In this head of mine, tons of numbers are always running through. I'm good with them. Most of the numbers I know are sports related.. be it the height of my favorite NBA player Chauncey Billups (6'3") or the scores of all the Super Bowl games my Bills lost in those four consecutive years (I hate my life). I admit.. this is pretty trivial stuff when looking at the big picture. But some numbers.. they're important. Social Security number: IMPORTANT. Credit Card number: IMPORTANT. The phone number of some sexy babe that you're able to procure: IMPORTANT. You want another new category of important numbers? Easy. The Trip Statistics of my Summer of Baseball 2008. I kept a running tally of lots of key numbers along my drive so that I always knew what the statistics would be behind the greatest summer ever. Here they are.. unedited.. the cold and hard numbers that combine to make up the Trip Statistics of the Summer of Baseball 2008.
FINANCES
I know what you're thinking.. "You spent an entire summer driving around the country going to every Major League Baseball park in every major American city? Holy fucking shit fucks! That must have cost a fortune!!!" Don't worry.. those are my thoughts exactly as well. I tried to remain painfully unaware with how much I was spending for this 4+ months of traveling and instead I wanted to just wait and see how much damage I made when I got home and was able to look through all my credit card statements. I was able to do this successfully and I was able to have a fantastic time on my trip. But then came the day where I looked through the statements. One word can describe that day.. horrifying. Here are the numbers behind the day where I swear I died for a second when the final 'enter' was pressed on my calculator.
The Bare Minimum - This category is made up of all the expenses that relate solely to the bare necessities to traveling around the country and living like I did. And for those that don't know how I lived.. the Hotels subcategory is no typo.. I barely went to hotels and instead opted for sleeping in my car most nights.. so that number truly is as low as it says.
Fuel: $5,266.53
Car Services (Oil, required repairs): $1,211.70
City Parking: $213.05
NYC Subway Card: $20
Food: $1,306.81
Hotels: $883.41
The Bare Minimum Total: $8,901.50
At the Ballpark - This trip is titled the Summer of Baseball 2008.. so there unquestionably must be some money spent for my time on game day, which included a grand total of 33 days spent at the ballpark.
Game Food: $304.47
Game Souvenirs: $444.73
Game Parking: $401.75
Game Tickets: $2,599.25
At The Ballpark Total: $3,750.20
Entertainment on the Road - Not all of my time was spent driving.. I had to entertain myself so that I would not go clinically insane. Technically, these were optional purchases, but in my mind they were absolutely necessary for me to enjoy myself while on the road.
Movies: $143.24
Books/CD's: $320.62
Location Activities: $193.75
Souvenirs on Location: $497.39
Entertainment On The Road Total: $1,155.00
Neither Here Nor There - Not everything fit into a handy little subcategory. Some things were random little things that were necessary for me to be organized while on the trip. While you may question why on some of these things.. just know that without them I probably would've been left for dead in a hotel parking lot.
Random Trip Items (laptop case, tripod, sleeping bag): $187.56
Internet/Printing: $31.95
Computer Hard Drive (first one broke in CA): $318.95
UPS (for shipping stuff home mid-trip): $131.89
Cell Phone Bills: $346.28
Neither Here Nor There Total: $1,016.63
Gray Area - These two items are debatably on my Summer of Baseball 2008 finance list. I decided to separate them from other sections due to their highly controversial nature. Basically, they are pricey things that had an increased urgency to buying them because of the trip. I wouldn't have gotten an incredibly nice camera in 2008 if it wasn't for all the scenic spots I knew I would be seeing, but I might have eventually because I like photography. I would not have gotten XM Radio or new speakers in 2008 if it wasn't for the many thousands of miles that I knew I would be driving, but I might have gotten at least the speakers at some point since I had a few of them blown out. You can choose yes or no on whether or not to include these items on my overall trip finances.. I chose yes, because without the trip, they wouldn't exist in my life.
Nikon SLR Camera: $2,795.10
XM Radio/Stereo System: $1,021.44
Gray Area Total: $3,816.54
By now, I'm sure you can see the huge font right below this regular size text, but in case you don't I'm going to go on as if you're not a complete idiot and can't see it. At first, when I saw the number below, I was absolutely shocked and I felt a little ill. Not once did I ever imagine that this trip would cost this much. I was thinking more in the $10-12,000 range, so to see that number was hard to comprehend. But then, I thought about it more. I was gone for almost 4.5 months, living completely out of my car and having to drive everywhere during a time where the gas prices were the highest this country has ever seen. That turned out to be incredibly bad timing, but everything else, I really did live on the cheap. The sleeping in the car idea I figure saved me a good $7-8 thousand, and the mostly frugal way I nourished myself also paid large dividends. The more and more I thought about it, the originally perceived huge number turned reasonable. But still.. it is a huge number to spend. You may think.. "was it worth it.. would you do it if you knew you would spend this much?" My response? In a heart beat.
Grand Total for Summer of Baseball 2008: $18,639.87
STATISTICS FROM THE ROAD
I drove this summer. A lot. I always wanted to know how much, so I kept a detailed report on exactly how much. It was painstaking.. when I woke up in the morning, I had to record my starting miles for that day. When I crossed a barrier that I wanted to remember, I had to whip the pen out and write it down while driving so I wouldn't forget (this might make up one of the reasons why some people consider me a crazy driver.. to that I say.. I drove around the entire fucking country without incident.. can you do that?). The numbers behind my time driving were that important.. I was incredibly dedicated to keeping a detailed report. Here is a review of the cold hard numbers behind my time on the road and also some other interesting figures.
Total Miles Driven: 24,950.. starting in Boulder, CO and ending in Whitehouse, OH
Length of Trip: 130 days.. from May 14th to September 20th, 2008
Most Miles Traveled in One Day: 1,083.. from Houston, TX to Fort Myers, FL
Most Miles Traveled in One State: 5,090.. not surprisingly, it was in California. It's a good thing it was pretty!
Total States Visited: 40 (sorry Hawaii, Alaska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Arkansas)
How Did I Sleep at Night?: 66 in car, 13 in hotel, 50 in other (Chicago family, California family, Florida family, North Carolina family house locations). I didn't think I would have as many nights as I did in the 'other' location, but I'm sure glad I did. I'm very thankful for all the people who let me stay with them or in their home while on my drive!
Amount of Cavities Gained: 0.. incredibly surprising since I probably brushed my teeth at best half the days I was on the road. Can you say dentists are overrated?
Number of Speeding Tickets: 0.. for a lead foot like me, this is another surprising statistic. I guess I was never in a hurry to enjoy this great country of ours.
Times I Went to Panera Bread: 34.. true story. Can you tell I loved that place? But to be fair.. the only reason why I went there so much was to work on this site. You're welcome.
1 comments:
Believe me I am very glad you took the time to do this, you are an inspiration to me and fellow bloggers!
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