We do face a dilemma. One friend told me her husband said that they can only vacation to places she’s been many times. Otherwise, the camera and notebook come out and she’s working.
It’s something people don’t often realize, and for which they have (understandably) even less sympathy, but when travel writers go on press trips, we really are working. We may smirk about it, and even become a bit insufferable about the hard life, but a good travel writer is capturing visuals, notes, impressions as s/he goes. And often at a speed that no traveler would choose.
The one thing we never do is sit and rest. How the heck can we write about that?
So, I’m going on a vacation at the end of February. I’m paying my own way and going on a cruise. I’m going to spend time with my man, gaze at the water, eat lots of food, probably blog about it if the spirit moves me. And attempt to do as little as possible.
It will be a challenge — after years of press trip pacing, I don’t simply sit. But there will be days in port. And I’m going to try to just enjoy it. At least, that’s the plan. Personally, I doubt I’ll pull it off. I’m sure I’ll end up writing up notes and taking photos.
See, that’s the thing about travel journalists. So, how do travel writers vacation? On their own money, so we’re not obligated to produce an article, and sometimes, we vacation quite badly.