Thread: What's up with Traveling to Gigs?

I have noticed a lot of posts where the idea of traveling any distance or time to a gig is met with shock and horror. To be very blunt, why do we whine so much about traveling for more than 20-30 minutes to do a gig?

Do you know how far most musicians must travel to do one gig? If John Bilezikjian wasn't ready to drive for a minimum of one hour each way, he wouldn't have much work at all. Does he get paid more than a solo BDer? Absolutely! He's also usually booked for a minimum of 2-3 hours at a time.

BDers will also adjust their rates to account for hanging around for 2-3 hours, too; except BDers aren't dancing for 2-3 hours straight with maybe 20 minutes of break within that 3-hour time frame. And, no, we dancers can't really compare ourselves to musicians completely, but there are enough similarities to make some comparison valid.

So, at what point do you all start adding travel fees? Is it based on time or miles traveled or ... ? Please enlighten me!

Deborah

PS: sorry I got a little ranty at the beginning of the post; perhaps my experience has been so different from what what I perceive in the hundreds/thousands of posts I've read over the years on Bhuz that I need a reality check?!

I live in a small town. One one side of me is St. Louis, where there's a glut of dancers. In the other direction are miles of cornfields where I'm the only bellydancer!

I've travelled 90 minutes to gigs in the past. I'll go easily 30-45 before adding a mileage charge. Between 45 and 60 minutes it's pretty up in the air, depends on my mood or how PITA the client is or what else I wanted to do that night...After 60 minutes I'm charging mileage.

However, these are open highway miles, cheap and easy to drive. I'd feel differently if i was spending all that time in a traffic jam! I'd also feel differently if I lived in an area where I might be giving up the chance to do another gig by being on the road. Back to back gigs are super rare here!

Usually I invite a friend or student along to keep me company in the car, run my music for me, etc. and we have a little fun.

I suspect that reactions to how far you have to drive for a gig have a direct relation to what it's like to drive in that area.

For example, 20 minute drive here will take you from the AZ/CA boarder (only a couple miles from my house) to the outskirts of the city. I don't charge a travel fee unless I have to go to another city or into CA.

When I lived in Phoenix a 20 minute drive could very well be just a trip of less than 5 miles depending on the location your at and the time of day. If I still lived there you would bet there would be a limit to how far from home I'd be willing to go for short gigs and travel fees for gigs outside a certain area.

I live in the suburbs, and the metro area is about a 30 minute drive for me. So based on that, I consider anything within a 30 minute drive or so to be a normal traveling radius. Heck, I travel that far to teach half of my classes!

Once you start getting more towards 40-45 minutes of travel time, I start tacking on mileage. It depends on the price of gas, but usually it's $25 for every 15 minutes over a half hour. I will travel up to 2 hours for a gig if a person is willing to pay the mileage, which has surprisingly happened a few times.

If it's an area where I know there are dancers much closer than me, many times I will refer the gig if it's over an hour's drive away. I'd really prefer not to drive further than that for a gig, especially in costume and at night. But if they are out in the middle of nowhere with no other options, I'm willing to travel that far if they pay the mileage fees.

So, from what I've read so far, the "quality" of the driving -- which affects the length of time it takes to get somewhere -- is just as important as the number of miles driven when determining when to tack on a travel charge (or to even take the gig at all).

Thanks to all who have responded! Keep the info coming!

Deborah

Three cheers for the public transportation systems of Japan! Most of my gigs are in Tokyo, which usually means an hour each way by train. There is only one place local to me (9 minutes by train). A few weeks ago I had a week with 4 Tokyo or Saitama gigs (same distance).

I do NOT allow places to pressure me into waiting around an unreasonable amount nor do I budget for it and if Tokyo gigs fall on weekends I usually make social plans for afterwards (or quick Tokyo errands before) to help make it worth my time.

I have my ipod and I sew, or knit, or read, or audiobook or podcast on the train.

Originally Posted by ozma

I have my ipod and I sew, or knit, or read, or audiobook or podcast on the train.

Hey Ozma - "do it at home" ! ..l;, (still thinking about that great story you posted about re-making a costume on the train)

Originally Posted by casbahdance

Do you know how far most musicians must travel to do one gig? If John Bilezikjian wasn't ready to drive for a minimum of one hour each way, he wouldn't have much work at all. Does he get paid more than a solo BDer? Absolutely! He's also usually booked for a minimum of 2-3 hours at a time.

I think this is the key. As a dancer. The only time people want me is between about 8pm and 9.30pm. So if I want to pull in 2 'hours' (which is one or two 10 to 15 min sets per hour) work in an evening I need to convince one place to have me at 8ish, another at 9ish, and then drive between the gigs. If driving time is longer than about 30mins, it won't work. If I turn up to a place and they want me to wait for an hour before dancing, it's the same. Waiting time/long driving time, they have an opportunity cost.

Originally Posted by Bellydancingcaroline

Hey Ozma - "do it at home" ! ..l;, (still thinking about that great story you posted about re-making a costume on the train)

That "manner campaign" is still going...and they still haven't targeted me.

In thinking about this, I realised that my practices on travel don't make sense! I have accepted gigs on the east side of town that have taken almost 1.5 hours to get to, because I'm driving through such built up areas (and hence they're not technically so far away). But if I'm asked to dance far to the west of town - which probably wouldn't take any longer to get to because it's more open highway - I usually refer on to local dancers. I think I must hit a psychological barrier which says "No way, I'm not going that far away!"

