We (family of 4) would like to make a road-trip next summer from Chicago-ish to Washington/Oregon. Rental is too expensive for us. Wondering if there’s any way to sort out a private one-way drive (RV / winnebago / camper van), maybe delivering a vehicle for someone?
any ideas welcome
You’d have to wonder what you were delivering if you ever did that. The odds of having an opportunity to do it for someone you had some reason to trust seem pretty low.
You’re kicking out a deep-level of mistrust right there. I hadn’t even gone down that path of thought.
But there are yachtsmen who work in a similar way, sailing 50 foot pleasure vessels from A to B. How do they deal with that issue? Anyway, I’d think if I was running guns or drugs across the western States, the last thing I’d want to do is stash the stuff for 2 weeks in an RV with 2 teenagers.
Back OT, please 
Any ideas?
You could try “driveaway cars” (delivering a car by driving it from the seller to the buyer):
I could! That’s exactly the sort of thing I was thinking of - thanks.
I wonder if there’s a peer-2-peer site for that kind of thing. Probably not, as market is too small.
Try googling “driveaway car”. Such services are also used by car rental companies to get one-way rented cars back.
Will do. We’d prefer a small RV, but could run the trip out of a standard car + camping gear if it comes to it.
Just curious how do you and family get back to Chicago from Oregon?
A friend of mine took greyhound from Boston to Oregon to see me. Took him 3 days non stop bus ride.
We don’t - we’re from the Uk. Daughter is desperate to see the Statue of Liberty, the Lady has cast her magic. So we do New York, maybe train to Chicago, road-trip to Oregon, and back to Taiwan.
Going to be a very nice trip. Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, then Oregon Willamette gorge to Portland. To get back to Taiwan, you may need to get down to San Francisco to get direct flight from China Airline or Eva.
RV will be pricey for sure, but worth the trip.
Or you can rent a sedan. Buy a 4 person tent. Stay in KOA along the route. koa.com/
Enjoy.
United does direct flights from SFO to TPE now too!
I did a drive away many years ago. One difficulty is that there are usually time restrictions which don’t allow for a leisurely drive across the continent.
If you do decide to camp (either tent or RV) make sure that you book your reservations early. Many camping spots fill up quickly with regular annual visitors. Make sure you check both state and county parks in addition to national parks along the way.
Even standard RV rentals…returning to the same point of pick-up…are atrociously expensive. We looked into it last summer.
Sometimes you can get car rental deals when dropping off at different locations, for example from NY to Fla, during certain seasons, but from east to west coast I haven’t heard of those types of deals.
Unfortunately, train travel for those types of distances can be pricey too. I hope you find a solution…this is a tough one!