'Let Loose A Little Bit': Paul Swan Talks Balancing Work And Play While Traveling

Paul Swan is the co-star of USA Network’s latest reality series “Austin Dillon’s Life In The Fast Lane,” which chronicles his lifestyle in the NASCAR world. That lifestyle requires him to do a lot of traveling to fun locations, which can sometimes make the balance between work and play very difficult.

In the premiere episodes of “Life In The Fast Lane,” for example, Paul and his wife, Mariel, accompany their best friends, Austin and Whitney Dillon, to the Daytona 500 where he works as a tire carrier for Richard Childress Racing. The episode sees them put in the hard work necessary to be top-tier competitors while also soaking in the delicious food and leisure activities (like a fan boat alligator tour) that Daytona has to offer. 

Speaking to USA Insider, Paul explains that finding that balance between a fun vacation and a work trip takes time and effort, but it’s something he's pretty confident they’ve mastered over the years.

“It's definitely tough,” Paul says. “You want to go out, have fun and let loose a little, but, you know, we race the next day.” 

He explains there are plenty of occasions where he and Mariel find themselves in cities with a lot to do, but only for a night with a big race the next day. As a result, they’re forced to just take it easy and focus on the work. However, other times they get multiple days in a city, which for them is when they're truly off to the races (so to speak).

“If we come out early in the week, then yeah, it's game on, we're going to go have some fun, we're going to explore, we're going to get after that. So, that's always fun. We go out a little earlier," Paul says. 

He notes that one of the biggest things they try to make time for are good dinners in new cities. 

“We're big, big, big, big foodies,” he says. “So I always am sniffing out the best restaurants, the best food.” 

Paul concludes: “Yeah, it's definitely tough because you want, like, you obviously wanna go have fun everywhere you go and you're going to these cool places and you don't want to worry about work, but we have to. It's our job, it's our lifestyle. So, at the end of the day, work comes first, and play comes later. So, we like to win at work so we can play hard later.” 

One thing that tends to help balance their work and leisure time is the fact that they’re traveling and working alongside their respective best friends. “Life In The Fast Lane” sees Paul and Mariel join Austin and Whitney both on the road and at home in North Carolina and captures all their high-stress, high-reward antics along the way. 

“Austin Dillon’s Life In The Fast Lane” airs Thursdays at 9:30/8:30c on USA Network.