Hi Laura,
I haven't had any problem with my liability insurance in other states, as for workmans comp see previous post on insurance in this forum, nothing has changed in Illinois regarding self employed persons.
Tracking down work and keeping the schedule full has always been a very seasonal problem. When it comes right down to it, almost all my work comes form word of mouth references. I'm always interested in new projects.
Accomodations vary from job to job, everything from a rental house for two or three itinerants on longer jobs, a motel for a week or two, staying with the client or shop owner in a spare room, I have even camped out for a couple of weeks on the job site.
Tooling often depends on the job, it's always nice to know what the project is in advance so you can plan the tool kit. If I bring everything, I have a hard time getting to the tool I need because it's usually burried at the bottom of one of four Joboxes. I like to use my own tools and not someone elses, because I'm familiar with them.
I seem to end up working with the same half dozen or so other itinerants on a fairly regular basis.
Tom