Sticking to a writing schedule while traveling

One thing I’ve learned during my lifetime of trying to balance making a living while having fun is that there are always sacrifices to be made.

The first thing I learned was that if I worked, I lacked the time to travel. If I didn’t work, I had plenty of time to travel but no money to go anywhere. Bummer. Then I finally discovered my true calling, freelance writing, and that I could custom build a business to fit the traveling lifestyle we desired.

At first I had more deadlines than I could reasonably fit into my travel schedule, so I had to give up several newsletters. I had an entire office onboard the motorhome, so finding space to work wasn’t the problem, but pre-Internet difficulties made my task almost impossible. Cell phone service was unreliable then, plus we seemed to stumble across RV parks that lacked steady electricity, especially during storm season, blowing my schedule to bits. Let’s just say that even this lifestyle got stressful at times. Giving the newsletters up was a real struggle for me since I loved doing them, and my clients were wonderful business people that I enjoyed working with, but it had to be done.

I also published the newsletter Rolling Ventures for RVers who were operating a business while traveling, and being on the road was perfect for meeting RV entrepreneurs with interesting businesses and stories. However, for the reasons mentioned above, it also got stressful so I sold it to a willing RVer who was spending most of his time parked in one place.

When I was finally able to focus on writing articles for magazines and producing occasional projects for clients, my road finally smoothed out. Still, though, I had to be careful to balance writing and traveling because keeping income flowing in was still a big part of the equation.

I quickly learned that although we might be headed across country to a specific region, if I had deadlines, I had to stop occasionally for a day or two and concentrate on writing. And it became apparent that where we stopped was important. Stop in an area where we had friends or family, and my schedule was doomed.

We finally were able to devise a sort of schedule, but subject to change at any time! If we knew we would be traveling, I would get writing done ahead of time. If a new assignment came in while on the road, we would plan to stop for a couple of days where there were no outside temptations so I could focus on work. I could basically choose my own scenery outside the window to inspire my muse, and find a quiet spot to help my concentration level.

When we decided to stop for a few months in our favorite parks, I would let my friends in the park know that during certain hours I would be working so that they knew not to come knocking during those times.

Writing the books was the hardest to do, because my mind was whirring constantly with new ideas and thoughts about what I wanted to write, making the trip a blur. Then again, it was easy because I kept a notebook handy and every time we would stop, I would rush to the computer to get my latest thoughts committed to the hard drive. (This was before the laptop computer.) The book, Portable Writing, actually took several years, but that was because I created an outline for the book, then a sudden illness required that we get off the road for awhile so I could receive physical therapy and recover. I totally forgot the book outline until we moved back into the motorhome three years later, and while getting ready to travel, I ran across it. What a wonderful surprise, like a gift that had been saved for just the right moment!

Even with the outline, it took me three more years to get it exactly as I wanted.

Then almost immediately after it was published, I had the idea for Looking Back. This time, I rushed to the computer and started writing immediately, meanwhile contacting everyone I knew to see if they had stories about the Boomer era that they would like to contribute. With many wonderful, touching essays about events that had been lived and witnessed by the contributors, the book was much richer and fuller than could have been possible if I had written it alone—and it was finished within a year.

So how can you write and travel without sacrificing either one? Schedule writing time. Plan your travels to include time to research and write. Make a to-do list each night for what you want to accomplish during your next day of writing and/or research, and stick to it. If you are writing a book, break the work down into segments (chapters) and concentrate on getting each chapter completed instead of looking ahead at the entire project. A book project can look intimidating unless you break it down into manageable pieces. And find a place to store you works in progress so they don't get shoved into a cranny and forgotten or lost.

Sometimes it’s nice to set aside time to simply travel without thinking about writing. Never get too busy to enjoy the journey, but always stay alert to opportunities that may crop up in unexpected places. There are lots of adventures on the RV highway to enjoy, and worth committing to paper.

(I have been working on a novel for almost three years and can’t seem to get motivated to finish it, but it rests beside my easy chair waiting for the right moment to become a book. In the meantime, I’m also thinking about putting the stories written from my cat’s perspective for his blog into book form. His view on RVing and seeing the country can be found at http://travelingwithinky.blogspot.com.)