Interesting that you bring this up, because I've been trying to figure out which time periods during the year are slow and which are busy. I think there's a consistent slow-down around the holidays, but other than that, I can't discern a pattern.

Katharine, I feel for you. Sleeping on a plane is awful – sleeping on a plane when you haven't slept in 24 hours – a disaster. Why do those seats recline exactly one inch? What's the point? If only airlines were as comfy as Amtrak trains.

Eileen, you from Jersey or South Philly originally? LOL Fuhgeddaboutit! This vaca in August is an article-in-the-making. I'll have to do some interviewing and some note-taking. I'm fine with that. I'm hoping to get a few articles out of it. Selling them is another thing (or as they say here "a whole nother thing").

Usually I do as much work as I can before I leave on vacation, and do the rest on the road. When we went to Europe in March, though, I had to get it all done before we left. As a result, I didn't sleep at all the night before. I finished the last little bit half an hour before we left to go to the airport.

Unplanned vacations, though — I'm great at taking those. Sometimes I get the feeling I really need a day off, and if I can afford to push my work back a day or two, I just take it. I'm not sure why that's easier than actually planning a vacation, but it is…

While I might take a day off here or there, and I often take a few days off between Christmas and the New Year (also when my editors aren't in, so I know I won't miss any assignments), I've never taken days or weeks off to actually have a vacation. It's not that I can't justify the time off. I deserve it (although I do feel guilty if I'm not actively looking for more work when I have a down day). I simply can't afford to go anywhere.

Paid vacations. One more thing writers could use!

Alas, no connection in Ontario, but I can travel to town to file something if I need to. Thing is I don't WANT to. But if I commit to these jobs, I'll either work myself sick beforehand or take the stuff on the road. Haven't done that since my conference days, so it should be interesting watching me try. 😉

When I had to be in NYC earlier this year for my dad's heart surgery, I not only had to work around sitting in a hospital all day, but the only place I could get a free Internet connection was at my hotel in the morning and at night. So, that's when I worked: 1-2 hours in the morning and 1-2 hours at night. You could try something like that so that work doesn't infringe upon your vacation plans. I should add that I explained my situation to all of my clients (they'd all been clients for a long time) and one of them even rewarded me with a bonus for meeting deadlines in the midst of the crisis. If you take the explanation approach, you might even be able to extend the deadlines until after you get back.

Mind you, I'm not up for a manuscript rewrite or a white paper!

I'll take fiction with me on vacation, but I do not do business writing during vacation time. That's a boundary I'm not willing to weaken.