Camping - Renting a van ?

Hellooooo !

My fiancé and I are thinking of taking a big long camping trip for a
few months, but we don't own a vehicle.

Any suggestions on the most economical way to travel from east coast
to west and back again ? We'll be leaving from Toronto and travelling
to Vancouver, LA, Vegas and back again through the US.

The best quote I got so far was $2800 (tax in) with 8600 free miles
(!). At that price, it almost seems worth it to buy a used van and
insurance for two months.

Any ideas ?

Supersonic Steve

wow....you hit me at the right time for this post.....we just had the
photo albums from the 97 and 98 summer road trips we did....97 was like
12 thousand miles, 98 slightly more.....we mainly camped, but learned
one big thing, the nights before the 15 to 16 hour drives, spring for
the motel...lol....

I would definately consider buying a van as opposed to renting....and
unless you realy have the driving a full circle need, I would fly out
to vancouver, or calgary and start the road trip there....

we did our big runs in just about 1 month, 1 summer it was 16 Phish
shows, 3 allman brothers shows, 25 national parks and countless state
parks.....it was a hell of a lot of driving, but we saw an awful lot of
places, but my 2 biggest cant miss "spots" include the national parks
in utah and also yellowstone....both can be crowded, but in all honesty
you get 100 yards off the road, and you are alone.....I wouldnt miss
those 2 areas for anything...yellowstone alone you could spend a month
and still be continualy amazed each time you unzip the tent door....

Hi Steve,
A few things to consider if you rent a van - some of the national parks
out west are huge. You could do a lot of driving in Yellowstone as
well as through the Grand Tetons. Devil's Tower is in the middle of
nowhere, so if you plan to visit, this means extra miles. Rocky
Mountain Nat'l Park in Colorado is also huge, as well as Yosemite,
etc.. etc. What I'm trying to get at is you might not want to limit
yourself to 8600 miles. What is the cost per mile after that?

Where are you traveling from? We had some friends from Denmark who
flew into San Francisco, bought a car, drove cross country for 2
months, and were able to sell the car when they reached Washington, DC.
I think they got $1500 for the car. So, you might be fortunate enough
to sell the car before you return home and recoup some of the cost.

8600 would hardly cover a coast to coast with even moderate touring in
between.....I think the OP's best bet is to buy and sell as you
suggested....

If it were me, I'd skip renting a van (assuming it's only two of you)
and rent a smaller (cheaper) car with unlimited miles, using the
savings to pay for motels and campgrounds. It's definitely nice to have
a van, but it's not that much more trouble to pitch a tent at a
campground. My wife and I drove across the USA and to Alaska twice,
both times in our SUV. We mixed camping and staying in lower-cost
motels. Absolutely no problems. It was nice to have the option to stay
in motels if we wanted.

Bear in mind that if you rent a minivan (as opposed to a full-size
cargo van) you will have the passenger bench seats to contend with,
which will make sleeping in the back difficult. Most rental agencies
will NOT allow you to leave the seats at the rental location. Also, a
van will get worse gas mileage than a smaller car and be more difficult
to park in certain areas. And, for security's sake, I'd prefer a
vehicle with a trunk in case youo go hiking or whatever and leave it
unattended.

Although $3,000 is a lot, I think renting a vehicle is a better bet.
You may save a little bit of money by buying something, but you aren't
going to get that great of a used vehichle for less than $3,000, then
you have to worry about breakdowns and repairs, licensing, selling it
at the end, etc. I'm making the assumption that you are not residents
of the USA or Canada; if you are, then this option might make a bit
more sense.

Another thought would be to rent a car in the eastern part of North
America, see the east coasts of Canada and the USA, then return the car
to the originating point and fly somewhere out west (like Denver) and
repeat the process.

In any event, consider renting the car at a location other than the
airport. Most airports tack on a hefty facility tax (often like
15-19%), which really will add up for a long rental. Find an
off-airport location for the rental company and take a cab to it.

Best also to check if you can even get insurance if you're a
non-resident. This has come up before and seem to recall it is not
possible without residency and U.S. address.

" wrote:

8600 would hardly cover a coast to coast with even moderate touring in
between.....I think the OP's best bet is to buy and sell as you
suggested....