Don’t Mix Research with Vacation
Well hello. I’m back from New Zealand, got a ton of information for my book series, and didn’t really get a chance to relax because I stuffed each day full of motion and information and learning and logistics. And walking. So much walking.
Basically, I was always on. I was always in “remember” mode. Even at Hobbiton, even at the Weta Workshop tours, even at dinner when I was chilling with a glass of New Zealand chardonnay and a book of local poetry I’d picked up. There was relaxing in the sense that I wasn’t doing dishes or cooking or cleaning litter or answering emails, but I was definitely doing other labor that required other parts of my brain and body.
A vacation and a trip are totally different things. A vacation is where I park my ass somewhere and don’t have to think about anything. Not arranging transportation, not finding food, not planning what to do in a day. Vacation is an all-inclusive resort or a cruise where I’m not getting off in any ports. Or flying in to visit my parents. A trip is any time I leave the house for a length of time but DO have to plan out logistics. And that stuff takes up a lot of brainpower. So to wake up every morning and figure out all my meals and where to get them, what to see or do or who to talk to when and where, how to get all these places, then pay attention once I’m there and remember it all and take notes, then go over all of it that night so I don’t forget anything…for sixteen days in a row…is exhausting. Especially for an anxious neuro atypical me. Pretty sure I’ve been running on an astonishing amount of adrenaline for over two weeks.
I’ve been back almost a week and I was so proud that I woke up at 9am today. Getting back to east coast time, slowly, but it’ll happen.
So I got a goldmine of information for my books. Shoutout to my kiwi friends, who embraced my weirdness and never made me feel dumb for the million questions I asked. And they answered in detail, every time, with things I didn’t know I needed to know. They’re the best people.
In conclusion, my research trip was a very successful research trip. But my vacation in the same time frame came out to maybe like 6 hours. It’ll take me a few more days to get back into a routine at home, but that’s a small price to pay for the enormity of the experience I just returned from. And the best thing is, it’s really going to make my story better. Worth it.