If you saw my last post about my musical pandemic project, you know I just started playing guitar in early May. It’s now August, and lately I have been working on my blues chops. I’m still not that good of a player, but I am better than I was a month ago.

My husband and I are taking a road trip starting tomorrow... We are going to Leutasch, Austria for three nights, Partices, Italy for four nights, and Rorschach, Switzerland for two nights. That’s a grand total of nine nights away...

Should I bring my guitar, or will it be a waste of time? Don’t want to lose my calluses!

A guitar is a big piece of luggage. You probably can't practice in the car, and in a small hotel or B&B you would disturb others.

Leave it home.

Your calluses will come back quick enough.

You’re probably right, although we aren’t going to be staying in small hotels.

If you are taking it in your own vehicle and you have room, just make sure you keep it where it does not get overheated in the car and cover it with an old dirty blanket so theives will not be tempted to break into your car. Keep it protected in a gig bag and it's easier to pack. Playing in your room is not any louder than people who listen to tv or electronic devices. You can usually find a quiet spot away from a hotel or B and B to play. I have sat on many a quiet wall or in the woods and also made friends traveling with guitar or banjo or ukulele. Ukes are actually the best to travel with. I have one guitar that has seen a lot of the world.

I was kind of thinking along those lines. We’re taking our SUV, because we’re going to be looking for wine and Italian groceries (other car is a Mini Cooper). We would have room, and I picked places that are in nature. I kind of like the daily ritual of practicing. I do it for about twenty minutes, most days.

But maybe it would be better not to... I just think I would miss it. It’s rewarding to play, especially when I do something right and it sounds good. :D

On the other hand, last time we took a long road trip, we got a tire popped at a rest stop by would be thieves. That was in France, though.

The nice thing about playing the guitar and having a small body instrument is you can take it along, and when inspiration strikes it's there. DOesn't have to be an expensive guitar and you don't need to be a virtuoso. It's about enjoying the process. A guitar can actually be a better traveling companion than most people.



A long time ago I heard James Taylor talking about how he came up with "You can close your eyes" supposedly he was sitting in the back seat on a road trip in New Mexico with Joni Mitchel when he worked out the first bits. I think the world is a better place since he had that guitar along, and the song lives on now for younger generations...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6yl2G_6GYE

Yes... and how he came up with “Carolina in My Mind” in Europe, while with a friend named Karin. Back when “Karin” or “Karen” wasn’t an insult. (On a funny side note, in Armenia, Karen is a man’s name.)

I am a writer, although maybe not yet a songwriter. And on our trips, we tend to do a lot of soaking up the atmosphere... and we also drink a lot. ;)

I guess it’s good that I didn’t revisit the piano. Also, I am not James Taylor.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2020 04:49PM by knotheadusc.

What a lovely video! Thanks so much for sharing, Hedning!

I like singing that one, too.

This is my most recent project. I just learned it the other day. Another one from Liv On.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeqRyg9gv10



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/2020 12:58AM by knotheadusc.

I disagree...take it...and practice you will probably still be spending a lot of time to yourself..

Guitar has been my passion for half a century. I currently own 14 guitars (plus three basses and a mandolin).

For what it’s worth, I almost never take a guitar with me on vacation.

Wow! That is quite a collection!

I have been thinking about picking up banjo. But I have to master barre chords first.

I have been tempted to take up banjo from time to time, but going from guitar to bass to mandolin confuses my old brain enough that I don’t want to push it. ;)

I have always been fascinated by the banjo. I can remember being a kid in a music store and really wanting to learn to play one.

I often find myself wishing I had given into my musical urges as a kid. I decided to ride horses instead, which was also very rewarding, but I am naturally better at making music than riding horses. :)

Anyway... this is the first big trip we have taken since I started playing. Maybe it would be good to take a break.

I like to think of vacations as getting away from our routines. For me, that doesn’t just mean getting away from work, but also taking a break from things I love (which includes playing guitar-either by myself or with my band).

If you can afford a travel guitar that might be a solution. There are also practice fretboards that you can plug into earbuds, not as satisfying as playing a guitar. but will keep you tuned up.

The one I have is almost parlor sized.

I think I’ll decide after I pack tomorrow. It might be more than I want to deal with.

