May 23, 2007
Baseball road trip - Alon and Neal pull off a dream vacation & raise money for charity
Two guys named Alon Yishai Mass and Neal Ryan Koral are currently in the early stages of an awesome summer-long baseball road trip which will probably raise a good amount of money for charity. I've pledged $1 for every homerun they see at the games they attend. This is the "home run fund" if you're interested in doing something for charity.
This appealed to me because I love road trips and this one is truly a dream vacation that these guys have been working on for a very long time. This blog is all about travel dreams and sometimes their realization. I also like that it dwarfs our 2006 baseball road trip, and reminds me of our road trip in Jamaica or from the movie Elizabethtown.
The two guys on this dream road trip - did I mention they are visiting all 30 MLB baseball parks in the US and Canada? - were kind enough to answer a few interview questions for us:
Travel-plan-idea.com: How did you choose hotels / camp sites?
Alon: We only have 4 hotels booked so far. Yosemite Bug in Yosemite. A camp ground near Jasper, WY. A shack outside of Yellowstone w/no water or electricity. A camp ground near Kings Canyon, Ca. They were chosen based on proximity and cost.
Travel-plan-idea.com: How did you choose which non-baseball attractions to visit?
Alon: I extensively looked at websites, and got advice from family [a lot from my Dad] about the national parks. They were the most obvious choices... we're going to many of the most beautiful places in America. As well, these places are located near cities with baseball parks, or are obvious in between points.
Neal: Just to answer some of your questions, we basically wanted to go to as many places as humanly possible on this trip. If there's a unique attraction in this country, we want to see it. Also, the national parks offer some of the most beautiful views in the world and we wanted to see those with our own eyes.
We also have looked into getting a motel/hotel/camp site near the Grand Canyon. We have not booked anything yet but the only place where we found something at a reasonable price is in Flagstaff, AZ and that's about 60 miles away from the South rim. Do you have any advice or suggestions as to where we can stay around there?
Travel-plan-idea.com: What parts of the trip are you purposely leaving unplanned?
Alon: We haven't planned anything besides the schedule [games and national parks] and who we are staying with. Everything is left to the unknown... a lot of the motels will be just "places along the way," as we drive a lot at night after games.
Travel-plan-idea.com: Are there any more dream vacations in the works?
Alon: YES!!! I am applying to medical school this summer. I plan on taking a year off in between college and med school, and working... trying to make money, so I can travel around the world. My plan is to spend about a week in each of the following cities: Panama City, Rio, Buenos Aires, Aukland, Sydney, Thailand, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, Kakmandu, Bombay, Cairo, Addis Ababa, Vienna, Moscow [this is absolutely not set in stone, but as you can see, I will make it happen].
Neal: I don't know if I'll be able to travel as extensively as Alon after this because I just graduated from Indiana University and I will begin working for Ernst & Young after the conclusion of the trip. Since they are a global company, maybe I'll have the opportunity to live and work for them in Europe or East Asia one day.
Thank you Alon and Neal for the interview, for sharing a travel-inspiring story, and for raising money for some excellent charities. I hope that everyone who reads this blog (not to mention the guy who writes it) recognizes their passion(s) and does something memorable, like this baseball roadtrip of a lifetime.
