A New Backpack, the WTA, and a Winning Lottery Ticket
Yesterday a friend asked me what I'd buy first after winning the lottery. My response? New luggage. And really, by new luggage, I probably mean a really kick ass backpack. Does this mean that I'm planning to take up backpacking, camping, or hiking? Hell, no. It means I'm taking up travel. You see, the moral of my 'what would you buy story' is this - I'd spend the next full year after winning the lottery following the women's pro tennis tour (WTA, to the initiated) around the world.
To do this, I'd need new luggage at best, a kick ass new backpack at worst, depending on how I planned to travel. And given that I've never been one to indulge in unnecessary indulgences, I don't think I'll be flying first class and staying in multi-star accommodations. The way I see it, hopping trains, planes, buses, and other forms of public transportation might be easier with a backpack than with a nice set of rolling luggage. Of course, I might change it up midstream. As would be my right.
So, why the WTA tour? Goodness knows a year ago I wouldn't have said that. I hadn't yet come back to tennis this time last April, so I probably would have answered my friend's question very differently. More than likely it would have included moving home to Texarkana and writing. Needless to say I'm in a very different place this year. Coming back to tennis changed me in ways I never would have imagined. Good ways, I think.
For whatever reason, I let 'tennis player' go from my pantheon of identities years ago. Getting that identity back has made me happier, healthier, and more confident. I have new friends, a new backhand, new focus, and new life goals. Winning the lottery and following the tour for a year is the long shot when it comes to those goals. In the meantime, I'm going to do what I can do on my budget, like be the official un-official fan blogger at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in 2014 and eventually I'll write a suspense-thriller-spy novel about tennis and tennis players. Oh, and I'm going to keep playing and writing about tennis as much as I can.
What I discovered at the BNP Paribas Open last month is that I love watching tennis in person. I love sitting with 'the rabble' in general admission. I love the atmosphere, especially in the earlier rounds. I enjoyed myself so much that I've decided to go longer next year, the full two weeks if I can swing it with my boss, professors, and my bank account. While I'm there, I'm going to write and post blogs about the fan experience.
If I ever win the lottery, I'll do the same thing for an entire year while following the Tour. Some have wondered why I don't just want to go to the Grand Slams. Why do I want to travel for a whole year? Wouldn't I miss home? Wouldn't I get tired of it? In all honesty, I'd expect to get tired of it. I'd expect to get a little homesick. However, that's the experience I want. I want to know (and write about) what it's like for these pro players who do this year in year out. What does it take to travel near constantly? Yes, I want to see the Grand Slams, but there are so many other places I'd like to go - like Madrid, Rome, Toronto, Charleston, Bastad (Sweden), Moscow, Istanbul, and Hobart (Tasmania). Traveling with the Tour would give me a chance to see the world and plenty of things to write about. I'd meet people from all over the world and be able to see the differences in atmosphere at each tour stop. I'd get to sight see and do a few touristy things also, but my focus would more than likely remain on the tennis. I'd also have to pull myself out of the doldrums of my introversion.
I suppose in some ways I'd be a tennis ambassador. I don't know about the rest of the world, but here in the U.S., tennis fans pretty much only talk about going to the Slams, unless they are lucky enough live in a city, like Palm Springs, Miami, or Cincinnati, that hosts an annual WTA event. That said, the response I got from fans at Indian Wells was remarkable. Many said they'd never go back to the US Open after the wonderful experience they'd had in the California desert. It makes me wonder if there are some other real cool events out there around the world that fans might like as much or more than the Grand Slams. It might be fun to find out. And to write about.
And that's why if I won the lottery, my first purchase would be new luggage. Or a kick ass backpack. I still have to think on that one a bit before committing to one or the other. After that, I'd start getting my affairs in order here at home (note to self: Get a passport NOW!) and start making plans to be Down Under (the first tour stop of the year in in Brisbane) in late December/early January.
The only problem with my little plan? I don't play the lottery. Not at all. And even with these kick ass plans, I still don't see myself running out to buy a ticket any time soon. Maybe there's another way. There's got to be another way. There will be another way.
To do this, I'd need new luggage at best, a kick ass new backpack at worst, depending on how I planned to travel. And given that I've never been one to indulge in unnecessary indulgences, I don't think I'll be flying first class and staying in multi-star accommodations. The way I see it, hopping trains, planes, buses, and other forms of public transportation might be easier with a backpack than with a nice set of rolling luggage. Of course, I might change it up midstream. As would be my right.
So, why the WTA tour? Goodness knows a year ago I wouldn't have said that. I hadn't yet come back to tennis this time last April, so I probably would have answered my friend's question very differently. More than likely it would have included moving home to Texarkana and writing. Needless to say I'm in a very different place this year. Coming back to tennis changed me in ways I never would have imagined. Good ways, I think.
For whatever reason, I let 'tennis player' go from my pantheon of identities years ago. Getting that identity back has made me happier, healthier, and more confident. I have new friends, a new backhand, new focus, and new life goals. Winning the lottery and following the tour for a year is the long shot when it comes to those goals. In the meantime, I'm going to do what I can do on my budget, like be the official un-official fan blogger at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in 2014 and eventually I'll write a suspense-thriller-spy novel about tennis and tennis players. Oh, and I'm going to keep playing and writing about tennis as much as I can.
What I discovered at the BNP Paribas Open last month is that I love watching tennis in person. I love sitting with 'the rabble' in general admission. I love the atmosphere, especially in the earlier rounds. I enjoyed myself so much that I've decided to go longer next year, the full two weeks if I can swing it with my boss, professors, and my bank account. While I'm there, I'm going to write and post blogs about the fan experience.
If I ever win the lottery, I'll do the same thing for an entire year while following the Tour. Some have wondered why I don't just want to go to the Grand Slams. Why do I want to travel for a whole year? Wouldn't I miss home? Wouldn't I get tired of it? In all honesty, I'd expect to get tired of it. I'd expect to get a little homesick. However, that's the experience I want. I want to know (and write about) what it's like for these pro players who do this year in year out. What does it take to travel near constantly? Yes, I want to see the Grand Slams, but there are so many other places I'd like to go - like Madrid, Rome, Toronto, Charleston, Bastad (Sweden), Moscow, Istanbul, and Hobart (Tasmania). Traveling with the Tour would give me a chance to see the world and plenty of things to write about. I'd meet people from all over the world and be able to see the differences in atmosphere at each tour stop. I'd get to sight see and do a few touristy things also, but my focus would more than likely remain on the tennis. I'd also have to pull myself out of the doldrums of my introversion.
I suppose in some ways I'd be a tennis ambassador. I don't know about the rest of the world, but here in the U.S., tennis fans pretty much only talk about going to the Slams, unless they are lucky enough live in a city, like Palm Springs, Miami, or Cincinnati, that hosts an annual WTA event. That said, the response I got from fans at Indian Wells was remarkable. Many said they'd never go back to the US Open after the wonderful experience they'd had in the California desert. It makes me wonder if there are some other real cool events out there around the world that fans might like as much or more than the Grand Slams. It might be fun to find out. And to write about.
And that's why if I won the lottery, my first purchase would be new luggage. Or a kick ass backpack. I still have to think on that one a bit before committing to one or the other. After that, I'd start getting my affairs in order here at home (note to self: Get a passport NOW!) and start making plans to be Down Under (the first tour stop of the year in in Brisbane) in late December/early January.
The only problem with my little plan? I don't play the lottery. Not at all. And even with these kick ass plans, I still don't see myself running out to buy a ticket any time soon. Maybe there's another way. There's got to be another way. There will be another way.
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