MTGCast has just agreed to be the first sponsor of the QS Tour, offering about 20% of the total target budget! You can expect to see me rocking an MTGCast shirt on the trip. How often? Well let's just say it'll be X+1 times, where X is the number of times I get to do laundry on the road.
As you can see on the main site, I've been playing with podcasting and the like in preparation for the trip :) If you have any thoughts regarding sponsoring the trip, remember that any amount is helpful, and I can always work out a good way for a sponsor to get their money's worth.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Some Updates!
I've been looking at the data, and it seems like the most plausable trip would be one that departs from my home town of Lafayette, Indiana, and then does a loop through Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, DC, Western VA (SCG Game Center!) then cutting thru South Carolina and down to Atlanta. From there, I'd like to trek up through northern Arkansas by way of Memphis, stop through St Louis, and maybe hit a few Kentucky cities on the way home.
Unfortunately, barring some outrageously generous sponsorship deal, I won't be able to do a Pacific leg of the trip. That would add a huge cost, but I can reserve that for a future trip if this one goes well. Just letting you guys know that I haven't forgotten about this idea, but I've been ruminating over my options. Again, this trip is 100% contingent upon me getting sponsorship agreements in place. If you or anyone you know would benefit from the truck-load of media I'll be putting out over the 2 weeks, please direct them my way to discuss sponsorship opportunities! I'm trying to raise around $1000 for this trip to ensure that I have an ample cushion in case something goes horribly awry. I have budgeted it out to look like $650 or so including gas and food, but there will surely be other things that crop up that need looking after. Here's hoping this comes together!
Unfortunately, barring some outrageously generous sponsorship deal, I won't be able to do a Pacific leg of the trip. That would add a huge cost, but I can reserve that for a future trip if this one goes well. Just letting you guys know that I haven't forgotten about this idea, but I've been ruminating over my options. Again, this trip is 100% contingent upon me getting sponsorship agreements in place. If you or anyone you know would benefit from the truck-load of media I'll be putting out over the 2 weeks, please direct them my way to discuss sponsorship opportunities! I'm trying to raise around $1000 for this trip to ensure that I have an ample cushion in case something goes horribly awry. I have budgeted it out to look like $650 or so including gas and food, but there will surely be other things that crop up that need looking after. Here's hoping this comes together!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Some Thoughts on Road Tripping
Until the trip begins, this blog is more about the process rather than the outcome. I'm hoping that this will be useful to other people who are considering traveling, either domestically or abroad. I want to show how inexpensive travel can be, and do so by min/maxing my budget. I will be gathering some Road Trip Tips from around the web and seeing how they can allow a young traveler to go far on very little cash.
Lodging can be a really big killer, but I'm lucky to have a group of readers who are willing to put me up overnight. The crux of the trip is leveraging my social network. You know, like those dumb commercials for that ugly little cell phone? Except I'm not gonna get my internal organs harvested while I sleep...I hope. By not spending $50 a night on a hotel, I can save a massive percentage of my budget and use it for more necessary things.
There are three main costs that will come about because of this trip; Food, Gas and Repairs. If I don't take my own car (which is a fun-to-drive but fuel-inefficient Saab 900 convertible), I will have to rent a car which will immediately add $300-$500 to my budget. However, my car is 10+ years old, and while it has been maintained very well, I don't want to risk blowing my budget by an unexpected repair. That'll be tough to anticipate, but proper preparation can reduce the risk by a lot.
A few tips I've found so far:
Let's think about food for a moment. There are two criteria, health and price. I want to eat extremely healthy, because as many of you know, I have been prioritizing health and fitness since about March of 2010. I don't want this to be a 2 week long Burger and Booze-fest (as much fun as that might be), because I want to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Refilling a gallon jug at each stop seems efficient. No reason to carry extra weight by packing spare water when it's cheap almost everywhere. WalMart has refill stations that are criminally cheap.
Since I will mostly be staying in homes with people, rather than hosteling or camping, I have a lot more options. I'm going to make a spreadsheet or some sort of reference document to determine caloric efficiency based on cost and figure out what the healthiest option is. Then I'll ignore my data and buy 30 pounds of Cheetohs, obviously. It'll be a fun opportunity to be healthy and make a point about saving money while still traveling.
My current spreadsheet has me budgeting $100 for groceries for two weeks. That's extremely aggressive, but by bringing a cooler, some basic cooking utensils, and some spices I already own, I can quickly cook pasta dishes, hamburgers, eat a lot of fruits and veggies (locally grown is best!), and by not drinking soda or any form of beverages, I can save a ton of money. Wal-Mart's crystal light knockoff can make a gallon of water taste a whole lot more tolerable.
