Around the USA in 150 days (Or how we toured the USA on a budget) Introduction

In the early 1950’s when I was a child, I remember hearing the stories of people who had been to the United States and travelled around. I don't remember who they were, but I do remember the stories they told of the places they had seen, the adventures they had, and the wonderful places they had been. So I grew up with a desire in the back of my mind to one day make the same journey myself.

The advent of television in Australia in the late 50’s with the Mickey Mouse club, American comedies and documentaries on the United States, immersed a generation of Aussie kids in American culture and values.

When I met Nola in the 1970’s, I found that one of the things we shared was this desire to make an extended journey to the USA. We were married and had three beautiful boys, Joshua, Christopher and Michael in the 1980’s. The pressures of work and bringing 3 children up in general, meant that our travel plans were put on the back shelf.

Then in 1988, after many years of working at paying off our mortgage and saving for the future, we found ourselves in the situation where we had a reasonable amount of money in the bank (finally).

We were at the stage that our three boys were sharing two rooms, and would have been grateful to have a room each, so there was pressure on us to use our accumulated funds to build some extra rooms on to our house (or move to a bigger one, which many families here choose). At the same time Graham had the opportunity to take a large chunk of time off work, and so we were tempted to use it (and our savings) to make our long anticipated trip to the USA.

We chose the latter, much to our later pleasure, although at the time the decision was taken with some trepidation. After all, we had never before left the country of our birth, and the thought of an extended trip to the USA seemed daunting.

But the decision was made, and we gave ourselves a little over a year to plan the details. What follows is our account of our trip, how we planned it, where we went, the problems we had (thankfully very few!) and the many pleasures we experienced.

We were only able to make such an extended trip due to careful planning and budgeting, so we will include details of our expenses and cost saving tips as a guide to others who may wish to make a similar journey. While they are a little dated, you can use them as a guide by adjusting them for inflation (which has been very low in the USA in the years since) and by making enquiries regarding critical details before you embark. We will provide information and links to resources giving current prices to assist you to do this.

We hope you will enjoy our story.

Next - Getting there

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