How To Travel Usa On A Budget – There are two ways to make a trip to the state possible on a budget. The first and cheapest option is of course camping, but if weeks under canvas are not for you, there is another way.
We spent a couple of months in the US for less than $50 a day per person and never stopped!
How To Travel Usa On A Budget
Now, we’re not saying it’s going to be glamorous, but it was one of the best trips we’ve ever been on, and we certainly didn’t miss it.
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Traveling in the off-season can have its drawbacks if you get caught in bad weather, but overall we’ve found the downsides to be greater.
Our states of choice are Arizona and Utah, with California coming in a bit because we have flights to and from Los Angeles.
This meant that the off season was from January to March (before spring break). Off-season dates may vary slightly depending on the state selected.
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We’ve stayed at the odd Airbnb when they were cheaper than motels, but we’ve found motels to be the cheapest option overall. In the off season we were paying between $35 and $60 a night, but most were $50. That’s an average of $25 per night per person.
We thought that was pretty good, especially since we mostly stayed in popular towns like Moab and Joshua Tree. If you find a town outside of this price range, check each village along the way using Google Maps to slowly drive away from your desired destination.
For example, you won’t be able to stay in Sedona itself, but you can stay in Flagstaff, about 45 minutes away, for less than $40 a night. Generally speaking, booking very early or at the last minute gave us the best prices.
The last minute was obviously a gamble because sometimes we got hotels that dropped from $150 to $50 a night, but sometimes there was nothing left and we had to leave the area. It depends on how married you are to your trip.
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Okay, this is gross and a little embarrassing to admit, but we lived in motels with nothing but microwave meals. Comment if you need any recommendations for the love of God, because we’ve probably tried them all 🤣
Every motel we booked into had a microwave and we were allowed to eat dinner for $1-$5 per person depending on how fancy we got! The $1 meal is as awful as you can imagine, and we rated the $5 as gourmet!
Now, we’re not saying it’s healthy, but hey, in America, we keep it longer than we eat every day.
We ate Nature Valley Bars for breakfast and made coffee using the free coffee machines in all the motel rooms. My tea addiction had to take a backseat because America just doesn’t make tea!
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For breakfast, we made our own sandwiches or went somewhere like Subway. Sometimes – when we want a treat – Chipotle 😲🙈!!
It’s even better if you can go somewhere with a kitchen, but we’ve rarely found them to be in our budget.
Prices tend to be higher in major tourist cities on weekends. Even in the off season we couldn’t stay in places like Moab or Sedona.
So we timed our visits between Monday and Friday before going to the nearest less popular city (Flagstaff to Sedona and Green River to Moab) and then returning to where we really wanted to be on Monday if we needed more time.
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We were up at 4am to catch a 12 hour flight from London to Los Angeles and – after checking prices in Los Angeles – knew we couldn’t stay anywhere in or near the city. So we had to drive three hours straight to Joshua Tree. It was one hell of a day!
Even though we can go wherever we want, the odd place is still out of the budget (like LA). If budget is your number one priority, you may have to give up a place or two or adjust the distance you want to travel each day.
We rented a car for the whole trip and it was $20 a day – that’s $10 each. This works best if you rent for a longer period of time, like two months, like we did. You will always pay more for a short-term rental (for example, one week). Where you rent from is also important.
Major hubs like LA or Las Vegas tend to be cheaper than smaller airports. Sometimes it’s cheaper to rent from the city than from the airport, so do your homework.
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We have chosen the cheapest possible car, which is classified as a “compact budget” car. We were expecting a small shoebox, but it’s not even a small car for Europeans!
We always use userrentalcars.com to compare prices and book through them at this price. We have rental car insurance through our credit card provider so there is no need to include it.
Remember your car rental will also be cheaper in low season, I’m sure we won’t get that price in April!
Avoid paying extra satnav fees by storing maps for every trip you want on Google. This allows you to access Google Maps without using any data.
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Obviously you could use public transportation, but we’re all about freedom and wanted a great road trip on American roads, so we never thought that was an option.
Many premium parks cost $35 to enter, while an $80 pass gets you into all national parks year-round.
It offers free admission to some of America’s top attractions, including the Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce Canyon.
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It’s always cheaper to travel slowly than to pack 10 different places for 10 days. The longer you stay at a hostel, the more often you get a discount and use less gas, so your daily gas bill is lower.
Gas was around $2.50 a gallon during our visit, which meant we could drive quite a bit without spending a lot (especially compared to Europe!).
As you can see, when we spend on car, accommodation and food, there is very little left for activities. This wasn’t a problem for us as we spent most of our time in national parks and free places like Horseshoe Bend.
That doesn’t mean we’re missing out on attractions like Antelope Canyon ($60). While we spent a lot of time on Slot Valley tours one week, it was balanced out by a few weeks where everything we did was free.
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If you’re an outdoor enthusiast, you won’t be bored in America, and it won’t cost you much.
Hiking, wild swimming, lookouts, wildlife viewing, and spectacular sunrises and sunsets are all free, and America is blessed with some of the best in the world!
All in all it was one of the best trips of our lives and we are so glad we tried to travel in the off season. We hope you will try it too!
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Are you planning a trip to the US? What are your budget-saving tips? Let us know in the comments below!
Namaste! We are Kat and Joe, two Brits now living in Australia with a passion for nature and adventure travel.
Walk My World offers more detailed guides for those who like to explore on their own and find hidden gems. Planning a vacation isn’t as easy as it seems, especially when you know you’re on a tight budget. If you’ve ever dreamed of driving along the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean with the windows down, or always wanted to travel the historic Oregon Trail from the seat of your car instead of a computer screen, congratulations; You are not alone.
The question of how to travel in the US on a budget is a constant one. Given that the US is so vast and there are so many places to visit, it can be a bit difficult to stay on budget if you don’t plan. So, if you are also worried about this, we are here to help.
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This article is only intended to help you get around the US in the cheapest way possible.