Writing Vacations

In a different thread, some of us were discussing Amtrak's offering residencies for writers. It turns out writers have to sign a contract and some of the wording of that contract gives Amtrak rights to the writer's work. As much of a scam as that is, it's NOT the point of this thread.

It got me thinking. I desperately need a vacation. I haven't been anywhere in almost 15 years! Funds are especially tight, too. So, I thought I'd see if I could find any day (or overnight) trips that would give me time to write.

The idea of writing on a train trip sounds like heaven to me. I checked Amtrak's website to see if there were any affordable trips I could take. Nothing. Most every train leaves my area around midnight so I wouldn't get any writing done. I did, however, check Greyhound. For $100 ($120 if I splurge a little!) I can get an eight hour ride to Chicago, stay overnight in what was rated a 4 out of 5 star hotel and leave the next day for another eight hour ride back. $18 bus ticket, $51 hotel. Add taxes and one meal out and I'm looking at $100 for a two day writing adventure (planned one month in advance).

I'm seriously considering this. Has anyone else ever done this or considered it?

And, as long as we're on the topic of writing vacations, if you have any other ideas, let's hear them! You never know, your idea might resonate with someone. What's your dream writer's vacation? Is it a specific conference or writer's retreat? I'd love to hear about it.

Personally, my dream writing vacation is to go on a cruise. Beauty, time, writing, and ports of call are the only things on the agenda. Add to that having your food prepared for you and available 24/7 and it's perfect! A nice seven day Canadian/Alaskan cruise would be great. A four to six month around the world cruise, however, would get me to marry someone!

How about you?

Osulagh said:

I think you'd spend more time travelling, settling in, preparing food/drinks and stuff than actually writing. IMHO, just sounds like advanced procrastination.

I can see going on a retreat with a group of other writers for a week writing, critiquing, talking about writing, and so on. Not necessarily to put words on the page, but to usher in a creative environment.
Or, if there was some place you could go easily and stay for a long period without being bothered. Camping, a family/friend's vacation home in the area, renting a cheap hotel room in the area for cheap.

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I see what you're saying. I can see how it could be someone's way of procrastinating. (In which case, that person should just admit it and say, "I want to go to Chicago for a night!")

The point of the trip is to spend the eight hour bus ride writing. When I get to Chicago (at 4pm), I walk to the nearby hotel that I chose. I plop my one and only carry-on bag on the bed. It contains a change of clothes, simple toiletries, a notebook (or laptop for some), and some carefully chosen foods to get me there and back again; grab and eat food for the bus. No preparation.

Once in the hotel, I go out for dinner. Depending on what's around, I might walk around for an hour. Then it's back to the hotel with two or three more hours to write and getting a good night's sleep before the 8am bus back the next morning. And there's another eight hours for writing.

From the time the first bus pulls out to the time it pulls back into the station on the return trip, that's a total of 32 hours. I can log 18-20 hours of that time writing and get a change of scenery without spending a fortune.

If a procrastinator spends all their time preparing food and drinks and getting settled in, they've missed the point completely. What were they doing on the bus ride down and back? They're missing opportunities to write. To be frank, I've met writer's who procrastinate a lot. Many complain they don't have time to write or their trying to find the perfect circumstances to write in, like that week long stay somewhere secluded. It's not writing, but the romanticized dream of being a writer/author that they love. Writer's write. And they do it in the midst of the life and circumstances going on around them every day. People always make time for the things that are important to them. Always.

I would love to attend a writer's retreat sometime. I'd have to admit up front that I wouldn't get a lot of writing done because I'd be too excited being in that atmosphere with other writers that I'd want to get together and discuss everything under the sun with them!

Putputt said:

I know someone who stayed for three nights in a nice-ish little B&B (I don't know where, but she said it's in the middle of nowhere, which made it affordable) and finished a book there and then. Insanitayyyy!

I've never been on a writing vacation, but when I feel the need to go somewhere else to write, I just go to a nearby cafe. Different strokes and all. If you do decide to go on your trip, let us know how it goes!

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Exactly. Very good point. Some people might get car sick if they try to write on a bus trip. Personally, I have difficulty writing in a library. The kind of "quiet" in a library feels so artificial to me. It feels manufactured and forced. Add to that that I'm distracted by wanting to roam around looking at books.

