USA Road Trip - America by car for dummies: Planning, Travel Info, Tips, Guide and Rock'n'Roll

The Road Trip Playlist

Sergio Mendes - Cristal Illusions

MGMT – Time To Pretend

Ween – Japanese Cowboy & Buenos Tardes Amigos

Lou Reed – Satellite Of Love

Beach Boys – God Only Knows

Aaron Neville – Hercules

Ryan Adams – New York

Chris Isaac - Wicked Game

John Spencer Blues Explosion – Bell Bottoms

De La Soul – Ring Ring Ring

The Stone Roses – Waterfall

Paul Weller – Wild Wood

The Primitives – Through The Flowers

Beastie Boys – Intergalactic Planetary & Shake Your Rump

PJ Harvey – C’mon Billy & A Perfect Day Elise

O.D.B. – Raw

Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit

Bomb The Bass – Beat D’is

Buffalo Springfield – Mr. Soul

Radiohead –Paranoid Android

Ennio Morricone – Once Upon A Time In The West

Redd Cross – Jimmy’s Fantasy

Pharrel & Snoop Dogg – Beautiful

Bobby Womack – 110th Street

John McCrae – Rock You Baby

Violent Femmes – Blister In The Sun

The Gun Club – Sex Beat

Pizzaman – Sex On The Streets

Roky Erickson– Burn The Flames

Pixies – Gigantic

Pulp – Common People

The Beatles – Tomorrow Never Knows

Nick Drake – River Man

Depeche Mode – Everything Counts In Large Ammounts

Camera Obscura – French Navy

Go Team – Bottle Rocket

Filthy Dukes – What Happens Next

LCD Sound System – North American Scum

The Cure – Killing An Arab

Bat For Lashes – Daniel

Archie Bronson Outfit – Dead Funny & Cherry Lips

Kraftwerk – Trans Europa Express

Girlschool – C’mon Let’s Go!

Rainbow – Kill The King

Deep Purple – Highway Star

Van Halen – Jump

Manfred Man’s Earth Band – California

Beck – Lonesome Tears

Barry Manilow – Mandy

Seasick Steve – Doghouse Blues

The Birds – 8 Miles High

The Fall – How I Wrote Elastic Man

Smashing Pumpkins – 1979

Prince – When Doves Cry

Supertramp – Breakfast In America

Tom Petty – Learning To Fly

Arlo Guthrie – Coming Into Los Angeles

Jefferson Airplane – I Saw You

Ideal – Eiszeit

ELO – Turn To Stone

The Cramps – Bikini Girls With Machine Guns & Kizmiaz

The Stray Cats – Rumble In Brighton

Supergrass – Sun Hits The Sky

Falco – Junge Roemer

Waterboys – The Whole Of The Moon

Donna Summer – I Feel Love

Cake – I Will Survive

Adam Green – Jessica Simpson

AC/DC – Girls Got Rhythm

Boney M – Daddy Cool

Chris Isaac – Wicked Game

CSS – Let’s Make Love & Listen To Death From Above

The Pogues – A Pair Of Brown Eyes

The Beautiful South – A Little Time

Yo La Tengo – Autumn Sweater

REM & Patti Smith – Ebow The Letter

Led Zeppelin – The Song Remains The Same

Abba – Dancing Queen

Blondie – Presence Dear

Supermax – Love Machine

Kate Bush – Cloud Busting

Massive Attack – Unfinished Sympathy

Outkast – Shake It

Dead Kennedys – Holiday In Cambodia

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Red Right Hand

Oasis – Live Forever

Smog – Hit The Ground Running & Dress Sexy At My Funeral

The Breeders – Driving On 9

Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Tell Me When My Light Turns Green

The Smiths – There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

Gene Vincent & The Blue Cats – Cat Man

The Housmartins – Happy Hour & Caravan Of Love

Happy Mondays – Loose Fit & Kinky Afro

Sonic Youth – Incinerate

The Flaming Lips & Sparklehorse – Go

Copter – Testify

Neil Diamond – The Grass Won’t Pay No Mind

Minnie Ripperton – Les Fleurs

Arctic Monkeys – You Look Good On The Dancefloor

Blur – The Universal

Soft Cell – Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go?

Elastica – Line Up

Sparks – Number One Song In Heaven

Electric Prunes – Too Much To Dream Last Night

The Byrds – Eight Miles High

American Analog Set - The Oly One

Jacuzzi Boys - Island Ave

Refused - New Noise

British Sea Power - Waving Flags

William Shatner - Rocket Man

Noah and the Whale – Blue Skies (Death to the Throne Remix)

Ideal - Berlin

The Bedroom Philosopher – I'm So Post Modern

Dinosaur Jr – I Want You To Know & Freak Scene

The Wannadies – You And Me Song

Dead Moon – Dead Moon Night

2raumwohnung – Wir Trafen Uns In Einem Garten

Elastica – 2:1

Peter and the Test Tube Babies – The Jinx

Leila K – Got To Get

Arms - Shitty Little Disco

Shiny Gnomes - Lazing at Desert Inn

Cocorosie – Japan

The International Noise Conspiracy - Capitalism Stole My Virg

Thee Headcoatees – My Boyfriend's Learning Karate

Owen Gray – Apollo 12

Nouvelle Vague – Friday Night Saturday Morning

Fad Gadget- Collapsing New People

Radiohead – Cinnamon Girl

dEUS – Suds & Soda

Hasil Adkins – The Wild Man

The Legendary Shack Shakers – Shake Your Hips

Angriff aufs Schlaraffenland – Die Radierer

OMC - On The Run

Cake - Long Line Of Cars & I Will Survive

At The Drive-In – Invalid Litter Dept.

