Back to NYC.

Tuesday I leave for NYC. This trip shaped up better than the last and I was booked fairly solid early on. I think part of the problem with my October/November trip was that the holidays were coming up and (understandably) people were preoccupied with doing holiday related tasks. Hopefully, there will be no cancellations (which was also a problem last time) and I won't have to “art whore” myself out on craigslist. I really prefer to do my bookings on model networking sites, although the people on craigslist are pretty forthcoming about their intentions. You don't have to beat around the bush only to find out the photographer is casting for something against the networking website's policies. Despite the inappropriate responses; there is a whole demographic of art students who need to hire models for class projects that read and reply to postings on craigslist. So I guess it is a trade off.

Generally, when I go on tours it is almost always to NYC and I have steady clients who book me consistently. This trip I will be going to DC as well. Initially, I was kind of nervous about it because I am not as familiar with the area. Which pretty much sums up my feelings on travel.

Whenever I go someplace new I have two big concerns: where I am going to stay and how I am going to get around. Generally, I nail down the former first. In NYC I have friends with whom I stay. Luckily, I also have a model friend whom I met during her Buffalo tour that lives in DC along with her significant others (whom I know casually via Model Mayhem) that were are gracious enough to allow me to stay with them. The latter I can figure out through hopstop and the wmata website.

But I am always afraid of getting lost or arriving late. When I have to go to a place outside the Burroughs (ie: Jersey, Staten Island, way, way out on Long Island, etc.) The first time I do it, I am always afraid I may be late. So I factor in “getting lost” time and usually arrive ridiculously early and have to wait at the station until I feel it is okay to call the photographer and tell him I am there. But at least I am there on time.

Lately I have been contemplating going out to California in the summer. I've actually never been out to the West Coast. I have a few problems with it though, the main one being bookings. In NYC with my regulars alone, I know I will make enough to cover all my living expenses in Buffalo. Going out west is a much greater cost. Even if I budget a monthly amount to put away for my trip so it isn't a huge expenditure, I still have to worry about if I can book comparable work as to what I book regularly in NYC. New places have no guarantees.

Picture copyright Tam Nguyen