I went on an eight month road trip last year and it was definitely an entertaining and memorable experience especially if you're traveling with company that you enjoy. Our expenses were about 3k/month mostly because of gas costs and having an RV. If I were to do it over again, I would have just stayed in hotels and got a more fuel efficient car since the price is basically the same.

I wouldn't suggest playing rated simply because if you get backed off, it's likely that you'll be flyered to the surrounding casinos which means you'll end up having to leave the area. It may not be too much of a problem considering you're probably playing low stake, but just a precautionary. Some places are just sweaty even if you're a low stakes player.

Are your friends team mates or are they going to be doing their own thing on their own money? The reason I ask is because the edge counting (assuming that's all your doing) is very small and easy to negate by mistakes. To actually be profitable, you should practice enough that you're next to prefect in the casino. If you want your friends to be part of your team, you're going to have to make sure their counting is up to par as well. If your friends are just there to gamble, have them play rated and gather the comps.