Here are 5 Tips for Driving Solo Across America

Safety is always my top concern.

This is the paid follow-up to: I Drove 2,000 Miles From Mexico Back to Georgia. If you don’t have a paid subscription, don’t worry. That post is free, and the next one will be too. This post is for the people who help me pay for grad school and adventures with paid subscriptions—as well as those who have appeared in my blog posts and videos over the years. Thank you!

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I had seen my fair share of movies depicting the quintessential American summer road trip. But it wasn’t until 2015 that someone told me they planned to drive from California to Pennsylvania.

“Why don’t you just fly???” I asked incredulously.

I wasn’t a stranger to traveling across the United States. My family had taken a few trips from New York City to Atlanta, and I hated the long car rides.

If you had told me that less than a decade later, I would be driving from Mexico to Atlanta and towing my tiny home on wheels, I would have laughed in your face.

Me? Absolute madness! I would never do that.

Or so I thought.

I’ve driven across America not just once—but twice. I did the first trip with my parents in 2020 and the second one alone this year. Coupled with four years of traveling full-time in Mexico and the United States, I’ve learned a lot.

So, here are five tips for traveling safely across the United States on wheels.

1. Service your vehicle before the trip.