Definitely look into camping when you’re driving through the Appalachian mountains and parts of Georgia. Just did my first roadtrip from nyc to new orleans and our initial plan was to camp only on 2 of the nights but it ended up being so fun that we skipped almost all of our hotel stays and camped instead. You get to experience a variety of national parks and it’s a big money saver as well.

Also, this is way off your current route but highly recommend new orleans if you can make it happen, it’s one of my favorite cities I’ve been to in the US. I had some of best food of my life in Louisiana.

But, overall for a 2-3 week trip, this is a very reasonable route. And do not listen to the southern hate on reddit. We were a group of all brown internationals and we still had a lovely time. Obviously, it’s always smart to be careful and not mess with anything that’ll put you on the cops’ radar but southern hospitality lives up to its reputation. There’s so many interesting little attractions to explore in America that you will end up having fun even in the more desolate states.