Local Travel Tip

It’s official — March has arrived. Conference basketball tournaments are upon us and the NCAA tournament is coming up, which has me thinking a lot about sports travel. If you’re one of the thousands of enthusiastic fans hoping to be there as your team makes a deep run in the tournament, chances are you’re looking for the best places to get sports tickets.

Whether you’re thinking of college or professional sports, there are probably several options you haven’t thought of. Search all sources for tickets — you may find the cheapest tickets where you least expected to find them. Here are some good places to start:

1. Official sponsoring organizations: It’s funny how many people skip straight to ticket resellers instead of looking at official sources first. A surprising number of sports tickets are often available from official ticket-sales channels, and they’re usually cheaper than from resellers (but not always — see below). Start by checking with the website of the league, stadium or arena, conference, or team in question.
2. Ticket-resell sites: You might be surprised by the prices you find on sites like StubHub, TicketsNow and TicketBroker. Sure, most ticket holders with listings here are aiming to sell for a profit, but that’s not always the case, and once one seller lists at a lower cost, prices can drop for an entire event. And different sites can have significantly different prices, so shop around.
3. Online auction sites: The most obvious choice here is ebay, but take a look around. I don’t generally love auction sites for sports tickets, but they can be helpful if prices elsewhere are outrageous, especially if your desired tickets have a Buy Now option (which will often give you a competitive price).
4. Classified ads (print and online): Some outlets will have higher readership than others, so if you don’t know where people in your community go to buy and sell, run a quick poll of friends or coworkers to see what names they throw out. It may be a physical newspaper or the website for a local TV or radio station. If most of the people you ask bring up the same place, start by looking there and then branch out to others.
5. Craigslist: More and more, classifieds are shifting away from locally sponsored sites towards Craigslist, where sellers list sports tickets under the “For Sale: Tickets” category. The benefit here is that listings are done locally, so if you find a suitable price you should be able to have your tickets in hand quickly. The downside: high Craigslist traffic means you’ll need to act fast. What’s more, scammers have been known to rear their ugly heads on Craigslist, so always use caution here.
6. Facebook Marketplace: This is a focused market for buyers and sellers because social networks often center around a geographic location. If you’re in Chapel Hill and looking for ACC tournament tickets, chances are there’s someone in your community selling them. And because Facebook isn’t as anonymous as Craigslist, scammers are less prevalent here. Still, keep an eye open for warning signs.

Given all these options, you should be able to find the cheapest tickets out there and have a great time on your trip. And it may be March, but it’ll be cold in plenty of cities across the country so travel safe out there.

Got any additional ideas for finding cheap sports tickets? Leave me a comment below.

Eco-Tourism is a fairly new concept in the travel world. Essentially, people go to exotic locales in order to volunteer some of their time to restoring the ecosystem of the area. This practice has gotten a lot of praise for the way that it combines doing volunteer work with being able to see awesome things at the travel destinations.

Many places that focus on Eco-Tourism have facilties in place so that people who want to volunteer can get some time in learning about the area and the best way to preserve it for future generations. Volunteers are usually then allowed to participate in clean up and restoration efforts.

In the middle of doing this charitable work, volunteers are then able to spend some time in the environment that they are helping to preserve, which grants them access to some seriously awesome sights and expereiences. Many of these places offer expeditions in tandem with the volunteer effort, so that people can have an adventure.

All in all, Eco-Tourism is something that is worth looking into as a worthwhile travel experience. It’s a good way to do some meaningful work while seeing beautiful places.

One of the most important parts of a trip is the experiences that are had and the memories that are created when travelling. If one wants to have an experience that is uniquely theirs, they may want to consider going beyond the immediacy of the place they are staying at and see things omn their own.

Many places have special areas where tourists and travellers are encouraged to go. Often times, these special zones are overcast by a presentation of what life in the area supposedly is like, and offers goods that supposedly reflect this culture that is being portrayed. While these areas are fun places to see attractions and get souvenirs, they often fail to deliver an authentic experience for the traveler.

A good way to experience the local culture and landscape is to either secure transportation or do some walking. Getting beyond the special made up zone can be an eye opener, and can lead the person to sights and places that are special in a non artificial way. Not only does this save money that would be spent on souvenirs, but it allows the traveler to experience something and create their own experience.

This is one of the ways that the real feeling of the locale can be experienced, and the real goods and services can be secured. Beyond the glitz and faux exotica of the tourist sector lies the real area; with it’s quirks, flaws, and wonders to be seen and enjoyed.