During my stint in Corporate America, I frequently took vacations. As soon as I came home from one I’d start planning another. Sometimes they were just quick weekend get aways and sometimes they were two-week holidays somewhere warm. It seemed like every couple of months I was going somewhere.

However, since I’ve been working on my own, I haven’t even taken an overnight trip. Everything’s been work and taking time away from it would leave me feeling guilty – as though I hadn’t earned the right to take a holiday.

But I realised that everyone needs a break, especially me. Sometimes I tend to discard all my work because I haven’t been paid or there’s no exact way to monitor what I’m doing. However I have put so much effort into this, racking my brain day and night, making sacrifices, learning about myself and my business, that I figured it’s time to take a break.

I planned a five-day getaway to San Francisco. It had warmth, sun, art, relaxing streets and good friends. I planned the days so we’d be doing some things and sometimes doing nothing at all. And I promised myself that if we weren’t doing anything more than taking an afternoon nap in the hotel that I’d enjoy it, guilt free. I had earned time off and I had to make the best of it.

I began to make hotel reservations and after I did something clicked in my head. I’m a travel writer! So I emailed the sales and market department of the hotel, told them who I was and requested a media package. Four days later, I had one.

When I received this package I felt giddy. For the first time I honestly felt like a travel writer. I read through the information and became completely excited. Then I became confused. I had told myself it wouldn’t be a work trip, but now it was looking like that wouldn’t be the case. If I were a travel writer, wouldn’t I have to write about the hotel while I’m there? Wouldn’t I have to pay extra attention to all the details and carry a pocketbook around to note everything I saw?

I also began to worry that if I didn’t do that, the hotel would find me out. They would say, “Aha! You’re not a travel writer! We’d like our media package back please!”

Up until the day of travel I was nervous about how to combine the work with pleasure, unsure if it could be done. Especially since I’m still learning how to balance.

But once I hit the San Francisco sun, there were no worries. I relaxed, I smiled, I giggled and most of all, I enjoyed myself.

We spent the first few days driving around different places, staying with family and friends. I was able to relax so much and rest my brain, I actually noticed more than usual. And more importantly, what I noticed actually stuck in my brain.

When we arrived at our hotel in San Francisco, I became nervous. Did I look like a travel writer? Did I talk like a travel writer? Because although I’ve been working on my travel portfolio and have been writing articles that I will soon send out, I have to be officially published as a travel writer. I began to fear they’d think I was lying and ask me to leave the hotel.

But they didn’t. I even was upgraded.

I continued to relax and enjoy my trip. The more I relaxed the more I noticed and the more I actually remembered. Instead of stressing out over every detail, I enjoyed it. It was the first time in a long time that I had private thoughts and didn’t worry about putting them in an article.

I had new experiences that refreshed my mind and reenergised my creativity. I got to be Alex for five days instead of Alex the writer and that felt really good.

When I returned home, I was excited to get back to work. Instead of planning for the next vacation, I eagerly began to write about the one I just had. Even though I hadn’t taken one single note, I remembered even the smallest details of the room, the food and the whole city. I especially remembered how I felt, and that’s probably the best memory of all.

This trip helped me to realise that I do need a break every now and then, just like everyone else. It also helped me to realise that travel writing is really what I want to do, and will be good at. I love to travel, I love to notice things, and I love to encourage others to take time out and visit some place new – even if it’s just encouraging myself.

The old saying is to do what you love to do and figure out how to get paid for it. I figure I’ve spent enough of my years travelling for free that it’s now time to make some money at it. And I really believe that I can do that now, because I’m at the stage where I can enjoy the work side and the personal side. And that’s the trick I had to learn and finally did.

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