I am biting the bullet and renting a car to travel in Colorado next year. I have never driven in the USA before and the idea is more scary than being a woman travelling alone! Any tips?
Thanks!

You might take note of the fact that we (often) drive on the right side of the road over here.

Roads here are really quite good. Just take it easy, especially the first couple of days; especially when coming to intersections and entering roads.

Distances in the west are great. If you see a "Next Service xx Miles", check your gas (petrol) level.

If you've got a cell phone, bring it. Even if you don't activate it you should be able to use it for emergency help. By law all '911' calls must operate, even if the user has no active account. (Check to see if your UK phone would work here.)

Your largest danger probably comes from driving off the edge while absorbed in the scenery.

bob
www.pbase.com\bobtrips
Photos from Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand

Hi!

As a fellow Brit who's driven thousands of miles in the USA I thought I'd add a few words to the above.

After the initial strangeness of it all has worn off, you'll find that driving in the US is easy, as everything is geared towards the motorist.

Your rental car will almost certainly have automatic transmission, power steering and air conditioning, and perhaps cruise control as well.

American highways are wide, safe, well-marked and well signposted. They are more intensively patrolled than British roads - so watch those speed limits! They also tend to be signposted by highway number and direction rather than town name (you need to know that you need "State Highway 286 North", for example) so make sure you have good maps. Free state road maps are available at "visitor centers" whenever you cross into a new state.

Facilities such as restaurants, gas (petrol) stations and motels are plentiful and cheap - and gasoline (petrol) is available at a price that European motorists can only dream about!

Despite what you may have seen on the movies, American motorists, in general, seem to be saner and more courteous than their British counterparts (though I'm sure there are exceptions!). Incidentally, your British mobile phone will not work in the USA unless you have a very expensive tri-band model.

So, to summarise, you need have no worries at all about driving in the States. However, if you're travelling alone, you'll probably find driving in the USA (or anywhere else) quite an isolating experience as it's not conducive to meeting other travellers.

Have a good trip!

Pete

As a woman you will have no trouble, don't worry. Colorado is absolutely beautiful, I have spent many a summer there. You Must go to Telluride while there, it is beautiful and really a cool,unusual place! Just be aware that parts of Colorado (ex;Durango) are still "cowboy country" and men in 10 gallon hats will be tripping over themselves to make sure you are ok!
Oh, and do rent a bike and hit some trails while you are there!

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