Touring Europe ?

[JohnDavisNYC]

i just got back from a 2 week tour in europe that was entirely fly-dates, so i have extremely fresh experience with this....

i took 14 flights and an 8 hour train ride in 13 days, and played in 8 countries. i was flying with a pedal train pedal board (checked in) a suitcase (checked in) my bass (carry on) and a frietag bag with random personal stuff (passport, etc... carry on)...

as far as the work visa thing goes, i have done tours without proper papers, and have never had a problem in many years of touring, as long as you're in normal countries... for russia, korea, georgia, i needed special visas, but if you're in the shengen area, you'll probably be fine. the uk is notoriously hard to get into as a musician without proper paperwork.

the big problem with what you proposed is traveling with merch. if they see a big box of cds in your suitcase, they will report it to customs, and you will have to come up with a good reason why you are traveling with thousands of dollars worth of commercial products on a tourist visa. drop-ship the merch to your hotel, or to a friend, so that you are traveling light.

if anyone asks about your music gear, just say that you are hanging out and writing some music... as long as you don't play under your legal name, and don't have a website with your name with advertised shows (a friend got deported from the uk because immigration there will cross check your name on myspace)...

fortunately, immigration is before baggage claim, so you never have to worry about the passport inspector seeing the pile of flight cases... and the customs people don't usually care, because they just assume you are fine since you made it past immigration.

as far as power goes, i would just get a transformer and a power strip, so that you have consistent power everywhere... i don't like mixing 220 gear and 110 gear... even if something has a switching supply, i prefer one trafo.

also, many airlines are now charging for more than one bag on transatlantic flights, so check that out, too... and 20kilos is the maximum for checked luggage on the flights within europe.

good luck, have fun. since your trip really is primarily a leisure trip, you should be fine.

john