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Writing on the road

Another trip, and more challenges to meeting my writing goals. However, even I realize that I could have done better!

Those old temptations have certainly lured me away from writing during the past two weeks. First there were the days we traveled, and this time we spent longer days on the road. There just aren’t that many places to spend the night along I-40 that meet our requirements (quiet, clean, on-site managers). So by the time we settled in each evening, it was time to cook and eat, relax for a couple of hours, then get some sleep.

Then when we finally arrived in Arkansas, we had family to visit. We also have friends there, but I didn’t have time to contact them this time. I had scheduled a family reunion, which took even more of my time. We also spent one afternoon visiting one of the top tourist destinations in Little Rock. We toured the Clinton Library, and wished we had left a full day open for the tour. It is a beautiful, energy efficient building in a gorgeous setting right next to the Arkansas River. One end of it juts out over the river, and it’s next to an old, abandoned railroad bridge that will someday be turned into a pedestrian bridge across the river.

Both Little Rock and North Little Rock have walking and biking trails that extend for several miles along each side of the river. Now a brand new pedestrian and biking bridge has been built west of town that is the longest pedestrian bridge in the world. We walked on part of it and took a couple of photos, but it was a little windy, which didn’t make a walk all the way across the river very appealing.

On Monday we left for Cape Girardeau, MO, about 300 miles north and east of Little Rock. We’ve settled in for a few days and hope to do some sightseeing here, but in the meantime I realized I needed to get this newsletter done.

So if I can’t seem to write while I travel, does that mean you won’t be able to, either. No. There will always be times when writing has to take a back seat to other responsibilities. However, it’s important to keep writing goals in mind and plan to escape for a few days to a location where you can focus. That’s what I’m doing right now.

Our nephew and his wife flew here from Massachusetts for a fly-in and we’ll spend some time with them, but he’s responsible for putting on the fly-in, so that leaves more free time for us. We’ll be traveling again in a few days, so I’ll try to write as much and as often as possible. I’ll work on my novel and my blog site www.freelancewriter.booklocker.com. Then maybe I can take a few days off to visit friends when we pass through central Arkansas again.

Writing is the way I make my living, and living is what I do. I try to create plenty of time for both, and strike a balance between the two. It isn't always easy . . .