The summary

I don't know if I will manage to play in Bratislava (cause of permits) or when it will be, but since I am going home right now, I feel like the trip is at its end. It was wonderful four weeks and since I like to evaluate, do statistics and summaries, here is one summary :-)

The final itinerary eventually looked a bit different then planned:

4-6 June: Prague

6-7 June: Potsdam 

8 June: Copenhagen

9-14 June: Oslo

15-17 June: Bergen

17-22 June: Prague

22-24 June: Stockholm

24-25 June: Turku

25-26 June: Helsinki

26 June - 2 July: Prague

As I mentioned in previous post, I did not play every day (e.g in Prague), while other days I played all the time (Copenhagen, Oslo, Bergen), but my estimate is that I averaged about 2h of playing per day. The best place for playing for me remains Karl Johan's gate in Oslo, especially the spot by the parliament in the late June evening, when things are more quiet but sun is still up and people enjoy it on an evening walk. The worst, hmm, there is not a worst place, but in Helsinki I had trouble to find a reasonably quiet, yet busy place.

Money-wise, I saw/heard from other buskers, that by playing famous covers (e.g. Beatles or current hits) and including some showmanship, you can make 200 euros a day. I don't do neither, plus I often preferred to play e.g. my own songs (not famous yet:P), to see if people like them. I also played just around the mentioned 2h per day, and essentially practised many songs that I did not play before, especially at the beginning. All the same, I managed to cover most of my expenses and I believe I could end up on the plus side, had I had this experience and practice already. As an advice for those who plan something similar, however:

- don't overdo it, or do it for money. When the joy from playing runs out, you won't earn anything. People around feel it. I had a few times, e.g. when I was tired, or I hurt my finger under the nail on the left hand, making it bit of a suffering to play (especially bending notes). In those times, the joy from playing disappeared and the "income" greatly diminished too

- find a quiet, preferably open spot, where people pass by and can stop by and you can be heard, but don't disturb too much yourself. Busy traffic, running fountain or construction works are usually ruining your performance

- make a setlist. It helped me greatly, to fluently move on to another song, instead of searching my iPad for the next suitable backing track. I could also avoid changing the settings on my speaker too much by grouping songs requiring similar settings together. But most of all, it creates the mentioned flow which is good if you have audience, and it helps to maintain your positive energy.

- most of all - you need to love it :-) I often play with eyes closed, feeling the music and enjoying the playing. You'll find your style, just stick to it.

I travelled for a month. All I carried was one big backpack and a guitar. In the backpack, I had the amplifier, microphone stand, overdrive pedal, cables and, of course, everything else I needed for daily life. I was surprised how little it was, and how little how one actually needs. All the same, the backpack had around 23kg (26 at the beginning) - mostly due to the heavy amp - and the guitar (solid-body Les Paul, with predominantly mahogany and maple wood) could be another 6 or so. I am not sure how other buskers do it, but sometimes I felt like it was a bit hardcore travelling :-) . That is also why I hitch-hiked only twice and did not do any sightseeing with all the stuff on my back. I however managed without problems travelling with car-sharing, buses, train, 3 flights, hitch-hiking and even a ferry. A good question however is - what was really useful and what could I have left home?

What was useful?

1) Backpack Fjallraven Kajka. Unmatched. This 85 litre giant is the best backpack I've ever carried, or even seen. It is extremely durable, virtually waterproof and even when fully loaded, very comfortable to carry. I really don't have anything negative to say. It survived already around 10 flight journeys (including getting lost two times by the airline) and many others, and the only scar is a small puncture at the bottom (probably made with something sharp).. All the same, I recommend a travel-bag for it. After all, the backpack is not among the cheapest ;-)

Kajka has a wooden frame to reduce the weight and it made from a durable material used by Swedish army

2) Smartphone. Apart from the backpack, arguably the most useful thing in my trip was my new Sony Xperia compact (Z1). Apart from actually making phone calls or sending messages, I used it as a GPS, booked flights through it, searched for connections, used its great camera, wrote songs on it, sorted out at least hundred emails, checked weather and used the built-in alarm or torch light. This is not an advertisement for the mentioned model, but I can't but recommend this fast, affordable phone which is small enough to fit comfortably into your pocket without protruding and thus attracting too much attention. And as a final plus - great battery life! It did not disappoint a single time.

3) iPad. I could say "tablet", but I respect Apple for my old iPad 2, which still works flawlessly (albeit a bit slower now) after 3 years, and hope it will last a few years more :-) . I used it to write all the blog posts (including this one, though I might post it from home) using the Blogger application, run backing tracks while playing and sort out emails that required more typing. And although it's as old as I said, it still has a great battery life..

4) Roland cube street. This amplifier is what made much of the weight I had to carry (around 8kg). But it was all worth it! It lasts around 6 hours on six AA batteries, has two inputs (guitar + mic/guitar) and an extra aux-in, making it possible to play and sing to a backing track at the same time. Or, as we did with Roman in Oslo, to plug in two guitars (one through aux-in) and sing at the same time. Quite amazing. Oh, and you can set the effects and tone settings.
 

5) Money belt. I know, this is "safe" Europe, right? But then, I never worried about forgetting my wallet, passport or flight ticket, always had them ready, and .. Yes... Had them safe

6) Canon Powershot G16. The best mid-class compact camera I know of. Makes beautiful pictures, quality but small-sized videos, is fast, easy to use and even can make a wifi hot spot to send the pictures e.g. to the iPad!

