On Thursday January 6, 2011, I returned from my Christmas vacation from Los Angeles to New Jersey and points south. Here are some trip stats:
Days gone: 20
Time spent driving: 94 hours (or about the equivalent of 4 solid 24 hour days). Since we were actually only driving an average of 8-12 hours per day, the driving was spread over about 9 days.
Miles traveled: 6059 --This was the total actual miles traveled from home departure to our return. We drove less than 200 additional miles of driving in the places where we were since most of our time at our various destinations was spent just hanging out with family. There was another 200 or less miles of riding with others who were driving us around to other places. For the most part we were pretty content on being housebound when we weren't driving.
States Visited: We passed through 20 states, but only actually stayed in 9.
Motels Stayed In: 10 nights in 7 different motels at a total cost of $454.60. All motels were Marriott, Radisson, or Best Western properties with 3 nights "free" due to redemption of points.
Highway Tolls: At least $40--I didn't get receipts for all of them and lost track of the precise amount.
Gas: $708.55
Restaurant Meals: ???? -- We ate in many restaurants during the trip. I won't venture to even add them up, but I'll estimate that we splurged about $600 on food during the trip. There was a lot of fast food, but several quite nice restaurants as well.
CDs Listened To While Driving: 67-- I like to have a soundtrack going to accompany my driving. I brought an array of listening ranging from Vivaldi to Eels to K.T. Oslin to Manhattan Transfer and on and on. I would start the day with something classical and then a mix after that. We drove all Christmas Day and listened to Christmas music the entire time. We actually had 86 CDs with us, but since we also listened to the radio some and had some quiet drive time we didn't make it through all of the CDs we brought with us. I love listening to music while driving.
Amount of Fun: A whole bunch!
This gives you a rough idea of what it might cost two people to make a lengthy cross country trip. Certainly it can be done much less expensively, but I think we were in line with a certain element of frugality without being absolutely Spartan about it. I highly recommend a road trip of this nature if you don't mind the hours in the car and the time away from home. If you get the opportunity, go for it!
Blog Stats:
I noticed that some of the WordPress blogs that I follow had received an assessment of "Blog Health" with an assortment of statistics and the blog owners posted their reports.
In the past I have tried to make some sense of my Google Analytics reports, but have never really gotten overly serious about it. When I changed my blog page template my Google Analytics stopped working and I just ignored it. I notice now that on the Dashboard page there is a tab labeled "Blog Stats" that seems to provide the same information as Analytics did. Someday I really need to study this and make some sense of it all.
Have any of you studied your blog stats and made sense of them? What conclusions have you come to from the information that is provided? Where is the best place to go to find out more about how to interpret blog stats and put them to work?
That's some stats for you Lee. I have never counted or done any stats on mine. Perhaps I will start when I visit Nashville.....one month to go now,
ReplyDeleteHave a good day.
Yvonne.
Wow that must be a great trip. I had done a cross country trip in the US. It was in 1997. Once in a lifetime trip.
ReplyDeleteI had not looked at the blog stats. It would be interesting to know.
wow, that's a lot of miles, money and hours spent and covered :)
ReplyDeleteI use other gadgets to check out my statistics. For example the one with the flags is great, because when you click on it it takes you to the report page where you can see the number of daily, weekly and monthly visitors, countries they are from, graphics etc. And I just installed a gadget in the upper right corner of my blog which shows how many readers are online at the moment which is a huge fan to me :) I always know how many spies are spying on my headquarters in every moment.
I looked at the Blog Stats tab the first time I saw it, but I don't remember anything that was on it. I'm not a big numbers person. Hubby, on the other hand, luvs them. He keeps trip logs like you do. Makes me crazy. Glad you had a fun trip :)
ReplyDeleteWell my Google analytics still works, but I also use the stats tab within blogger. It's interesting to look at, but really the only concrete info I gather from it is that the biggest boost in traffic comes when you are mentioned on other blogs. Whether it be a blogfest, an interview, or even just a brief mention, the most site referrals for my blog come from other blogs.
ReplyDeleteTraveling through a lot of states id fun. I love road trips, but wifey, not so much. And I check out my blog stats from time to time but there's no real consistency. I probably should take them more serious. Glad you made it back safely.
