by Sharon Archer
Reading: Anna Campbell's My Reckless Surrender - fantastic!Listening to: Credence Clearwater Revival
Watching: Lie to Me
Making me smile: This great excuse... I mean this great reason to get out our trip photographs!
It's a whole year since our big trip and my questions are...
- where did all the time go!
- and , most importantly - when can we go again!
And I want to see more!
I finish
ed and revised book number three while we were away - BACHELOR DAD, GIRL NEXT DOOR.Writing while we travelled was a bit like a work-in-progress -- challenging but ultimately incredibly rewarding. And with the passing kilometres, I learned what worked for me and what didn't.
For instance, it was much better for my back to sit in one of the camp chairs with the laptop on my knee than to try to sit at the table.
I needed a thesaurus in the hand - not one in the computer! Something I could thumb through, hop from word to delicious word at the flick of a page rather than the press of a button! I found this fabulous little gem in a book shop in Broome! It has a plasticised cover so it's quite robust. Don't tell my Roget's but I'm using it a lot here at home too!
Pencils rule! No worries about ink drying up, running out or not wanting to write on a grubby bit of paper. With a sharpener and a rubber to complete my kit, I was ready to scribble a snippet of dialogue, write up the diary, or fill in the sudoku.
USB sticks (thumb drives) for backing up -- because we all know how important that is, don't we! (Note to self - do back ups as soon as this is posted!)
My MP3 player! Great for tuning out distracting noises!
And since we've come home, I've discovered another must for a travelling holiday. A wireless plug-in for Internet connection. Love it! I've included it in my pic of travelling writer must-haves.
So have you got any tips, any must-haves for travel? And especially any tips or must-haves specifically for writing on the road?
I'll draw the name of one commenter out and send a copy of BACHELOR DAD, GIRL NEXT DOOR
PS And just because I can, here's a picture of us travelling by camel-power on Cable Beach in Broome.
Sharon, what a great holiday you had, and even better that you combined writing with it!!
ReplyDeleteI find I do much more wriitng away from home, away from the distractions. My only tip is - pen and paper LOL!!
Hi, Sharon! Great pics. I must say, you look quite at home on the road and on the camel. What a dire warning--'no fuel for 500km'!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip on wireless internet USB. I'll be off on a trip soon and I can't bear being away from the Net. I must have moisturiser, lip balm, a scarf (which can double as a blanket when stuck in an aiport overnight--grrr), and of course pen and paper.
Wow, Sharona, what a fun post! I love the photos - and don't you look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, sitting there in the tent writing your masterpieces!!! I loved it when you travelled - you sent me a stack of wonderful postcards. Do you remember? Some of them still live to this day on the fridge. What fun!
ReplyDeleteActually my travel tip is make sure you've got some comfy shoes! Nothing worse than sore feet!
And what ARE you reading now? I think it might be the yellow monster! Fab that you're enjoying it! Thank you!
Hey Sharon
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic looking trip. I'm so jealous! Four months travel? Bliss!
I have a leather bag that looks like a sack - an elegant sort of sack! - and it was ideal for going around Europe. It takes everything for a day's sightseeing - camera, jersey, water bottle, maps and still lots of room for brochures etc.
Zana
Hi Mel, it *was* a great holiday! We were very very lucky to have the opportunity to make such a fantastic trip.
ReplyDeleteSo you find writing away from home is good too? There's something about being away from the siren call of the vacuum cleaner and the scrubbing brush. Mmm, reading this, it sounds like our house is spotless and really, nothing could be further from the truth! I get caught in that self-talk limbo of "I should be writing... but maybe if I just... no, I should be writing... but maybe if I just...." On those days, NOTHING useful gets done!!
:)
Sharon
Hey, Vanessa! It is a dire warning, isn't it! I enjoyed the road signs while we were travelling - they really tell such a story... mmm, maybe a blog for another day!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the wireless plug-in. There is one with a greater range than ours apparently - it has a little aerial. Now that we've got one, I've seen them a few places - like people commuting into the city on the train.
Ooo, there's an interesting story lurking behind the scarf that doubles as a blanket! You must tell!
:)
Sharon
Hi Anna, we took LOTS and LOTS of photographs while we were away! You know how much I enjoy playing with a camera! How cool that some of the postcards are still gracing your fridge - I had lots of fun choosing the most unusual ones to send.
ReplyDeleteComfy shoes! An absolute must! We lived in motorcycle boots and Crocs for the whole four months! I love my pink Crocs! Actually I'm wearing them on the camel ride! LOL
:)
Sharon
Zana, another Travel Cat! Your elegant leather sack sounds wonderful. It's so hard to find something practical and comfortable which looks good at the same time! Those gortex back packs are great but they generally don't win anything in the fashion stakes, do they!
ReplyDelete;)
Sharon
Hi Sharon, I can't believe it's a year since your wonderful trip. It looked amazing. I was gobsmacked that you managed to get so much work done on that trip--now I see your tips and how you did it.
ReplyDeleteThis time last year I was also fighting to meet a deadline and had to work on the plane to and from the US conference. I didn't have a laptop and found that scribbling down the story on paper worked so well for me--and was comfortable in the cramped confines of cattle class air travel (my preferred option!! er, actually, my only option!).
But not on pieces of paper or a note book that is wire bound from which pages can easily tear. In a bound notebook with a lovely cover and blank pages--the kind that are sold as journals and are often on the "sale" table in big book stores and places like Officeworks.
