What would YOU do?

[Ben Cooper]

I have not had a vacation in many years that I didn't drive to. So there is always something with me. My wife and I are the band for the most part , so we always have something to work on. If I could not take something along, a few things happen. I look for a music store to try their stuff. Or I play the wife. Wife is not as easy to tune but sounds great when she is.

LMAO!!!!

[roysboy]

I'd suggest lining up a sponsor and getting to some meetings . There actually is a world out there beyond mandolins . I've seen it . It's wondrous and inspiring .

[Freddyfingers]

Shun the non believer. Shhhuuunnn!

[Gerard Dick]

Find a music store that has mandolins. Try a few of them out. Get your fix and walk out.

[foldedpath]

Tin whistles are cheap and highly portable. If you already know some fiddle tune melodies on mandolin, then it's not that hard to puzzle out the notes on a D whistle by ear. Or you can go the other way. Take along some recordings of fiddle tunes, learn 'em on the D whistle, and then transfer the tunes to mandolin when you get home. A harmonica might work, but I think a whistle is a more direct and easier path into the tunes.

[Ben Cooper]

Well I will have to look into the tin whistles.

[Matt DeBlass]

A week off from the mando can be healthy, sometimes after taking a short break due to injury or travel I've come back feeling like a better player.
On the other hand, I've thought about getting a cheap uke and stringing it in 5ths so I could have a "disposable" man do substitute for practice (or better yet, one of those old plastic Maccaferri ukes, more expensive, but you can play it in the swimming pool)

[Rush Burkhardt]

I'd take another instrument. I had to go a couple weeks without any when my first whistle cracked, and I've made sure not to repeat the experience. If all else fails, I've always got one of these in my pocket.

Damn! Now WAS!
Thanks, Shanahan!

[Shanahan]

Damn! Now WAS!
Thanks, Shanahan!

I'm usually not a victim of WAS, but that telescopic Hoover was $80 well-spent. Get a fountain pen case too like you see in his pictures, they fit perfectly!

[Capt. E]

For me, on my trip to Britain last year, I took along a penny whistle and two harmonicas so I wasn't entirely musically deprived. I also tried to get to a couple of music shops to get a mandolin fix, but didn't make it. I will testify you will survive being without.

[Capt. E]

Tin whistles are cheap and highly portable. If you already know some fiddle tune melodies on mandolin, then it's not that hard to puzzle out the notes on a D whistle by ear. Or you can go the other way. Take along some recordings of fiddle tunes, learn 'em on the D whistle, and then transfer the tunes to mandolin when you get home. A harmonica might work, but I think a whistle is a more direct and easier path into the tunes.

I have been playing whistles and recorders for many decades and keep one in the car. I've been known to break it out and play at red lights. Can't do that with a mandolin (at least not easily).

[pheffernan]

At this point I have my Girouard which I am not comfortable taking on a long trip and my daughter has my Fender so I can't take that one either.

What would I do? Take a look at my signature. I'd buy another mandolin!

[hypnic.jerk]

Wish I had a backpack mandolin! Not to that point yet.

After saying I agree totally with JEStanek about being present in your vacation, I do love my restrung uke (AKA my mandolele) for trips. It is inexpensive, fun, light and actually sounds pretty good.

[DataNick]

I'd connect in advance with the local Bluegrass/Old Time groups, the Cafe etc. and connect with someone who wouldn't mind loaning me a mando while there. Or I'd ship my beater to & fro, or I'd buy one there...

[Paul Kotapish]

I have a cheap flattop that I use as a travel mandolin. It's sounds pretty nice and plays well, but it wouldn't break my heart if it was lost, stolen, or smashed.

There are plenty of super-cheap ukuleles (under $50) that actually play in tune and sound OK. You could easily restring one of those in single-string mandolin tuning and just treat it like a useful toy. Not much of an investment, and you could give it away as a gift later and save yourself the cost of a present.

. . .

Sorry . . . missed hypnic's similar post above. You get the idea. Works great.

[Eddie Sheehy]

Bring Don Julin's book - Mandolin for Dummies...

[John Flynn]

I always travel with my Risa, which I have tuned GDAE. I can cram it into even a tightly packed wheel-aboard suitcase and playing it doesn't make enough noise to disturb anyone. I also travel with a C harmonica (which makes plenty of noise!).



Once I found a jam when I was in Huntsville, AL on business. I went to the local acoustic music store and rented a used Gibson F-9 for the week.

[Jeff Richards]

I also believe in the converted Uke theory. I have mine setup with Aquilla's GDAE strings and I really like the sound.

Peace!

[Petrus]

That Risa looks pretty cool ... and I like the converted uke method too. (Great, now there's two more instruments for me to buy. Oh well.) Martin used to (still does?) make a backpacker mandolin, too. It's about $300 or so. Amazon says it's out of stock, so maybe they don't make it anymore.

It has an interesting design. No scroll, sadly; maybe you could cut one off an old junker f-style and attach it via velcro so it could be removed easily for storage when you're not doing BG.

[Petrus]

Several folks have suggested going mandoless for a while to refresh yourself; I think that's a good idea too. I like to take time away from my music now and then to stay fresh. It's a good thing to do whenever your playing starts feeling too much like "work." After all, it's supposed to be a relief from work and stress, not an additional thing to get stressed over. (Unless you're doing it professionally, where you have no choice. Segovia once said, "When I go one day without practice, I know it; when I go two days without practice, the instrument knows it; when I go three days without practice, the audience knows it.")

[John Flynn]

Just a minor counterpoint: I agree with Petrus that "going mandoless" can be a good thing, assuming the goal is to refresh your practice. In my case, however, I don't get enough practice as it is, so there is unfortunately not enough intensity from which I would be refreshing myself.

Also, as he rightly points out, playing is supposed to be a relief from stress. I always find travel stressful. I travel for a living, to the point that even vacation travel seems stressful. I need that stress relief traveling, at least as much as I do at home. Just a few minutes playing an easy tune on my Risa in the hotel room at night and I can feel my whole body relaxing.

[Alex Orr]

Question for everyone. If you were going away on a vacation for a week and you absolutely could not take a mandolin with you.... what would you do?

Enjoy the vacation and rest assured that the mandolin is waiting for me when I get back home. There is more to life than playing mandolin every day.

[Jacob]

I would pack my Eleuke Peanut tuned to GDAE with Aquila Soprano 5ths strings.

[Dagger Gordon]

One of the great things about playing the mandolin is that it is really easy to travel with.
You can take in on planes, and indeed I've even packed one in a case which I checked in.

If there's a will there's usually a way. Cut right back on everything else you're taking, such as clothes. People nearly always take too many.

The main exception is if you're travelling with very small children, and then you do need heaps of stuff.

[stevedenver]

take a break, youll be better for it
jeez its only week

redirect yourself,
for the time
and you will have greater joy when you return to mando.

done this many times and its always good to break
don't think because youre not playing physically, youre not developing musically mentally
sometimes enforced breaks , and plateaus, are great