ddsrph

I would recommend camping in State Parks. They usually have sites that cater to the type that considers a fifty foot motor home camping but also have campsites that cater to the tent and sleeping bag variety. The basic sites are usually very cheap and most have a shower building nearby. You can find a lot of info online at the individual state park sites that will include photos and prices.
My wife and I are in the process of downsizing and giving away a lot of stuff. I have a small tent with external fiberglass poles that assembles in minutes and a barely used sleeping bag that I bought many years ago to carry in airplane. You are welcome to have both and all I have to do is find them, somewhere in hangar or attic.

mrken30

I see you are landing in Florida but it wasn't on the itinary. I did find Tarpon Springs and interesting old town.

petitefrancaise

I'm not allowed to give you any more Karma until I've spread it around!

To the OP, sure, pm me when you think you'll be my way. Austin isn't a big city at all and nothing like London, Paris, New York and Dallas which is where I've lived before at various times... . Don't take any notice of the mad shitter, he's never ever got anything useful to say. In his own world, mad is the word indeed. Maybe you could entice him to the aforementioned forum?

I assumed you'd be rv'ing? Are you staying in hotels?

petitefrancaise

Just read through a couple of more posts...

you will have basic camping equipment and a car?

ddsrph

As an example go to Tennessee State parks website and look at South Cumberland State park. It has many hiking trails and great scenery. The campsites are from $8 to $45. This park is north of Chattanooga in direction of Nashville.

themadpooper

Telling a single bloke from the UK to go camping in Southern America is very odd advice. He wants to have a good time seeing real America, not kipping in a field with a bunch of families who will probably think he's a paedo

mrken30

It also is very warm/humid for a Brit. It's nice to go back to a room with AC in the evening.

petitefrancaise

It's funny what is regarded as "real america" isn't it? I'd much,much rather get off the beaten track and into mountains and state parks than stay in small town USA. For me the beauty and grandeur of the USA lies not in the average city or town but out in the wild. I know some people would go from smart hotel to smart hotel to spa resort and consider they'd seen the USA but that's just the disney/macdo version. Sure, stay in a lovely hotel in a big city and be pampered but why stay in a grotty motel on the side of a highway just to visit small town America. Sugarmooma, another neighbour hails from Fort Davis, her mother runs the local newspaper - and what she says about it doesn't make me want to visit it at all. But Fort Davis is close to some absolutely superb mountains....

To the OP, maybe someone can point you to a rental place - but in Colorado I saw some small camper vans that were not much bigger than a people carrier which would be great to get around in. Maybe someone knows of a similar company in FL? https://www.jucyusa.com/rv-rental-locations/

petitefrancaise

yes, I was going to mention this.... in Colorado camping is lovely during the summer. Not Texas/Utah/New Mexico though.

mrken30

This looks like fun. At @100 /night not a bad deal. There does seem to be a lot of add-ons to consider.

We have been looking at trying to buy something like this. I wonder if they sell them on. Most RV's in the US cannot accommodate child seats.

tom169

Nom nom nom. More gravy the better.

Bob

There are a fair few of them in the New England area, normally you find them seasonally, for obvious reasons, but they tend to be around biking and hiking trail areas. A lot of them in New Hampshire and Vermont, quite a few in CT/PA and also Maine.

Bob

I don't know about visiting all of them, but I'd think it would be worth visiting at least one. They're quite different to the UK and the style of cities do vary a lot across the US. Boston is very different to Chicago, which is massively different to Minneapolis or going to a smaller city, say Duluth, MN or Dubuque Iowa.

zzrmark

Top tip, as learnt whilst road tripping in Texas last summer, but applies anywhere in hot weather: When booking dive roadside motels request a room that gets afternoon shade, otherwise your room may well take a while to be of comfortable temperature. If the owners are tight and the rooms still have nasty window mounted aircon units, they'll not turn on the aircon until the room is let (or more specifically, you'll turn it on as you stagger to it in temperatures deserving of a hot oven!!!)

scrubbedexpat097

That's where we differ. Small town America can have some of the more interesting histories and interesting characters.

Now if the OP wants a real funky out there place to visit then Terlingua Ghost town is as weird and wonderful as you can get. Love it there.