Writing on the Road

I'm just a few days away from a beautiful vacation that is long overdue. We're going to one of my most favorite spots in the world for the standard rest and relaxation where we play outside, eat, read, chat, swim in the ocean, play board games, do art, and cook together as a family and I love this time. There also is no phone, television, or Internet. In my opinion, this is the stuff dreams are made of.

When you get somewhere like this, where the outside world is finally and thankfully closed off, you have the supreme opportunity to just be. Now, I don't mean you're sitting around like a lump, bored out of your mind, I mean that you are finally being you and you alone, free from Facebook, or clicking that you "like" tacos, or LOLing about something you saw on the news. Being unplugged is our most natural state, and while I know a lot of people (even in my own family), who would need a day of electronic detox before they could enjoy it, getting away from it all really is the best way to recharge your human battery.

For me, this includes taking my laptop and getting some uninterrupted time working on fiction. There's no way I'm going to suddenly get an email that just has to be answered, or receive a phone call from someone who 'just wants to chat' when I'm in the middle of writing. If you're anything like me and the rest of the writing world, then you already know that writing time is prime real estate that is easily undersold to quick trips to the store, taking the car to the shop, or the time when your child is suddenly sick and up all night.

Nothing makes me feel more whole and optimistic about the projects I'm working on than when I'm away from home base and out of sight, earshot, email's reach and no one can get to me and my writing. While there will not be hours and hours of unending time for typing up a story or revising a chapter, the key is that when I do snag that single hour, it will be a fully devoted hour to nothing but my craft and my story. I'm hoping you have some kind of sanctuary to run to just like this.