Diary of a model

Lily spends her days as a model, rushing from shoot to show and on to yet another casting. On Amayzine, she tells you all about what her life is really like. Under a different name, of course, but that means she can share all the juicy details. This week: why vacation and modeling don't mix well.

A very relaxed ‘ahoy’ to the loyal readers from a poolside lounger. Today I'm writing my diary piece on my phone. I've decided not to take my laptop on vacation to be a bit more ‘offline’. No emails pinging in about possible options (except when I check my phone in the evening), but a Lily piece can't be missed, of course. In the mood, I thought I'd write a little something about *drumroll please* vacation.

Plan ahead

Since as a model you have zero influence over your own schedule or life, you have to book yourself out well in advance. Booking out means that there is a cross in your calendar for those dates, and you can't receive options and jobs on those days. However, there is a difference between booking out and booking out in consultation. With the latter, you do receive your options and can then see if the option is fun/cool/profitable enough to ruin your vacation.

Let’s book! Never mind.

I'm sure clients can smell it when you try to take the reins of your life into your own hands and want to plan fun trips. Exactly when you click the ‘book ticket’ button, you receive, along with the confirmation, an email from your agent: ‘Hey love, this just came in! Such a great job. I will send your ticket asap! X.’ Always get cancellation insurance when booking the ticket.

Haha, holiday? You wish.

The tip: first book out with your agency and only then book with your friends. A cross in your calendar means not available, right? Nope. Often enough, it happens that despite all this, you still receive options and jobs where it's very hard to say no. For example, I once had to go back and forth to Florence for two days during a family vacation in South France, but then I flew back to Amsterdam via London instead of to South France. Luckily, as you could read in the previous piece, I always have a skin-colored underwear with me #sexy. However, the vacation suddenly ended a few days earlier.

Birthday parties, festivals, and weekend trips

Missing a day of your two-week vacation isn't that bad, but for the day-trippers, a job can throw a wrench in the works. I'm still bummed that I couldn't be at some birthdays, so nowadays I'm stricter with no = no (and not: no just means keep insisting, as Thierry claims).

Sometimes it takes a bit of extra effort, but I always try to have the best of both worlds. For example, I recently arrived at a festival after a twelve-hour travel day that had already been going on for a day. But oh, was it worth the trip.

Also, last weekend went a bit differently: I ended up flying from another country to the destination. Not flown together, but still had a fantastic weekend (shoutout to the travel companion).

The best might be to meditate in the middle of the jungle, without reception in a hut. Not only can no one disturb you there, but maybe you can finally find some peace without the hustle and bustle of all the technology (poetic, I know).

Xx kisses from Lily