A question on touring.

[centauri]

For some of you guys that tour, do any of you ever used your own RV while touring?

I am looking to get back into theater work and I am currently living in a RV. When I was doing local work for IATSE in Jacksonville, I've helped a roadie out repairing his RC aircraft and offered me a gig with the crew for a major rock band. I really wanted to accept it at the time, but had some family issues at the time, and also looking at the living arrangements kind of turned me off, especially for my big butt (I was even heavier then).

 

[Footer]

The point of having a bus is to sleep while driving. If you have to drive then having the rv is pointless. Also, rv's are not designed to take the milage and weight that a proper tour bus can.

 

[porkchop]

There are some very specific tour schedules that make driving tour reasonable, but unless you're working for a company that has you pay for a part of your accommodations (they are few in number and generally low in pay) it's almost certainly not worth the huge expense both in terms of money and usable hours between cities.

 

[Adam B]

I can speak from experience that you don't want to load out your gig and then drive yourself. Depending on your talent, there are jobs available for people that want to tour. Every year right around the beginning of tour season (March/April), companies are scrambling to find techs. If you really want to do it then get out there and do it. When I was on the road I loved riding the bus. Understand your only sleeping on the bus if you have back to back shows in different cities. Typically if you have a day off your in a hotel in most cases.

 

[centauri]

Thanks for the input guys. I come from a film/ television background, and I did some stage work a few years ago. My current job is sending me to Vegas at the end of the year, and since Vegas have a slightly bigger theater market than Jacksonville, I am considering giving stage work a chance again. I find it fun, and help keep me in shape even though round is a shape. I might even start taking classes at UNLV so at least I can pick up another skill other than video, and load in's and outs.

I will still most likely live out of the RV for a bit, and if I do go touring, I might just put it in storage, not unless I pick up some grip or camera work elsewhere.

 

[ruinexplorer]

I know someone who just came off touring who drove his own RV. Company he was working for made it easier to do so, they would sit in town for a few days at a time. Now that he's off tour, he's looking to sell it and just get a stable place.

 

[techieman33]

I know someone who just came off touring who drove his own RV. Company he was working for made it easier to do so, they would sit in town for a few days at a time. Now that he's off tour, he's looking to sell it and just get a stable place.

I know a guy who did/does it as well. He worked festivals all summer and would just park the RV on the site. That way his wife and child could travel with him a lot. He would also have his dad drive the RV from site to site at times when he didn't have the time to drive it himself. He was also the boss so they were a lot more accommodating to him doing something like that.

 

[centauri]

I did not think of festivals, I have to look into that.