How Much Does It Cost to Visit All 50 States?

This is a guest post by fellow Intentional Travelers, Alyssa and Heath Padgett. This young couple embarked on an epic U.S. road trip in 2014 to film their documentary, Hourly America. If you’re curious about how to visit all 50 states in America, this post will start you out with a 48 state road trip cost and give you travel tips to make it happen.

This post covers:
– 48 State road trip budget breakdown
– Total cost of driving 48 States
– 50 State budget (including flights to Hawaii & Alaska)
– Road trip budget travel tips
– How to save money on food, lodging, gas, and more

You might also like: Top Resources for Traveling Full-Time in the U.S.

A few months before our wedding day, Heath and I found ourselves dreaming of a 48-state road trip, wondering how we could afford such a lifestyle. We wanted to live each day freely, able to travel, write, and live an adventure. No cubicles, no bosses, no 9 to 5 grind.

Unfortunately, we were two engaged kids who just quit their jobs and could in no way afford the lifestyle we imagined for ourselves.

But then Heath sent an email, found us a sponsor, and two weeks later found the perfect RV for our first home. We created a GoFundMe campaign to raise enough money to get us started on the road and suddenly, we were counting down the days to the grand adventure instead of the wedding day!

Four days after the rainy wedding, my newlywed husband and I started driving west and didn’t stop our tour of the country for the next 200 days.

When we eventually returned home to Texas, we asked our close friends and family if they expected us to finish. Most of them said no. They expected us to quit or stop somewhere along the way and come home. After all, seven months on the road isn’t exactly all glamorous, easy travel–especially for your honeymoon!

But despite our doubts and everyone else’s, we’ve now visited all lower 48 states exploring national parks, big cities, and every small town in between for total of 18,280 miles of America. And yes, we also flew to Alaska and Hawaii the following winter thanks to our sponsor company, Snagajob.

Now without further ado, I’d like to share you with you the cost of travel. Our finalized financial records for 200 days on the road. How much do you think it costs to pay for 18K miles of gasoline?

How Much Does It Cost To Visit All 50 States?

Gas: $6,593.57

This is my favorite stat of our travel. It cost us approximately 36 cents per mile of travel across the country.

We’ve seen gas prices soar over $4 in California and duck under $2 back in Texas, but no one we’ve asked expected our gas expenses to be this low. Estimating that our average speed of travel is 55 mph, which let’s be honest is a little generous for our 1994 engine, we drove approximately 333 hours over our 200 days on the road.

Lodging: $2,710.84

Using Passport America, Good Sam, and friendly driveways across the country, we spent less than 3K on lodging for 7 months. That means on average we spent $13.55 per night‘s stay and less than $400 per month.

Groceries: $2,053.05

Since we travel with our kitchen, we try to always eat in to save money. Our meals for two people cost an average of $10.26 a day, and includes 3 square meals a day plus our daily bowl of popcorn.

Gym Membership: $344.84

Oh, Planet Fitness. More than giving us a chance to exercise, Pfit always gave us a warm, luxurious shower on the road. The membership to the nationwide gym costs us $43 a month and boasts spacious showers and massages chairs. (This number also includes the yearly membership fee).

Phone Bill: $1,311.22

This number makes me want to cry! Since our phone plan began days before our wedding, this number includes all of those ridiculous startup fees that come with any new phone plan.

Losing my phone back in Colorado helped lower our bill by over $75 a month, making us consider why smartphones are so necessary.

Eating Out: $512.88

Oh the sweet taste of Starbucks’ lattes and fresh chips and queso! Heath and I largely avoid eating out, but sometimes you just need to take a night off.

Most of these expenses are from our first month on the road where we undoubtedly spent the most money overall and from our time in New York City, where we stayed in a hotel (courtesy of Snagajob) and ate out every meal.

Maintenance: $1,955.72

A new fuel pump, new brake pads, new rotors, oil changes, capping a gas leak, replacing a melted battery–you never know what will happen on the road. Considering we purchased a 1994 Coachman Leprechaun off of Craigslist, I think paying less than $2000 on maintenance for 18K miles while visiting all 50 States is pretty reasonable.

Giving: $210.00

We don’t have much to give, but Heath and I do give $30 monthly to a nonprofit. Despite our lack of wealth, we firmly believe it is important to give to others as much as you can.