I have notes in the computer, too, but I find it useful to have a separate bound journal for each book I am working on to scribble down quick notes, or even chapters when I get stuck for inspiration.
Call me a Luddite, but sometimes that brain connection between pencil and page works better for me.
Okay, way more than you wanted to hear! I'm going off to play The Welcome Cat.
What great photos Sharon. It's amazing how quickly a year has flown. I remember the Romaus posts from Broome and other spot.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you can travel and work. That's a plan we have for the future. Pack up and travel. Friends did it with fruit picking and labouring jobs. I think that's way too hard! I want to do it writing or graphic design. Much more civilised :-)
My travel tip is a always keep a diary or notebook of the trip (and I'm not a diary writer usually). When I get back it's hard to remember things in order, so a notebook helps. Plus, when I read it back, sometimes I get that new-adventure-holiday-buzz I felt when I wrote it.
Cath
Oooh, Sharon, it looks like a fabulous trip! It's definitely on my Must-Do list -- the motorbike, and the travel around Australia! Feel free to bend my ear when we're at conference. I'd love to hear more about it!
ReplyDeleteSharon, what a brilliant post! You make it look so easy - finishing and revising your book on the road!! Wow! I'm so impressed. You two make it look so easy to travel and still stay focused. Can't wait for your next big trip so I can live it vicariously. Looking forward to reading your next book soon.
ReplyDeleteOh, Kandy, I *love* notebooks with gorgeous covers - they're absolutely irresistible! My only problem with them is that I suffer agonies about marking those lovely pristine pages with something that might be less than polished. The perfectionist curse! Actually I used to be the same at the start of each school year - my writing in the brand new exercise books was painstakingly neat. It was a relief to go to high school so I could use ring binders and loose leaf pages. That way, if it wasn't perfect, I could write it again and dispose of the evidence of an untidy page! Sad, isn't it! LOL
ReplyDeleteI agree totally about the pencil-page-brain connection! I'd love to do more directly on to the computer - I am better than I used to be though.
:)
Sharon
Thanks, Cath! Best of luck with your travel and work plans. I'm sure you'll be as amazed and thrilled as I was by how many other people were on the road on really long term adventures. It made our four-month journey look tiny! We spoke to one couple who'd been on the road for 13 years! Lots of others for about a year!
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I learned on the road was how little "stuff" we really need to get by. As you can imagine travelling on the bike with a camper trailer requires minimalist packing! It was an eye-opener!
:)
Sharon
Emily! Start preparing your ears for a serious work out in August! LOL!
ReplyDelete:)
Sharon
Annie! I probably should say that, nearly a year on, I'm looking back with rose-tinted spectacles about doing the work on the road! There were more than a few days when I felt like pulling my hair out by the roots! But I adored the three whole weeks we spent in Broome when I really hunkered down and got to grips with my revisions. And the bonus was that we were there for a fantastic range of the tides. Being able to see things in that area is dependent on the tides because they're so enormous. At the most extreme there's a difference of about 11 metres between high and low tide.
ReplyDelete:)
Sharon
Sharon, you're making me green with jealousy all over again! I remember your trip and can't believe it's been a year.
ReplyDeleteI particularly love the little case for your pens in that photo - I'm a sucker for a cute pencil case.
Hi Rachel.... that case is actually a glasses case from one of those cheapie pairs from the chemist! Very handy - stops the pencil leads from breaking! :D And very compact!
ReplyDelete:)
Sharon
Wow, Sharon, has it really been a whole year?
ReplyDeleteYou look so cool and confident writing in your tent. I don't think I'd do all that well writing on the road, even though I write all my first draft with pen and paper, so am taking my hat off to you (oh, and that's exactly what I'd take on my travels around Australia -- a wide-brimmed hat!).
Am looking forward to your blog about signs :-)
LOL, Michelle!
ReplyDeleteCool and confident? I wish!
A big YES to a broad brimmed hat for travel! We had those collapsible sort with the mesh around the crown -- sort of gives you the comforting belief that you might be getting some ventilation on those really humid days in Northern Australia!
I'll have to hunt up my signs... maybe for next month...
:D
Sharon
Hi Sharon
ReplyDeleteSo have you got any tips, any must-haves for travel?
Plenty of batteries for electronics
Plenty of memory cards for digital camera
Hats
Sun cream (sunscreen) and lip balm
Comfortable shoes for walking
Light weight clothing that you can layer
A jacket of some sort
Books for any down time that you might have
Word puzzles of some sort such as crossword puzzles, word searches
Pens and pencils/colored pencils with rubbers and sharpeners, crayons for younger kids
plenty of Paper
coloring books for the little ones
deck of cards
Some great tips there, Amanda! And yes, to the batteries for electronics! We took a battery recharger with us too! And the extra memory cards! We had the PC so we could download the days photographic masterpieces regularly!
ReplyDeleteTravelling with little ones would make you a very creative and resourceful traveller, I imagine.
Thanks for popping in to comment.
:)
Sharon
I would be a creative and resourceful traveller if I had any little ones but I was remembering the way my family would travel to places when I was younger and I would need to be entertained in some way when I mentioned the crayons and coloring books.
ReplyDeleteYes, having a computer with you will definitely help with downloading pictures but the memory cards at times have to be reformatted after downloading the pictures so having multiple memory cards will help if you think that you will be taking pictures every single day on the trip or you are taking larger size photos than normal which take more space on the memory cards.