Lodging can be a really big killer, but I'm lucky to have a group of readers who are willing to put me up overnight. The crux of the trip is leveraging my social network. You know, like those dumb commercials for that ugly little cell phone? Except I'm not gonna get my internal organs harvested while I sleep...I hope. By not spending $50 a night on a hotel, I can save a massive percentage of my budget and use it for more necessary things.
There are three main costs that will come about because of this trip; Food, Gas and Repairs. If I don't take my own car (which is a fun-to-drive but fuel-inefficient Saab 900 convertible), I will have to rent a car which will immediately add $300-$500 to my budget. However, my car is 10+ years old, and while it has been maintained very well, I don't want to risk blowing my budget by an unexpected repair. That'll be tough to anticipate, but proper preparation can reduce the risk by a lot.
A few tips I've found so far:
- I'm going to aim for a stop every 2-4 hours (even if it's just for food, or something). I will limit my daily "long driving" time to 10 hours, so I don't get burnt out.
- I'm going to leave wherever I am early in the day, so I can make efficient use of my time in the area I arrive.
Let's think about food for a moment. There are two criteria, health and price. I want to eat extremely healthy, because as many of you know, I have been prioritizing health and fitness since about March of 2010. I don't want this to be a 2 week long Burger and Booze-fest (as much fun as that might be), because I want to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Refilling a gallon jug at each stop seems efficient. No reason to carry extra weight by packing spare water when it's cheap almost everywhere. WalMart has refill stations that are criminally cheap.
Since I will mostly be staying in homes with people, rather than hosteling or camping, I have a lot more options. I'm going to make a spreadsheet or some sort of reference document to determine caloric efficiency based on cost and figure out what the healthiest option is. Then I'll ignore my data and buy 30 pounds of Cheetohs, obviously. It'll be a fun opportunity to be healthy and make a point about saving money while still traveling.
My current spreadsheet has me budgeting $100 for groceries for two weeks. That's extremely aggressive, but by bringing a cooler, some basic cooking utensils, and some spices I already own, I can quickly cook pasta dishes, hamburgers, eat a lot of fruits and veggies (locally grown is best!), and by not drinking soda or any form of beverages, I can save a ton of money. Wal-Mart's crystal light knockoff can make a gallon of water taste a whole lot more tolerable.
Welcome to the QS Summer Tour!
Welcome aboard! In the spirit of Magic, Community and The Great American Road Trip, I'm putting together the QS Summer Tour. This ambitious undertaking is my personal passion project to showcase the power of Social Media in today's game. By making use of my network around the country, I will visit small (and large!) local game shops across the land.
I hope to take this trip in the second half of Summer 2010, either in mid July or late August. My initial idea is to budget 10-18 days, and the final length will depend on fiscal budget, time, and the actual route that emerges.
Objectives
- The Power of Social Networking. Using Facebook and Twitter to connect with fans and readers who would enjoy meeting me, I will plot a route that takes me to as many diverse locations in North America as I possibly can.
- The Diversity of the Magic Community. I hope to meet and write about professional players, casual afficionados, Limited and Constructed players, EDH'ers, kitchen table warriors, and every other type of player there is.
- The Evolution of Blogging. There are a few people that make a living through blogging, but I want to prove that an undertaking like this is not so ambitious as people think. By using strict budgeting and time management, I want to show that long trips like this are more accessible than people think.
Media
- A blog (this one!) will be maintained documenting the trip and the people I meet in written word, photo and video.
- Text updates will be as frequent as travel and my schedule will allow. I will aim for multiple daily updates of shorter length, sometimes just updating to post a few images.
- If equipment is available, video coverage is desirable. A sponsor may need to lend or donate a video camera since the iPhone's camera is really sub-par.
Funding
- The trip will be strictly budgeted, both for the sanity of the author and to demonstrate the power of being conscious and sticking to a budget. This lesson will help many who have trouble understanding how to treat their Magic-playing time as a business.
- The trip will have a few sponsors who both support what the endeavor represents and who would like to capture some of the attention that the trip will garner. I intend this to be a media spectacle in the Magic community, as nothing of the sort has been done before.
- QS readers will also have the opportunity to donate money to the cause. This money will be retained in a dedicated paypal account until it is needed. Should the trip not occur for any reason, donations would be refunded.
Places I Have Lodging!
View KB's Summer Tour in a larger map
Here is everywhere so far that I have been offered a place to stay. Once I have a good idea of where I can sleep, I can set a route and begin a budget.
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