ReplyDeleteYou really spent very little on hotels considering the # of nights spent on the road. Those 3 free nights sure help.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had a map so I could see the actual journey but you covered a LOT of territory! I bet you hit a variety of weather conditions, too.
Sounds like you had a nice trip. I love road trips. We once drove while pulling a travel trailer from SW Florida to and through Alaska.
ReplyDeleteI look at my stats, but have no clue what most of them mean or how I could use them.
Wow. Some awesome stats. 94-hours spent driving! Oh, my.
ReplyDeleteI've only looked at my stats once, got very consfused, and decided not to bother again. LOL.
Yvonne -- I know you are excited as you count down the days.
ReplyDeleteOcean Girl -- Judging from the comments you get I'd say your stats would show a lot of hits from a lot of different countries.
Dezmond -- I will have to check out your "spy" gadget. I considered one of those flag widgets, but decided not to do it yet.
Carol-- Stats can be important, but you have to know how to interpret and use them.
Karen -- Sounds like you've got some high tech sound stuff happening. Blog stats befuddle me as well.
Matthew -- I think my results have been similar, but I really need to go back and figure it out.
Stephen -- Fortunately my wife loves the road trips as long as I'm doing most of the driving. Analyzing stats is probably an inexact science, but I'm sure they are still useful.
Lisa -- I look for the best hotel bargains for sure, but I also try to obtain good quality. I tried to put up my Mapquest map but couldn't figure out how to do it. Actually, for the most part during our travel the weather remained mostly good and I was thankful for that.
Jane -- I've never done the travel trailer thing myself, but my family used to do a lot of travel like that when I was a kid. It can be fun, but I think I now prefer the hotels at my age.
I think we all could use a class or a good tutorial on understanding blog stats.
Ellie -- Yeah, like I was saying to Jane above.
What a great trip. I love cross-country driving. I have done it four times myself and once as a kid with my family. We drove from Ohio to California in 1966; from North Carolina to California in 1974 and California to South Carolina in 1975 and from South Carolina to California in 1976. We have taken the most southern route, 20 back east then to 10 across the bottom of the US. We have taken 40 across the mid-section and I forget the most northern route.
ReplyDeleteI too have music going when I am driving. I love the off highways also, like Route 66 etc to see the towns and sights. The interstate is fine if you are in a hurry but I like local state routes when I can.
I don't pay attention to stats. I have a site meter that I rarely look at. I am into comments. Good or bad - critical or favorable. I would like to work up to a 12 a day on my little known blog.
However, as much as I like comments, I won't do the work that The Old Geezer has done. He has found a way to have around a hundred give or take per post. He has worked hard with a very Godly goal to achieve that many.
Glad you had a good time and were safe! Glad you have you back.
OOPS PS I have been meaning to tel you since you asked, yes I am up for a second annual A-Z in April. Bring it on!
ReplyDeleteWOW! QUite a trip! Was it just you and your wife? I think I could take a road trip like that with my daughter, but the men in my family don't travel well (one is picky and the other can't sit still). Glad you had fun!
ReplyDeleteI posted a little blog stat confusion last week--the top search leading to my blog is 'Oreo'--and the first time I've ever mentioned them is my BLOG about the STATS... I do however, check them now and again. I'm not sure they are informative so much as amusing. (love my flag counter and tracker, though)
Sounds like a great trip, Lee! We definitely must have the same mind type, I keep similar trip stats :)
ReplyDeleteSince my blog is for enjoyment I don't want to be bothered with stats, they can be depressing when you are a little fish in a big pond :D
Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow
that's a long trip, Lee! glad you enjoyed yourself!
ReplyDeleteas for the stats? i checked`m in my old B-E-ing Transformed blog and it scared the tar out of me! if people find me by chance and want to follow me, no problem...that's fine. in my closed blog, my open blogs are listed for friends that i trust. no longer do i have/use a visible profile either. out of curiosity, i checked my stats and have about a dozen or so hitting one blog regularly and a couple of regulars on the a to z book blog. but now i'm at the point that i will no longer check the stats. don't wish to change blogs again! it's better not to know as far as this one is concerned...
