In Awe of and Jealous of…

As many of you might guess, the Daily Duranie is busy, busy, busy to get ready for our trip!  Can you believe that it is this Friday, as in 5 days?!  Part of me feels like we have been talking about it forever and ever and ever and ever (I’m sure many of you feel the same way!!  LOL).  The other part of me feels like it came out of nowhere.  Thus, part of me wants to go NOW and other part of me wants another week!  No matter how I feel, though, it is coming whether I’m ready or not.  Anyway, the details seem to multiplying as I type.  It seems like we get things planned and then something else comes up or new information is found which changes things.  Right now, I think we are pretty well lined up with our agenda, especially on the days with shows.  There are meetups planned in all cities and we are hoping to find some fun after show activities as well!  We know where our hotels are, how to get to the venues and how to get to the meetups.  Train schedules have been analyzed and tickets have been purchased.  As for the days without shows, we have many possibilities to choose from and on most days will just do what we feel like.  Of course, beyond the planning for the trip itself is the planning for what we leave behind. 

Rhonda is busy making sure that her household will remain in one piece and that everyone will be well when she is gone.  I’m worried about work.  I had hoped to have all of my reports done before I leave but that won’t happen.  I may have them all written but I doubt that I will have all of the necessary meetings.  Beyond the regular work, I also have to plan to be gone for 5 days.  This means that I will need to leave extensive plans about my kids, the classes and more.  It takes a number of hours for me to prepare this for a one day absence.  I shudder to think about how much time I will need for 5!  Tomorrow, I will attempt to balance doing my regular work and getting my plans ready.  It will make for some busy days at work, that’s for sure!

This all leads me to think about what it must be like to be the band.  They travel a ton.  A TON!  How do they do it?  Yes, first, obviously, they do not have jobs beside this one.  While Rhonda and I might consider being a Duranie a career as we do write this blog and are working on a book, we have other ones that demands our attention as well.  I suspect that their days are not just completely empty either as they prepare to be on the road.  I’m sure that they have interviews to do, discussions to have, setlists to ponder, songs to rehearse and more.  Nonetheless, they are able to focus a great deal of attention to get ready for a tour.  We can’t focus that much, as much as we would like to.  Obviously, all of us have families to worry about.  The band does as well.  Yet, I’m sure that they don’t have to worry as much as Rhonda does, for example.  They have more people to help them with that.

This weekend I have spent quite a bit of time deciding on exactly what I’m going to be bringing, clothes wise and more.  I have rearranged outfits and actually packed the suitcase to make sure that everything fits into it.  I have discussed with my fellow travelers about how many outfits to bring, what kind of shoes, etc.  Do I feel prepared?  I feel only slightly better than I did last week.  It doesn’t seem ideal to me.  I would like to bring less stuff but when I consider which items to get rid of, I can’t see getting rid of anything more.  I want to have choices there, to some extent.  I always do when traveling, especially when on tour.  I have also come to decide that I’m the world’s worst packer.  It takes me such a long time to do it.  I’m not even sure why.  How do the guys do it?  Yes, yes, they are guys so they might bring less stuff but still.  They like their products, too.  Okay, they have someone to deal with their clothes, right?  Does that person take care of their day-to-day clothing, too, or just the clothes for when they are on stage?  If that person does it all, I want to have one of those people, too!

Does the band have to worry about an agenda?  Probably not.  I’m sure that there is someone to make sure that they get to where they need to be, when they need to get there.  Thus, while I’m in awe over the apparent ease with which they travel to far away places for long periods of time, I’m also extremely jealous.  They have so many things that we fans don’t have.  I wonder if they are aware of everything it takes for fans to go to their shows.  Do they know about how much work it is?  Yes, you could argue that we don’t have to do this and you are right.  It is absolutely what we suffer through to get to the good stuff.  It is the price we pay.  Nonetheless, I wish that we had all the perks that the band does.  It would make our lives easier, that’s for sure!

-A