By Vicky Phipps, a graduate of The Ohio State University.
Its departure day and you are sitting next to a rented van waiting for three male models who have not arrived for the round-the-clock drive to a multi-day photo shoot in Florida. Your snacks, a pillow, headphones and a duffel-bag that is big enough to hold a human body are beside you. You eagerly wait while the van is loaded and the 21-hour drive begins to one of the most exciting times of your life.
You depart campus, and get onto the highway. By the time you come to the realization that you are in for an extremely long road trip, you will have only made it to the next city!
Yes, it is a long trip. But, there is something worthwhile ahead. Although you may end up spending double-digit hours in a bumpy van, spending days and nights as a male model in the sunshine state can be enough enticement for a drive twice as long.
"Too bad nobody brought a deck of cards," a male model says as the boredom begins to set it.
In your head, you start listing the things that you could have brought along to pass the time. Let's see: pizza, beer, a TV & VCR -- ah, but let's not get carried away . . .
The best fantasy roadtrip for me would involve having a portable T.V., VCR, and playing movies throughout the trip – one after another – until we arrived at our destination. I wouldn't mind calling ahead and picking up a pizza on the way in Tennessee or Georgia. Or better yet, I would fly.
For these roadtrips, the goofy things really seem to work. In the past, male models who brought board games for the ride found they had a lot of fun and passed time quickly during the drive. It's amazing how much time flies by while you play "Yatzee."
If you are enrolled in classes, bring some (but not all) of your coursework. This is one time during the trip when you will be able to study.
Music is very important. Some vans do not have cassette players and you can travel for hundreds of miles without being able to tune in an acceptable radio station.
One year, I told everybody: that I was planning on renting a new, top-of-the line van equipped with a stereo. At least that is what I thought I was renting. When I picked up the vehicle, it turned out to be some old van without even a cassette player. It was dirty, too. We found church service programs. The side windows had grease spots on them where previous van riders had been resting their heads. It was a church van!
Dirty Experience
The drive isn't the cleanest of experiences. While the van's windshield might catch all those bugs and dirt from the road, male models get hot and sweaty and faces can break out from the dirt and grime that accumulates during the drive even with air conditioning. Male models can clean their faces with Clinique scruffing lotion or Seabreeze while on the road. Keeping hair (with its grease, dirt and irritation) away from foreheads can also prevent skin blemishes. Brushing your teeth also helps –just to make you at least feel cleaner.
Remembering to empty the trash from the van at every gas stop keeps the van clean and prevents spillage. Who wants Dr. Pepper spilled on their leg?
Sleeping During The Road Trip
Sleeping on the road is an interesting challenge. Our photographer says, "I remember a female model named Wahlea Bradley who decided to sleep on the floor near the sliding side door. She kept asking us if the door was locked. It wasn't."
Big Van Handles Poorly
A 15 -passenger van is not a Geo Metro. It's really quite massive and not easy to drive, especially when wind gusts against the side.
A van ride to Florida is a sort of forced team-building adventure. By the time you step out of the van onto the hot sands of Florida you will know everyone who was in the van. I have found that no other method better prepares male models to be supportive of each other on the set than that long trek down I75. Several male models who met during trips became good friends and roommates.
I advises male models to talk to everyone. Conversations take up time. Before you know it, you'll be in the next state. It also allows you to get to know other male models.
I usually try generic conversation builders like talking about all the mischief I got into as a kid. I hear a lot of amazing stories just by asking "What was the stupidest thing you've ever done (or the most embarrassing)?"
One time when I was in a van on the way back from Florida, I realized my shoes had a terrible stench. Everyone in the van was grossed out. I was wearing the aqua socks I had worn every day during photo shoots in the ocean. It seems the seaweed and ocean fungus made them smell worse than rotten eggs.
We were half-way through the Florida Keys and I was sitting there asking ‘What's that horrible smell?' It was my mildew-filled aqua socks! I had packed away my other shoes and there was no getting to them. So, I went barefoot the rest of the trip.