150 Cities in 150 Days

[RoadTripper Max]

Hey everybody, just joined about....5 minutes ago. I'm in the midst of planning two trips, one for April-August 2008 and the same one a year later, in 2009.

First off, for some background information, I'm helping with the Tour for the Cure, a cross-country roadtrip visiting 150 major and minor league baseball stadiums over the course of a single season, raising money for cancer research (through the Jimmy Fund). While 2008 belongs to another person, the 2009 Tour is, at the moment, mine to plan and go on.

Now I've got a few questions for you guys, since I assume you're all seasoned roadtrippers. Keep in mind I dont graduate high school for another 2 months and....19 days. I know, I should probably be older before i do this trip, but it's now or never.

As you can imagine, the expenses for a 150-day, 40,000 mile trip, get to be a little...expensive. Funding comes directly out of the Director's pocket, unless we (or in this case I) can secure sponsorships. What are some good ways to cut costs on the road?

Secondly, if you've visited a city or town, theres a good chance they have a baseball team, and an even better chance I'll be going too. Any tips on nearly any town are greatly appreciated.

Finally, I can't stress enough how much an RV would help on this trip (because i dont feel like sleeping in my '94 Honda). Does anybody have tips on how to cheaply acquire an RV. I've been researching it for a while, and it seems a normal rental costs too much, and all the manufacturers aren't too helpful with RV Loans. The one thing I've got going for me is the fact that the Tour is endorsed by The Jimmy Fund, a liscensed non-profit, meaning we enjoy all non-profit tax benefits. So, I'm no expert on tax law (last time i checked it isnt offered in high school), but I know theres something about RV donations/Loans and tax write-offs. Care to help clarify?

Thanks in advance guys (and girls). The past Tour's have all been a little...scrappy, and this year isnt looking any better. I personally want to vastly improve everything for the 2009 Tour, and any advice you have would help more than you can imagine. feel free to email me or hit me up on aim if you use it, i think i added them both to my profile.

Thanks again,
Max

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

I briefly met the person who did this trip either last year or the year before at a minor league game. I've always wondered how they were able to make enough money to actually raise money for charity, when factoring in the huge expenses of doing a trip like this. I know at each game they usually do some fundraising, by raffle tickets for team autographed items and the like.

I think the first thing you need to do is to use the resources who have experience in exactly this kind of trip. Talk to the organizers and those who did this trip in previous years. You can't begin to improve on a previous idea until you know what made the prior attempts "scrappy," so find out what worked, and what didn't and then build up from there.

[Mark Sedenquist]

I know, I should probably be older before i do this trip, but it's now or never.

Your youth will make it very difficult to find work-arounds to the logistics challenges for obtaining a RV and etc. And due to the nature of where baseball parks are located, acquiring and maintaining a RV on such a rigorous 150 days schedule will be probably about twice as expensive as a sedan/motel/tent camping trip.

I've always wondered how they were able to make enough money to actually raise money for charity, when factoring in the huge expenses of doing a trip like this. I know at each game they usually do some fundraising, by raffle tickets for team autographed items and the like.

I agree with Michael's assessment and query -- I don't see how this makes any economic sense, unless all of the expenses are covered by the campaign -- I have managed a number of national promotional tours and if I were setting out the campaign parameter to allow for media meet-n-greets, living expenses, operational expenses, etc. I would budget around $150K. Which is probably a bit beyond the parameters you were setting?

I applaud your desire to do such a trip -- but the realities of such undertaking should not be taken lightlly.

Mark

[PNW Judy]

I can't imagine the logistical problems of going to 150 parks in 150 days. When you factor in the travel time, the time to attend the game itself, and the fact that they have to be having a home game the day you're in the area....yikes!

I, too, can't understand how the costs of the trip and the need to raise funds pencil out in the positive. But I would love to give it a go myself.

Don't the people who have previously done these trips share their information? It seems that most of your questions could easily be answered by the previous people who have planned and done these trips.

You might get some tips from
Roadside Baseball by Chris Epting - although this seems to focus more on historical baseball, it might still give you some good ideas

Also check out It's Deja Vu All Over Again.

Midwest Michael has some good tips here.

The best ways I know of to save money on the road are:
Eating out of your cooler
Camping
Driving a fuel-efficient car (your Honda) - you don't have to sleep in it if you throw in a tent

Sounds like having a sense of what your budget will need to be is important. Check out these tips for how to figure out what to budget.