Reviewing 95-Day Road Trip Costs and Benefits

When it was all said and done, our 95-day road trip, 94 nights sleeping away from our own bed, cost us on average $138.43 per day. I tracked the money we spent by categories. The categories were fuel, food, sight-seeing, lodging costs, and miscellaneous. 

I tracked for these reasons:

• I wanted to make sure we did not exceed the budget we had set.
• By tracking what we were spending we could decide which of our lodging options we could choose from when we were not staying with friends and family. 
• Because we like knowing what we spent and where. Call it a love of numbers.
• If we ever decide to do something like this again, we will have an idea of the actual costs.

Our guest homes treated us to wonderful home cooked meals. Early on we decided we wanted to spend money on our friends and family during visits. The most common way to do that was over at least one meal, our treat, where we could enjoy having someone else cook and clean up and we could be in the moment with face-to-face time. We also opted, most days, for only two meals and days when camping we were happy to eat our trail mix, soup, and peanut butter sandwiches than to drive into a town to eat. We were not surprised that our food cost was 56.9% of our overall spending. 

 The second highest expense was lodging at 20.5% of our overall spending. Thirteen nights we slept in a hotel room, ten nights we car camped, and twenty-three nights we camped in our tent. Forty-eight nights were spent in family or friends’ homes. Percentage wise: 51.1% spent in homes; 24.5% tent camping; 13.8% hotels; 10.6% car camping.

 Fuel for the Subaru Outback accounted for 12.3% of our overall spending. We traveled a total of 12,498 miles from our doorstep in Woodland, California to Megan's doorstep in Rockford, Minnesota from March 27, 2023, to July 1, 2023. We also had three oil changes to keep the maintenance up (also tire rotations, filters, and other fluids changed out). The average cost of gas per gallon we paid on the trip was $3.68. The lowest price per gallon we paid was in South Caroline ($3.08) and the highest price we paid was in Arizona ($4.70).

The Subaru performed well for us on the trip. Averaging 28.9 miles per gallon throughout all types of terrain. The worst mileage was city driving as expected. Fuel only costs came in at $.13 per mile. The oil change costs $.018/mile.

Overall, we believe every penny we spent on the trip was well worth the reward. People along the way asked us questions like:

• To Joe: You are still talking to your wife after x days of togetherness?
• Answer: Yes.
• What is your favorite place?
• Answer: No place has been a favorite. We enjoyed each place.
• Do you have a favorite moment?
• Answer: We are appreciative of each opportunity.
• Anything you did not expect on this trip?
• Answer by Joe: I met more people on this trip than I met in the past 50 years of my life. I liked meeting them!
• Answer by Beth: Joe was a wonderful traveling companion. In addition to being kind and considerate he never once threatened to leave me alongside the road when I was being cantankerous.

From building sheds to fixing a spinning wheel or disassembling a swing glider, Joe enjoyed finding ways to give back to the folks we stayed with during the trip. Those small projects helped to keep his soul fed.

 For me, the greatest gift of this journey was how people opened their lives to us. Whether it was for two hours or ten days, we were treated with kindness and welcomed with enthusiasm. I learned more about healing on this trip. My own and others. 

The benefits of our 95-Day Road Trip far outweigh the costs.