This summer, I, in partnership with Bold Magazine, drove across the U.S.
The road trip covered the East Coast, moved across a few states in the South Central part of the country, and ended in San Francisco, California. The nearly 6,000 mile trip lasted approximately two months and stopped in more than 25 cities.
So far, I have made four stops: Boston, MA; Cape Cod, MA; New York City, NY; and Atlantic City, NJ.
But let me back up a bit. The trip actually began in Toronto. From there, I took a bus to the Buffalo airport and flew into Boston’s Logan International. There, I rented a car and made my way down to Cape Cod.
During the drive, I began formulating a list of things I have learned about driving, traveling and life in general. I would like to share some of them with you now:
1) Always fly out of Buffalo: If you live in the Toronto area, and are planning a trip to the U.S., look for flights that go out of Buffalo. The airport is only two hours away from downtown Toronto (three hours by bus), and the flights are significantly cheaper than if you were to depart from Pearson or Billy Bishop. For example, my flight from Buffalo to Boston cost $130; the same flight from Pearson cost over $600. I don’t need to do the math for you to show you that this is a BIG difference.
2) You can’t rent a car in Canada and leave it in the U.S.: Did you all know this? Well, I didn’t. I mean, it can be done but the rental car company would have to authorize it. That could be a hassle and there could also be problems with insurance if you leave a car in another country. Speaking of insurance, if you plan to take on an endeavor such as this, make sure that your Canadian insurance coverage applies for rental cars in the U.S. (or other countries). If it doesn’t, I strongly urge you to purchase insurance through the car rental company. This applies to health coverage as well.
3) Don’t be nervous at the border: As the bus from Toronto pulled into the Buffalo border crossing for inspection I got nervous – this has a lot to do with me being pulled into secondary questioning every time I go into the U.S. When I went up to the counter, I tried to stay calm, but the guard just started firing questions at me: Where are you going? When are you coming back? Where did you go to school? Are you going back? How much money do you have with you? Easy tiger. So, I said I was going to Boston for two weeks and that I would be back by July. The guard looked at me with suspicion and told me that July was six weeks away…awkward! He let it slide and let me into the country. Whew.
4) Use a GPS and don’t put it on mute: This is a no brainer. A GPS makes traveling a lot easier especially if you’re alone…and it’s nice to hear the robot lady’s voice. Also, I didn’t have to fuss about with maps or written directions. I could focus on the road and relax. This is very important, especially when driving in cities like Boston and New York where the roads are just a mess. I see ‘One Way’ driving signs in my sleep now.
5) Look up your route on Google Maps: It took me a few hundred miles to learn that when the GPS robot lady says ‘keep left’ and ‘turn left’ she means two very different things. So, before I started my next trip, I looked up directions on Google Maps and wrote them down. This helped me get a general grasp of the route and pointed out important exit and road signs.
These were just some of the things I learned on the road. There will be many more lessons covered throughout the trip. So stay tuned!
BOULEVARD 