[Chris Fultz]

Traveling to multiple events is an exceptional way to spread the FIRST message through the visitor team and the visitee team (is that a word?).

We have competed in two regionas for several years, and try to pick different places to travel, not in an attemt to crush the local teams but to see other parts of the country, meet the teams we read about and see from a distance, and enjoy the different ways regions play together (there are differences, but that is another thread). I am always amazed at several robots and several teams that we meet when we are on the road.

As a team, we have been to Phoenix, Orlando, Kennedy Space Center, Houston, Cleveland, Grand Rapids, Chicago, Richmond, and Long Island, plus our 'local' event at Purdue. We have traveled to off season events in other states. Each place has its' own unique atmosphere. The volunteers are great to meet and talk to. We invite others to come to Indiana.

For many of our students, it is their first trip out of the state. It might be their first time to fly and see a very unique part of the country.

I am excited about some of the new regionals - I am looking forward to Oklahoma City and Washington DC in the coming years because i think they will be cool events, and they are cities with exceptional histories.

There are lots of reasons to travel to far away events and multiple regionals.
If you think most teams do it just to beat the locals, i think you are grossly underestimating those teams and their motivations.