Is It The Dream Job?

“I was at Mount Rushmore a couple of years ago.” A coworker said when I asked him if he liked the job. “I was surrounded my families who saved up for months, maybe years, to come and see this. I just happen to be working nearby. I think that’s pretty cool.”

“Yeah.” I said and thought about all the places I have seen because of similar work. “That is a pretty good fringe benefit.”

When I was a kid, I heard a comedian quip ‘When I grow up, I want to be a Tourist. They always have lots of money and they’re always doing fun stuff.’ I adopted this as my personal mantra. All I had to do was find a job that paid me to travel. My first shot at this was to be a Travel Agent. There was a school nearby and I even went there and talked about financing. They said they guaranteed job placement, but they couldn’t guarantee where that job would be. At the time I was not interested in moving to another part of the world, just visiting it.

Then I found a want ad for Traveling Photographers, no experience necessary. I applied and was hired on the spot, which was, and to some extent still is, a common practice in the High Volume Photography trade. If you had a pulse, you had a job.

That first job as a photographer saw me travel around Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Florida. Maybe a few other places I have since forgotten. That first gig lasted about a year or so, then I moved on to another company and saw a few more states. And now, twenty-five years or so later on, I have seen all of the Lower 48.

The Dream Job, the one where I make enough to pay all my bills and still get to be a tourist while on the road, has always been a bit elusive. Some Companies have small territories, so that you end up seeing the same small towns over and over again. Others had massive territories, but they didn’t pay enough to cover the cost of gas, let alone a ticket to Graceland.

A handful of White Whales have spouted over the years. Companies that sound good in the want ads, but didn’t live up to my expectations. One such Company was the old Olan Mills. The money was good and the occasional bits of travel out of state were nice as well. But it wasn’t perfect. And it went out of business while I was there, which is always a problem. The name lives on, and has passed through several new owners since I left them, but it is not the same as it once was.

Another job that looked good on paper was a traveling portrait photographer who took Composite photos on College Campuses. There are several of these places, some of them pay a few hundred dollars a day, but expect you to cover you expenses out of that. These companies also had the odd idea that you should supply your own photo equipment. Using my own gear was not going to happen.

The last year I found a couple of ads for Companies that sounded more promising. One was run by an old Olan Mills associate. They hired me and put me to work right away. The other was one of those College Composite gigs. It sometimes takes a couple of months to get a response after you submit an application. I had only been at the work for a few weeks when I got the notice that I should come up to Missouri for my training.

I met an old white haired fellow, all of the Trainers at these places seem to be old white haired guys, and we hit it off. He got me money for my expenses and showed me the ropes. The job was slightly different from what I had been doing. It was four shots using flat light, one subject at a time. The photography was one step up from the DMV. The real work was driving all over the country and dealing with mobs of College age kids all day.

I’m not as young as I once was. The day long drives, the daily grind of setting up and tearing down at two or more locations, and the massive aggravation of working with less than optional equipment. Olan Mills did spoil me when it comes to gear. Their stuff was top notch, though even it broke down once in a while when you took hundreds of shots a day. The gear I use now works, but there are times when it doesn’t work as well as I would like.

Still, this is one of the White Whales. A job that pays me more in expense money that I made in salary at the last few places I worked. Travel to places I want to go. There is usually enough time to go and see a few things and take a few touristy photos. Enough money to eat at the local cool spot. The odd ability to save money for things like new glasses or a trip to the dentist.

There are places I like to go to, but still rarely get around to visiting. In March, I was told that I would be ending the season working in California. It’s a big place and it’s cram packed with touristy stuff. Last year I got to visit some Redwoods. Amazing sight. So I had planned stops at a few theme parks, a beach or two, maybe more trees and lots of good food.

Of course, none of that happened.

The shoots I was working on were cancelled. The trip to California was off. And like everyone else, I spend the last few months watching too much TV and adding about ten pounds to a waistline that was already about twenty pounds too large.

I got my Stimulus Check and the extra $600 added to my unemployment. I already had a bit of money saved from working at the start of the year. I have enough money to last a few months, barring any further disasters. Assuming the world is still here in a few months. I have spent a bit too much time on Twitter during the recent unpleasantness and doomsday talk is constant.

My Work Calendar now has about a month’s worth of shoots on it. Lots of travel to interesting places. Lots of places were the Greek Life students have very likely been ignoring all safety guidelines. The Company is not Six Flags or Disney. There are no massive safety routines involving constant cleaning or disinfecting. I will wear a mask, the kids will social distance from me, but so far as I can tell, that is all the Company has in mind at the moment.

The pandemic has changed my view of the perfect job a bit. Now the perfect job would be selling enough of my Fine Art Images that I would never have to leave the house again. But that isn’t happening. Though I have made more than I would have thought possible.

The scheduled work is still some time away. It may be cancelled. The schools may remain closed. Or everyone may go on pretending there’s nothing to worry about. So I’m still waiting. I’ll find out soon enough.