A Little Work, a Little Play

 In Blog

My mind doesn’t have a shut-off valve.

It just keeps jetting off in varying directions, thinking, planning, imagining, organizing. I add to my to-do lists even in my sleep, and that’s okay with me. I like an active agenda.

But that is why, as I fly off on a month-long journey to the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific, I can’t stop thinking about what I will do besides just have fun. That is why, on the first official day of my trip, I am working on the plane instead of reading a book or daydreaming.

I never actually intended for this trip to be a vacation.

The departure and arrival dates were set in stone and came with an affordable price tag, so I delighted in the fact that I would spend a month on a tropical island in winter, but I also knew I had to find a way to make my work happen while I was gone.

I very carefully have arranged my schedule so that, until Jan. 23, I am not accepting new projects and will instead focus on two book assignments. One is a novel I am writing for a client in Western Massachusetts, to memorialize a story that haunts him; the other is an editing project for a Canadian man (formerly of Northampton, Massachusetts) who has written a memoir about losing his older brother in his early teen years.

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have these deep and moving projects to sink my fingertips in. In the first few hours of the flight from Chicago, Illinois, to Honolulu—the second of three legs of my trek—I read the first half of the memoir and can’t wait to turn my attention back to it.

But I have in mind to accomplish more on the trip as well. I want to do some planning and thinking and working on my business.

So, I also plan to blog about my journey and what I learn about Majuro and its people, (starting with a piece on training for adventures.) I want to blog about tips and ideas I have on marketing, networking and professional development.

I want to think ahead to how I will keep four interns busy this coming spring and outline projects for them. And I want to fully plan a five- or six-week workshop for business and organization leaders who want to do more than touch on the how-tos of sending out a press release. I’m hoping this workshop will be ready for spring, so stay tuned.

Of course, Majuro is a place where electric power and wifi are not always available, so it may be that there are days when I can’t spend my mornings on vocational pursuits, as I imagine.

If that should happen, I have a notebook and pen along as well.

I’ll jot down some trusty notes, and you’ll hear all about it later.

I’ll pass the time running or snorkeling instead.

Not a bad plan, I’d say.

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