An Audition Road Trip Story

Most of Zach's auditions take place in and around the Los Angeles area. However, he had a recent commercial audition that required a road trip to San Diego. The amount of money for the role was enough to make the trip worth our time so we hit the road to the former home of the Chargers. 

The only areas of San Diego I've spent much time in are the downtown area and Point Loma. Both of these areas can be reached by driving the 5 from our area of Los Angeles. I decided to use the Waze app to monitor any traffic issues, Imagine my surprise when the app decided to not put me on the 5 going to San Diego. My journey took me from the 101 to the 134 to the 210 to the 71 to the 15 to (briefly) the 79 and then back to the 15. 

In other words, I had no idea where I was going in terms of getting to San Diego. 

It was a fun drive because I got to see parts of California I didn't know existed as well as the locations of a few casinos I had heard of but didn't know where they were located. The trip took about two and a half hours which isn't bad for a drive to San Diego.

We found the audition location in the Sorrento Valley area of San Diego. Zach entered the building and came out about 15 minutes later drenched in sweat. He explained that part of the improv audition involved acting like he was passing out and having water thrown on him in order to revive him. He seemed to feel good about his audition and I left the studio with a wet kid in search of food.

Even though I didn't know it at the time, that is when I made my big mistake of the day.

There is a place in San Diego that has tofu with a great thai peanut sauce. Since I was in town, I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to eat there. The restaurant was about 10 minutes away from the audition location which took me just far enough away from the 15 that Waze decided to put me on the 5 going home. 

Good news: Easy to navigate all the way home

Bad news: Traffic on the 5 is often a nightmare

Remember how I told you it took me two and a half hours to go the 135-140 miles to San Diego? It took me almost double that time as I spent over four and a half hours driving the same distance on the 5. On the plus side, it gave me some serious bonding time with Zach in the truck. 

Whether or not he books the commercial, it was nice spending the day with him since he is always off on an adventure at school or a comedy club or acting or with his friends. He even stayed awake and talked with me the whole way. A teenager talking to a parent for more than 5 minutes! What are the odds of that happening???

New Zach Louis headshots on his IMDb page.