I just went on a business trip to the East Coast for 10 days. It's probably the longest I've been away from home since, oh, 2011, give or take. Overall, while the actual business went smoothly enough, the actual logistics felt pretty challenging, at times, since I mostly opted for the train...which, generally speaking, is considered smoother (less physically punishing), than, say the bus.
Unless, of course, you're taking multiple trains, in which case all the cliches really do apply. One town looks like the next, and one mile melts seamlessly into the second, third, fourth, and so on. My last day proved particularly challenging, as I hopscotched from New York, to Washington, DC and Chicago, for a grand total of 23.5 hours!
I got a flash of insight into why bands hate the physical realities of touring, and why so many of them churn out songs about the drudgery of staying in Holiday Inns as their careers blur into the twilight years. In my case, the road home started at 9:47 a.m. Saturday, and finished up at 9:15 p.m. Sunday, so in this case, I found myself thinking: "All my sympathies, lads. I get it now."
So how do you make the minute hand move a little bit faster, once you've exhausted what conversational possibilities exist among your fellow passengers? Well, me being me, you'll either write, or draw, and draw, and draw a little more. Thankfully, I had the foresight to pack some colored Sharpies!
So, in this case, I took my inspiration from one of the lighter odes to the road: "Touring," by the Ramones, which makes the whole business seem downright wholesome ("The kids all come from miles around/The party gets started when the sun goes down/And Holiday Inn's the only home I know"), if not an enviable experience ("We got a fuel injected tour bus, man, it really flies/With a video tape deck inside/Let's go rock 'n' roll, everybody come along") that no self-respecting combo should live without ("Touring, touring, it's never boring/Especially with your favorite girl/All around the world"). Suffice to say...look for plenty of drawings and writings to come out of this trip. -- The Reckoner
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