Having said that, I find myself referring on to other dancers more and more for far away gigs (say, anything over an hour's drive). I hate, hate, hate driving in the dark to unfamiliar places, wearing contacts (which means crap night vision), late at night. Ditto fighting morning peak hour when I'm half asleep. I'd rather forego the gig, even if it means passing up good pay (unless work is particularly slow and I need the money).
I find long drives make me very sleepy, and my brother was killed by a driver that fell asleep, so I guess I'm more sensitive than some about driving.

The farthest I've ever accepted a gig was a wedding 2.5 hours away on the Jersey shore. But hubby and I made a weekend on the shore out of it - we got a hotel, spent the night, and then went for breakfast and to the beach the next day. I still ended up coming home with some money from the gig, after our hotel, food and gas factored in (and it was all tax deductible!). I would ONLY accept a job that far away if I can do something like that - make a trip out of it or make it worthwhile in some other way. Another example - I had a job out in Riverhead, LI, which is about 1.5 hours from my house. But there are also awesome outlets in Riverhead, and this happened to be a day job, so I took my mom with me and we went shopping after I was done!

I will gladly accept anything that takes me less than an hour to get to without thinking twice. My general rule for charging travel is (1) anything outside of Queens, Brooklyn, or Nassau County (which is my county and the two next to it) will be a bit of a drive, so I charge for my mileage (2) if I need to go over a bridge or tunnel, I charge for the toll (because, for example, I live minutes away from the Bronx, but there is a $10 toll to get there and back). To go to NJ, I charge a lot for tolls, because it basically costs me at least $20 in tolls just to get to the darn state!

I've driven up to 90 minutes for a gig, no big deal.

But if I'm going to drive that distance, then damn skippy it better be worth it. Ideally, I'll get the full $250-275 I charge for a party show and they'll want me for a full show instead of a 10-minute bellygram. I would also make an exception if I was asked to dance at a club or restaurant in Manhattan, because I love the Big Apple and think it would be a cool experience.

It's an inconvenience thing, plus I might have another gig booked that night (one can be optimistic, right?), plus I might need to be well rested for a workshop the next day. Not to mention, I got into a pretty horiffic car accident last summer, so I am a lot more cautious (and sometimes scared) about driving long distances, at night, or in poor visibility...

Then again, if dance were my sole source of income or even a greater source of income, I'd probably be more amenable to taking the occasional gig request in New Jersey or Mass. Right now, I have the luxury of being obnoxious and selective!

When I'm traveling over 40-50 minutes I'm adding mileage usually. Often I add mileage going gig to gig as well. It depends though.
If the party gig is out of town, I'm charging completely different rates (because it takes the whole evening).
My closest regular gig is 1/2 an hour. My farthest regular gig is 50 minutes- BUT it pays well, gets me lots of party referrals and is an all Arab place that is fulfilling dance-wise for me. Plus it's a Saturday and my earlier gigs take me at least half way there anyway.
I drive 50 minutes every week to take a class with Yasmin and when it fit in my schedule drove about 40 minutes to take class with Artie.

I think for people it's a combination of miles, convenience of driving in that area AS WELL AS attitude towards driving.
I live about half way between DC and Baltimore and I travel to both all the time. Yet I know people who MAYBE drive into DC once or twice a year and feel it is a "big thing".
My car is about a year old and it has over 24,000 miles on it. I drive a lot.

i love to drive it is my brake i get to listen to music and relax. I have no problem driving i just have to adjust my price for time and gas.

I go by the SAG / AFTRA / DGA rule: 30 miles radius from my house, no extra charge. More then that (outside the circle) I charge mileage. But usually only $25. And then, like Lauren, it depends on the PITA factor.

{{{HUGS}}}

I charge mileage outside a certain radius, and potentially a premium rate if it's a particularly long drive or if I'll need to stay overnight. But no, I don't at all mind traveling to do a gig if I'm appropriately compensated. I've driven 2 hours...heck, I've driven 5, and I've been flown (by the hiring person) to other states to dance for weddings. I think the key is to make sure you know WHERE the gig is before giving a final price quote. That's where I think some problems enter in--customers find out a dancer's "local" rate and simply not knowing any better, assume the charge is the same even though it's an hour drive.

I've never had anyone get angry about my policy when I explain the mileage, so if there's travel...just charge accordingly for distance... or if it's just not worth it to you to travel, pass it on to someone else. No harm in that either--some people would rather not travel even for an extra charge and that's their choice.

i dont drive myself, i pay a student to do so, so any gig that isnt IN town, gets mileage added, but people seem to think that's normal. i dont mind if it's an hour or more drive really, if it's a big enough gig (well paid, several sets etc)... i dont do that distance for bellygrams, i'll refer to someone more local

for me - it comes down to location. I bill by time spent in the car - not necessarily miles. Living in the DC metro area - a short 30 mile drive during rush hour can take 1.5 hours depending on where you are going.

I have a clause in my contract stating that I charge for mileage beyond a radius but I do not specify the radius. Basically because that same 30 mile drive - on a different day and time - could take me 30 minutes.