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Agreed. For example, Childrens Hospital of Michigan serves the entire state of Michigan and Southern Ontario. People travel hundreds of mile for treatment.
I was referring to the COMMUNITY HOSPITAL where I live. A big regional medical center or urban hospital is going to charge for parking. People don't go to a community hospital more than 20 miles or so from their home. If their needs are greater than what can be provided there, they go to an urban hospital.
FWIW I've done a LOT of time on the road. At one point I spent three solid years traveling
between jobs and circumnavigated the US several times doing so out of a small wagon.
No one in their right mind would want to do it every night but for the night or two
it takes to drive between stop points... do so in peace.
In addition to a night in a secure lot you have restrooms and even "family" restrooms
in the newer facilities nice where you can wash up with more privacy ...and warm water.
And there is the free WIFI and the odd electric outlet to plug in a coffee maker too.
After you've washed and shaved and changed your drawers ...have a peaceful nights sleep.
In the morning get dressed and make your coffee... and then get on with your day.
Or go to one of the picnic tables, set up your camp stove and start cooking breakfast.
You do have a cooler with some food in it after all.
mmm bacon or sausage with potato/onion fry up and eggs over easy sound good?
Share it. It's a great way to start conversation with other travelers too.
Three times this year I had to go to a hospital 300-3000 miles from my home for medical appointments.
I did what a reasonable person would do. Booked a plane ticket and flew there. Once I was able to stay with friends, the other I paid for a hotel room. The one that was 300 miles I drove there and back the same day. Grabbed a nap while having an MRI.
Who cares. No one cares. Everyone lives their life differently. Stop caring if some utter stranger sleeps in a car. Give it a rest once & for all.
I was referring to the COMMUNITY HOSPITAL where I live. A big regional medical center or urban hospital is going to charge for parking. People don't go to a community hospital more than 20 miles or so from their home. If their needs are greater than what can be provided there, they go to an urban hospital.
I work for a Healthcare organization and we don't charge for parking. Their are 8 hospitals in the area and none of them charge for parking. Maybe it has to do with the area you are in. we are even building a new 325,000 square foot 6 story with a full basement replacement hospital and we offer free valet parking. We even have people that have camped here, so to speak. They had family members staying at the hospital. Saying that, we also have rooms that we can rent for $20 a night to family members. Would be interesting to know which hospitals charge for parking.
Here is the deal, if you are going to drive a long distance, please what ever you do get out of the car every couple hours. Realize that you can easily travel 100, 120, 140 miles in a two hour time frame. Your body needs to take a break. For the most part you will think that you can go on and on. I have done that before. I worked all day, took an hour nap, got the family in the van and drove 7 hours, stopping for gas. We were visiting a design center in Arizona. We then ended up driving back home. We did not make it home. I ended up falling asleep and nearly killed myself and my family. I for one will never do that again. I did a little research on the subject and found that lots of people are on the road that should be sleeping.
Please what ever you do, get some sleep. Stop, take a break. Since that time in 2007 I have always stopped every couple hours. One time I found that I was just too tired to go on and ended up sleeping for about 3 hours. I then got something to eat, took a little walk and found that I could go on. Also try to drive during the day time. Many people are out there at night driving and they should be getting some sleep as well. Even if you can do it, realize that many of the people out there can not and they may end up hitting you. My accident took out a big rig truck that ended up spinning out of control and landing at the side of the road. That guy clipped a small car. No one was injured but the accident caused a lot of damage to both the truck, a car, and our van lost its life that day. You can read about plenty of other accidents caused by sleeping drivers that were fatal. I always consider myself lucky to be alive. I am so happy everyday that my family is also alive.
Three times this year I had to go to a hospital 300-3000 miles from my home for medical appointments.
I did what a reasonable person would do. Booked a plane ticket and flew there. Once I was able to stay with friends, the other I paid for a hotel room. The one that was 300 miles I drove there and back the same day. Grabbed a nap while having an MRI.
When I had serious surgery out of state the specialist used a local motel that he arranged to get low rates for his patients. My husband and I stayed there for one week. Thank goodness for the understanding surgeon because overnight stays in NYC are not cheap. We had driven down and we drove back.
For my check ups there is a wonderful organization called Angel Flight that would take me to NYC for the day and back again.
In my younger days we used to drive from New England to Florida, rotating drivers, non stop to save on motels. When we got to Florida, we would camp. Not everyone has unlimited funds, no matter how well they manage their money.
When I had serious surgery out of state the specialist used a local motel that he arranged to get low rates for his patients. My husband and I stayed there for one week. Thank goodness for the understanding surgeon because overnight stays in NYC are not cheap. We had driven down and we drove back.
For my check ups there is a wonderful organization called Angel Flight that would take me to NYC for the day and back again.
In my younger days we used to drive from New England to Florida, rotating drivers, non stop to save on motels. When we got to Florida, we would camp. Not everyone has unlimited funds, no matter how well they manage their money.
Not only that, I'd rather spend my money on something fun than $100 or more for a nights stay. Fancy sheets don't excite me. I'm fine in my car if necessary.
To return to the original subject, yes, you can take a long road trip on relatively little money, but why risk a major breakdown of your personal auto a long way from home, when there's a cheaper and safer alternative in the form of the bus?
A lot of water has gone over the dam in the intervening years, but all through the Eighties, I would pay from $100-$250 for a 7-to-21 day unlimited mileage Greyhound/Trailways pass. I don't believe these are still offered, but you can still get some very low fares on some very long trips, and the emergence of the "Chinatown" mega-buses has probably increased the options.
Sleeping on a long-distance trip never seemed to be a problem. Once the sun went down, most of us just seemed to drift in and out of slumber. Wen I needed a shower, I'd just set a stopover in a place where I knew a YMCA was nearby -- usually got to swim a few laps as well. Every second or third night, I would find a motel; ask around, and you can usually find an older, but clean place that caters to construction workers, truckers, and the like.
On occasion, usually Saturday nights or long Holiday weekends, the ridership would dwindle down to just the driver and myself; since I have a railroading and trucking background, the conversation at those times could get very interesting.
The Grand-daddy of all these expeditions came one November when I left home with $1200 (pass prepaid) and did "one lap of America"-- Florida, Texas, California, Seattle, Minneapolis and home -- and returned with $300 still in my pocket, despite shipping a few books bought enroute home and visiting a couple of well-known jazz bars.
So while you shouldn't leave home without a contact for emergencies, and a few hundred stashed back there "just in case", I'd say "Go for it."
I moved across the country and used rest stops for sleeping. It's not camping, you have an 8-10 hour limit there, the signs are posted at the rest stops. I made it across the country on less than $700 and that was with a rented car.
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