Clips From Last Years NPPL Chicago Open & Living Legends V

Introduction

When asked to plan a trip to somewhere in the world that I would want to travel someday. Many places came to mind such as New Zealand or Australia but I wanted to go somewhere where I can engage in some of my favourite activites. Considering I love to play paintball, Chicago was the prime choice for paintball games and tournaments. I plan to spend a month in Chicago and neighbouring cities plaing in some of the top paintball tournaments on the continent! The first will be played in Peoria on May 5th. The second will be in CPX paintball park in Joliet, Illinois. This tournament is called Living Legends V and takes place all weekend starting on May 18th. The third will be played in a field near Fort Wayne, Illinois. When not playing in these tournaments, I will roam around the city finding some of the best attractions and activities in the city!

The 5 A's of Travel and Tourism

Attractions-Biophysical: Within Chicago and surrounding cities, there are a variety of biophysical attractions. One of which would be Lincoln Park. This park spans across 6 miles of the coast line of lake michigan and contains beaches, biking and hiking trails as well as horseback riding trails. Another biophysical attraction within Chicago would be Foster Avenue Beach which also spans along the coast of lake michigan.
Cultural: As well as having biophysical attractions, Chicago and neighbouring cities contain a lot of cultural attractions. One of which that I plan on visiting would be the Field Museum of Natural History. This museum was founded in 1893 and contains over 20 million artifacts. Another Cultural Attraction would be Willis Tower (used to be Sears Tower). This tower became open to the public 1974 and is 1453ft (452m) tall. On a clear day, you can see up to 50 miles (64km) over four different states.
Access- When in Chicago, Taxi's and public transit are popular methods of transportation. For my trip however, I have chosen to rent a car to help save some money and make more different destinations easily accessible for myself.
Accommodation- Within Chicago, there are many forms of accommodations ranging from very cheap motels to very high end hotels that cost hundreds of dollars to stay at nightly. For my trip I have chosen to stay at hotels that are reasonably cheap.
Activities- Throughout my trip, I will be engaging in a variety of activities. The main one being paintball tournaments. When not participating in large tournaments, I have chosen to spend much of my free time exploring different areas of chicago, visiting museums such as the Field Museum of Natural History, visiting beaches, roaming around the city experiencing every day life of someone living in Chicago. I have also chosen to play in some recreational games of paintball at some of the more local fields to witness the variety of fields.
Amenities- Some amenities that I will require during my trip is a cell phonoe capable of constant communication with home. Being in a new plave to me for so long, I would like to have methods of communication to my family. I would also like to always have a map or GPS. In somewhere as crowded as Chicago, I would like to have some kind of navigation so I always know where I am compared to where I should be

My Trip Budget

• Breakfast: $5.00 - $10.00
• Lunch: $5.00 - $10.00
• Dinner: $10.00 - $30.00
• *all tournaments require pre-registration and will be paid for ahead of time*
• Paint for tournaments (total cost): $300.00
• Hotels (total): $1,406.00 (May 1^st – May 30^th)
• Car rental: $750.10 (May 1^st – May 30^th)
• Various museums and attractions: $400.00 (total)
• Spending Money: $375.00 (total)
• Money for health care (in case of emergency): $400.00 (total)
• Extra money: $450.00 (total)

Total cost of the trip should come to roughly $4700.00 including flights

Travel Motivators and Barriers

Travel Barriers: One large travel barrier that applies to both my self and many other “budget travelers” is that this trip may cost quite a bit more. Through booking cheap flights and hotels however, the cost is still reasonably low. Another travel barrier that may apply to many travelers is that many of the activities I have chosen to participate in are more sports related and much more competitive than a relaxing stay at a beach or resort. One final travel barrier that is a reasonably large one is that when in Chicago, you will probably be in very crowded places alot of the time.

Travel Motivators: A major travel motivator is that when I'm not participating in paintball tournaments, I have planned to visit some of the nicest areas and attractions in one of the United States most popular cities. Chicago is filled with interesting attractions that I plan to visit in my spare time. Another Travel motivator is that the paintball tournaments I have chosen to play in are some of the most popular and high level tournaments on the Continent.

Climate During Visit

Just like in many other aspects of tis trip, Chicago and neighboring cities are so close to home that the climate should not be all that different compared to southern Ontario in this time of year. The average temperature in Chicago in this time of year is about 15 degrees celcius, which is pretty close to a temperature that Acton may face in May. The average rainfall in May is about 86mm in Chicago where they encounter an average of 12 wet days within the month (+0.1mm). This climate should make the weather very easy to acustom to compared to what I would normally face in Acton and should leave nice weather to play paintball in.

Culture Shock

Due to the fact that the Chicago so close to home, I do not expect much culture shock. Language and food is very similar to that in Canada. The one thing I must prepare for is the traffic and population density. Acton is not a very populated town so being in a city like Chicago would be pretty different. To prepare for this, I could spend more time in Toronto to help adjust to being around so many people all the time.