What does a 2+ months long cross country road trip in the USA cost? Our breakdown of costs and our observations…

 

Bellagio pools, Bellagio, Las Vegas 

Key summary:

• Lodging costs for 72 days (11/28/2022-2/9/2023):  $3744
• Food costs:  $2412
• Gasoline costs:  $896
• Miscellaneous/Entertainment:  $3750

Total spent:  $10802

Back around the summer of 2022, my wife and I started planning for a cross country road trip that would take us from North Carolina (where we are based), all the way to Southern California.  Our planning coincided with the passing of our furry and extremely cute Pomeranian Toby the previous months.

We both felt bit awkward and frankly bit lost without that fur ball, and we both felt the time was right to start traveling further out than our usual modus operandi of traveling within the Eastern United States.  We thought, correctly, that a cross country road trip would be the one to take.

There are so many reasons why we chose to do a cross country road trip rather than take a ‘normal’ vacation and take a flight somewhere and visit a destination for a week or so.  Here are some of those reasons:

• We had done similar cross country road trips three times together:  1) New York City to Colorado, 2) NYC to New Orleans, and 3) NYC to Key West.  We loved each and every one of them, going to a new place, experiencing new stimuli, and trying new foods
• We wanted to visit several national parks like Zion, Death Valley, White Sands, Arches, Bryce Canyon, etc., as we already had purchased America the Beautiful Pass that allows entry to all national parks 
• We are retired therefore we’re no longer bound by time.  We can choose to travel much longer than the typical week or 2 week vacation we used to take when we both worked 
• We wanted to revisit familiar places like Las Vegas and New Orleans which are some of our favorite destinations for foods, sights, and sounds
• I accrued enough points to become a MGM Rewards Gold status member around November 2022 and wanted to use it to get free stays at various MGM Resorts destinations throughout the US
• I signed up for MyVegas Rewards program which gives out free stays/free foods at many MGM Resorts and at other non-MGM Resorts destinations for playing casino games for free
• We wanted to visit friends/family during our trip, namely my ex-colleague at my last job, our nephew who lives in Houston, and my wife’s friends, also in Houston 
• We wanted to do something different than when we had Toby:  we wanted to stay at hotels rather than just at long term AirBnB’s and we wanted to enjoy the freedom of living without our furry creature as our way of adapting to new environments
• Last but not least, we figured the cost of a flight/hotel/rental car package to one destination for two weeks equal what we would spend on our 2+ months long cross country road trip!  

Bottom line:  It was a no brainer to choose the road trip.  The amount of new stimuli we would experience on a road trip is priceless:  the smell of the open road, the wonder of driving on new roads, the intrigue of getting acclimated to new environments, the excitement of biting into new foods, and all the sheer euphoria and building anticipation of upcoming adventures!

So, in the wee hours of the morning of November 28, 2022 we embarked on our 4th cross country road trip, leaving from our home in North Carolina for the open road!  These are all of the stops we made during our trip as well as some of the highlights:

