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Main issue is mileage to my car and driving for 18 hrs and 1.2k miles and how it's going to affect my car. I have a 2013 Hyundai Elantra with 35k miles.
Other issue is where to park the car in miami
How much gas and toll is also another issue.
I have no problem staying awake. Im not going to get an hotel. Flight right now is $550 because of days I'm traveling. I'm staying in Miami for 3 nights.
A lot of people do it, there's even a website for it that I haven't visited in a while.
My first drive down that way was decades ago when I-95 was not completed and you would drop off onto US highways.
Many people do a combination for instance a husband or wife might drive, one drives, the other flies in from work, etc. Relatives of mine have vacation houses in Florida and their kids sometimes drive sometimes fly.
I've done both for work when I did consulting type stuff.
A car with 35K miles is relatively new, I would just check all the fluids, maybe have the oil changed before you go. Figure its like a 2 day or day and a half. Even if you don't stay overnight you might want to catch some zzz's for a few hours so you don't fall asleep from exhaustion.
Most people driving stop somewhere half way to break the driving up.
As far as tolls you could actually beat the NJ tolls if you wanted to, also you could easily beat the DE tolls but I think the bridge around MD is tougher to beat without taking US 1 a ways off. Once you get around Baltimore i think their are mostly no more tolls except for some of the East West toll roads in Florida itself.
If you are driving down right now this week I just saw about 75 miles of I-95 in South Carolina is closed due to the recent floods, but that should be a temporary thing.
As a general rule of thumb, if two or more people traveling, then driving will be cheaper but if just one person, flying is better.
You're not saving that much by driving after you figure in gas, tolls, the wear and tear on your car (repairs and parts replacement is not cheap). Then there is stress and traffic going through the large cities. Also potential accidents and getting pulled over by the police somewhere along the way. Don't forget your time, too.
If I was going to stay for over a week and had a safe free place to park the car I might consider driving with another driver. Might. I'm older now and drive down to the Raleigh area once a month leave Friday night and usually drive back Sunday afternoon since I need to be back for work. That trip is 8 hours and that is too far for a short stay. No way I would drive down to Florida for a short stay like that. Fly.
Did you check Spirit Airlines out of Atlantic City. Fairly cheap to park and short drive to AC is better than a drive to Miami. I don't like the Airline, but it's convenient and almost always cheaper than going out of Newark.
$550 round trip from Newark to Miami seems very expensive. I'd suggest searching around more - there are several airports within 90 minutes drive from North Jersey. Also, if you're going to be driving that long and sleeping right before and after the drive, you have more than a 24 hour period that you could be searching for flights. Some flight aggregation websites exclude certain airlines.
Don't forget you have to drive back, so you're really driving 2,400 miles. Even at 25 cents per mile, that's $600, but I'd expect that the cost to you will be more than that. Also, flying is just so much more convenient.
I have no problem staying awake. Im not going to get an hotel.
Have you ever driven 18 hours before? Staying awake for 18 hours is one thing, but driving for 18 hours is a completely different story. And in the end it's going to work out to more than 18 hours...you have to factor in traffic delays (which will be impossible to avoid no matter what route you take), bathroom, gas, and food breaks. Driving while tired is the equivalent of driving drunk.
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