Cafes work for me until the guilt sets in. "Have I been here too long? Is the waiter angry that I'm just taking up the table to write?"

I've decided that I'm definitely going to take the trip. It's just a matter of picking the date. I'll write about it when I get back.

Helix said:

The problem with long bus journeys is other people. What if you end up sitting next to a talkative person?

I've been on short writing vacations -- weekends in farmhouses, cottages on the coast --- but on each I've spent most of the time exploring the sights. And eating. Lots of eating. There might have been drinking too. I don't remember.

Now I just do the cafe thing or sit at a picnic table with my notebook open, tapping a pen against my teeth and glaring at tourists.

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Really good points to consider beforehand! I'm with you on the sightseeing part when it comes to being in picturesque places. I don't think I'd be able to go to a farmhouse out in the country and not spend a lot of my time taking walks and looking around! Depending on how you're getting there, you could determine that you'll at least spend the trip there and back again writing. You can also make a plan (not set a "goal" because people are used to not reaching goals and have gotten comfy with it) to spend a certain number of hours writing while you're there.

As for the chatty person, here's how I would handle the situation...

Ideally, I'd like no one beside me. If I do have someone there, I'd say hello and carry on with my plans. If they were a chatty person, I would take 30 minutes to chat with them. No need to be rude. Before that 30 minutes began, I would say something like,

"Nice to meet you, Phyllis. Is this a fun trip for you, I hope? (Listen to story.) That sounds like fun! (Or, I'm so sorry to hear that.) For me, this is a mini-vacation. I haven't been anywhere in years. And I'm a writer so this trip is all about spending the bus ride writing. I'm only spending the night in Chicago and then it's back on the bus first thing in the morning again. This way I get a change of scenery and some uninterrupted time to write."

All that would be left to do is answer a few perfunctory questions they might have about what I was writing and then I'd say, "Well, here I go! Have a good ride, Phyllis! See you in Chicago!"

Just set the boundaries before the chatting gets too deep. If the chatter keeps going, as some are prone to do, I have no problem putting a smile on my face and saying, "Phyllis, I'm taking this trip so I can have time to write, remember? I'm sorry but this is important to me."

It would be a kindness to say hello to Phyllis again if the bus has a 10 minute rest stop somewhere. Especially if the trip isn't for pleasure on her end.

I'm a nice person. But I'm done being "too nice." To see what I mean, look at my post called My Very Personal, Hard Fought Accomplishment! It's good to set boundaries and stick by them. In fact, it's necessary.

jeffo said:

I'm sure it's different for everyone, and every writer. For me, I don't think I could do the bus trip because there wouldn't be room to move around and the bus' movement would make it hard to write. I think I'd get frustrated at potholes, swerving, and the like. With a train, you can get up and walk around when you need to, and the gentle sway of the trains doesn't disturb my typing fingers.

I did have that recent weekend where I went to an old inn in the mountains (off season, so it was cheaper). I actually made up a schedule for myself before I went and got quite a bit of writing done, simply because there were very few outside distractions (until I found the pub down the street at lunchtime...)

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Trains are optimal. Buses are definitely a second choice. But it's a good one if funds are tight. Potholes are a problem you take a chance on. You can't do much about that except hope for the best. I don't mind sitting still for several hours as long as I have something to occupy my mind.

The fact that you planned out your time to write is perfect. Writers have to have discipline. People set goals but are too comfortable with not reaching them so it's okay not to accomplish them. What you did was exert discipline. Bravo!

holy_shiitake said:

I'm actually taking a little three-day sabbatical in June to go up to Boston, stay at a friend's house and spend most of the days writing in little coffee shops in the North End (or just at my friend's apartment, which has gorgeous huge windows and is ridiculously comfortable). Can't wait. I also have some other friends there that I haven't seen in a long time, so meetups are being planned with them. But still, writing is definitely the goal.

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See? Perfect! Ridiculously comfortable works for me! You know you're going with a plan to write and, as long as you get written what you want to write, you'll have an even better time during your meet-ups.

Maryn said:

Both bus and train can have talkative people on them, even if they're not talking to you. Everybody's got a phone and they use them.

If I needed time away from home to write, and if that was my goal, I'd probably seek an isolated cottage or cabin, fully furnished, to which I could drive alone, bringing with me everything I'd need for the duration of my stay. I would keep a schedule of writing but allow time for enjoying my surroundings, too.

