Re:Ask YC: 6-Month road trip down the west coast...much advi...
by SwellJoe on Wednesday June 04, 2008 @04:12PM
(#209335)
Cue Mastercard commercial...
Getting out of South Carolina: priceless. (I was born in SC, and grew up in Greenville. I can say stuff like that.)
1. Itinerary should be whatever you want to see. You'll never have a better time for traveling than now...young, single, plenty of cash. Just take your time, and travel light. The increased stress of moving and keeping up with lots of stuff isn't worth the benefits you get from having the lots of stuff. If after a few days you really wish you'd brought X, you can probably buy X for less than the hassle of having X, Y, and Z "just in case" is worth.
2. $1200 is low for anywhere in the bay area, not just SF. Otherwise, I guess it's probably right (though I haven't shopped for housing anywhere outside of the bay area). Though I have seen a few good short-term deals on Craigslist. You might try lining something up a week or two in advance of your trip to any of the high demand areas, since finding something on short notice may be hard.
4. Safety net:
- Health insurance (from a national provider, preferably)
- $200-$300 cash tucked someplace safe - if your wallet is lost, you still want to be able to get a hotel room or something for a night or two, and eating is not optional
- Bank account that has ATMs and branches across the range of where you're traveling (BoA, WaMu, Wells Fargo, I guess?)
- Good credit card for car rentals and airline tickets (because of the extra "travel protection" services they provide...it's trivial, but probably worth getting anyway, as even a small reduction of stress when traveling has a very high value)
- Emergency contact names and numbers on a card in visible location in your wallet
I agree with Einar. Trade in the pickup for a small hatchback (though, for reliability, I'd recommend a good Japanese car over a VW, even thought my girlfriend has an 07 Rabbit that's tolerable). It'll give you more freedom of movement when weather is bad, more security for your stuff, and it'll offer a moderately nicer place to sleep than the pickup if you get stuck somewhere overnight. It'll also get significantly higher mileage per gallon. The tradeoff is that it won't hold quite as much, but if it won't fit in a hatchback, you're probably taking too much stuff.
I suspect you won't have a hard time getting some HN folks together in the Bay Area. Nerds and entrepreneurs love to talk. Drop me a line when you get here.
Getting out of South Carolina: priceless. (I was born in SC, and grew up in Greenville. I can say stuff like that.)
1. Itinerary should be whatever you want to see. You'll never have a better time for traveling than now...young, single, plenty of cash. Just take your time, and travel light. The increased stress of moving and keeping up with lots of stuff isn't worth the benefits you get from having the lots of stuff. If after a few days you really wish you'd brought X, you can probably buy X for less than the hassle of having X, Y, and Z "just in case" is worth.
2. $1200 is low for anywhere in the bay area, not just SF. Otherwise, I guess it's probably right (though I haven't shopped for housing anywhere outside of the bay area). Though I have seen a few good short-term deals on Craigslist. You might try lining something up a week or two in advance of your trip to any of the high demand areas, since finding something on short notice may be hard.
4. Safety net:
- Health insurance (from a national provider, preferably)
- $200-$300 cash tucked someplace safe - if your wallet is lost, you still want to be able to get a hotel room or something for a night or two, and eating is not optional
- Bank account that has ATMs and branches across the range of where you're traveling (BoA, WaMu, Wells Fargo, I guess?)
- Good credit card for car rentals and airline tickets (because of the extra "travel protection" services they provide...it's trivial, but probably worth getting anyway, as even a small reduction of stress when traveling has a very high value)
- Emergency contact names and numbers on a card in visible location in your wallet
I agree with Einar. Trade in the pickup for a small hatchback (though, for reliability, I'd recommend a good Japanese car over a VW, even thought my girlfriend has an 07 Rabbit that's tolerable). It'll give you more freedom of movement when weather is bad, more security for your stuff, and it'll offer a moderately nicer place to sleep than the pickup if you get stuck somewhere overnight. It'll also get significantly higher mileage per gallon. The tradeoff is that it won't hold quite as much, but if it won't fit in a hatchback, you're probably taking too much stuff.
I suspect you won't have a hard time getting some HN folks together in the Bay Area. Nerds and entrepreneurs love to talk. Drop me a line when you get here.