Yes, freelance writers can take summer vacation. Here's how.
Hint: It helps to have some jaunty stickers by your side.
The Clothesline is written by a real person: Me! I’m Vanessa Chiasson, a writer and business coach based in Ottawa, Canada. I write travel and human interest narratives primarily for North American print and online outlets and I love reading, birds, beach glass, lattes, and nachos. I’m scared of roosters, dislike olives, and I cannot wink. You can check out my coaching services here and follow me on Instagram and LinkedIn.
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Food For Thought
What are you doing on July 2nd?
Right now, my schedule for the day is blocked with a sticker of a mouse who is wearing a dress and holding a slice of cake. In between the colourful gaps, I have my one and only activity booked in: A visit to the spa.
My July 2nd has looked like this since I got my new day planner in October. Yep, that’s how excited I was to block off my annual summer vacation.
I’m not a big fan of summer, to be honest. Muggy heat and vampiric mosquitos feel like a steep price to pay for fresh heirloom tomatoes and late night sunsets. But summer vacation? I love it and I’ll do whatever it takes to safeguard my precious, hard-fought downtime, including covering my planner with jaunty mouse stickers to keep myself from writing in anything more productive than “spa!”
In the past, I would exalt the value of summer vacation as the perfect creative refresh, an excellent opportunity to recharge and come back better than ever, ready to tackle the latest freelance challenge. I feel differently now. The point of vacation is to be pointless. How dare I or anyone reframe vacation as the big daddy of productivity-boosting tools, something you do just so you can be a better worker bee?
Come to think of it, bumblebee stickers would probably feel right at home next to my dessert-serving rodents…
The beautiful thing about taking vacation as a freelance writer is that you don’t have to ask anyone’s permission. Who cares if Ron from IT and Susan from HR also want some time off around Canada Day and the Fourth of July? You can do whatever you want, however you want, and you answer to no one. Well, no one except the bank, your clients, and your sanity. As such, I have some tips on making vacation happen with ease.
Choose your time NOW. Block that time off. Go right ahead and tell monthly clients now that you’re going to be unavailable for those dates. Communication is key. Tell ‘em early, tell ‘em clearly.
All things being equal, the first week in July is as good a place as any to start if you’re in North America. Between Canada Day and Independence Day, it’s not like many editors or clients are answering emails anyway. If it’s gonna be a quiet week anyway, make the most of it.
Be honest with yourself about work creep. Travel and food writers, I see you accepting those plum press trips and telling yourself it will be just like a vacation (except for all the work!) Book reviewers, this is not the time when you’re going to catch up on all your work-related reading.
If your relationship with your phone could benefit from a bit of distance, book activities that make phone time very difficult or very impolite. Hiking, swimming, camping, seeing a play, going to the movies, dinner parties, massage therapy, facials, gardening, painting, puzzling, library book club, and cooking classes all make phone time tricky.
Proactively organize work before and after your vacation to smooth the transition. For instance, you might want to block off extra time pre-break to schedule your social media promotions and you’ll want extra email catch up time when you get back.
Put aside some money so you don’t have to earn four weeks of income in two or three weeks during vacation month. I funnel 10% of all my income to a vacation cash-flow savings account. (I use free banking with Tangerine). When I take time off in summer and between Christmas and New Year, I can continue to pay myself like usual. If 10% feels too steep, consider starting with 5% or shaving $5 from each client payment.
Over the years, I’ve learned that for every day I’m not working, I’ll need to make up about 1.25 days of income. So if I take a week (five business days) off, I really need to save for about seven days of lost income because I’ve been out of the flow for a while, I need to take unpaid time to catch up on emails etc…
If you’re operating on a shoestring budget, prioritize free and frugal vacation fun. Library events, Shakespeare in the park, farmers’ markets, potluck dinners, provincial/state parks, municipal pools, Tuesday happy hours, and book/game/makeup swaps with friends are all low cost summer-y activities that don’t take too much money or effort. I also save my coffee shop and movie theatre rewards for vacation week.
Indulge in a special ritual or activity that will always remind you of your summer vacation joy. It isn’t easy to make this happen! You deserve to enjoy it and look back on it fondly. Celebrate your very first day off with something that feels very “vacation-y” to you (maybe shutting down your computer and going to buy ice cream and fresh flowers?) Grab a small souvenir that you can enjoy throughout the year. Take tons of photos!
I can’t wait to hear all about your adventures! Tag me on Instagram so I can check out your past and future vacations. I’m there at @VLCWrites