:::you can see photos and read the full blog at
www.NatalieGelman.com/blog:::
I had a great time on the road over Oct and Nov meeting so many of you
for the first time and getting to visit and perform at a bunch of great
venues with awesome musicians and friends. I did learn a lot on this
tour and I cant wait to head back out on the road and put some of it to
use. Here’s a list of what I learned to help you with your next tour or
road trip or just give you a little run down of my time on the road!
13.
Eat dinner before 8pm. Contrary to my NYC dinnertime of 10pm most of
the country likes to eat dinner at 5 or 6pm. This makes it especially
hard to find food on the road after 8pm so definitely eat dinner before
then.
12. When you need to find the nearest Panera bread off of
interstate 95 there is a website for that:
www.i95exitguide.com You can
also find South of the Border on there but trust me you cant miss it!
11. Always keep an extra set of guitar strings on you, not in the car.
10.
Speaking of the car, when you are spending an average of 6 hours in
your car each day (some days 24 hours) treat it like that. Take out the
trash every time you get out of the car and take advantage of the
windshield washes at gas stations. You will be happy when your car
doesn’t smell and you can see all the funny South of the Boarder signs
clearly.
9. Take lots of photos! You may think you are going to
remember all of these experiences but you will remember so much more
with photos. Journaling is great too and it’s awesome to do when you
are in the passenger seat for hours.
8. Dress in layers. When
you wake up in snowy Iowa and its 30 degrees and drive to Nashville 8
hours later where is it 80 degrees you’re stylish layers will become
very functional.
7. Keep a cooler in the car and stop for
“real food” at a grocery store when you can. Eating at rest stops and
local diners is okay for the first week and then you start craving
fruits and veggies. Kudos if you find a farm or local farmers market on
your trip.
6. Play with animals when you get the chance. When
you drive from one state to another you can start to have moments when
you don’t quite remember where you are. Playing with a dog or cuddling
up with a kitty have a way of making those moments happen less often.
5.
Get up and move or stretch every chance you get. Your back and legs
will thank you. Even better, do the hokey pokey with a friend! Or the
chicken dance -I’ll post about later.
4. Be a stickler with your
tour routing. Playing in PA on Mon and Tues, FL on Wed, CT on Thurs, FL
on Fri and Sat and CT on Mon may sound like a lot of fun but taking
your body from one corner of the country to another 4 times in 3 days
is not fun and your body will thank you if you try harder for better
tour routing.
3. If you get something from your suitcase in the
back seat of the car remember to zip up the suitcase again before you
take it out of the car or else…
2. When you are driving in the
Northeast at 10pm on a Sunday you will hit rush hour traffic and a
drive that your GPS says will take 2 hours will take 4. Know that you
are not alone, I have been there too… twice.
1. When you do eat
out, sit at the bar if you can. You will always strike up conversation
with the other people there and you never know who you might meet. Even
if you don’t meet the love of your life or the subject of your next
break up song you will probably save some money with bar specials and
you might meet a drunk best man who wrote his toast on the inside of a
12 pack… correction, you will meet the subject of a new song,
guaranteed.
Hope you had fun reading the list! I would love to hear what you learned while on
tour or a road trip. Leave a note in the comments! Don't forget you can see photos at
www.NatalieGelman.com/blog Xoxo
Natalie