Some people may call me crazy to undertake such an adventure. I know that I am part of a little percentage of touring performers that would dare to do something as risky as driving the world in a car.
While they may have a point, I know one sure thing. There no way, I am going to manage this huge project by myself. It’s impossible to be precise. Unlike most globe trotters who have no one to be accountable to, I am actually on tour meaning that I have obligations to perform and make appearances at bookings that I will have confirmed.
So you could call my trip a working holiday. Although you really would think twice about the nature of the vacation if you had to tag along.
There’s no way I can take bookings or follow-up with interviewers who may need additional details while I am on the road. One of the things I have decided not to do is to use the phone when I am driving. I know that even when I use hands-free kits, I can get distracted.
This world tour of mine is like starting an enterprise. I cannot do it alone. That’s why getting a trustworthy partner who can take care of the logistics is of crucial importance and in my opinion 80% of making the journey a success.
This partner should be first and foremost be a problem solver. I believe that the trip will be a series of problems that will have to be dealt with. A series of small and big fires that will have to be put out.
The perfect partner should be able to handle bureaucracy because there will be plenty. Personally, I hardly manage simple paperwork so imagine if I had to do it from the road? I would not get past outside Montreal (the city I currently reside in)!*
This partner therefore needs nerves of steel and more than average smarts. He or she needs to be able to come up with solutions almost on demand. What happens if I am scheduled to appear in a certain remote town and don’t have access to a phone and somehow manage to send her a satellite phone text message telling her to tell the local promoters to come pick me up because I cannot find their venue?
And all this while it’s 4AM in the country this partner is and so he or she has to make decisions half asleep! You can see that I am searching for a super partner!
This partner will have to be dedicated to the tour on a full-time basis just like I am. She or he will also need to know enough about everything. And, we need to get along! While I am a pretty easy going person and can be flexible on most things, there are things that I am pretty stubborn about and will even cancel the trip over.
Here’s the scary part… I have found this person almost by accident. It turns out that I was also God sent because she was looking for a cool project to work on that would also challenge her. She also have the right credentials being well-traveled, supportive of the NGOs that I plan on supporting and above all she has experience in organizing tours and she loves organizing and working out logistics, two things I absolutely hate!
I will introduce you to JaBig’s World Tour’s producer in a future post. The cool thing is that she has brought up points that I would have never thought about in my little stupid or naïve brain. We also agree on many things notably having a full-time publicist because she also knows that the more people are aware of the trip, the better the tour will turn out and the more awareness we will attract for the causes that we believe in and the pressing hunger problems that we are trying to solve through this fantastic voyage.
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* Photo: Chris of the Hunt