Other costs:

Wedding costs, Christmas gifts, Spotify, insurance, tickets, and one overdraft fee–we didn’t have any other big ticket expenses, but lots of small purchases along the way.

Things like buying a National Parks pass for $80 or spending $35 to ride the the boat into Niagara Falls. We did go shopping for clothes once, while in NYC, where I bought the cutest dresses and spent $40.

Total Spent: $18,748.85

That’s an average of spending $2600 a month, or more importantly, roughly $1.00 per mile of travel. 
 

Income: $15,503.23

Between our sponsorship, writing gigs, and freelance work, Heath and I made over $11,000 ourselves.

Our GoFundMe and wedding gifts raised $4,175 total.

We also made money on the road from various tips Heath made on his jobs and through the kindness of business owners on the road.

This means we paid only $3245.62 out of pocket, for our seven month honeymoon, traveling all 50 States. The average cost of a honeymoon is between $4000-$5000 for just one destination. I’d say that’s pretty good.

By our final two months, we were breaking even financially and getting close to making more money than we spent.

Those are our final costs for 200 days, 48 states, and a lifetime of memories all in one honeymoon.

Now, we hope to pay off all 27K of student loan debt in the next as soon as possible by continuing to live in an RV.

For more road trip tips, check out:
Top Resources for Traveling Full-Time in the U.S.
The Essential Packing List for Your Epic Camping Road Trip

UPDATE:

To truly visit every state in America, we flew to Hawaii and drove/flew to Alaska for a grand total of $4,602.38. The line by line deets are below:

How to Travel Full-Time Without Busting Your Budget

Let’s take another look at travel budgets in an RV. The following was originally written in December 2014.

During the month of October, we spent exactly $2,731.42 on 31 days of travel covering 1,000 miles of the East Coast.

Every night we slept in our tempurpedic bed, woke up with coffee, and witnessed some of America’s most beautiful sights. We haven’t been exactly “roughing it.”

These are a few of the things we did during the month of October:

• Apple picking in Vermont
• Scenic drives through the Green & White Mountain Ranges
• Dipping our toes in the Atlantic Ocean in Maine
• Watching the sunset at Prospect Hill in Massachusetts
• Visiting New York City (and shopping at Macy’s of course!)
• Spent a day at Six Flags America
• Toured the National Mall in Washington DC
• Toured Hagley Museum, the 1800s era estate of E.I. DuPont
• Bought Christmas decorations on Halloween and covered our RV in twinkling lights
• Followed the changing leaves down from Vermont to Virginia

Would you pay $3,000 in order to see all of that? I would do it again in a heart beat.

In comparison to the typical American Vacation:

Last year for Christmas we took a vacation to New York City. It was an incredible week, but for the entire week we spent $3k and only experienced one city. And $3k for a week long vacation in NYC at Christmas time was a bargain! We bought our tickets months ahead of time and reserved our hotel room through Groupon. The average week long vacation for two people can easily run you $5,000.

Now we’re able to see America, all of America, and our dollar is being stretched four times what we spent during one week on vacation.

If you’re thinking about doing some long-term traveling, this will be a great introduction while planning your trip.

Saving Money on: Food while traveling

Total spent on food during month of October: $403.61

Eating out: $41.40

Groceries: $362.21

The first area we really cut back on is eating out, this is one of the largest expenses for most people while traveling. During the month of October, we limited meals out to 41 bucks. Most of those costs are quick cups of coffee or a shared meal. Because my wife is gluten-free, we have an extra incentive to stay at home and cook instead of going out.

Always eating “in” looks like this:

Breakfast:

• Eggs, sausage, and toast
• Eggs, bacon, hash browns, and tortillas for breakfast tacos
• Smoothies
• Gluten free homemade pancakes

Lunch:

• Sandwiches
• Quesadillas
• Dinner leftovers
• Sometimes I splurge and eat the $1 Totinos Pizzas while Alyssa makes stir fry out of leftover rice and veggies

Dinner:

• Chicken, broccoli, and baked potato
• Salmon, asparagus, and rice
• Burgers, french fries
• Spaghetti
• Tacos

Snacks:

• Popcorn – Here’s how to make popcorn on your stove
• Popsicles
• Cereal
• Homemade granola or chex mix

Most meals you can cook in a home you can cook in an RV. The point is, we don’t skimp on eating well and we spend very little for our meals.