7) Thermo and functional shirt. Not sure I translated it correctly, but those two guys (shirts are guys, did you know?) got me through the cold in Scandinavia. I mean, don't imagine anything terrible, but I came from 4 months of >30 degrees, and thus the "summer" morning e.g. in Bergen was pretty rough for me. It's good to have backup clothes anyway, and these don't weight much at all

8) Light sleeping bag. I did not sleep in a tent and always had a bed, but my light sleeping bag kept me warm couple of nights, on a short hobo-nap on the ferry or acted like a cushion filling in my backpack to prevent breaking the microphone stand e.g. during the flights.

9) Finger care. Nope, I'm not talking lady manicure here, but perhaps you have the same problem - when playing too long, my left hand fingers often get injured a bit. A small tear forms where the nail meets the meat of the finger, especially after bending strings too much. This can be then very painful but luckily, I found out how to quickly heal it. One thing is a gel called "Apotex Hema gel", which kind of acts like a glue, but in effect heals small open wounds quickly. The other thing are special bandages for fingers in the shape of a butterfly, by company viaCell. Apply the gel, cover with the bandage and leave for a night - in the morning, you should be able to play again :-)

10) The others. From the rest, I was happy to have a few small lunch boxes (to prevent the little food I carried from being smashed), very light flip-flops for indoors (or outdoors on a nice day), very light jacket against rain (although I was never caught in too much rain), small antibacterial gel (used it also to clean strings), 3 Coldrex sachets (used all 3), head-band to keep the forehead warm (though I lost it :( ), great long-lasting battery for the overdrive pedal (by Panasonic, see picture) and a pocket knife (though I used it rarely). Can't think of much else, I carried socks and stuff like that of course, but I guess it's worthless to point it out ;-)

iPad, Xperia, Money belt, Panasonic Pro Power batteries and the "finger care"

What could I have left home?

Not much, I'm happy to say. But I could do without power adapters for the overdrive pedal or the amp. After all, when you play almost every day on the street, there's not much will to play indoors anymore. I also did not write a diary in my rather thick book, as I planned to - not sure what I was thinking with all this blogging. Finally, I had two knifes - a swiss knife and an army knife. One would be enough. But at least I felt safe :P

I also promised some videos from the playing. Well, I filmed far from all the songs, but then - better something then nothing :-

• Sultans of swing, Prague
• Brothers in arms, Prague
• Golden heart, Prague - incomplete, memory card run out :-)
• Are we in trouble now, Bergen
• All along the watchtower, Oslo - with Benjamin, a guy that stopped by :-)
• Boom like that, Oslo - with Roman
• Wish you were here (instrumental), Oslo - with Roman

And accommodation? Various too. Only once I paid for a night, in a cheap dormitory in Prague, a very unplanned night. Other then that, I spent two nights in buses, one in a train and the rest with amazing people! I went on this trip to do street playing and I enjoyed it immensely, but in the end, it's always the people who make the days special. I hereby do one more big THANKS to all the wonderful people who hosted me and spent time with me. Chronologically: Tinka, Sebastian and Caro, Ondro and Roman, Morten (couchsurfing), Tinka again, Stevo and Ivka, Johanna and George (Couchsurfing), Hesse, Janci with Laurita and Noel and Tinka for the third time :-) . Big thanks also to Timo who took us from Turku to Helsinki, and the two nice ladies who took me to Bergen airport when hitch-hiking.

And thanks to everyone who had a look on this blog or wished me luck. I felt it :-)

So will I do it again? Maybe... But maybe not. Maybe another journey, or another step waits somewhere there in the future. Meanwhile, let me just say: if you think of a trip like this, don't think anymore and do it. I don't want to get cheesy, but you know - life is short.. :-)

Prague number 3

The plan. Plan was to return through Tallinn, Vilnius, Warszav and Poprad. In the end I didn't but I think it was good this way. The trip changed and transformed as I went through it. I originally planned to play much much more. I planned to make money for a donnation of a guitar. I thought I'm going into a super hot summer. It ended up all whole different way (and a termo T shirt was my best friend). But it was GREAT and an unforgetable experience. And while there were days when I was only playing till my fingers bled, there were others spent almost entirely with friends. Like with everything else, it's good to strike a balance.

Tinka was not feeling well and I returned to Prague prematurely (on 26th) to be with her. The street playing was, however, not finished, and I tried the good spots by Prasna brana, which I'm not sure were allowed, but no one kicked me out. Another nice place was on Vaclavske square, a bit up from Mustek on the right side, in the shade of a tree. There, Tinka took a few pictures and a video, which I'll upload once I get home. I found out street playing in Prague works very well, but you need a good spot - people are often in a hurry and if you don't catch their attention soon enough, they'll just rush by. Unless they're true Dire Straits fans - a rare species in Prague, and dying out in the world.

Unfortunately, it seems like busking in general will be restricted in Prague centre. I understand the reason why, but I believe there's a better solution, it just requires more effort. Perhaps auditions, permits or the like. Some permit system is in use in Bratislava - I'll find out how it works and I might do one more street play back home this weekend. So don't be surprised if you find me under Michalska brana or somewhere - I'm not a hobo, I just like playing :-)