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48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream

They say that you should always remember the past. That way you can avoid making the same mistakes in the future. But how far back into the past should we go? Are 100 years enough? What about 1,000 years? Or perhaps we should remember the times that we humans used to roam the Earth, never spending too much time in one place.
48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream 19 photos
Photo: Bring a Trailer
48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream
That spirit of adventure is still with us today. Sure, some people have suppressed it in order to settle down, and live a comfortable life. But there are still those that trek the globe, searching for the meaning of life. With August being Travel Month here on Autoevolution, I felt like getting in touch with my inner-wanderer. I've already done quite a bit of traveling over the past 10 years, as I've visited almost 40 different countries.

But there's always room for more. There are a few dreams on my list that I hope I can accomplish one day. Having watched "The Long Way Up" series featuring Ewan McGregor, I yearn for a long motorcycle ride around the planet. I'm also keen on further exploring Asia, as I've only experienced Japan on the continent so far. A trip from Egypt down to South Africa also sounds nice, and I wouldn't mind doing some sightseeing in Australia and New Zealand as well.

But there's one particular plan on my list that I've been thinking about quite a bit lately. Looking at the United States map, I've only been to California, Nevada, Utah, and Indiana. Planning a road trip around the contiguous United States, visiting all 48 states, sounds like the adventure of a lifetime to me. Now, if you've ever been on a long road trip you know that there's a lot of planning involved.

48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream
Photo: Randy Olson
Luckily for us, someone has already come up with an ideal route to achieve that dream. Randal Olson is his name, and he took on the titanic task of coming up with the ideal route to visit 50 of the most iconic landmarks in the United States of America. He wanted to come up with a route that would have at least one stop in each of the 48 continental states. The stops were all National Natural Landmarks, National Historic Sites, National Parks, or National Monuments.

An algorithm was used to generate the solution. The result was that the whole trip would be 13,699 miles (22,046 km) long. Let me just remind you that the Earth's circumference is 24,091 miles (40,075 km). Some of the most interesting things you can see on such a trip are the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, the White House in Washington DC, and the San Andreas Fault in California. With that in mind, you can't help but think of the ideal vehicle for the journey.

I spend a lot of time looking at used cars that are being sold or auctioned off online. And if you ask me, there are two ways of doing this epic road trip. First, there's the low-budget option. Realistically speaking, you can probably drive around 300 miles (482 km) each day, if you also want to have time for sightseeing. That means the whole trip would require about 45 days. Let's say 50, just in case.

48 Continental States Road Trip Shouldn't Be Just a Dream
Photo: Bring a Trailer
Buying a camper vehicle will save you the cost of accommodation, and it can also be useful if you want to do all the cooking. When I came across this 1984 Ford Bronco 4x4 with a Pop-up Camper, I just knew that this is what I would want to drive on such a journey. This car feels iconic, to say the least, and it just looks like it would be perfect for an adventure of this magnitude. If you can average 15 mpg (15.7 liters/100 km), and if the one gallon will cost you about $3.5, that means you'll spend around $3,200 on gas alone.

Admittedly, I am quite comfortable by nature, and I'm not sure how I'd handle spending 50 days inside of a camper. I think I would much rather go for some American Muscle. A Chevrolet Corvette would be nice, but if we were looking at 1984 vehicles, how about a Ford Mustang GT Convertible from that period? If you don't do overdo it, you might end up spending the same amount on gas, although you will have to pay for hotels along the way. I imagine that if you can even document the journey, you might be able to sell the car afterward and even make a profit.
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About the author: Dragos Chitulescu
Dragos Chitulescu profile photo

The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S.
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