Nate wrote this piece about being the road a few months back. Please enjoy!

Riding In a Van

by Nate Case

Traveling The States definitely has its perks. You will experience all that the different regions of this fine country have to offer, such as seeing different cities, and meeting new, interesting people.  I could go on and on about the joys of tour, but I’m not really very interested in that.  I’m more interested in telling you the objective reality of a weekend on the road. playing rock and roll music, cracking jokes, and drinking beer.

It all starts early Friday afternoon (sometimes Thursday depending on the weekend). We waddle over to Silverback Manor (Gabe Douglas’ self-proclaimed gorilla mansion) and load the van full of gear. Most of the time, we forget something. Usually it is a super mundane item like an amp or guitar stand. But, sometimes, the stars align and on those lucky days we have all our crap in the van with plenty of space for band members and the occasional tag-along. Friends are always welcome in the van, but the trip is not for the faint of heart.

Once the vehicle is loaded, and the menial errands are taken care of (bank deposits, online merchandise orders UPS’d) we make a beeline in the direction of our destination. For the most part, we’re setting the cruise control west/east on either I-94 or north/south on 35W. It’s at this point when screen time really sets in, hard. We each lose ourselves in the comfort of our smart phone. Be it Facebook, Twitter, Reddit or the Huffington Post, hours are spent with our eyes buried in technology. A Spotify playlist is set up and everyone in the van can add songs to it with their personal device. This folks, is one of the greatest perks of technology. Radio Democracy! A trading of emotion and novelty through song. If you feel like hearing Suzanne Vega’s 1987 hit, Tom’s Diner, you can HEAR Suzanne Vega’s 1987 hit, Tom’s Diner. Just throw it on the list and have a little patience.

Patience is the key to riding in the van with 3 other dudes for hours of your weekend. You don’t necessarily have to be classified as a patient person, I know I’m not, but you DO have to force yourself to be patient in certain situations that might be out of your control. In a lot of ways it’s easy to be patient. Throw some of your favorite jams on the playlist, get comfy with an excess of blankets and pillows, kick back and enjoy the ride. Other times, this idea plays out a bit differently, and your patience can be tested. Hungry? Have to pee? Cramping up? Ask nicely, and the van will stop in a timely fashion. This is where it’s important to try and align yourself with the common rhythm of food and pee breaks. If the rhythm is thrown off, everyone gets grumpy and grumpy is no fun.

I think it’s important at this point to take a paragraph and go off on a little gas station tangent. Gas stations are one of the most culturally interesting, yet completely overlooked, aspects of American society. Every state/region has different things to offer and different ways of presenting them, but when it all boils down they’re all pretty much the same.