Road Rules

Traveling with your crew can be so much fun. Then again, it can be a TON of work. But at the end of the trip, there are usually more good memories than bad. Take my May trip to France: A 12-day whirlwind tour that took us to Geneva, Thonon-les-bans, Valence, and Paris. Most days lasted upwards of14-15 hours. But we met some very interesting people and got to live, among other places, for 3 days with Trappist Monks at their Monastery in the Cote-du-Rhone region near the south of France. Not a bad place to be.

Logistics for this trip was a nightmare...DP from DC, Producer from northern NJ, Sound and AP from Long Island. Getting staff and equipment out through 3 different airports, then through customs with 2 different carnets, traveling from city to city in mini-vans and TGV trains (that's me on the TVG in my blog photo). Swiss Francs, Euros, and US Dollars...aaarrgh! But the vistas, food, and wine were second to none. And so was the crew, which is always a bonus!

Today, I returned from a much shorter trip. 4 days/3 nights in suburban Cincinnati which is actually a small rural area in Northern Kentucky. What a nice trip this turned out to be. The locals were some of the friendliest, most creative people I've ever encountered and the scenery was wonderful. Makes you wonder why more people don't come to these parts.

Again, the trip was full of filming time and the weather was hot and sticky. This time we spent a morning in the woods near a farm foraging for plant material to build model houses with. Now THERE'S something you don't see every day. Then the subject's neighbors held a barbeque for us. The home cooking was a gift for road weary travelers. And the ribs were the best I'd EVER had.

Times like these are why I got in this business in the first place: finding interesting people and their stories, traveling to places I'd never dreamed of going, and the camaraderie of a professional crew.

Now, if we could just find the funds to finance all of this!