Travelling with gear?
 

I have to travel via plane for a tournament later this summer. Last year was the first time I had ever done so. My gear was in the bag, and my shirts/pants were in a garment bag, and everything got there OK. Still, all week I felt completely out of sorts living out of my bag.

I've already planned on scouting out a laundromat before I go. Any other tips for umpiring for a week on the road that I might not have thought of?

I bet TSA left your gear bag alone...

Seriously - just for general traveling, I use my gear bag as a piece of luggage all the time, and its NEVER had the little note from TSA in it when I get to my destination. My guess is that it's too obvious or something...

I traveled to a National in San Jose/Santa Clara. I didn't have a car.

Got to the hotel and found that they did not have washer/dryer on site. Nearest laundromat was about 6 miles away, so clearly not walking distance. Trying to find a time to go (base on laundromat hours), my game schedule, and the availability of someone to get me there and back was the worst part of that tournament.

I did the "rinse out shirts and hang them in the shower" but they weren't quite dry the next morning when I needed them.

I did bring a carry on bag that had 1 complete uniform that I could at least work base games in the event something happened to my luggage containing my plate gear.

My last 2 Nationals were East Coast locations where I could take my car. Much less stressful controlling my own moving about.

Never drove to any nationals or world cup tournaments which I've worked, then again, they were all SP.

Shirts and pants in a garment bag or neatly folded in a large luggage. Some of these tournaments were with the Elbeco shirts, so just rolling the up and packing them wasn't an option. Always traveled wearing the navy blue pants, base shoes with a fully equipped ball bag in the carry on with a hat. In the luggage, at least two uniforms for each day with a couple extra shirts.

Never had an issue with my luggage to or from a tournament, knock on wood.

Yeah that was bad I brought enough uniforms not to worry to that tournament.
I had a hotel room to myself so I washed my uniforms and just hung them up and let them dry for a day
.

I highly recommend renting a car or splitting the cost of a rental car with another umpire. Most National Tournaments will provide transportation to and from the fields and hotel, but you're on your own for any other destinations. You can also leave your gear bag in the car and lock it instead of hauling it back and forth to your room each day. It's well worth the cost to rent a car, in my opinion.

Either take with you or go to Walmart when you arrive and buy the laundry detergent pods that you just throw in the washer with your clothes. They are convenient and cost less than the coin vended detergent at the laundromat.

Pack light. Obviously, you have to take your uniform items, but for clothes to wear when not working, only pack for approx half of the time you will be there. If your going for a week, pack for three days. You can take and wash your clothes with your uniforms and wear them again during the week.

My first National, I traveled from NH to Oregon.

I did not rent a car, and my expenses were over $1k. Now I needed some new stuff, like 3 pair of navy blue pants, some new hats, an extra shirt. My flight alone was over $600. So adding the expense of renting a car just wasn't feasible.

My earnings from that tournament were $333.35 from working 15 games.

Y'all can do the math.

We all say we don't do Nationals to make money. Ain't that the truth?!

For me, the opportunity to work a National was a big deal. I basically looked at it as my vacation for that summer. And any vacation would have some costs involved.

This year I get it easy doing my first Slow Pitch National which is in Yuma Arizona.
No gear just a few uniforms and accessories.
Then some shorts and light shirts for the off time.
OOOOOOHHHHH and lots of SUNSCREEN:D

I traveled from VA to FL to work the 18 Gold National in Clearwater a few years ago. I traveled with my Force3 gear bag, a garment bag for my uniforms, and a carry-on for my "civvies" to go out to dinner with crew mates. I was fortunate in that when I explained to the ticket agent at the Delta counter where I was going and what I was going to do, he comp'ed my baggage fees, which would have been rather hefty given that my gear bag was quite large and heavy!

I brought enough stuff so that I wasn't wearing the same thing day to day (two pairs of plate shoes, two pairs of base shoes, four hats, etc. etc.) I kinda figured hats or shoes I wore one day would take at least two days to adequately dry out. If I had two sets of plate gear, I would've done the same with that, but I just set my gear up in front of the AC vent in the hotel room to dry overnight.

As for uniforms, I brought six light blue shirts and six heather gray pair of pants, as well as plenty of underwear. I didn't want to have to depend on the same unis every day. Thank goodness the NUS directed light blue and heather gray; I didn't want to have to bring navy shirts and navy pants as well.

I did rent a car, and I'm glad I did. The hotel laundry room was competed for between other umpires and players from a couple of teams that stayed in our hotel as well. So I drove to a local laundromat every other day to do laundry. Bring plenty of quarters ahead of time! The machine at the laundromat was not working when I went there. The hotel did offer laundry service for umpires, where we strung all our stuff on a strap to keep it together. But when it came back the next morning after our first day of the tourney, everything was still strapped together and wrinkled beyond repair! There were a lot of pissed off umpires that morning.

I also went to a local grocery and bought a throwaway styrofoam cooler and some additional drinks and snacks to keep me going in the Florida heat and humidity. I kept it in the rental car and went to it while on extended breaks. The tournament hosts did a good job keeping us fed, but it wasn't the type of food you'd need for a long day of umpiring. And they only provided water, so I had Gatorade in my cooler.

The other benefit of having the rental car was being totally independent of the transportation provided to/from the hotel. The schedule was basically one trip from the hotel in the AM, and one trip back in the PM. Anyone whose last game of the day ended at, say, 5:00 pm, but there was another game afterward, had to wait until that game ended if they didn't have another mode to get back to the hotel.

Good luck!

Manny, thank you! I am going to Clearwater this year. Your advice has convinced me to rent a car...guess I'm paying to work at Nationals again....:D I will try to get a comp from the baggage counter too...I have low tier status with American, who is the carrier Journey House put me on, even though I would have rather flown Southwest.

I'm going to bring every scrap of gear I have, but due to the rapid ASA --> USA logo transition, I only have three shirts and I can't buy more. Hopefully one or more of my crews will wear the USA uniform, as I just bought the new shirts and hats, but still need ball bags. I am ordering them tomorrow.

Also, as an FYI to anyone buying new USA hats from OKC, they seem to run small. I ordered my usual size in a 6-stitch and there is no way I will ever manage to get it on my head.

Get a hair cut like Andy, maybe it will fit then :)