Routine is crucial when faced with the hectic reality of life on the road and there’s no better way to establish one than getting ready every morning. It might just be one of my favorite things to do every day to make sure I feel energized, ready to go, and pumped for the day’s performance. I figured it might be fun to walk through some of the steps I personally take as a student on tour.

First of all, I have determined that the ideal time to wake up every day is 6:02am, the precise time to which my alarm is set. I always wake up long before both of my roommates Kailaini (Kailani Farivar) and Fe (Fe Beatty). Many of my colleagues have told me that getting up four hours before load on is positively insane, but I like the free time. I had to write this blog at some point.

After getting up, I usually head straight to the shower and grab the clothes I prepared the night before. Taking all of my toiletries usually consists of about three trips; however, that’s only because I brought a large makeup bag, two blow-dryers, and two hair brushes in addition to the necessary soap. Once I gather my supplies, I give myself about five minutes to figure out the shower. The first two were fairly straightforward, but the one in the hotel near Chicago just so happened to have both a lever and a knob. That was certainly something I had never seen before, but I suppose this tour is meant to be a gateway to new and unique experiences.

Once around ten minutes in the shower have passed, I get out and put on the pre-prepared outfit before examining it in the mirror to make sure it looks right. The itinerary graciously tells us which days to dress for travel and which days to dress for performance, but I tend not to listen. After all, every day is a performance if you really want to think of it that way. Either way, I usually end up having to switch at least one thing about the outfit. Before we left for Mile of Music today, I switched out my socks. I had to match them to my hat because the rest of my outfit was black.

I tend to wash my face immediately after sorting out my fashion choice for the day. A lot of people brought their entire skincare routine with them, but I only brought my usual cleanser and a moisturizer I don’t even like. If worst comes to worst, I get curious and slather the lotion the hotel gives us onto my face. It hasn’t had any adverse effects thus far, but I’ll probably buy something better to use later in the tour. Update from editing the next day: I bought a facial serum during our brief Target run while we were still in Appleton and it has helped tremendously.

Then, I start with makeup. I almost always begin with a standard brown eyeshadow. I brought a palette with blues and pinks, but I haven’t been too adventurous with it yet. However, today I added a blue shimmer to my eyes. I am a devoted fan of anything that shines and sparkles, but putting glitter on my face is definitely new for me. Immediately following the eyeshadow, I add a thick black liner, I don’t think I’d let myself leave the hotel without it. After that, I sometimes add a skin tint, foundation, and concealer, but it didn’t seem to look right this morning after a few tries. As a solution, I wiped it off, covered my blemishes, and added fake freckles. I always top off the look with a natural looking lipstick layered under a sparkly gloss.

With a full face of makeup on, I plug in “blow-dryer #1” and dry my roots on hot before drying the rest cold. This was actually a tip I got to de-frizz my hair from Alli (Allison Alston), our flutist, on the bus. It has absolutely worked wonders. After that, I shape it with the round “blow-dryer #2”. Bringing two blow-dryers may have been excessive, but at least it’s functional. When it’s finally dry, I make sure to put a stretchy headband on to keep my bangs out of my face. It’s absolutely necessary to make sure your hair is out of your face on tour, especially this time because there is a documentary being filmed by our wonderful cameraman, Charlie .

As saddened as I am by the loss of my face shield, I can’t disregard the wonderful replacement I’ve found. I bought a hat at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that I’ve worn every day since tour started. It helps keep my bangs out of my face in addition to being a slightly less obvious shield. I pulled my hair into a ponytail with one of the assorted hair-ties and scrunchies around my wrist before deploying the hat as my replacement shield.

The whole routine of getting ready takes about an hour to an hour and a half. After that has passed, I put on my all-access Accidentals lanyard with the wonderful keychain that we received. Then, I make sure all of my electronics are charged and usually put on my headphones. I listen to music to begin the mental preparation once the physical preparation is complete. I’ve chosen to experiment with what I listen to over the course of this tour and choose a different genre or subgenre to listen to every day. Today I chose bubblegum k-pop because it’s fun, energetic, and perfect to prepare me for the energy of something like a music festival.

I got out my laptop and started this article at around 7:30am this morning after settling on a playlist. I worked for roughly forty minutes before deciding to start The Owl House, a show recommended to me by Rowan (Rowan Sherwood), one of our lovely percussionists. At 8:30, I finally went down to get breakfast. I made sure to eat a decent amount because our next meal would be a little later than usual. I also bought a can of Pringles and a Dr.Pepper to satisfy my bus ride cravings at the cost of seven dollars. My plate was finally cleared by 9:00, so I sat around and listened to music until it was time to load onto the bus at a time closer to 9:45.

My “ready routine” has remained fairly consistent throughout the tour so far. It’s allowed me to remain punctual and provided a sense of stability in an environment that is so spectacularly different from my everyday life.