Jaunted

When I was cooking up my scheme, I'd been in Colombia for a few weeks--and South America for almost eight months. I was ready to get back to my home country, and I found a great deal on a one-way JetBlue flight from Bogota to Orlando. But my final destination was Tulsa, where I planned to visit my girlfriend--and get reacquainted with such all-American offerings as minor league baseball, QuikTrip, iced tea, Thai restaurants and hot water.

Through Alamo, I booked a "Chevy Aveo or equivalent" for four days, planning to make stops--after an overnight at an airport hotel in Orlando in case of airline snafus--in Apalachicola, Florida, New Orleans, Shreveport, Louisiana and finally Tulsa. (This turned out to be a pretty aggressive driving schedule for a tourist, but more on that later this week.) The total estimated cost, including the free GPS nav system I got for using the booking code FLDAGPS, was just $114.97.

After I'd made all the plans, all that was left to do was enjoy some Cartagena nightlife, get to Bogota and pick up the car in Florida. I also invited my GF to do the road trip with me, so she booked a one-way on Southwest from Tulsa to Orlando. We rendezvoused at the not-really-that-seedy La Quinta Orlando Airport West and fell asleep watching a Mythbusters marathon, which is not a euphemism.

The next morning, the Alamo desk agent at Orlando International could've been a bit more professional and not asked, "You're gonna drive *that* car all the way to Tulsa? Are you sure?" But I considered her attitude part of the fun of being back in the United States, quickly finished up the paperwork and rolled to the garage. One advantage of getting to the check-in counter at 8:30 am? Your pick of the cars in stock. Instead of a Chevy, I snagged a black Kia Spectra, plugged in my loaner Garmin GPS, punched in Apalachicola, Florida and hit the road.

Stay tuned tomorrow for more road-trippin' adventures.

Related Stories:
· One-way Florida Rentals with Avis [Official Site]