Transamerica Cost

[philip89thomas]

Hi,
Thinking of doing the Transamerica route around July to September time this year (using 90day Visa) and camping along route.

I've seen there are maps available for the route and can see it is a well used route and set up for cycling.

The main thing i'm trying to figure out is the cost.

Can anyone tell me the rough figure it would be to use camp grounds along this route?

And is wild camping accepted?

If anyone has done this route over around 90 days how much it cost them.


Also if you are interested starting on the 1st April i'm doing a tour from Greece to Tallinn up through eastern europe which is a distance of nearly 2000 miles. If you would like to follow my progress and see how i get on click the link below.

http://philip89thomas.blogspot.co.uk/

Cheers

Phil

[John Nelson]

Anywhere from $1000 to $10000, depending on your tastes. It is possible to do the whole route without spending a dime to sleep if you try.

[Westinghouse]

Me? I would spend about $2800.00 for on-the-road expenses. That means free camping most nights, and motels about two days a week on average, perhaps more. That means eating in restaurants and food stores. It includes all costs. It's certainly not top end, but for me it's as comfortable as I am comfortable about spending.

Stay in expensive motels every night and eat in fancy restaurants, and the numbers of dollars begin to appear astronomical as in somewhere out there in the land of infinity. I knew a guy who claimed he toured on 5 to 10 dollars a day. I don't know what he ate. I prefer good nutrition. I want my Cytomax. A cold Ice House beer does down really well at the ending of a long hot day on the road. Who wants to cook meals? I do, but I eat in restaurants too.

[staehpj1]

It will vary widely depending on what you eat and drink.  I am usually in the $10-15 per day range for food.

If you camp the whole way the that can be very cheap.  I think we averaged under $5 per day for lodging by staying for free when we could and avoiding the more expensive campgrounds.  We didn't need to stealth camp at all but did camp for free more than half the time.  Additionally we stayed with hosts some and stayed in a few churches that were listed on the AC maps.

[geegee]

If you are travelling solo, expect your costs to be higher than many people who travel in pairs or groups who have the advantage of sharing the cost of a campsite or motel room, or buying larger quantities of food. Although I try to keep costs down, I do budget and save up for about $40-50 a day average when I travel alone, and if there's any left over it just goes toward the next trip. I free camp once in a while when I have to, but I also like taking rest days in towns where I can take in some local culture and food. Those days might be expensive, but they are worth it to me, as the are the main reason I travel to different places.

[dkoloko]

If you pay for campground space, private or government, expect to pay no less than $15 night. Sometimes it'll be less, sometimes more, sometimes much more. If more at a private campground, sometimes you can negotiate a lower rate, sometimes not. Free camping opportunities are listed on the ACA maps for the route.

Wild camping, also called stealth camping, information here,
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?doc_id=1385

[staehpj1]

If you are travelling solo, expect your costs to be higher than many people who travel in pairs or groups who have the advantage of sharing the cost of a campsite or motel room, or buying larger quantities of food.

True, but the difference isn't as much as one might think if camping on the TA.  When there were three of us on the TA together we shared a tent and saved a little, but not as much as you might think because:
 

• We stayed free more often than we paid
• As cyclists we were often charged per person.  Yes we saved a bit when it was per site or per tent, but that didn't happen as much as you might think.
• We only paid for a room once the whole trip

On the Pacific Coast almost every place I camped the price was per person, so no savings for being in a group.

When I rode the Southern Tier from San Diego to Sarasota, I traveled with another rider a lot and also got rooms more often.  In that case we saved a lot as compared to travelling alone.  When not camping we tried to find rooms under $60 and that had free breakfast (especially if they had a waffle maker).