Boondocking Gamer Tour, Am I crazy?

[Longtooth Studios]

I recently posted on a thread titled "If money were no object"

My Post:

Is this a question posed to decide how to spend the fortune you just secured winning the lottery, or after wacky uncle Ned left you everything. If so, the first thing you do is hire me as your gamer consultant. I don't come cheap, but I am thorough...

Time is my most precious commodity right now. No matter how much money I spent on gaming, I would require the time to take advantage of it. SO until we hit the 1,000,000 mark, we will have to ignore that fact, and go blow a wad of cash on making the most of it.

10k: buy a used Econoline Van and convert it into a mobile study / gear storage. No matter where I go to game, ALL my stuff is at hand. It would include a place to nap, a fridge, cabineted book storage, nice sound system, and a disco ball.

This would also make my wife happy as she would be rid of all my gaming gear.

100k: same as as 10k but a mid sized RV. This version would be fully networked, have a hefty computer, large screen TV, a custom gaming table, and well stocked full sized fridge. It is here I would spend all of my time, my wife would be widowed.

1M: With this I could really buy some time. Bills paid, invested properly, I could stretch this out enough to retire. Now I can achieve a proper balance in my life and game as my day job! All of my friends would still only be able to come out nights, so I would still have to tear myself away from my family a couple of nights a week, but she knew that when she married me.

To check the viability of the idea I decided to do a little research and I stumble across a website about "boon-docking" and people converting full sized vans into dwellings and living a nomadic life on the road.

I was honestly fascinated by this and spent a good bit of time digging.

Now I wonder about how fun it would be, and how well received would the idea be if a gamer were to go on a Boondocking Gamer Tour.

Moving from state to state in a big converted van wrapped in graphics promoting gaming, visiting gaming stores for a couple of days and running games just to get the chance to meet other gamers and touring the country.

Store visits would be planned well ahead of time, the players would be pre selected, and communication could be achieved through forum posts and blog posts.
At each stop along the way, effort would be made to generate media attention for the store by alerting newspaper, radio, and television.

There is potential for a large portion of the expenses to be covered by sponsorship.

Now this sounds like a lot of fun to me, but I am sure that it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. So am I crazy, or does this sound like something that could be pulled off?

 

[adwyn]

In college a friend of mine had a studio apartment so he bought an old 24' Ryder moving truck and converted it into a game room on wheels that he would drive to cons and such as well as using for weekly games. It was a tight fit and required a narrow table but otherwise worked well.

He even left the bright yellow paint job and changed "Ryder" to "Drider".

 

[nedjer]

I recently posted on a thread titled "If money were no object"

My Post:
To check the viability of the idea I decided to do a little research and I stumble across a website about "boon-docking" and people converting full sized vans into dwellings and living a nomadic life on the road.

I was honestly fascinated by this and spent a good bit of time digging.

Now I wonder about how fun it would be, and how well received would the idea be if a gamer were to go on a Boondocking Gamer Tour.

Moving from state to state in a big converted van wrapped in graphics promoting gaming, visiting gaming stores for a couple of days and running games just to get the chance to meet other gamers and touring the country.

Store visits would be planned well ahead of time, the players would be pre selected, and communication could be achieved through forum posts and blog posts.
At each stop along the way, effort would be made to generate media attention for the store by alerting newspaper, radio, and television.

There is potential for a large portion of the expenses to be covered by sponsorship.

Now this sounds like a lot of fun to me, but I am sure that it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. So am I crazy, or does this sound like something that could be pulled off?

Crazy or not, I want to live this dream

 

[Umbran]

So am I crazy, or does this sound like something that could be pulled off?

Could it be done? Well, at it's root, you need enough money to live the life on the road for a while, and a list of game stores. That's not exactly rocket science.

TV, newspaper, and radio coverage? I don't think most media outlets would give a hoot enough to give you coverage, unless you were semi-famous before you start. If Vin Diesel decided to do this, you'd get media doing special-interest stories, but John Q Gamer? No.

By extension, you aren't likely to get anyone to financially sponsor this unless you are semi-famous to start with, as there'd be no return on the investment..

 

[IronWolf]

Boondocking is certainly possible. I spent about four months living on the road hitting lots of national parks and rock climbing spots along the way. Along the way I met lots of cool people doing the same thing - many with nicer setups than me, living out of pickups with raised platform beds in the back to the full on Westfalia. So that portion is easy!

Not sure how many expenses you could get paid for, maybe with enough work you could break even or at least keep the cost of such a fun trip in the realm of possibility.

With all the social networking you can easily get a grassroots publicity campaign going. Once you have some momentum there and have shown some organization and seriousness you *might* be able to get a company to throw some money your way for advertising on the van or something. Again, not sure you would get enough to pay for the trip, but possibly to help defray the cost.

It does sound fun though!

 

[nedjer]

Time for some research? Maybe a few road trip movie classics.

Put Britney Spear's stunner Crossroads at the top of that list every time.

 

[Tortoise]

If you actually want to do it, write a detailed letter to WoTC. They should be willing to get involved and have the media contacts to make it work.

When I say WoTC should be willing to get involved I mean that it is a marketing opportunity and would benefit them to consider.

Besides, they likely have plenty of art that would be great for plastering all over the vehicle.

Another possible resource to try to tap is Peter Adkison, pitch it as GenCon Mobile - Best Day of Gaming on Wheels, can't get to the con, reserve your space on the game bus for when it rolls through your area.

 

[Tharian]

Didn't Keith Baker do this (or something similar to this) starting last year where he was traveling around the country and crashing on people's couches in return for running a game?

How did that turn out?

 

[Longtooth Studios]

This isn't really something I can do right now, but I think it would be fun. I am married, 4 kids. I am committed for another 17 years, at least.

There is a part of me though, deep in the fantasies of my youth and maybe flashes of another life, that longs for the road. I always have.

Besides that I think it would be a lifetime achievement to get to invest of myself so fully into the hobby that I love. To get to experience the gaming style of so many others, and to share mine with them.

Sigh...

So I guess I am not crazy, Mid life crisis I guess.

 

[Hellcow]

Didn't Keith Baker do this (or something similar to this) starting last year where he was traveling around the country and crashing on people's couches in return for running a game? How did that turn out?

Indeed I did. I was on the road for about three months straight before life interfered; since then I've been heading out sporadically whenever I have time (I just went out to LA last weekend). I'll be continuing to do it sporadically over the next few months, and I'm hoping to get another extended tour - three months or so - going again the beginning of next year. You can find more info here.