31/05/08

We flew out of Orlando on Thursday 22nd May back to the UK on a completely full Virgin 747, in stark contrast to our trip out to the USA last November on the same airline. This did not detract from the excellent service given by the crew of VS028, who were bright, cheerful and accommodating.
I suppose we could actually add the miles travelled from and to the UK across the Atlantic, but it would not be miles driven, so they would not count. We have not included the miles driven in the rental cars at the start and finish of our epic journey, or fuel for the same, but I can reveal a few facts about the trip.

We travelled through 22 states covering 11,324 miles and if it were not for the fuel increasing in price almost daily, we would have come in under budget on fuel costs, as it was we were slightly over. The food and drink came in under budget, but gawd knows how, ‘cos we didn’t stint on either. Some people said that we had our fair share of troubles with the RV, but considering the age of the beast, it was quite reasonable, and repairs actually came in $1 under budget. We were assisted by a weak dollar which made for a favourable exchange rate, for anyone else wanting to emulate our trip, I would say GO FOR IT, but you would need to budget at around £2000 per month.

So after a nine hour flog across the Atlantic and multiple journeys by train and car we finally arrived back where it all started, to be greeted by friends and family for a BBQ, in what was very reasonable weather for the UK.