What does it take to live what some would refer to as “the rockstar life?”

It takes determination and perseverance. It takes the ability to stand for what you believe in, despite criticism and objectivity. It takes everything you can give to achieve your dreams — that one goal in life you truly desire more than anything else.

It also takes around $75,000 — but worry about that later.

Traveling in a tour bus though Europe as a member of a signed act, performing every night for crowds of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of concert goers is, to some a dream come true.

The experience is more than you can imagine, and some aspects just can’t be described with words.

I can tell you how majestic the Alps look at 5a.m. after playing to a sold-out crowd in Winterthur, Switzerland the previous evening. Or how refreshing a swim in the Adriatic Sea can be before a show in Split, Croatia.

I can tell you about how amazing the Gnocci al Gorgonzola is at a local restaurant in Klagenfurt, Austria and how nothing can compare to Palm beer straight from the tap in Hamme, Belgium.

I can also tell you that it’s best to go to the Katharinen Hospital in Stuttgart, Germany after sustaining a fractured ankle on tour, and what it’s like having to stay an additional week alone in a foreign country with no loved ones to care for you.

And I can report, too, how cold it gets in Bavaria as you walk through the snow, accidentally left behind at a roadside rest stop with no identification, no money and no ability to speak a word of German.

I can tell you if you plan to play in Bucharest, Romania… pack a lunch.

The one thing I, nor anyone else, can tell you, is that it’s impossible.

Difficult? Yes. Time consuming? Yes. Financially overwhelming at times? Oh yeah!

But impossible? No.

There will be times you will just want to throw in the towel and give it all up. But other times will provide the fuel that steers you toward your goal.

Award-winning musician Jon Bon Jovi once said, “Success is falling nine times and getting up 10.”

If you have the passion, determination and sheer strength of will to endure everything life throws at you, you can achieve your dreams, whatever they may be.

“The shit ain’t easy.”

Undermining, yet inspiring words once spoken by Relentless, the vocalist for the heavy metal act Vengince, who with the band recently toured Europe and suffered from torn ligaments in his ankle. Yet one more hospital trip for “The Veng,” which has seen more then its fair share of foreign emergency rooms during European tours.

Indeed, it is not easy.

But it is worth it.

My only piece of crucial advice to those of you who have the dream to live that “rockstar life”: Get your schooling taken care of first, or at least during your journey to succeed. You never know when the “life” just might not be it for you.

Take it from a 35-year-old freshman.