On The Road Again...

I know I've said this a few times before, but I've been pretty busy these past few months. And by that, I mean since end of summer last year. Hence the lack of quality posts (or any posts for that matter) lately. Every time I think I'll have a breather to put in some serious writing time, a job will come up and exhaust me to the point where I'm not even sure how I made it home, let alone string together coherent sentences.

I know I shouldn't be bitching about getting all this work when I know there are so many out there who's got nothin' right now, but seriously, Mama needs a vacay. But we all know I won't take one as long as the calls keep coming in because we all have that fear that ZOMG This call might be the last one I EVER get because who the fuck knows when or where the next call will come from??, amirite?

Right.

And on top of the usual craziness that is life on set, a couple of these jobs have been out of town. I've been lucky so far that none of these jobs were due to runaway production, but rather good ol' fashioned location work. Who knew such a thing even existed any more?

Anyway, I've been stuck in Hollywoodville for so long that it's kind of fun (and even more exhausting that normal) to work out of town. It's always nice look at something that isn't traffic and smog for a change. To see how other people live. To experience other cultures, other food and a new address. To live out of a hotel for a while and come back at the end of the day to a magically made bed (because Lord knows I never make my own bed at home) and all the cable TV you could possibly watch. If I'm feeling particularly lazy, I'll even order room service* and eat dinner in my pajamas.**

And the thing about being on the road is that you spend a lot of time looking out windows. Whether it's checking out the view from yet another hotel room or looking out the window of a taxi/plane/bus/pass van, you end up seeing a lot of landscapes. You'll see every thing from suburbia to deserts to mountains to rivers to old ass buildings to homeless camps to RV camps to miles of corn to skyscrapers so high you crane your neck just to see the sky.

You'll also freeze your ass off, melt your face off, watch the sunrise a few dozen times and watch it set a few dozen more. And sometimes, you'll find that you're the only person in the room that speaks English.

My point is, that my time on the road and away from my L.A. bubble reminds me of how huge and diverse this country is. It's a pretty fuckin' fantastic place. And sometimes, I find myself in a place that's so different than the one I'm from that I find it odd that I didn't need a passport to get here***. And then I remind myself that I wouldn't need one because I just crossed a state line (sometimes, even just a county one), not a country border. And then I'm in awe again of how diverse this country is.

Anyway, just think about that on Friday. 

Have a happy 4th of July and safe travels, my friends.


Ps.
But when all is said and done, if the best part of your trip isn't walking through your door at the end of it, it might be time to re-evaluate some things. Just sayin'.


* Tip: Don't just assume it's all overpriced crap. At the last couple places I stayed at (which were pretty fancy places where they have people open doors for you and all that jazz), the prices were surprisingly reasonable; especially for something that's made to order and delivered right to you in less than 25 minutes. I even cheaped out one time and ordered off the kids menu (because really, who are they to know you're not ordering for your kid sister or something?) since I just wanted something to tide me over for a few hours and ended up with a pretty sizable plate of food. But as usual, YMMV on this.

** That's probably as close to a vacation as I'm going to get for a while. (I know, I know, "It's location. Not vacation!")

*** I'm talking about traveling domestically, of course. Traveling internationally for work is a whole other post, although some of the concepts mentioned here are the same.