Is it worth traveling?

Sonya asked a good question in yesterday’s comment section, “Is it worth the expense of traveling?”

Unfortunately, you never know until you try…there are pros and cons to every situation.

I have had several AWESOME Vegas trips where I totally blew my home club profits out of the water. I have also had trips like the one last October: I made enough to cover my expenses, and chose to go out with my SuperStripperFriends instead of one more torturous night at an empty club over saturated with girls.

If you are a relatively new entertainer who has only worked in her own town, I highly suggest you look into booking companies like www.travelingentertainers.com The company tends to book smaller to medium size clubs that need fresh faces. They will pay for your transportation and lodging in exchange for a guaranteed 5-7 day booking. If you have experience and are accustomed to mega-clubs or upscale chain type clubs you may not need a booking service. In this case, you will be responsible for the cost of travel and lodging.

I personally use a combination of both. Much has to do with the associated costs of the travel itself. Look at how much it is going to cost you out of pocket for airfare, hotel, and rental car. I always book Vegas on my own: it has the cheapest hotel rooms. You can get a clean safe room at casino hotel with valet service for $29-$39/night during the week. You can’t find that in Dallas, Houston, NYC, or anywhere else! Rental cars are also very cost effective in Vegas, I was blown away with the cost of my 3 week rental car here in Philly ($700 for a crappy compact) I’m staying with Mom, so no associated hotel fees for this trip…but if I did have to pay for a hotel to work in this city…I would have booked through Traveling Entertainers and worked at a different club.

Also bear in mind your own skill level and the purpose of your trip. If your experience is a small to medium size club, you may not be ready for a big mega club with high fees and several tipouts…in addition to the cost of traveling there, hotel, etc! Larger established club chains tend to not use booking services for house dancers because, quite frankly….they have a steady stream of hopeful applicants. Also, many entertainers just work for the purpose of paying off the a fun trip to a new city. That is my case. I’m here to visit family, not to make more than I would at home. In the past, a trip home meant a loss of revenue because I would have to take time off. This time I can work when I want and the trip isn’t putting me in the hole.