To say you’re a sports fan would be an understatement. You want to see every MLB Venue on your “bucket list,” but you don’t really have a plan to do that. Here’s how you can make the rounds and be done by the 9th inning.
Gear Up For A Road Trip
Those LA Dodgers tickets are getting dusty, and you just bought them. Time to gear up to make the trip. There are 30 major-league teams, and 30 days in the month. Coincidence? We think not. Baseball is a national pastime. Driving is the other. If you want to see all 30 stadiums, you have quite a task on your hands.
Here’s how to manage it all.
First, make a plan. You can’t do anything without a plan. Pick your home stadium and a start date. Then, map out a road trip that you think is reasonable. There are calculators online that will help you make your trip in 30 days or less, and will allow you 4 hours for every game, which is more than enough to see everything from the first pitch to the last out.
Since most games are a shade under 3 hours, you should have plenty of time to see everything. The only thing that might stop you is if you get rained out. Of course, you’ll also need money, and time off.
The biggest obstacle won’t be getting to out of the way stadiums in Seattle and Denver. It’ll be finding the best way to visit stadium-dense areas, especially when you get into Boston and D.C. And, there won’t always be home games on consecutive nights. Cities with two teams rarely schedule overlapping home stands.
The Money Factor
Budget out how much money you will need for the entire trip and start saving. If it takes you an entire year to save, then so be it. But, do not go into debt over this. Of course, if you already have savings, pull from that.
Try to schedule in stops to local places where you think you might get a good bite to eat. Alternatively, bring food with you. You probably won’t be able to take 30 days worth of food with you, but you could hypothetically take a week’s worth of food, and then restock every week, preparing food as you go along.
Planning Time Off
This is a bit trickier. Unless you have an exceptionally understanding boss, you will have to take some unpaid time off, or wait until you’re laid off or otherwise indisposed to take the trip. Of course, if you have a lot of vacation time, you can use it all up for the trip.
Alternatively, you can stretch out your strip so you’re taking weekend trips instead of one big long consecutive road trip.
Risks Of The Road
Being on the road for 30 days seems like it might be fun, but you will encounter many risks. First of all, your expenses will shoot way up. Think about your normal monthly expenses. Now, add to that the expense of a vacation.
Plus, if you’re taking a vehicle, you’ll likely need several oil changes and perhaps some maintenance intermittently on various systems.
Finally, there’s the gas. You should probably take a vehicle that gets excellent gas mileage because you will be doing a lot of driving and chewing through a lot of gasoline. And, then there’s your health. Sitting in a vehicle for 8 hours a day isn’t the healthiest way to spend your time.
Make sure you get out and stretch. And, when you get to the stadium, consider standing during the game.
Joseph Fletcher has experience working as a sports photographer in the past, and as a sports mad guy, it was certainly a dream job. Now staying closer to home to be with his family he still enjoys writing sports articles and catching a live game.