Plan Your Travel Around Sports Events
We have quite a few friends who travel to sports events all over the world and they have seen some amazing events over the past couple of years. Although I have seen some sports events that were very memorable to me, I am not in the same category as our friends. It got me to think that, if you plan your travel around sports events, you can have a very impressive portfolio of memories that occurred at some of the most popular places in the world. The fact is that, if you combine the event with the location where it is occurring, you can see some very impressive places. If you think of the Olympics and where they have been held, you are basically traveling the world and enjoying the excitement that is generated by each event.
If you plan your travel around sports events, you'll never run out of place to go.
Some events are a little more exclusive than others. The Masters tournament in Augusta is a pretty hard ticket to get but is worth whatever it takes if you are a lover of golf. I worked with a guy who lived for golf and his dream was to walk the course to see the famous stone bridge and Amen Corner. When he retired, I am very happy to say that he made sure his dream came true. It was the first trip he took, and he said his goal was to see every Major in one year. It would be his personal Grand Slam, and he was determined to make it happen. I’ve heard more and more people express similar desires about almost every sport you can think of. Would you ever get tired of attending Wimbledon, the Super Bowl or the World Series? The World Cup is in a class by itself and people who attend any of these events have memories of a lifetime. You can do the same thing if you plan your travel around sports events.
In my youth, our trips to Yankee Stadium to see Mickey Mantle were engraved in my brain forever. When I was old enough to attend sporting events on my own, I was fortunate enough to see boxing matches that featured some of the great heavyweights of the day like Muhammed Ali, Floyd Patterson, Joe Frazier, George Foreman and many others. I was a huge boxing fan before I realized what a dangerous sport it is although I still like to see a good fight. I have attended Green Bay Packer games and absolutely love the atmosphere at Lambeau Field. If you plan your travel around sports events, you are really doing two things. The first thing, of course, is that you get to see the event itself. If you’re a true fan, there is so much anticipation and excitement you almost can’t have a bad time unless your athlete or team loses but that’s the plight of the sports fan. The second thing that you accomplish is that you can extend your trip to see the other attractions that the location has to offer. While you may be thinking that there isn’t too much to see in Green Bay, I have to tell you that the Packer Hall of Fame and what they’ve done to the area around Lambeau Field is definitely impressive. I had been there before the renovations and wondered if they were going to ruin the “magic” that the stadium always had. I’m happy to say that they not only did a great job in keeping the “sanctity” of stadium, but they also added the potential to make it a year-round attraction.
I know quite a few people who have made it a goal to see every baseball or football stadium and, although I’ve seen less than half, I have to say that they are very impressive, and I could definitely see that as a retirement travel goal. It could even be a goal for a small business if you think about it. True sports fans love everything about an event except one thing: the price of admission! Tickets prices are getting to be outrageous and, sadly, the typical family can’t afford to go to a game or event like they could when I was younger. But what if you could bring the stadium and the event to them? If you look on the internet, you’ll see some people doing little videos about what it’s like to go to a particular stadium or event. They cover everything from the seats and how well you can see everything from different areas of the park to the concession stands. The food vendors have taken things up a notch from the old days. Yes, you can still get a hot dog and peanuts but there are also steak sandwiches, fish ‘n chips, pulled pork, crab cakes and just about anything else you can imagine. Don’t you think you could turn your sports-themed travels into a book or a website or an ongoing blog about which park is the “fan friendliest” and which ones have the best food? Of course you could, and I would bet you’d have a lot of fun doing it. Not only could you plan your travel around sports events, but you could also become an “expert” with a following.
But you don’t need to start a business to turn your love of sports into a travel adventure. Fans are doing it all the time. We have friends who are avid NASCAR fans and they’re on the road all the time. They have their favorite spots and meet up with the same people on a regular basis. That’s another aspect of sports travel. You will almost automatically build a social network if you plan your travel around sports events which can be tremendously important during your retirement years. It is definitely something to consider. If you are looking for a way to add diversity to your travel, a sports theme might be something to explore. The Olympics come to mind right away, and the interesting thing is to see what hosting such an incredibly large event does to a city. You can see the Olympic “footprint” in cities like Sydney, Atlanta and even Lake Placid, a small town in the Adirondack Mountains that became a training location and still gets tourists to see where the “Miracle on Ice” took place. There is no doubt that sports hold a special spot in our heart and there’s no reason it can’t be the focal point of some or travels. It’s just one more way to Enjoy Retired Life!
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