Itineraries, hotels, transfers, jet lag and lost luggage.

Between two consecutive dates, there is more than distance: time zones, hotel schedules, flight windows and a console that cannot be left on a baggage carousel. Planning touring as logistics, rather than isolated tickets, is what lets you arrive mentally ready to perform.

This guide covers Itineraries, Hotels, Transfers, Jet lag and What to do if an airline loses equipment: a system for building the calendar, choosing where to sleep, travelling without surprises and responding when luggage does not arrive.

Itineraries: build backwards from the show

Draw an itinerary starting from audience time and working backwards: soundcheck, loading, venue arrival, airport transfer, landing, flight, and from there to the previous destination’s hotel. Give each leg an explicit margin; if two legs share a margin, neither has one.

The most useful rules: a morning flight to arrive in daylight with headroom; never two dates in different cities depending on a flight that same morning; and a reserve day for an important date. Share the itinerary with the promoter and destination contact, specifying local times to avoid time-zone confusion.

Write down downtime too: the hour between landing and hotel, the meal window, time to update backups, and rest before soundcheck. Unplanned gaps get filled in a rush and cause tight arrivals; reserving them in writing forces them to exist.

For the calendar’s contractual side — advances, cancellations and date windows — the advancing, line check and settlement guide provides support.

Hotels: choose logistics over stars

Choose the Hotel using three criteria: actual distance to the venue, check-in and check-out compatible with loading time, and reliable Wi-Fi if backups must be synchronised. A cheap hotel forty minutes away ends up costing sleep hours missing in the booth.

Check whether luggage can be left before check-in and after check-out, whether the lift accommodates flight cases, and whether there is laundry along the route. Request a ground-floor room or a spacious lift when equipment arrives in the early hours; keep confirmation, address and telephone number alongside flight documents.

If two people tour together, decide beforehand whether to share a room or separate equipment and rest: a case opened at midnight in someone else’s room is a foreseeable problem.

Transfers: who drives and who waits

Transfers are where time is lost. Three options, in reliability order: the promoter’s driver (best if confirmed in writing), booked transport with the address written in the local language, and a taxi or app with a generous margin.

Before flying, finalise who waits, with which sign, in which terminal, and which local telephone number to use. Download offline venue and hotel maps, and keep the hotel name written in the local language to show the driver. If the transfer is long and must arrive at rush hour, add headroom as though it were another flight.

The before-and-after-performance checklist includes arrival and departure; that is where you decide whether the transfer waits or is released.

Jet lag: method before remedies

Jet lag is a mismatch between your internal clock and the destination’s time zone, affecting concentration, mood and physical performance just when they are most needed. The most effective measure is arriving one or two days early; the second is adjusting bedtime one or two days beforehand towards the destination.

The CDC gives practical guidance: travelling west, go to bed later; travelling east, earlier. During the journey, daylight at the destination helps readjustment, caffeine is used in the morning and stopped hours before sleep, and naps are limited to fifteen or twenty minutes to avoid spoiling the night.

Without a method, only patches remain: caffeine at the exact moment, melatonin according to medical judgement, and no alcohol the previous night if soundcheck is the next day.

Food and rest between dates

The body withstands one bad night; two in succession already change judgement in the booth. The routine between dates rests on three simple decisions: eat at reasonable times even if flying disrupts them, drink water consistently, and protect the hotel sleep window as though it were part of the rider.

On the plane, heavy food and alcohol multiply the mismatch; at the hotel, the temptation to stay awake exploring the city is paid for the next day. A couple of fixed habits — the same breakfast type, a short shower, twenty minutes lying down before leaving — reduce variability in an already irregular calendar.

With several consecutive travel days, schedule buying fruit and water on arrival and a timed backup and battery-charging block: it is tour maintenance, just like cleaning connectors, and prevents the second night being worse than the first.

What to do if an airline loses equipment

If the equipment case does not appear on the carousel, the clock begins at the baggage desk:

• File a claim before leaving the airport and request a report with the tracking reference.
• Describe each piece with its brand, model and serial number, and provide a local contact number.
• Request a reasonable advance for toiletries and clothing; claim the rest with receipts.
• Keep receipts or the contents inventory: they support the financial claim.
• Notify the promoter that day if critical equipment may not arrive in time.

Rights concerning delays, cancellations and baggage problems are summarised on the official air-passenger rights page, which sets assistance and compensation according to the delay.

Contingency plan at destination

A written plan B separates a scare from a cancellation. The shortlist: who rents local equipment, the alternative venue, which piece is essential and which can be omitted, who within the promoter’s team can decide, and the latest decision time without losing the date.

Agree that plan during advancing and review it on arrival, rather than in the moment. Every date should begin with an earlier decision on who covers missing equipment, just as you agree who covers a DJ change in the booth contingency plan.

A self-sustaining travel routine

• An itinerary with margins per leg and a reserve date.
• A confirmed hotel with a local address and luggage rules.
• Transfers agreed in writing, with a destination contact.
• Sleep adjustment according to travel direction.
• A written, shared equipment plan B.
• Receipts, inventory and serial numbers available offline.

Next step

This closes the touring journey: protected equipment, backed-up data, documents in order and a sustainable calendar. If something breaks, identify the cause: continue to Failures by equipment type: diagnosis and repair.