Title: Money Traps on Tour: The Cost of Getting Sick
Author: Mel from ‘Financial Solvent Girl’
A while back, I shared my thoughts on the hidden costs of touring. It’s incredibly easy to splurge when you’re bouncing from one city to another. And recently, I’ve run into another financial hurdle on tour – falling sick.
At home, we all have our routines for when we get sick. There’s the old standby of canned soup and more tea, and of course, we all have our go-to medicine, be it DayQuil, Alka-Seltzer Cold & Sinus, or Mucinex-D. We take our remedies, rest, and ride out the cold.
But getting sick on tour? It’s a whole different beast.
Instead of being sensible and accepting that we’ll be under the weather for a few days, we end up panic buying every cold medicine at the local drugstore. Just the other day, I blew $75 at Walgreens, hoping my purchases would somehow gain the favor of the cold gods and speed up my recovery.
Being in a job that hinges on communication, my voice is crucial. When I catch a cold and start losing it, it becomes a real issue. My technical director even dubbed me “Monster” for my husky voiceover calls.
Today, my voice disappeared entirely. Even on a day off, this is daunting. Without a voice, something as simple as checking into my hotel room turns into a weird mime show. And with a packed schedule ahead, it’s even more terrifying that I have less than a day to recover.
In my desperate quest for a remedy, I stocked up on every throat drop and cold medicine ever created. Once I unloaded my haul back at my hotel room, I did gulp at the price tag, but at that moment, any price seemed reasonable for a potential cure.
Thankfully, most of the stuff did its job, essentially just helping me bear the symptoms. And it’s definitely different trying to recover on tour in a whirlwind schedule, rather than comfortably lounging on your couch watching daytime TV at home.
Among my numerous purchases, Cold-Eeze lozenges turned out to be a blessing, offering temporary fixes for my voice. However, the whole experience made me realize how falling sick on tour can greatly hit your wallet.
Moral of the story? Look after your health when touring! It’s not just your well-being at risk; your finances may take a hit, too.
Originally posted on: October 10, 2016
Tags: Tour life, getting sick on the road, stage management, healthcare