“Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” – Confucious
I love to go on the road for a shoot. Whenever I have a job out of town, whether I drive or fly, I will try to book the travel myself so that I can schedule a day either before or after the shoot to just check out the city. Flying in, going straight to a shoot and then heading right back to the airport to fly home (often in the same day) is not ideal for me. It wipes me out for the next day and makes the shoot feel like work. If the schedule is such that I really don’t have the time to explore and I have to be back, so be it, but that is not my preference. Often, I will take that opportunity to shoot some personal work.
I keep a map of the US on the wall in the office with pins marking cities I have traveled to for shoots and also marked a few of the more epic road trips taken by car. I love to add new pins to the map when I get to shoot in a new city. I know you can do the same on Google maps and other sites, but I like to have it on the wall. It’s kind of a conversation piece and let’s clients know that I travel.
If you can, arrange for your own travel when producing a shoot. That way, you can use the airline that gives you the most points or flight credits, choose the flights that will allow you to set your own schedule, choose the rental car agency that gives you the best upgrades and the hotel that is most convenient and also gives you rewards for frequent stays. All that adds up and will make traveling much more affordable when you go out of town for a vacation.
