likely, however, to find company there to chat with.

Pulaski

No you don't - at £1.22/litre and $1.30/£1, the most expensive petrol in the Gloucester area is only $6/US gal. Some areas might be a little higher, but not much more.

Jerseygirl

Plus...people in the US tend to drive more miles per week/month than the UK. It's been stated on here before that the monthly petrol bill is about the same.

Pulaski

That was exactly the case for me when I moved over. The price I paid for gas was about one quarter of what I was paying for petrol in the UK a few months earlier, but I was using four times as much - despite driving a more economical care in the US than I did in the UK.

Jerseygirl

Plus 4 times more wear and tear on the vehicle...has to be serviced, replaced more often etc.

It's all smoke and mirrors.

kodokan

We're completely winning on petrol now, since moving. We live 4 miles from hubby's work, the kids walk to school, and I bike to the supermarket a lot this time of year. We also getting a ton of supermarket fuel points from buying gift cards, as we're currently playing the 'credit card minimum spend for reward points' game. Our monthly fuel bill is about $30. And that's mostly going into an F-150!

Colin Robinson

Sorry JC - you, of course, would know...?

But last time I was back in the UK it was £1.44 per litre and, before Brexit (gnash, grind!), the dollar was 1.52 to the pound.

Assuming 4.5 litres to the gallon, that gives a dollar price to UK sufferers of $9.85, which to me is near enough ten bucks as not to argue?