A trip across America is one of the most breathtaking adventures you can take – but let’s be honest, it sounds very expensive.
Renting a car, filling it with petrol, accommodation, food – it adds up.
But this guy figured out how you can do it all for under $500, and you’ll want to copy his trip.
Facebook/Derek LowDerek Low is an engineer who lives in San Francisco. He also loves to travel.
So when he wanted to see more of America on a budget, he bought a $429 train ticket that allowed him to travel from one side of the U.S. to the other in 15 days.
It’s called an Amtrak Rail Pass, and if you want to travel coast to coast but don’t have much money to do it, it’s your new best friend.
The pass allows you to break your trip into segments, letting you explore cities on stop-offs along the ways. The more segments, the more expensive the trip.
Facebook/Derek LowLow’s itinerary allowed him to stop off in Salt Lake City, Denver, and Chicago before reaching New York from California.
But as he told Buzzfeed, ‘the train ride from San Francisco to New York can be done for as cheap as $213 with no stops’.
If grubby trains aren’t you’re thing, you’ll be happy to know the Amtrak pass doesn’t reserve you a seat on any old train.
As Low’s pictures show, the seats – which he compares to ‘business class seats on domestic airlines’ – recline, the menu includes meals like baby back ribs and French toast, and there’s a sightseer louge car that is well and truly magical.
Facebook/Derek LowIf you want to pay a bit more, you can get sleeper cars which include proper meals and beds.
But for an experience and view like that? Who cares what you’re sitting on.
All aboard!
