Couple Quits Jobs To Visit 120 Minor League Baseball Parks This Summer

Published: 9^th Apr 12 6:28 pm

by Kris Hughes
Network Manager

RANT It!

Couple Quits Jobs To Visit 120 Minor League Baseball Parks This Summer

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Just once in your life, one should take a risk that makes no sense whatsoever to onlookers.

For some this may be bungee jumping into the Grand Canyon, alligator wrestling, or back-country skiing in the Alps.

For Matt and Carolyn LaWell, it meant tossing caution to the wind, quitting their jobs, and hitting the road to visit 120 minor league ballparks this summer with the goal to document each portion of the journey.

Turns out the drastic, life-changing decision by the LaWells didn’t come without some serious planning. Matt LaWell, a freelance writer had planned the trip– in essence– all the way back in 2003, as he identified each of the parks he would one day like to visit on a summer long trip like that the couple just kicked off. Since 2010, the LaWells have cut costs to save up for the excursion, living in cheap rents, cutting cable, dining out less, and generally hoarding cash wherever they could.

The trip just kicked off in Jacksonville, Florida and will end later in the summer in Toledo, Ohio, as the LaWells will tally a mind-boggling 26,000 miles over 38 states. The trip will end on Labor Day– what happens from there is anyone’s guess.

You have to admire the pure guts and courage it takes in our crappy economy for anyone– let alone a couple in their mid-30s– to walk away from their jobs and hit the road to live out a dream, and hope something concrete will result. Call it blind faith if you must, but I’ll call it belief in the power of intention.

Sure, the couple has a great plan to publish a minimum of 2,500 words a day on a $3,000 website they worked to build prior to hitting the road for their wonderful journey, but as we all know, so many things can happen in five months time.

Life loves to get in the way.

I, for one, hope the LaWells succeed beyond their wildest imagination. We need more people in this country who decide to live with their necks out, potential consequences or the unseen be damned.

Hell, if I had the same foresight as Matt LaWell did in 2003, I’d be on the road myself.

—

Kris Hughes is a Network Manager for Rant Sports. If you enjoy his takes, you can follow Kris on Twitter, check out his personal Facebook page, or stop by his personal Tumblr page.

—

More stories about the magnificent journey of Matt and Carolyn LaWell:

Couple puts life on hold for 120-venue minor league ballpark trip: http://bit.ly/HCYIlK

Follow the LaWell’s as they make their cross-country excursion: http://aminorleagueseason.com/

–-

Connect with Rant Sports