How To Do A Cross Country Road Trip Without Breaking The Bank: Our Trip From Nashville to Sacramento
Have you ever had something on your bucket list that you know you’ll do one day, but you’re not exactly sure when? I’ve had a dream of taking a cross country road trip and driving up the PCH since high school. About 10 years have gone by since this bucket list item was put on my radar, and I’ve seen so many friends (and internet friends) turn that dream adventure into a reality.
*Tip #1 - Write down a bucket list and put it somewhere you’ll see it everyday
When I found out we had a conference for The Anywhere Office in Sacramento, I knew this was my perfect shot to turn my dream into a reality too.
Bailey, my roommate/partner in crime, and I are pretty low maintenance and didn't have much of a plan, other than a rough outline of cool places to stop along the way.
Our first step was to book a one way flight HOME from our road trip destination, Sacramento. Once we had that booked, we knew we were locked in and we started looking into getting a rental car.
I was actually shocked to learn how pricy a one way rental car could be, especially when you’re dropping your car off 3100 miles away from where you picked it up, but I was equally surprised to learn how easy it was to find rental car deals.
I opened a free business account through Hertz, they gave me a great rate, and all in we ended up paying about $688, which split between two people was very reasonable.
*Tip #2- Shop around for rental car prices and deals and book your flights about 6 weeks out for the best possible rates
Next step was to make sure we were fueled up for our road trip, nutritionally. We love to snack, and we love to snack healthy. We took a quick trip to World Market and Marshalls and went crazy in their snack aisles looking for fun new foods. We made sure to have all bases covered, sweet, salty, crunchy, and extra protein.
We brought along all of the things to make PBJ’s and lots of fruit too. Another life saver was our shake mix and our fruit and veg capsules. We did the best we could but there were definitely days where we didn’t get as many whole foods as we would have liked to, so these helped us bridge the superfood gap everyday.
All in all, stocking up and being prepared helped us curb fast food cravings and saved us a ton of money.
*Tip #3 - Stock up on healthy road trip snacks. It saves money in the long run and prevents you from pulling over for fast food out of desperation.
Like the responsible adults we are, we started packing our bags the night before our trip and realized packing was going to be a little more of a challenge that we thought. 15 Days and limited luggage sounded harder than finding a good rental car deal, but we made it work. We stuck to the rule of 1 big suitcase and 1 duffle bag each.
I also was lucky enough to partner up with Float There, a service that is redefining the way that we pack. They shipped me a box of fresh outfits to LA, I wore them for the remainder of the trip, and shipped them back before I got on my plane ride home. It was SO convenient.
*Tip #4 -Pack ahead of time, only bring essentials, choose pieces that can be worn multiple ways and go with different outfits, use a service like Float There
Since we were pretty flexible about our trip, we didn’t book any hotel rooms in advance. We liked the thrill of not knowing exactly where we would end up each day, and knowing that if we really loved a city (like Napa Valley) we could stay an extra day. We had a clear route we planned on taking and decided we would book a room 6-10 hours from arrival once we had a better idea of our plan.
This ended up working out so well because apps like Hotwire and Hotel Tonight give amazing last minute deals on hotel rooms. The trick is, you typically don’t know exactly what you are going to get until it is booked, but we were cautious and always ended up with a good experience. *If you decide to do this, the apps give you the ratings and reviews of the potential hotel, so I highly suggest checking those first just to make sure you’re in a safe location* Added tip - book the hotels with continental breakfast ;)
*TIP #5 - BE FLEXIBLE ON WHEN AND WHERE YOU STOP. USE APPS LIKE AIRBNB, HOTWIRE, AND HOTEL TONIGHT TO GET LAST MINUTE DEALS ON CHEAPER ROOMS TO CRASH IN FOR THE NIGHT
OUR ROUTE:
DAY ONE - Nashville to Dallas
We stopped in Little Rock, AK for lunch at ZaZa Fine Salad + Wood Oven Pizza Co. We also did a lot of geocaching along the way which was a fun way to get out of the car, stretch our legs, and pass the time.
NIGHT ONE - Airbnb + Night Out In Dallas
We made all the friends, drank all the drinks, and ate all the street corn.
DAY TWO - Dallas to Santa Fe
Found a park to do an Anywhere Workout and spent the morning exploring Deep Ellum, eating more street corn, and taking pictures (shocker).
NIGHT TWO - Hotwire in Santa Fe
We didn’t get in until after midnight so we went to bed, but driving into the sunset across west Texas was absolutely beautiful. We almost ran out of gas, like literally pulled into the first gas station with 0 miles left in the tank, but we did make it. SO make sure you’re fueled up when you’re driving across west tex. We also saw a billboard that said “fat and happy” and still laugh about it today.
DAY THREE - Santa Fe to Flagstaff
Explored all around Santa Fe and fell in love with the city. We did a quick Anywhere Workout when we woke up and ate at The Apothecary Restaurant downtown and LOVED everything we ordered. We planned on spending a little more time exploring, but it started snowing and we were definitely not prepared for that.
NIGHT THREE - Hotwire in Flagstaff
We looked up a brewery in Flagstaff and grabbed dinner and a few local craft beers. The mountain views here were pretty rad.