Takeaways: 

1. Don’t eat out if possible. Eggs, bacon, milk, and a loaf of bread that last a week cost the same as one dinner plate at a cheap restaurant.
2. Use Pinterest to make homemade versions of your favorite meals.
3. Keep snacks handy when driving! Little snack stops add up fast.

Saving Money on: Lodging

Total spent on lodging for month of October: $453.23

Average nightly spend: 14.62

Our monthly goal is to also stay five nights per month with friends or family along the trip. This saves us around $150/month and keeps our average nightly spend low. During the month of October, we stayed several nights free by parking our RV in driveways and staying with strangers/family.

When we stay in RV parks we always use Good Sam or Passport America. Both are discount programs for campers. Good Sam offers a 10% discount and is available at about 80% of campsites across the entire country (based on our six months of travel). Passport America sites are a little more difficult to find, but they offer a 50% off rate for a yearly fee of on $50. Purchasing Passport America paid for itself in two nights of camping.

The most we’ve ever paid for a single night of camping was during the month of October, spending $50 to stay at a KOA outside of Philadelphia (using our 10% Good Sam discount). We try to completely avoid KOAs and other chain campgrounds due to higher prices and a “corporate” camping feeling.

We spent several nights in state parks where the average price is around $20/night or less. State parks offer more privacy than RV parks and it feels more like nature camping. We find it’s easier to talk and meet people in a park-like atmosphere. The downside is there is no guarantee of showers, electricity, or other amenities offered by an RV park. When we need to wash our laundry, empty our holding tank, and get some work done over Wifi we go to RV parks. When we’re tired of the city, we escape to state parks.

Saving money on: Fitness and Entertainment

Gym membership total for two people: 43.40 a month

Buying a membership to Planet Fitness was one of the smartest investments we made before leaving Austin. At $20/month/person it’s dirt cheap to hold onto. Plus, Planet Fitness has more than 800 locations across the United States.

Why is all of this important?

Well, one luxury you miss out on while traveling in an RV is a great shower. If for no other reason, our membership to “P-Fit” allows us to have an awesome shower. We also can get a decent work out in on a semi-regular basis, which is often a struggle during travel, and they have free access to massage chairs and this heavenly device called a Hydro-Bed. For us, Planet Fitness is more than a gym, it’s a familiar place when you’re in a new city where you’re guaranteed a hot shower, a massage chair, and free tootsie rolls.

Note: We are not paid to endorse Planet Fitness—their massage chairs are just that life changing.

National Park Pass: $80.00, one year membership

I’d visited some national parks before our trip, but now I’ve visited the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and a score of national parks across the country with our national park pass. Most parks charge an entrance fee that can range from $2-$30. We invested in a park pass early in June which quickly paid for itself.

Seeing national parks, in my opinion, is a better way to travel than simply going from city to city. Once you pay your way into the park you can do a lot of activities for free. Hiking, swimming, and sight seeing are some of our favorite parts of traveling. Plus, the beauty you find is stunning.

Saving money on: Gas

Total spent on fuel during month of October: $574.06

This is by far going to be your largest expense while traveling across America, hands down. There isn’t much way around spending a lot of money on gas. However, there are some things you can do.

• Travel in the off seasons! Gas in October cost over a dollar less than July. (This could also be the difference between east and west coast prices)
• Download an app like Gasbuddy that tells you where cheap gas is near your location
• Get a membership card to a place like Kroger or Randalls and receive discounts on your gas
• Fill up primarily at grocery stores (so much cheaper)
• When exiting the highway, drive a mile down the road instead of filling up at the pump nearing highway and save up to ten cents per gallon

Like I said before, our total expenditures for the month of October totaled $2,731.42. I won’t bore with the details of how much we spent on toll roads (that number would appall you), parking, donating to a non-profit, and a Spotify membership. But I will tell you a big ticket items for the month:

• Our Verizon bill for one “family” iPhone and a Jetpack: $184.64
• Three-years of web hosting with Blue Host: $143.28
• A new refrigerator after ours broke: $262.70
• RV Maintenance: $160.50

These are a few of the areas where we save the most money while traveling. I hope they were helpful and you can work them into your travel life whether you’re another full time RV’er or someone dreaming of roadtripping across the country!

Tell us what you think! Were you surprised by any of these numbers for travel to all 50 states? Share your thoughts and questions in comments below.