​

Discount Travel Secrets: Epic US Road Trips On A Budget

Hi Reader,

I’m so excited to share this week’s new post with you, our American Southwest Road Trip Itinerary!

This one’s extra special because it was actually our honeymoon road trip over 5 years ago.

We originally planned for four weeks on the road, but after three weeks, places started to close down and we had to head home early.

Since then, we’ve revisited a lot of the destinations we missed, especially in Utah and Arizona, and finally pulled everything together into one complete itinerary.

If you’ve followed me for a while, you probably know that big road trip itineraries like this are the bread and butter of what we do.

They’re the heart of Discovering Hidden Gems.

Over the years, we’ve done a few of these “bucket list” road trips, and it’s always interesting to look back and see how affordable they actually were once you break them down per person, per day.

Here’s a quick look at three of our biggest adventures:

🚗 American Southwest Road Trip​
21 days through the Four Corners region (Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado) for $2,925.13 total, or about $69.65 per person per day.

​

🌄 Great American Road Trip​
12 days visiting major National Parks out west like Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, and Zion for $2,679.49 total, or about $111.65 per person per day.

​

🇺🇸 Ultimate US Road Trip​
52 days from Southern California all the way across the Southern US to Savannah, then all the way up the East Coast to Boston, and all the way back through the Midwest and Route 66 for $8,360 total, or about $80.38 per person per day.

​

Inside each of these blog posts, I break down exactly where that money went: lodging, food, activities, and transportation (and how you can make your own version of these trips even cheaper).

There were definitely moments where we could’ve saved more.

We treated ourselves to a few nicer meals, grabbed a couple souvenirs we didn’t really need, and one stop even included an unexpected car repair (we had to get the air conditioning fixed, not exactly the souvenir I planned on bringing home).

If you took out that repair alone, the total for that trip would have dropped by a few hundred dollars!

That’s why I love showing the real numbers.

When you look at the per-person, per-day cost, it’s easier to see that these kinds of cross-country adventures are way more attainable than people think.

And if you’re looking at those per-person, per-day costs and thinking they still sound high, here’s something to keep in mind.

Think about what you’d spend on a simple overnight getaway, just one night somewhere local.

Even with two people, once you factor in lodging, meals, gas, and a little entertainment, it’s pretty hard to do that for under $100 a day.

Lodging alone usually takes up a big chunk of that, and eating out even twice adds up fast.

And if you plan something like a theme park day, the ticket price alone is often more than what we spent per day on our entire trip!

So when you look at it that way, these longer road trips are actually a really good value.

And keep in mind, we weren’t trying to do these on an extreme budget either.

We just picked destinations and activities that were naturally more affordable and tried not to go overboard on food or extras (because honestly, eating too much every day on the road doesn’t feel great anyway).

So if you’ve been dreaming of an epic road trip across the U.S., definitely check out this week’s new post on the American Southwest Road Trip.

It’s one of my favorites we’ve ever done, packed with red rock views, historic towns, and a few quirky stops along the way.

And if you want even more inspiration, you can check out our Great American Road Trip and Ultimate US Road Trip itineraries too.

Each one includes our full routes, daily breakdowns, and honest budgeting tips to help you plan your own version for less.

See you next week,

Eva and JP 💎

P.S. Ready to plan your next trip?

Find some of our favorite travel-related resources below.
Using our affiliate links won't increase your costs in anyway, but it will earn us a small token of gratitude from the company for directing you their way.

✔ Find the cheapest rental car rate
​✔ Save on flights
​✔ Save on your hotel booking
✔ Save on airport transfers, tours, and attraction tickets
​And finally...
✔ Check out our resources page on our blog