DAY FOUR - Flagstaff to Zion National Park
This goes down as the most beautiful day of my life. We stopped in the middle of Route 66 to take pictures, did an Anywhere Workout at The Grand Canyon, drove to Horseshoe Bend (highly recommended), and rolled into Zion National Park. I have goosebumps just thinking about it. Incredible views.
NIGHT FOUR - Hotwire in Zion National Park
This was our most expensive Hotwire (I think $147ish?) so really not bad at all (most other nights we paid between $60-100). We decided it would be worth it to pay extra and stay inside the park so we could wake up early and hike. We went to the Zion Canyon Brew Pub and grabbed dinner, and went on a walk.
DAY FIVE - Zion National Park to Las Vegas
We woke up and hiked Angels Landing (if you decide to do this, make sure you have good hiking shoes) and grabbed a well deserved breakfast at MeMe’s Cafe before hitting the road.
NIGHT FIVE - Hotwire in Las Vegas
We won on the penny slots, (but spent it all on soda water at the club because we learned Vegas isnt Nashville and water isn’t free) and then found a promoter who got us VIP access and bottle service and we stayed up until 5 AM with The Chainsmokers at Encore Beach Club.
DAY SIX - Las Vegas to Los Angeles
We hung out (hungover) by the pool for a few hours and hit the road. We stopped at the 7 Magic Mountains (cool photo op), which is where I got the call that Leo (my cat) was missing back home. I was obviously pretty upset but I had some great friends on the lookout for him back home (love you guys!)
NIGHT SIX - Hotwire in Los Angeles
Im pretty sure we crashed as soon as we got to the hotel. We stayed in one close to the beach and wanted to go explore but figured we shouldn’t push it and decided to rest instead of going out.
DAY SEVEN - Los Angeles Day
We spent the day exploring Venice Beach, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and the Griffith Observatory. We met up with Bailey’s friend, Ben, and his girlfriend and they were incredibly sweet and showed us all around their city.
NIGHT SEVEN - Hotwire in Los Angeles
We went to dinner at The Roof On Wilshire and grabbed drinks at a few cool spots too.
DAY EIGHT - Los Angeles to San Jose (PCH DAY!)
Bucket list day! Honestly one of the most blissful days of my life. We stopped at Malibu Farms for breakfast, my favorite spot, and then drove all the way up the cost. As I am finally writing this it has been about 13 weeks since that day, and I am still having trouble finding words to express to how happy it made me. If you make the drive, stop often, take lots of pictures, don’t pass up the Elephant Seal Beach, see a sunset on Pfeiffer Beach and stay a night at Big Sur if you can (i’m definitely going back soon).
NIGHT EIGHT - Hotwire in San Jose
In-N-Out Burger was definitely in the cards and it lived up to the hype. We planned on driving all the way to San Francisco but stopped for the night here because we were exhausted.
DAY NINE - San Jose to San Francisco/Napa Valley
Wondered the streets of San Francisco, went to a giants game (tickets were $2… I know… we didn’t believe it either) and found out that our Airbnb was in a neighborhood with an 85% crime rate. We immediately canceled and found out that everything else in the city was booked (seriously, nothing was under $400 for the night) so after some time on the phone, Airbnb told us to cruise up to Napa Valley for a night on them.
NIGHT NINE - Airbnb in Napa Valley
We were kind of upset our San Francisco plans were ruined, and had low expectations driving into our free stay in Napa… but when we pulled up to our destination we knew that the cards were in our favor. They gave us a big suite with a bottle of wine and we may or may not have jumped on the beds and danced and sang at the top of our lungs and then took a long bubble bath.
DAY TEN - Napa Valley Day
We woke up and did an Anywhere Workout, and spent the rest of the day exploring wine country, wine tasting, and lounging by the pool. I also may or may not have been suckered into joining a wine club, but i’m actually kind of happy I did.
NIGHT TEN - Airbnb Napa Valley
We asked if we were able to book the same room again and stay an extra night, and they said yes. Up until this point we had packed up and never stayed in the same spot twice, let alone one this nice, so this felt like a luxury for sure. We poured another glass of wine and walked through the vineyards behind our resort as the sun set. It was magical. I’ve decided Napa… or I guess just Northern California in general, is my favorite.
DAY ELEVEN - Napa Valley to Sacramento
We packed up and drove to Sacramento, our destination for our health conference. We were so sad to say goodbye to our rental car (frank sinatra). We stayed in Sacramento for 4 nights and flew back to Nashville on Monday afternoon.
CITY ROUTE :
NASHVILLE — DALLAS — SANTA FE — FLAGSTAFF — HORSESHOE BEND — ZION NATIONAL PARK — LAS VEGAS — LOS ANGELES — SAN FRANCISCO — NAPA VALLEY — SACRAMENTO — Fly back to nashville
This trip was more than just a road trip for me. This was a life experience and a change of perspective that I so greatly needed. If you’ve ever thought about going on a cross country road trip but weren’t sure how to do it, here’s my advice: say yes, and figure it out along the way. The best part of the adventure isn’t the destination, but the journey itself. If you’re a planner, make plans. If you’re flexible, go with the flow. Stop making excuses of why you can’t, and shift your perspective to “why can’t I?”
I would love to hear your road trip stories, recommendations for next time or other trips, and questions, so please connect with me in the comments below or send me an email to workwithemily@heyemmylou.com
Always in your corner,
E