Ok – the dieting is done, you’ve completed your last workout on Tuesday or Wednesday, your peak week plan is in full swing, and you’re just about ready to take off for your show. If the show isn’t in your home town, it’s highly recommended that you stay in the host hotel recommended by the show promoters (if the show is being held in a convention hall in a hotel, that hotel will also be the host). Even if the show is in your home town, staying in the hotel will certainly simplify things.
Packing for a show will be very different than packing for a vacation. Here are some indispensable items you might not have thought of:
- All tanning supplies. This includes your bottles of stuff, brushes, exfoliating implements and oil-free body scrub for the shower.
- Posing oils – seems obvious, but easy to forget
- Posing suit – this might be the worst possible thing to leave behind
- Flip flops – traditional backstage footwear
- NPC Card – these are good for 1 calendar year. If you don’t have one, you can purchase it when you weigh in ($100)
- Makeup and applicators – guys, this can mean you too. Using a foundation that matches your tanning product is recommended, as most products recommended keeping them away from this face. Matching the color with a foundation makes it easy to take off, and helps you avoid the dreaded “photoshop face” – pasty white face on a super tan body. Mac NW45 foundation is a very good match for Pro Tan.
- Towels – bring your own towels so you don’t ruin the hotel towels and get charged for them.
- Sheets – see ‘towels’, above. Make sure they fit the size of bed in your hotel room.
- Exercise bands – bring your own so you aren’t dependent on what the show organizers provide for pumping up. Invariably there will be a few sets of dumbbells and way too many people competing for them.
- A book or music – you will likely have plenty of time backstage to kill, so bring whatever relaxation tool you prefer to help you get in the zone.
- Camera – whether it’s your phone or a regular camera, you’ll be looking your best so now is the time to take a bunch of pictures!
So do yourself a favor and pack all this stuff in a duffel bag right now! The less you have to use your brain when you’re in a fog 2 days before the show, the better!