I have an old beater to take when I move around in winter. I don’t know how nice your guitar is, but the case is a dead giveaway in your parked car...especially a hard shell... usually used with an expensive instrument. A thrift store or pawn shop cheapie with good (new)strings will sound ok( unless the neck is warped). It depends on how much you travel. I’m gone 3 months+ every winter so it’s worth it to keep my nice guitar safe. You should be able to get one for about $100.

I’d leave it home, and just enjoy the scenery.
Have a great road trip. :)

I almost never take an accordion with me on vacation.

I know, right? They are so hard to fit into an overhead compartment.

If we were flying, I would not be asking.

Yes, just a joke with Dave about accordions. Not serious.

Welcome to heaven. Here's your harp.
Welcome to hell. Here's your accordion.

Either hell or the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Been to Vienna lately? Well, knotheadusc probably has. . .

But we know she doesn't play the accordion!

Lot's Wife Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Either hell or the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Been
> to Vienna lately? Well, knotheadusc probably has.
> . .
>
> But we know she doesn't play the accordion!


Last time I was in Vienna, it was 2015. Seems like yesterday, though. ;)

A wonderful city.

One of my most enlightening trips was in Eastern Europe long ago. Vienna itself was beautiful but bizarre, a congeries of splendid architecture and art with no hinterland. But bumming through the region by train resolved the paradox, showing how the Austrian Empire made sense: Vienna an administrative center, the Czechoslovakian regions an industrial center, and Hungary a massive wheat basket. The post-WWI borders chopped up an organic entity.

I'm jealous of your proximity to so many amazing places, your freedom to travel in such wonderfully different countries.

I am very grateful on so many levels for getting to live in Europe. Being here has changed me forever, in all of the best ways. I have even been told by a wise German woman who lived in the USA that we have now become kind of European and that will forever change us. I already know she’s right.

For example, before I spent so much time abroad, I was quite a proud southerner. ;) I still appreciate the South, but in ways that are much more constructive and progressive.

But really, I especially love that in August, it’s about 80 degrees instead of 100... and there are way fewer guns and hurricanes.

Yes, I've lived in Europe for several years, also in other parts of the world for long stretches.

You are right: it changes you permanently. When you return to your "mother" country, so many things seem illogical and curious. There is a sort of reverse culture shock. It's life-changing in a net positive way.

But you already know that.

I have an Italian friend-- he was born and raised in Italy and later became a US citizen-- who moved back to Europe because he couldn't take US culture anymore. He says it's too "weirdorama" for him. He now lives in Germany, has married a German woman, and works in Belgium, even though he's still a US citizen (and Italian, I presume).

Although I had lived abroad before he said that about the US, I didn't realize how true it was until I lived in Germany. It's especially true now. I barely recognize the United States anymore. Things have gotten very "weirdorama" indeed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/2020 01:04AM by knotheadusc.

Agreed.

I wouldn't risk it getting stolen.

I'm a guitar player too...between guitars, bases, banjos, mandolins, dobros/ lap slide, ukuleles I have a couple dozen. Was just looking at American telecasters this morning, want to add one to the collection.

I find that when I bring an instrument on a vacation, I rarely play it. I have a Washburn travel guitar that's small, easy to bring, and plays nice (and its under $200) but even then, I find I don't play it much....also worry about theft, never leave my instruments in a car unless I can see it from a window, like when stopping for a meal.

You'll be home in nine days and the guitar will be waiting. I'd leave it home if I were you. Then, look for another one on your trip you might want to buy, like a small travel guitar.

I play Sitar too. When I was studying and learning it, I brought it on all my road trips and would do my daily practice no matter where I was.

Yeah... see, I missed having my guitar on the two weekend trips we have had since I started. Both of those trips were in Germany. I would never leave it in the car, either.

But I suspect I will be focused on being out of Germany more than wanting to practice.

I will probably not bring it. It’s not like there’s a rush for me to be mediocre at playing guitar. :D

Any string instrument is difficult to travel with either by car or plane.
Here is a song to make you smile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

Love it!

I think I'm gonna leave the guitar here. Maybe I'll find a new one on my travels.

Good call not to bring the guitar. We have been very busy having a great time! Austria rocks!

Leave the guitar, take the cannoli.

That will make everyone else happy, too.

Thanks. The trip is already underway and I left the guitar at home. ;)

If I had brought it, I would have found places to practice that would not have bothered people because I am a considerate person.