LIFE ON THE ROAD IS NO VACATION

My "Five Star" Hotel Room

Life on the road is a glamorous life. You’re on vacation all the time. There’s a party 24/7 in your five star hotels. The only reason you aren't in a four diamond hotel is you don’t want to appear haughty and out of touch. Picked up at your door whenever it’s time for your show and you’re whisked away to a microphone in the glow of a spotlight. Once autographs are signed and pictures taken you’re then chauffeured back to your awaiting king size room with a pillow top king size bed befitting the celebrity you are. Well, that’s what people think…shoot it’s what I think, sometimes.

I have stayed in fine hotels and have seen many great sights. From the Puget Sound to the Niagara Falls, to quote Johnny Cash, “I've been everywhere man.” I recently had my first trip to Canada and have swam in the Caribbean. This, many believe is the norm, but it isn't, at least for me it’s not. I think many celebrities feel the same way. What you consider a vacation is our job. I know we aren’t building cars in Detroit or farming tobacco in Kentucky but its work still the same. For the most part, all most see is the escape from real life, i.e. a vacation. Flashing bulbs of cameras, nice clothes and fancy cars, that’s the life.

Well, today I’m in another city and I’m not even sure I can remember the name. My “Five Star” hotel is a block room painted diarrhea green with one wall that’s orange. The complementary mouthwash has something floating in it and there is no coffee. I didn't even know they made hotels with no coffee anymore. I have been on the road or as some call it, vacation, for 9 days and I have 2 more to go. On Monday I’ll be up at 4am to drive to the airport to drop the car off (yep I drive myself everywhere) and catch a flight back to Florida where I will wash clothes to get ready to do it again.

I’m not complaining, you see, it’s the life I chose…rather, it’s the life that chose me. To not be touring, traveling the friendly skies or driving the country’s highways would be denying what I was made to do. I've never been a homebody and I have always wanted to see the world from a windshield and in some cases, a rear-view mirror. Dreams and the pursuit of those dreams have been my driving force for as long as I can remember. Standing in front of a mirror, hairbrush in hand, singing Elvis songs complete with guitar (no strings on it by the way) I dreamed of being on the road…being a star. But chasing a dream as I have come to find out is hard work.

Waking up each morning full of hopes and promise only to fall asleep at night wondering if there is still more to do then you begin again the next day. Each time you get a gig or even an interest you count it as a good day but those days you hear nothing provides you with a choice. Do you doubt yourself leading to giving up or do you wake up that next morning, no matter how tired, with hope and promise ready to grab that dream? If this life chose you, then you wake up ready.

Life on the road is no vacation, but for me it’s a dream coming true.