Will it be boring if I have a long trip from maine to nova scotia to vancouver?

Question

I am driving from vancouver to the pacific coast of US, across south US and then up to the eastern Alantic coast to Maine. This takes me at least one month. I'll then go up back to Canada. My questions are:

1. Should I go around nova scotia after visiting the Alantic Coast? Will the scenery be similar?

2. If I go around nova scotia, should I still go to PEI?

3. To drive back to Vancouver, what is the best route? I want a scenic and enjoyable trip, but not longer than one month altogether.

4. Is it too much to have a two month road trip all driving by myself? I've a friend but she doesn't know how to drive.

Answer 1

You are going to need a holiday from your holiday. This is a lot of driving and , by necessity, a lot of driving past a lot of very interesting things simply because you will not have time to see them. Nova Scotia is a particularly wonderful place to drive around and to see. I would not want to rush past it. PEI is also very interesting and very historic. Again I would not want to fly past it. Quebec, if you fly past it, politics aside, you are missing one of the best parts of Canada. I dare you to fly past Ontario - I don't know a route through most of it where you could fly without the speed gendarmes pulling you over. The Northern route through Kapuskasing, is faster but there is nothing much to see - it's a trucker's route through hundreds of miles of trees and not much else. If you have ever driven through Chicago, you will know the traffic is a killer. The Ontario route is much more interesting. You can buzz through the prairies pretty quickly - it's flat and straight on the TransCanada Highway. Then you face 600 miles through the mountains. Or you could go through the States - The I-94 I think or maybe it's the I-95 I don't remember. You still have to drive through the mountains and I daresay the Canadian route is safer.  

One responder above said he has done it but he also mentioned 3 months. I think you could do it in 3 months but I don't see a lot of pleasure in doing it in 2 or less. And if you leave it much longer, you will be looking at possible winter driving conditions in the mountains regardless of what side of the border you take.

If I were planning this trip I think I would have gone across Canada - through the mountains while you are still full of zip and energy, then across the country to Nova Scotia then down into the states and around and over to the Pacific Coast Highway or the I-5 N - The Pacific Coast Highway and the I-5 are both fairly decent roads to travel and you will have gone through the mountains farther south where they are not as daunting leaving your last days of driving less strenuous.

You see the same things, you just rearrange the order so that  you are doing one of the more difficult stretches at the beginning of your trip instead of at the end.

Hope that helps.  Have a fun trip.

Answer 2

I don't know how you expect to do anything more than drive, eat and sleep with this schedule. That's a h**l of a lot of driving.

As for driving around Nova Scotia and PEI, you don't have time, if this is a month-long trip. These provinces look small on the map, but it takes a long time to see these provinces because there is so much to see and do.

Answer 3

I did the same thing in 1979 by myself and again when I got married in 1996 with the wife(I drove the whole way) If your going to Maine then by all means go to nova scotia it is worth the trip.As for the time it took me from June to august to make the trip moving each day(brought the tent and camping gear,including dry foods)one day a week was spend in a motel youl need to do this if just to recharge your self. do not bring cash bring travelers checks and put them in different places. and if you use a tent buy some silicone spray to keep it water tight(it will wear off)