Batmobile – Ballroom Blitz

Guana Batz - Rock and Roll (Led Zep Cover)

Violent Femmes – Crazy

Judge Dread – The Belle Of Snodland Town

Beirut – Elephant Gun

Whale - Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe

The Whitest Boy Alive - Island

The Dells - Stay In My Corner

Lonnie Smith - Son Of Ice Bag

Jurassic 5 - In The Flesh

Neil Young - Cortez The Killer

Jimmy McGriff - Chriss Cross

Dave and Ansel Collins - Double Barrel


We also listen to tons of Reggae, Dub, 60s Soul and Rockabilly. But that's another list. Like this one:


The "Robert Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz & Country List"

Memphis Jug Band - On The Road Again

Blind Willie McTell - Dark Night Blues

Cannon's Jug Stompers - Minglewood Blues

Skip James - Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues

Jaybird Coleman - I'm Gonna Cross The
River Jordan

Charley Patton - High Water Everywhere

Frank Stokes - I Got Mine

"Dock" Boggs - Sugar Baby

Shelor Family - Big Bend Gal

Hayes Shepherd - The Peddler And His Wife

Crockett's Country Mountaineers - Little Rabbit

Burnett & Rutherford - All Night Long Blues

East Texas Serenaders - Mineola Rag

Weems String Band - Greenback Dollar

Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra - Kater Street Rag

"King" Oliver's Creole Jazz Band - Sobbin' Blues

Parham-Picket Apollo Syncopaters - Mojo Strut

Frankie Franko & His Louisianians - Somebody Stole My Gal

Clarence Williams' Blue Five - Wild Cat Blues

"Jelly Roll" Morton's Red Hot Peppers - Kansas City Stomps

Jimmy Noone - King Joe

USA Road Travel Tips


Phones
Make sure that your mobile is unlocked before you travel, otherwise you have to buy a cheap phone for $20. Get a AT&T contract, NOT a TMobile one. The coverage of TMobile is a bit crap. You can't buy a SIM card the same way you can in the UK. It's called Prepay and you have to spend between $30 - 40 in total for a month.


Driving
Crossroads: In towns and cities there are crossroads where there are no lights but you HAVE to stop at the line. The first person who get's to the crossroad has right of way. If two or more cars arrive at the same time, the car to the right has the right of way first. If you see blinking red lights hanging over a crossroad, the same rules apply.

Highways: Slower traffic is supposed to keep to the right BUT a lot of drivers don't really care where they drive. There's no use of bullying them from behind with a honking horn into getting over to the right lane (especially if you can see a gun rack at the back of the pickup driver cabin). Just overtake them on the right like everybody else. It's not the official law but everybody is doing it.

Don't get into 'road fights' with trucks. They are big and mean.

Speed limits vary from state to state. There is no rhyme or reason. Don't speed in towns, as there is always the possibility of a sheriff lurking in a side street. On the big roads most of the cars go a bit faster than the limits. After a while we did the same and got away with it. But we certainly don't recommend it to you ; )

Navigation: A GPS is a must have if you don't know any of the roads that you want to drive - but back it up with a proper detailed road map, as the GPS sometimes gets a fit and doesn't know it's arse from it's elbow. Having a map will also allow you to take different routes, especially when you want to get off interstates and use 2 lane highways instead.

Licence: Have your driving license and ID card with you in the front of the car in case you get stopped. Don't keep it in the boot at the bottom of a suitcase.


Food
Sometimes it pays to go to cheap chains like Coco's or Wafflehouse for breakfast. The food will (should) not be below a certain standard and you save time. We tried to find local cafes but you spend a lot of time searching around and if you cant find one you go back to Wafflehouse having spent half an hour searching for an alternative. We went to McDonalds once to buy a 'Rancher salad' each. It was ok.

If you can't live without burgers: All roadside restaurants have them on their menu. They are between $7 and $9, come with fries and salad and taste ten times better than the McDonalds ones.

Check out micro breweries. The are everywhere now, popping up like mushrooms. They sell quality beer in great variety and we had the best food in terms of quality and price in a lot of them.

Tipping: The official rule is to tip between 15 and 20%. Most Americans generally tip 20%. That's what keeps the American service industry (and you as a customer) happy. Also take into account that on top of the price on the menu you get charged between 7 and 10% tax, depending on what state you are in. Everything is a third more expensive than you think ; )

Alcohol: Also depending on what state you are in, you have to show ID when ordering a beer or a glas of wine in a restaurant with your meal. It doesn't make a difference if you look like 85 - you HAVE to show ID. Best thing is to always carry your ID and driving livence on you.

Generally, the quality of food is as good as your quality of choice. Yes, some portions are big but you don't have to stuff your face just to finish the plate.


Money
We took a Currency Card with us that we got here in the UK. They count as credit cards and you can use them nearly everywhere except from paying directly at the pump at petrol stations. As with all things, shop around for the best deal on excange rates and charges. We used FX but this may not suit everyone.

Ask for a receipt for everything that you buy because you don't have to sign aything when paying by card. They just take your card away in a restaurant and smile when they bring it back.
We didn't have any prolems but it's always good to keep track of what you are spending.


If you have any more helpful tips or different experiences, please give us a shout: supaswag[at]gmail.com. Thank you!