1. 11/28 - 11/30.  We left North Carolina for South Carolina for a 2 night stay at my ex-colleague’s place, catching up with her and also our neighbors at the AirBnB in Murrels Inlet, South Carolina, who we got to know.
2. 11/30 - 12/7.  Spent 7 nights at Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi, (6 nights free thanks to MGM Rewards Gold status) enjoying excellent food, especially Cajun and seafood, while taking in some local history and culture.
3. 12/7 - 12/9.  Spent 2 nights in New Orleans, Louisiana, our second trip there together, walking around the French Quarter, doing a tour of a plantation, and savoring delicious Cajun/Creole food.
4. 12/9 - 12/11.  Stayed with our nephew and toured the city of Houston, Texas; met up with my wife’s friends
5. 12/11 - 12/16.  Spent 5 nights in the city of Galveston, Texas; toured the famous downtown area but stayed mostly indoors as we felt like it; ate mostly supermarket food from Kroger’s Supermarkets adjacent to our hotel
6. 12/16 - 12/18.  Spent 2 nights in San Antonio, Texas, sightseeing the Alamo and the famous River Walk
7. 12/18 - 12/20.  Visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park and stayed in the town of Carlsbad, New Mexico.
8. 12/20 - 12/23.  Visited White Sands National Park then stayed at Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Visited Petroglyph National Monument and Old Town in Albuquerque.
9. 12/23 - 12/24.  Stayed 1 night in the town of Holbrook, Arizona after visiting Petrified Forest National Park the same afternoon.
10. 12/24 - 12/27.  Stopped by at Meteor Crater National Landmark, then headed for Page, Arizona for 3 nights.  Visited the unforgettable Antelope Canyon, Glen Canyon National Park, and Horseshoe Bend near Page.
11. 12/27 - 1/1.  Stayed 5 nights in Moab, Utah and finally visited Monument Valley, Arches and Canyonlands National Park.  
12. 1/1 - 1/3.  Stayed 2 nights in town of Torrey, Utah and visited Capitol Reef National Park.
13. 1/3 - 1/6.  Stayed 3 nights in town of Panguitch, Utah for Bryce Canyon National Park.
14. 1/6 - 1/9.  Stayed 3 nights in Springdale, Utah for our favorite national park, Zion National Park!
15. 1/9 - 1/13.  4 nights at the Bellagio (Las Vegas, Nevada) free thanks to my MGM Rewards Gold Status
16. 1/13 - 1/15.  2 nights in Laughlin, Nevada at Avi Resort; visited Havasu City, Arizona and saw the London Bridge.
17. 1/15 - 1/17.  2 nights free at Sycuan Casino Hotel in San Diego, California thanks to MyVegas Rewards.
18. 1/17 - 1/19.  2 nights free at Pauma Valley Country Club (Pauma Valley, California) compliments of my buddy Carlito; visited nearby attractions nearby 
19. 1/19 - 1/23.  4 nights at the Delano (Las Vegas) free again thanks to my MGM Rewards card.
20. 1/23 - 1/26.  Stayed 3 nights at Aquarius Casino Resort in Laughlin, Nevada; tried local foods in Bullhead City, Arizona and walked Laughlin’s River Walk.
21. 1/26 - 1/30.  4 nights at the Aria Hotel (Las Vegas) again thanks to my MGM Rewards card; visited Death Valley National Park and revisited Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area 
22. 1/30 - 2/1.  2 nights in Flagstaff, Arizona; visited Wupatki National Monument and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument 
23. 2/1 - 2/2.  One night stopover in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
24. 2/2 - 2/3.  One night stopover in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
25. 2/3 - 2/6.  3 nights free at Gold Strike in Tunica, Mississippi again thanks to my MGM Rewards card.
26. 2/6 - 2/9.  3 nights in Gatlinburg, Tennessee; visited the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Note:  For detailed review of each destination, please see my previous posts.

Because this is a post about the cost of our road trip, I’ll go straight into the breakdown of each category.  See below:

Lodging

• We got 21 free nights at various MGM Resorts destinations thanks to MGM Rewards Gold status

This upgraded status waives the dreaded resort fees (anywhere from $20 in Biloxi to around $50 in Las Vegas) and we also get upgraded rooms (better views/higher floors whenever possible).  We figure we saved around $4000 (hotel fees and resort fees) for those free 21 nights stay at various MGM Resorts.

• We got 2 free nights at Sycuan Casino Resort in San Diego thanks to MyVegas Rewards 

We booked those 2 free nights for around 100000 MyVegas Rewards points and the room was incredible!  We probably saved around $300 for those 2 free nights.

• We stayed with family/friends for 6 nights 

We stayed with our friends in South Carolina for 2 nights and stayed 2 nights with our nephew in Houston.  We also got 2 free nights in Pauma Valley thanks to my childhood buddy, Carlito.  We probably saved around $600 for those 6 nights.

• We stayed at hotels/motels elsewhere 

The rest of the trip, we booked hotels using various online travel sites like Hotwire, Priceline.com, Booking.com, and ChoiceHotels.com.  Because we were traveling during the offseason, hotel prices in many of the popular destinations were really reasonable, some as low as $55 per night with breakfast at Beachfront Palms Hotel in Galveston to as high as $152 per night with no breakfast at DoubleTree Hotel in New Orleans.  

Here are the hotel prices breakdown:

1. DoubleTree, New Orleans $304 for 2 nights with parking
2. Beachfront Palms Hotel, Galveston $274 for 5 nights 
3. Fairfield Inn & Suites, San Antonio $165 for 2 nights 
4. Post Time Inn, Carlsbad $218 for 2 nights
5. Homewood Suites, Albuquerque $283 for 3 nights 
6. Green Tree Inn, Holbrook $79 for 1 night
7. Sleep Inn & Suites, Page $202 for 3 nights 
8. Sleep Inn & Suites, Moab $343 for 5 nights 
9. Red Sands Hotel, Torrey $221 for 2 nights 
10. Quality Inn Bryce Canyon, Panguitch $222 for 3 nights 
11. Holiday Inn Express, Springdale $259 for 3 nights 
12. Avi Resort, Laughlin $197 for 2 nights 
13. Aquarius Hotel, Laughlin $193 for 3 nights 
14. Sleep Inn, Flagstaff $157 for 2 nights 
15. Quality Inn, Albuquerque $80 for 1 night
16. Sleep Inn, Oklahoma City $67 for 1 night
17. Quality Inn, Gatlinburg $225 for 3 nights 

Whereas many hotels/motels we had stayed at some 20 years ago were literally dumps, we were pleasantly surprised by Sleep Inn, as well as many others like Holiday Inn Express and Homewood Suites.  All of these hotels made for nice stays, and all of them provided free hot breakfast which we absolutely loved.  It was certainly different than eating so called ‘continental’ breakfast in the bad old days, comprising of coffee/tea and donuts (or bagels).

