Running Away From Home

I travel a lot. I used to travel a good bit with my day job, but fortunately, that's no longer the case. I occasionally go somewhere for training or a conference, but that's about it. Now, most of my travel is still for 'work' but it's for my second job - writing. If I'm getting on a plane, odds are, I'm traveling to a writing conference or promotional event. Research and plotting trips. I do try to cram in some vacation with the business, especially when we go someplace I've never been, like San Francisco. But usually, its me running at top speed the entire time, then coming home, exhausted, just in time to go back to the day job.

But every now and then... I get a pure vacation. Sleeping late. Hot tubs. Shopping. Alcohol. Good food. Good friends. Laughter. I treasure these trips. Like I said, I don't get them very often. And even though I'm traveling with the same people I usually travel with (the Playfriends, duh) it's a completely different kind of trip. We trade the heels and ball gowns for Uggs and yoga pants. Forego the flat iron and depend on the messy ponytail. It's the ultimate down time. And boy do we need it. We are some overworked chickies of late. If its not day jobs, its writing pressures or family drama or medical problems. We need a break!

And yet, we can never truly get away from writing because it's what we all love. We'll all take our laptops and notebooks to work as needed. I, for example, have a deadline, so I'll try to get some writing done while we're gone. Once we jump in the hot tub, our creative juices will inevitably start flowing and a book or two will get plotted. Sitting on the deck with hot tea and snuggly blankets, plots problems will be corrected and characterization will be fleshed out. That's the beauty of being friends with fellow writers.

And the best part of this trip? We're there now! Thank goodness! What's your favorite kind of vacation to take?
SP