Why You Should Take a Baseball Road Trip
With the MLB World Series wrapped up many baseball fans are starting to look towards next season. For most of us, this season ended (once again) in a disappointing fashion. But that won’t stop most from already getting excited about the thoughts of Opening Day at their home stadiums. Baseball fans are loyal to the home team but there is so much history and differences at ball parks across the country. I have been fortunate enough to visit nearly all of the MLB stadiums. My brother would plan our itinerary perfectly so that we could go by car from stadium to stadium. We started our trips small by seeing 2 or 3 stadiums and then moved onto planning two-week across country trips. These extended baseball trips will be some of the best memories that I have. Not only is seeing each baseball stadium a great time, traveling the country by car is equally amazing. I understand if long car rides to watch baseball teams you don’t support doesn’t sound like a good time to you but I think there are 3 big reasons why you should possibly reconsider and perhaps plan a baseball stadium trip of your own.
The People
Visiting a city to see a baseball game is different than normal sight-seeing. You are able to sit and relax with strangers for 3+ hours. During this time you are able to talk to locals and meet interesting people. Everyone has interesting stories and making connections with people and a city will give you memories that go beyond just visiting a tourist location. I remember driving into the Philadelphia Phillies parking lot and a stranger giving us a free parking pass. Once we were in the game, we met very nice people and talked to them throughout the game. If anyone asks about that stadium I can tell them that they have great fans from my experience. I have plenty of other stories about meeting great people in many stadiums and that is an excellent reason why you should consider taking a baseball stadium trip.
The Food
Even if you don’t particularly enjoy watching baseball, you can’t deny this is a good reason to go to different 
stadiums. Each stadium will have all the classic baseball food and snacks but they will also have unique items and local specialties. I’m pretty sure every stadium I went to my eyes were much much bigger than my stomach and I spent way too much money. Totally worth it. After a long day of driving to the next city, relaxing with a cold beer and great food while enjoying a baseball game made for a great vacation and fun memories. Also, since you are driving a car throughout your trip, you can check out local famous restaurants between cities are try some truly unique food!
The Journey
This is where you can make the trip as long as you want or keep it simple to just visiting ballparks. For my brother 
and I, we took advantage of traveling through fun destinations. We toured around Washington D.C. to see the monuments, we stayed on Miami Beach, we visited the Grand Canyon in Arizona, we stayed a couple of nights in Las Vegas, we went to the San Diego Zoo for a day and did many other fun things throughout our trips. Not only is visiting these fun destinations a good time but so is the actual road trip and time spent in the car joking around. We laughed and played good music with the windows rolled down and warm summer air flowing into the car. We watched funny videos at night in the hotel rooms before having to wake up early to get to the next city. The journey is really what makes these trips special. You can’t see and enjoy the country by airplane like you can with a car. You get to take in the amazing sights and the different landscapes this country offers us.
If any of the reasons I stated above appeal to you I highly encourage you to consider taking a MLB ballpark road-trip. If the MLB stadiums don’t appeal to you, I suggest thinking of something that you will enjoy traveling across the country to see. Maybe it is just monuments and tourist areas! The point is that if you are considering a road-trip….do it! Ditch the airplane and enjoy traveling through the country-side, the mountains, the busy cities and the coastal highways. I promise that you will make unforgettable memories and have plenty of great stories to share upon your return home.
Hi I love the idea of a road trip like this however this is more of a question. If i plan a baseball road trip, should i book for tickets for game days before starting, or can i plan an extended trip and be confident i will be able to access tickets at each stadium
Thanks Shane
Hi Shane, thanks for the great question. You can be pretty confident to find tickets once you reach the stadium but on my past baseball road trips there was not a lot of leisure time between some cities and stadiums so having the tickets prior to the trip helped cut out time and get into the game faster! Also, if you have a budget to stick with, ordering them prior to the trip allows you to plan your finances easier.
Andrew
I can tell you really enjoy baseball and have built many great memories around the sport. I never really considered the reasons you gave for visiting MLB stadiums, but they make lots of sense. I went to a game in the Angel’s stadium in Anaheim, and had pulled pork sandwiches there. Absolutely amazing! I’d like to hear more of the food adventures you had!
Thanks for the comment! Trying the different foods is definitely one of my favorite parts! Although, I probably spend a little too much money trying to get everything on the menus.
Being in Australia, we dont have pro baseball matches here, we have to watch it on the telly, but we do admire the baseball culture the US have got. Its crazy and the atmosphere seems surreal. The MLB is probably at its best now with major signings and big money thrown at players. Its all about the journey how you have outlined here, I have had freinds that went to a few MLB matches while on holiday and told me that its definately a must once in your lifetime! Cool post thanks for sharing!