After staying at Sleep Inn & Suites for the first time at Page Arizona, we really got hooked on it thanks to its nice combination of value, cleanliness, nice buffet breakfast, newly decorated rooms (in most locations), and close proximity to major attractions.  We ended up opening a Choice Hotels Rewards (Sleep Inn and Quality Inn are part of Choice Hotels) program to maximize our rewards for future free stays.

During the trip, we learned not to book stays inside major cities like New Orleans due to their high cost and high parking fees.  In New Orleans, we paid $40 per night to park our car at a garage 3 blocks away!  Never again…

Food

• We didn’t prepare our meals nor cook our own meals during the entire trip

This was a departure from our usual routine as we usually cook/prepare our meals while staying at an AirBnB for a month or longer.  For this cross country trip, we wanted to minimize our luggage (and not having to cook!), and that meant no cookware, utensils, spices/oils, etc.

We did a combination of eating at sit down restaurants, takeouts, and supermarket foods.  Here are some of the things we did for food:

1. We always looked to balance our food budget as best we can:  If we spent too much on food the previous day or two, then we would spend less the next day or two.  As we all know, prices at sit down restaurants have been creeping up since the pandemic.   On average, we spent around $40 at sit down restaurants, never dinner, always lunch, to maximize the biggest bang for our buck.
2. We did lots of takeout foods:  To balance our food budget, we did takeouts and ate that over two meals, eating half at lunch, then half at dinner.  Takeout was always cheaper vs sit down places, as we didn’t have to order drinks and tip.  On average, we spent around $25 for takeout for the two of us.  Some of the popular takeout places included Subway’s, Buc-ee’s, Mexican foods, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, pizza joints, and Chinese food.  
3. We ate at fast casual restaurants and food courts to save money on drinks and tips.  In Las Vegas, we found a Korean supermarket/food court, and ate some delicious Korean food and pastries.  In Joshua Tree California, we ate at a fast casual Mexican restaurant.
4. We shopped at supermarkets to save on food.  There’s always a Walmart, as well as other supermarkets like Kroger’s, Aldi, City Market, etc., and we bought freshly prepared meals like sushi, tacos, ready to eat salads, and snacks.  In Galveston, Kroger’s was right next door to our hotel, so we ended up shopping there during our 5 night stay.  We spent about $140 on meals for those 5 nights.  

• We used Groupon to get discounts on a meal at New Orleans Creole Cookery restaurant 

We spent $29 for a meal that cost about $70 with tips and soft drinks thanks to Groupon’s coupon where we got a $40 value at the restaurant for $8 after using my Groupon initial welcome bonus of $10.  We had a feast at the restaurant trying out our favorite Cajun dishes like jambalaya, etoufee, shrimp pasta in cajun sauce, beans & rice, along with Cajun fries.  

• We got resort credits at all 3 Las Vegas MGM Resorts properties of $150 per stay

We charged the foods we ate at any MGM Resorts properties to our room, then we would pay the difference after subtracting the $150 in resort credits on checkout.  We ate at the super expensive Bellagio buffet which we wouldn’t have at $45 per guest, had we not had that resort credit, and we ate at other restaurants thanks to that resort credit.  

We saved $450 during our 3 stays at the Bellagio, the Delano, and at the Aria.  We’ll take these any day!

• Used MyVegas Rewards points for free meals at MGM Resorts Properties 

We used vouchers for BOGO (buy one get one) meals at buffets at the Excalibur, the Luxor, MGM Grand and at Diablo’s at Luxor, Nine Fine Irishmen at New York New York, and TAP Sports Bar at Excalibur.  We probably saved about $30 per meal thanks to these vouchers.  

***Interested in finding out about MyVegas Rewards?  Do a search within my blog for the same topic.  I recently covered it.

Gasoline

• We drove over 12000 miles during our trip!

USA is so big that you can only begin to understand its massive size when you’re driving it!  A state like Texas is so vast that it takes all day to cross the entire length of the state, meaning we needed to fill up more than once just to cross the state!