Wow, what a fantastic trip and I'm glad that you enjoyed it! I would not be able to spend that much time in a car. After 8 hours, I am ready for a nice room and dinner. lol The Blogger stats are fairly accurate and give you most of what you'd want to know. But, if you want to know everything, there's always Site Meter.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of CDs! You need an iPod or iTouch - then you could take hundreds. Or would that be overwhelming?
ReplyDeleteMy stats never make sense. There's days that SiteMeter tells me I have the same amount of visits as comments. And since I know not everyone comments, I know that can't be right!
It's nice to know someone is reading beside me - that's about all I get out of it.
ReplyDeleteA very long trip. Hope you are recovered and refreshed.
While I agree with Alex on the convenience of an iPod, there's nothing that will replace browsing through a stack of CD's deciding what to listen to.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I don't recommend that at 80 mph while balancing your coffee and passing a state trooper...
...although I have done that and escaped unscathed.
LC
Wow, that's an impressive list! I couldn't do it. I'm one of those rare people who hate road trips. And I have to take Dramamine (inner ear).
ReplyDeleteI just tinker around with my Stats and learn that way. My most popular post is That Kind of Evening. I believe it because I also have a widget and it tells me every time someone visits it. Funny....
Glad you're safely home!
Hi Arlee!
ReplyDeleteWow what a trip, it sounds like you had a great time. I don't know that I could handle being in a car for very long periods unless I could stretch out my legs. An R.V. would be nice! My husband drives between 2000 and 3000 miles a week but his truck is much more comfortable than my car!
I do check out the blogger stats from time to time but just for fun and curiosity! Welcome home!
Love Di ♥
r-LEE-boid ~
ReplyDeleteGlad ya had a good trip, Brother!
I never look at my Blog Stats anymore. Haven't for ages. They tell me everything I could possibly ask except for the one thing I am most interested in knowing: How many visits to my blog did I have yesterday and where were those visitors visiting from? Yeah, it'll tell me how many, but not the locations. And, yes, it will tell me the locations overall, but not on a day-to-day basis - and that's what I'd most want to know.
The rest of what my Stat-O-Meter shows me, I have no interest in knowing. I think it's all just a big waste of info., and I haven't even bothered to click on it for about 6 months.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Gregg -- I like the backroads and old roads as well when I have the time to meander.
ReplyDeleteLooks like we're getting another A to Z crew together. I'll start posting about it in February and maybe others can post on their blogs as well.
Hart -- Fortunately my wife and I both like the long trips. I think the flag counter concept seems pretty cool.
Jules -- I used to keep really detailed stats and data when I worked on the road. Blog stats must have some use to some people-- yours might surprise you!
Bud -- I understand how for your purpose that blog stats might not be that meaningful. I tend to be curious about things like that though.
Marguerite -- I agree that 8 hours of driving is quite enough, but when you hit that another 4 hours isn't really that much more, especially when you're going to hotel reservations. I've seen a lot of bloggers with Site Meter.
Alex -- I guess I'm just wary of technology, but I know there are more efficient options than CDs.
Maybe the stat sites are just making everything up.
M Pax -- I'm doing pretty good, but my schedule now seems out of whack--have to readapt.
Larry -- I just had the discs in one of those CD carriers so there wasn't that much to peruse. Sometimes I was wishing I'd had the cases to read notes and song titles.
Words Crafter -- Too bad if you're missing travel because their is so much to see. I think I need to tinker with my stats more if I get the time.
Diana -- My wife wants us to get a van for the next trip for the comfort factor. Her Maxima is very comfortable to drive, but I have a heck of a time getting in and out sometimes.
StMc -- I think there can be a lot of valuable data that some smart person could put to good use in the blog stats, but I'm not that person.
Take a look at StatCounter Lee. They provide a great deal of free information and break stats down very specifically into many categories.
ReplyDeleteAs I said, the basic service is free. You may notice a slight difference in counts between Google and StatCounter but it's not that significant.
Paula -- I may take a look at StatCounter. I think I looked at it before, but it's worth another look.
ReplyDelete