Need advice from experienced route shoppers....

I want to take a road trip to CA. How much shopping would I need to line up in order to write off the hotel expense and mileage as work? As an example, could I justify a night in a hotel by doing 15 cell phone shops that day? Could I write off the mileage from CO to CA, and only have shops lined up in CA? What's the best way to accomplish this? Say I want to pick up a hotel shop along the way, what's the best way to find a shop available in the city and date you need it?

Shopping up and down the Colorado Rocky Mountain front range.

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The best way to find a hotel shop in the city you want on the day you need it is to already have a very good track record with that MSC and perhaps even with that scheduler. Then, email your dates and locations and ask if there is any chance that they can hold a hotel shop for you that matches your needs. If you are an IMSC member, also email the president and ask for access to the secret FB page for schedulers and shoppers that they have. Many schedulers hang out and post shops there because they have been to IMSC conferences and count on IMSC members to be experienced and well trained.

I also strongly suggest that you look for Airbnb accommodations that have high speed Internet. They can save you a bundle and allow you to write those reports more easily.

When I do a route, say, from DC to New York City and then go on to visit family further north, it matters not that I may do no shops between DC and NYC, for tax purposes. However, it matters greatly that the legs of my trip from NYC to CT and back as far as NYC are not counted a business expenses. So, bridge toll into NYC for 3 days of shopping there: deductible. Once I leave NYC none of the tolls between there and CT or on return as far as the closest exit for NCY: not deductible. From there to home: deductible.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

To expand on that. It has to be enough work to make sense. If you drive from Colorado to California, do a $15 shop, and drive back, that won't work. I would guess if you book enough work that the trip is break even or better you would be ok.

In my limited experience with route shopping though I have found that it is exceptionally difficult to male a viable route with shops off the board.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

It depends on where you want to go in CA.
Coyle and True Guest have many hotels. Other companies have a few every month and a whole pile of people fighting for them. If you have time, I would check the job boards and change the state to CA for a few weeks. See what is hard to fill. Los Angeles and south, is full of shoppers. Central CA has fewer shoppers and more area. Plenty of shopers in the Bay Area. Not so many, once you get to the rural north-eastern part of the state.

when I am on road trips I tend to fill in with gigwalk and field agent I find this best only because even though the pay is pennies the work is easy and i can usually find something where I am instead of where i hope to be in the allotted time frame

If the OP is hoping the trip is viable enough to write off, the low paying apps are not going to get them there. The whole idea of route shopping is not to just hope to find work where you are at a given time.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

Are you basing your shops, for example the 15 cell phone shops to cover most of your vacationing expenses? You would need to estimate all of your shop time and reporting time, plus finding the shops since you will not be familiar with the area that they are in. The hotel shops, you might get lucky to score a hotel shop in the area you are visiting. Depending on the amount of time you plan to be in CA, you can probably split up the shops into 4 to 5 per day, if you are staying 3 to 4 days in CA. Why not do some easy gas stations shops that require a certain amount of gas purchase and a small convenience shop purchase along the way? That would help with some of your gas expenses. Maritz has some gas stations shops. Once in a while, there are some car rental shops.For road trips, I would suggest picking some easy peasy shops that do not require alot of narratives because you would be spending all that time filling out the reports and less time spent for some R & R.

I'm not sure it matters what days you do the shop and certainly the number of actual shops is irrelevant. Like bgriffin said, you want to be looking at the income versus expenses and probably need a goal of breaking even or making money. That said, over the years I've had maybe two road trips be losses on paper. For me it was either weather or an equipment failure, never an intentional loss. Every year I've also been in the black for income tax purposes so the losses didn't concern me.

I have had a couple of trips be an intentional loss. Or more like had to be a loss. Just last week I had to have an overnight trip for 1 shop that was part of a route. I thought I was going to be back through there before the deadline and my plans changed. I had 2 available days and the trip was a full day's drive in each direction. That one hurt the bottom line!

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

That doesn't sound intentional. In fact, it sounds necessary for maintaining the client relationship. I had something similar after agreeing to take a $150 shop in Kansas City from my favorite scheduler. Normally it was easy to find plenty of shops to flesh out a route. This time it was not, but the commitment had been made and time was running out.

Line up a job interview or two before you go. Attend the interviews and you can write off the trip.

Thanks for all the responses and good ideas. I have booked my airfare (a shop). After reading Walesmaven's response about AirBNB, I pulled up the website. My plans changed after that. I'm going to shop my way there and back (airfare) and maybe pick up some meal shops while in CA. But, other than that I'm not going to work at all. I'm going to rent a place right on the beach and just enjoy my trip home.

I am not much of a route shopper yet. My routes are only one day long, but may start 60+ miles from my home. I've done as many as 20 shops on a route. I still work full-time so it makes it difficult to do multiple day routes. I need to start setting myself up for when I retire; meaning I better start trying to get a Coyle assignment, huh?

SoCalMama - I'm grew up in the San Fernando Valley. I'm an official "Valley Girl", like you know!

Shopping up and down the Colorado Rocky Mountain front range.

Thank you for saying the commitment was made. I can't get that through my family's thick heads. I made a commitment and I must follow through.

They really believe that I can blow off shops for better shops. I've not been on this block very long, but I'm sure that approach/attitude doesn't fly.

Oh, I also wanted to thank you and other posters for the great information you're willing to give to other members. It's wonderful in this day, age and our business.

@LisaSTL wrote:

That doesn't sound intentional. In fact, it sounds necessary for maintaining the client relationship. I had something similar after agreeing to take a $150 shop in Kansas City from my favorite scheduler. Normally it was easy to find plenty of shops to flesh out a route. This time it was not, but the commitment had been made and time was running out.

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning; the devil shudders...And yells OH #%*+! SHE'S AWAKE!

According to my accountant, you don't need to make money on a route in order for it to be a business expense. If I travel from Boston to NY for the sole purpose of a restaurant shop for $25, then I write the whole thing off, even if it's a loss. If I go there to do a shop and then see a broadway show afterwards, the paperwork is the same and therefore it's a full write-off. The difference is whether or not you want to be fully honest about it.

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Sure you an take the loss. On the other hand, if it becomes necessary to prove you are operating as a business and not a hobby, how would that pan out? If trips happen to be losses, but you have attempted to make a profit there is not so much to worry about.

Yeah, this was my situation. It's obviously different for everybody.

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