VAN LIFE Touring and Saving Lodging Money
If you just logically look at the costs of taking a 4 piece band on the road, of course you can split costs in 1/2 if you double up and share hotel rooms. You could also sleep 4 people in one room, but not everyone wants that much camaraderie, lol. If you’re like us and you’re driving from the top center of the nation Minnesota 1600 miles to Texas other 2000+ to San Diego or Key West, even a good long weekend of gigs and shows on the way or the way home means 10 days if you’re cruising non stop. If you’re lucky enough to average $100 a room, x 2 rooms that’s $2000 for lodging, minimum and probably higher. If you have a camper or a sprinter van like we do, you look for KOA or similar campgrounds that have common showers. Nobody likes a stinky bass player or drummer, and I’m sure they don’t like stinky keyboard players or guitar players. I grew up in a family that camped, did canoe trips on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, portaging, carrying gear and setting up tents along miles of water different places over many days, so KOA camping is just fine.
Not every bandmate loves traveling at all, but ya want a gig? I’ve configured my van so that it can easily sleep up to 4 and we could probably add a 5th bunk with creative thinking. Most of us are too old to do the, “You sleep a bunch of hours while I drive then we’ll swap” to get there earlier. We’re more like 8 hours a day, stop eat, explore, sleep, hit the road a dawn and do it again. We often have the navigator shotgun seater phone search a park with a covered pavilion for lunch. We all get our coolers out and share a bit of what we all brought. KOA and other campgrounds offer us the ability to very inexpensively rent overnight little cabins that can sleep 3 or 4, no bedding, bring your own pillow and sleeping bag, some little cabins have two rooms… and we can rent the cheapest one and 2 can sleep in the van. If you think this kind of band travel is roughing it, consider that each bandmate makes more if we squeeze the travel costs downward. As older humans, we’re more likely to not sleep in tents on the ground, though some of us actually like that. We save even more if everyone is game, by camping in the van, parking free overnight at either Walmart, Cracker Barrel Restaurants, truck stops…
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Truck stops you can pay for a shower if you’re willing and needy, also of course. There are multiple kind of body wipe products that are handy for temporary self cleaning, lol, that help the camaraderie! I’ve never rigged up a shower for the van, BUT, stay tuned, I have a concept that is based a power pressure hand pump, the device holds 2 gallons of water. Heat one gallon by way of lithium battery and mix that hot with a gallon of cold and should be the perfect quick super warm shower temp. The right kind of hard plastic tub and circular shower curtain ring and boom! I reshape/remodel my van based upon the best possible band travel accommodations that’ll keep the gang touring! That right balance for a 10 day or two week trip is, a mix of sleeping free on the way down, grab a KOA every 3rd day, if performing in a certain city a few days, search the most reasonable either VRBO, Airbnb, KOA for being planted a bit… then mix it up on the way home, too. We mix in early evening Netflix movies on my laptop in the van if we need to kill time on a stay, and our little band family loves to explore junk shops and sight see. Ya gotta make it work, keep everybody happy and find the best ways to tour. That’s what this GETAROOM.LIVE is about, too, which I hope grows more shared info fast!