About traveling long distance by car. :(

Good afternoon to everybody in the forum.

I'm so happy and thankful I found this forum where I could find support from people who are in the same situation as me. I checked it if I could apply for the dream act but it seems I can't because of my arrival age and stay length. I wish I could. First of all I want to express my feelings about the situation in living in now. I have no job, I share the same house with five strangers and have no car, but that's kinda OK. The worst part is that I have nobody here, that there's nobody I can turn to when I have a question or anything. I've looking around for people like me in different forums and this is the only place I feel related to. When I discovered this page I turned into tears, it's been quite a long time in the US, but I want to express how much I value this.

This is the panorama for me now, any help, comment or advice will be thankfully read and appreciated. I've been in the US for nearly eight months already, almost six of them undocumented. First, I started working in ND washing dishes for nearly two months and a half. Then when my visa was about to expire I went to SF seeking to find a job and a place to stay. I washed dishes there for about two months and a half. Then I've moved to MI four months ago and started working with a friend of mine. Now, it's been three weeks already since we were all kicked out. I've been trying to figure out a way to get back to CA, but the bus, plane and train seemed to risky for me because I'm very close to the Canadian border -about 50 miles away where the CBP officers have jurisdiction-. Unfortunately, I realized of all of this risk in the research I did when I got fired. This has been the most stressful and terrible time in my life. I've been down on my knees several times, begging for something to happen. Then something happened. I had been told that friend of mine was about to leave to SD about tomorrow. He's a really good friend, I asked him to drive me to SF and he accepted. He's an US citizen and he's 50 years old and I met him because of work reasons. We're thinking of taking the I80 and to go all the way through SF, but I would like to know what do you think about it as this is my first long distance travel by car. I am going to be a passenger, he's going to drive all the way, but I'm afraid of being pulled over and asked for documentation. All I have is my passport which is still good. I was panicking before I offered him to go with me, so the feeling is very difficult to release. I really need advice. Thanks for reading this and if you have something to say don't hesitate to comment. Thanks to everybody.

You don't have anything to worry about. As long as you're not driving and your friend doesn't do anything to get you pulled over, you'll be fine. As soon as you get away from the border it will become even safer.

My question is, what kind of visa did you come in on and why did you overstay?

Hello, Yurchie!

Thanks for your answer, bro. I think we will be leaving on Saturday. I'll let you know how does it go.

About my visa, I came on a J1 and I stayed as a matter of a wrong decision taken in there wrong moment. I felt I wanted to stay, but I wasn't aware of all the consequences it carried.

You actually could have flown. I just did it (from LAX to Newark) and had no problems. As long as you have a vaild ID (I showed my passport with just my entry date in it - I´m also an overstay) and fly within the country you´re fine.
About driving:
I´ve been driving with my European Driver´s license for 5 years now (it´s valid indefinitely - so I´m lucky here). I´ve only been stopped once at a DUI checkpoint and even though he asked where the driver´s license was from he was more surprised I did not drink because people from my country are supposed to drink a lot of beer. It was a short fun conversation and he let me go.
The only state I know of right now that might ask for visa documentation is Arizona. A friend of mine did a cross country trip and only in Arizona she had to show her papers (twice actually). But that was in 2011. Usually it´s not in the police´s jurisdiction (did I write this correct?) and since you´re just a passenger you should be totally fine.

Thanks, NoDreamer

Now I know I could've flown, but I was panicking at the idea. I thought it was safer by car so I took the chance with my friend. And Arizona, I don't want to be there by any means. I heard a lot of stories. Lol To reach CA is all I want to, I hope we get there safe. Have you ever traveled long distances by car before?