The road trips are picking up and that’s good. But the life of a videographer who travels is not so easy (the French translation of the headline). I just finished a four-day blast through Quebec: flying from Salt Lake to Detroit to Montreal in a day (meaning I lost two hours), driving 2.5 hours to Quebec City that same evening, shooting at a factory the next day, driving back to Montreal that evening, driving an hour the next morning to shoot another factory, back to Montreal that afternoon to shoot at a trade show, spending the night saving my video to an external hard drive, shooting at the show again the next morning, flying out that afternoon home.
Luckily, French is the only other language I come close to speaking. My favorite words in Quebec: “tres bien”, donne-moi un biere, s’il vous plait”, and “allons-y”. The Quebecois were not impressed by my skill but admired me for my determination. I love the action, I love shooting and, of course, I love getting paid and building my business. But as you can see from the stuff lying on the floor in the picture, I carry a lot: camera, laptop, batteries, charger, tripod, cables, light, microphones. Oh, and clothes, which I pack in the tripod case to save bags. The only thing I check in baggage is the tripod case because the law requires it. I weighed myself once with all the stuff and came out to nearly 80 pounds on my back, in both hands, and in my vest.
The tripod case has been forgotten by airlines three times. That means I was without fresh clothes until I got it back. The tripod case is also like a chess piece to the airlines. Sometimes it comes out of regular baggage. Sometimes it comes out of special baggage. Sometimes it doesn’t come out at all. Checkmate. Once it got lost and I did the entire trip without it. As I checked in for my flight home on a different airline, I decided to ask the airline that lost the tripod if they had perhaps seen it. Sure enough, they checked and they had it. I took it, rechecked it, and flew it back home. I had literally followed me from Salt Lake to Denver to Charlotte to Charlottesville, Virginia. And I never used it.
Getting the rest of the stuff on the plane is a bigger challenge. More airlines are using regional or smaller jets. There’s not nearly the room in them as the bigger planes. Sometimes my stuff fits in the overhead compartment. Sometimes it fits under the seat in front of me. Sometimes I have to take it out of the bag or backpack and wear it. It’s always different. The more stuff I need to take, the bigger the challenge. But it’s not the airlines’ fault. It’s just a game I play to see what I can get on and provide the best service for my client.
All this bulky equipment means tight connections are a slide for life. The bigger the airport, the higher the odds that you will have to change terminals to make your connection. Running is dangerous but most airports have shuttles that get you there comfortably. You just have to make sure you’re on the right one. And when you have ten seconds to choose without having been there before, it really gets the old heart going. Like you need that.
Then there are rental cars. I got lost going to LAX once and ended up in an all-Spanish-speaking neighborhood that was much like being Quebec except they only speak French. One lesson about driving in LA: the map doesn’t give you perspective of how FAR AWAY everything is. LA is actually one of the easiest towns to drive. As long as you’ve got the time. One client keeps me on my toes my making me rent from a different company in every different city. So I have no miles with any one company but the good news is I’ve driven just about every mid-sized and compact on the lot. I really liked the Prius. And all of them are going to keyless ignitions which feels odd but gets the job done.
There’s not much to write about hotels. I never really see them. I get there when it’s dark, go right to sleep, get up before the sun, check out and move on. I’m lucky if I have time to grab one of those free microwave Jimmy Dean egg and biscuit sandwiches or some other NASA-developed breakfast unit. Even the bananas aren’t ripe enough to eat by the time I have to leave town.
I meet lots of great folks, build up those frequent flyer miles, learn a lot about my product and customers, brush up on my French and Spanish, and learn how to drive cars that I will never own. It’s a good life. Ooooh, my back.
