We left from a Walmart parking lot in Nashville last night.  Snow was falling – or at least some partially frozen rain type stuff.  Sixteen hours after pulling away we arrived in Amarillo, Texas.  And this made me miss my tour bus days just a little.

The first gigs I ever did were on tour with Bebo Norman – fourteen people in a tour bus for three months.  Then it was Jars of Clay, then a Christmas tour with Avalon, then my own (very brief) tour, then Shane and Shane and then I said see ya to tour bus life and hello to Southwest Airlines and Budget rental cars.  No more crews and lights and sound systems and opening acts.  Just me and a road manager.  And I like it that way.  Most of the time. Quicker.  Cheaper.

But last night, all warm and lazy under a blanket in my bunk, watching a movie on the little screen in there, making the occasional trip to the onboard kitchen or bathroom, I was reminded of the many perks that come with this whole bus life. I’d forgot them completely.  It’s not just the comfort and entertainment options.  There’s lots of hang time with good people, lots of sitting around telling road stories, eating and more eating.  And then there’s the eating.  All the while, behind the magic curtain upfront sits a bus driver doing all the thinking and hard work for you: driving, figuring out directions, gassing the bus up in the freezing rain.  All we artist and crew types do is hang out, eat, go to bed when we feel like it and wake up when the bus stops.

Yep, this is how divas and rockstars are made, folks:  Months on the road in an alternate reality made up of all the comforts of home and none of its responsibilities.  I’m enjoying it while it lasts though.  In a few days? Washing bathrooms and driving kids to school again. Next month?  Back to Southwest and Budget.