Ask Away: Driving through the states or should we fly?

Photo / 123RF

Eleanor Barker answers your travel queries.

My mum wants to travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to stay with an old acquaintance and also travel through San Diego and Los Angeles, and I would like to do this trip with her as well. My brother and sister-in-law and their 11-year-old son are keen too. Obviously there are flights, accommodation costs and rental car costs and day-to-day expenses. What are some of the reasons to drive rather than fly?
-Phillip

When researching this I was struck by a bastardised quote from Diana Gabaldon that seems resonant for Kiwis; "Americans think 100 years is a long time, the rest of the world thinks 100km is a long distance."

In essence, it all depends on how long you want to stay in each place. LA to San Diego isn't far but not a drive Americans would want to do with jet lag. A straight shoot is at least five hours in 2019. The freeway between Los Angeles and San Diego is nearly permanently gridlocked, which can agonisingly extend the "two hour" commute.

An alternative option involves driving down the coast from Los Angeles and avoiding the freeways for the vast majority of the trip. You can drive through Palos Verdes with a stop at Point Vicente and then take the Balboa Ferry.

Many Americans rate the 12-hour San Diego to Albuquerque drive as "boring" with little more than "McDonald's and truck shops", so unless you want to take a three-hour detour and go see the Grand Canyon, it may not be worth it. Don't forget if you are going in the next few months it is going to be really hot as well.

A possible saving could be found by flying to Los Angeles, driving to San Diego and then driving back to Los Angeles, from there flying to Albuquerque. It is about a two-hour drive and will save you around US$100/person on airfare costs.

Something to note is that the drive between San Diego and Albuquerque could follow the old Route 66, which reveals a lot of American history if you chose to drive it. The drawback is the enormous distance between major towns. Another idea is to take a train ride on the Pacific Surfliner that runs between San Diego and Oakland (near San Francisco), which is incredibly nice if you've got the time.

Likewise, if you fly into Albuquerque and have several days, you can spend one or two of them driving around Northern New Mexico backroads, another awesome thing to do. Happy holidays!