There are different reasons for traveling. A person can travel for work, as I have to do for both my full-time career and my writing career. Or a person can travel for pleasure, either on vacation or on a weekend getaway. Maybe someone is traveling to see family. Sadly enough, working while traveling for pleasure gets the best of us workaholics sometimes. My husband hates it. Sometimes, he tries to put his foot down. Notice how I say 'tries'? Yeah, he usually doesn't win that argument. I concede to not work the entire time, but to set time aside for it.
Traveling for Work
When I travel for my full-time job, most notably our National Sales Meeting followed immediately by our annual company meeting, I not only have to make time to do my day-to-day work writing proposals but squeeze in time for writing as well. Last year, I had The Aristocrat's Wife had just come back from my editor. Talk about a tight timeline! For my full-time job, the National Sales Meeting is not just meetings and making time for day-to-day work in between. Evenings are reserved for team dinners, and going out with co-workers after. Sometimes until the wee hours of the morning. Just to give you a glimpse into my life outside of my writing career. It is, to say the least, a whirlwind week without trying to work on writing. I set aside some nights to focus on what I need to do for writing, so not every night is going staying out late with co-workers. It's hard because I don't get to see some of them more than this every year.
Traveling for Pleasure
When I travel for vacation or a holiday, even a weekend-get away, this is supposed to be my time to relax and not do any type of work. This is where I fail. Every. Single. Time. I hope against all hope that someday I will surprise my husband and not do any type of writing on a vacation. For writers, and I'm certain I'm not the only one, it is extremely difficult to turn our brains off. I am constantly writing something in my head. And if I don't write it down, it's gone the next minute. That is why it's essential that I bring my writing tools with me. Not necessarily laptop, but at least notebooks and pens. You see, I don't like to be bored. Sitting in a chair, unless it's in the evening around the bonfire with a drink or a beer in my hand, is boring for me. I have to be doing something. I fill that boredom with writing, and that is why I bring all of my writing gear with me. It isn't anything for me to sit outside our camper, or poolside in the Florida sun, with my laptop, tap tap tapping away. In my defense, it also doesn't take much for me to be reading, either.
Working while traveling is really all about balance. Unless you are traveling for work, I shouldn't advocate for working while traveling. But I'd be a hypocrite if I judged anyone for doing it since I do it myself. I heard a saying somewhere and I'm not sure who said it, but it went something like this: If you don't take a break once in a while, your body will take one for you and it won't be at a convenient time.
Happy reading (and traveling, if you like to do so)!
Jodie Leigh Murray