Lucky for us, the gasoline prices in Texas were the cheapest anywhere at around $2.50 per gallon during our trip there in mid-December, but elsewhere, we paid on average around $3.20 or so.  They added up quickly.  We remember paying around $1.30 per gallon about 20 years ago during our trip to Colorado from NYC, but I guess I’m dating myself…

To conserve fuel, I don’t drive too fast, usually sticking to around 7 miles over the speed limit, using cruise control whenever possible to control my speed on the highways.  I also don’t do many jackrabbit starts or heavy breaking, which helps out with fuel consumption.

But no matter what we did, we still needed to cover vast distances across the US.  I actually think we did well on gasoline costs for the entire trip considering all the places we visited during our trip.  On certain trips when we were booked for 3 days or longer, we would take a day to stay (and veg out) at our hotel, not going anywhere, which helped somewhat with fuel consumption.

After a long day of hiking, we needed a day to rest at places like Arches N.P. and Bryce Canyon N.P.  This is one of the best things about retiring!  We can choose to set our own pace of exploration.  We don’t need to always push ourselves to see as many things as we can, like we usually did when we only had a week long vacation with limited time…

Miscellaneous/Entertainment 

• Lots of attractions to explore equal money!

We did have the America the Beautiful Pass that allows entry to all national parks for free, but we knew we also wanted to explore other attractions besides national parks during our road trip.  Some of the attractions we paid for were:

1. Arcade at the Beau Rivage, Biloxi $40
2. Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, Biloxi $20
3. Harborlights, Gulfport $30
4. Destrehan Plantation Tour, New Orleans $45
5. Museum of Art parking, Houston $10
6. Museum of Art, Houston $38
7. Recreation.gov fee to enter the Alamo, San Antonio $2
8. Meteor Crater, Arizona $46
9. Antelope Canyon X Tours, Page $160
10. Monument Valley, Arizona/Utah $16
11. Movie tickets, Laughlin $17
12. Elvis Birthplace, Tupelo $40

• Traveling on the road for 2+ months mean you still need to do some upkeep…

Unlike taking a week long vacation where you simply bring back your dirty laundry, you have to do your laundry when you’re on the road all the time.  Lucky for us, most hotels have laundry facilities for people like us.

On average, we did laundry just about every 4 weeks or so, choosing to wash our socks, underwear and some light shirts along the way.  Eventually though, we needed to properly wash/rinse/dry our clothes to feel fresh.  All those hiking and sweating is hard on the clothes…

On some occasions, we had to improvise to dry our clothes after hand washing them.  For example, in Galveston where humidity is constant, our shirts simply refused to dry, so we had to use the hair dryer to dry them.

We also needed to wash our car couple of times after getting our car dirty at places like Monument Valley where the red/brown dirt leaves a light coating of dirt, and at White Sands N.P. where the white sand seems to seep into every part of the underside of our car.  

Not a major expense at around $10 per wash, but they add up…

• Other stuff…

There are some things that we know we paid cash for, but I can’t remember all of them.  Here’s a partial list of things paid in cash:

1. Souvenirs/gifts for family and friends and tried fried bread at Indian City
2. Some restaurants out in the Deep South and Southwest only took cash; we were glad we had some on hand
3. Paid cash for food sometimes when we didn’t want to use our credit cards (we wanted to budget its use somewhat, so as not to feel the pain when paying for it the following month)
4. Paid tips in cash to our tour guides whenever we took tours
5. Paid tips in cash whenever we stayed at hotels
6. Whenever we ordered complimentary alcoholic beverages at casinos, we tipped our servers
7. We like to play slot games, and since we were in Las Vegas, we lived it up a bit at the casinos; you didn’t really think you can get free comped rooms/foods/shows all for free, did you?  You still have to play to show you’re a VIP

So, there you have our entire budget breakdown of our epic 2+ months long cross country road trip!  Hope this helps someone plan their trip across this great country of ours, United States!

In conclusion:

We absolutely love taking trips, but nothing comes close to the sheer joy of planning, booking lodgings, and figuring out where to visit this great country by car.  Although we’ve done it few times already, it’s always fun revisiting some of the greatest places on Planet Earth!

We’ve been mesmerized by all the new places we visited for the first time like various national parks and it was great to revisit places like Las Vegas and New Orleans yet again.  Revisiting some of them felt incredibly familiar, kind of like a homecoming.  

We’ve met many fellow travelers along the way, and some of them have been doing cross country trips many times over.  We hope to get to that same lofty spot in our future travels!  There’s nothing quite like seeing this great country by car.  We can’t wait to do another one…

Thank you for reading and supporting this blog!  Continue with us on our journey of FIRE (financial independence retire early) as we share our passion for finance and travel!

Jake

Wandering Money Pig 

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