How to Balance Writing and Rest While Traveling

Traveling holds so much opportunity for writing. Going on an adventure can give you inspiration for story ideas, along with hours of uninterrupted time to bust out words. It’s the perfect opportunity to write… a lot.

But you’re also on vacation, going on adventures you wouldn’t necessarily do on a normal day. Your normal routine is put aside in favor of the unknown. Or vacation could be a time for rest, a time to recuperate from busy schedules and massive to-do-lists. 

Finding the balance between being productive and actually enjoying your vacation can be a challenge. This is one subject I explored on a recent road trip across the country, and I discovered a few tips to make finding that balance easier.

Past Trips And Attempts 

I’ve tried to take advantage of driving time on past trips with my family. Some haven’t resulted in very much writing, while others resulted in almost too much writing.

 During one trip, I barely wrote five hundred words because I chose to binge read a book series instead. I looked back on that trip with regret. There were so many hours of time that I could use to work on projects, and I felt like I’d wasted them.

So the next time I traveled, I only wrote. I made big goals for myself, and while it took lots of time and stress, I was able to complete my writing goals on that trip. But I found myself missing out on smaller activities my family went on. I was tired and exhausted on a trip that should have been a time to rest. 

On other trips, I’ve either hardly written or written too much. I’ve struggled to find the “in between” of these two writing situations. I needed to be able to take advantage of the time, but I also needed to be able to set writing aside and enjoy my vacation. 

So on a recent trip, I decided to spend a lot of time prepping my writing. I strategized a system that would help me find the balance between being productive, but also enjoying my vacation. 

FLEXIBLE To-Do Lists 

Before leaving on my trip, I made a comprehensive list of things I needed to write while on the trip. I wanted to finish outlining a story that was stuck in the brainstorming/outlining process. I also wanted to finish a few bigger projects, like batch writing blog posts and finishing some alpha reading. 

The most important thing about this list is that it was FLEXIBLE. If I wasn’t able to get this list completed, that needed to be okay.

To make sure that I could be okay without finishing the list, I made sure there were projects with close deadlines. I worked to finish all of my close deadlines before leaving on vacation. 

In hindsight, I’d like to try to have projects with at least some sort of a deadline. I think having too many deadlines could put this list on the “stressful, non-vacation” side of things but with enough of a little push, this could keep you from procrastinating. 

Prep With Charged Computers and Music 

On the first day of our trip, I realized how noisy the car was. I had the privilege of sitting next to two toddlers who never stopped talking. Music or podcasts were constantly playing up front, and in the seat behind me, I could hear my brothers have a beat boxing competition. On top of that, the constant hum of the car was distracting. I couldn’t hear myself think. 

I decided to play music on my phone and had twenty blissful moments of nice sounding writing time. But then the music paused because… no service. We hardly had any cell phone service for the rest of the day. 

While spending the night at a hotel, I frantically downloaded music and podcasts. Since that moment, I’ll try to always have music downloaded on my phone. Learn from my mistake; download your music!

On another trip, I took my computer out to write only to realize it was dead. I had put too much faith in my computer’s alleged good battery. It fought the good fight, but in the end, all things must die.

 I could have written in a notebook… if I’d taken one with me.  

So for this trip, I made sure the physical things I needed to write were prepped. Downloaded music, charged computers, and empty notebooks were a necessity! 

Types of Time 

As we were traveling, I also noticed that there are three primary types of time while on vacation. 

Driving Time is the time when you are driving or flying to your destination. So for me, sitting in a car and watching endless fields pass by. Later, it soon became getting stuck in traffic jams, but either way, this is a great opportunity for writing. This is when I tackled the majority of my writing to-do list.

Family Time is the quiet time spent at a hotel or relative’s house. After driving all day, all I wanted to do was stretch out and relax at a hotel. Later in our trip, this family time happened when we hung out with relatives. I didn’t try to write when I was exhausted or when we were spending time with family that we wouldn’t see for a while. But towards the end of our trip, I noticed that we had a lot of family time. So I pulled out my computer while the rest of my family was napping and wrote a little bit.

And last but not least, Adventuring Time is when you are out exploring something new. For me, this involved going to the beach, hiking, and going to a ginormous flea market. It also could have been exploring the crazy plants of Florida and hanging from vines like Tarzan. Adventuring time is a time to experience something new! So put your computer away for a bit and watch out for alligators!

To Sum it all up: 

• Prep with a strategized to do list 
• And make sure your computer is charged 
• Write on days filled with driving time 
• Prioritize rest during family time 
• And adventure (not write) during adventuring time! 

Remember, You’re On Vacation!

As important as it is to write and work on projects, it’s more important to take breaks and live. Don’t be holed up in a writing corner your whole vacation. Let yourself go a few days without writing. Let yourself live, and then you can come back and turn your experiences into stories! 

So folks, tell me, do you try to write while on vacation? How do you balance productivity and rest while traveling? Thanks for reading, have a great day! 

-Hannah

3 comments