Just after the vacation season but before it gets cold, there are bargains to be had at vacation destinations all over the US. I'd probably try the Adirondacks for myself, since it's not a crazy-long drive.

Maryn, who can write at home

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I used to be the type to need quiet seclusion. For rewrites, definitely. But I've gotten used to the noise of every day life around me. It's only distracting if it's talking and noise that's directed to me. Otherwise it's background noise to me.

I already dealt with the Chatty Phyllis' above so I won't type that out again but I absolutely get what you're saying.

I'm glad people are sharing their ideas for writing get-aways. You never know when you might inspire someone else to take one. In my case, a much needed one! I can write at home very easily. For me, this is also about getting a change of scenery after going nowhere for 15 years.

Kylabelle said:

Sounds like a lovely plan to me, Cowboy. If you feel the lurching of the bus wouldn't distract you (and having in the distant past taken many long distance bus trips I can say that you'd also have long periods of smoother travel) I think you ought to give it a try!

And then, report back and tell us all the details. I am fascinated, and also admiring of your commitment and determination. (Being of the procrastination persuasion, myself. )

Best of luck with it, however you go forward!

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That's very kind of you, thanks. I have the time so it's going to be a matter of how far in advance I have to plan the trip and still get the $18 fare. If I can do it next week I will.

I'll definitely report back about when I'm going and again when I get back.

Sage said:

Was it me? Because I did this, except it was a little cabin and I shared it with another writing friend.

I've also taken writing vacations that were a week in a really fancy cabin all by myself, and I rented a beach house on Martha's Vineyard just before their busy season started. Neither of these were as productive as the little cabin where I did the 3-day novel.

Other than the 3-day novel, my most productive writing vacations have been going to the college town that's 45 minutes from where I live, getting a room at the inn there, and then working at my favorite cafe down the street for hours that weekend, eliminating the traveling time on those writing days, and also staying more cheaply than with a cabin or a beach house.

Yes, for each of these, there was a moderate to high amount of traveling. But if I can keep my mind on the book, traveling time can help me get excited about scenes I have yet to write, which helps me when I sit down to do it.

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Wow. I'm impressed. A three day novel? I'm interested to hear more about that. Did you write the novel in three days? Did you have it fleshed out before you started writing or was it an idea that you sat down with and it took off?

I like your thinking when it comes to getting away to write. I'm cut from the same cloth.

NinjaFingers said:

I don't take vacations to write.

I take vacations to research stuff I know I want to write about. Or to research general, random stuff that will probably end up being written about.

On my last trip I got the opportunity to go up in a two seater plane. There will almost certainly be a story there once I have time to write anything other than my web serial and this GN I'm working on...

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I'm glad you chimed in. You've given a whole different perspective to the subject and I appreciate it.

I got to fly in a two seater plane, too. It's a feeling like nothing else, isn't it? It didn't even feel or look like we were moving!

WriterBN said:

I'm the same way. I've found that I can write perfectly well in the middle of a crowded shopping mall, but can't get anything done at home surrounded by family.

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You want to know one of my writing strategies when I get bored sitting at home or if I get stuck writing a scene? This might work well for you.

If I'm writing a scene in someone's home, I'll go to Ikea and sit in one of their model rooms and write it. If it's in a character's kitchen, I sit in one of Ikea's kitchens. If it's a living room, I'll sit in one of Ikea's living rooms.

If the scene takes place in an office building, I'll go downtown to an office building and write the scene. I've been to parks, residential neighborhoods, malls, the woods, the Mall of America, restaurants, riding the light rail, museums, etc.,

This habit wouldn't work for a lot of people but it never fails for me. I take city transportation so the bus/train time is also writing time. And it gives me lots of time to observe and listen - some of which actually gets used.

Chris P said:

For free lodging, sign up for Couchsurfing.org. You can search for people in your destination willing to let you stay at their place for free. I've hosted a dozen or so people from all over the world. If you explain that you want some time by yourself to do some writing, whoever agrees to host you will probably be happy to give you some space. Depending on what type of space the host has, you might have all the privacy you want for however long they are willing to host you.

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Whodathunkit? Many thanks for the suggestion. I've bookmarked it. Although part of me would feel awkward doing this. But, I have to remember that people wouldn't have signed up to host folks if they didn't want to.