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5 lessons learned from a summer of traveling

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kayaking

Kayaking Lake Huron

A cousin recently told me, “Dang, girl, it’s like you’re always on road trips or vacation.” And it’s true; if I don’t go somewhere at least every month or two I get very cranky. I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been able to get out of town a lot this spring and summer: Omaha for Easter; Door County, Wisconsin, in mid-May; camping in Wisconsin Memorial Day weekend, followed by a long weekend in Montreal; 4th of July in Saginaw, Michigan; and finally a week wandering around the Southeast.

There are several things I’ve learned while traveling, that apply to just about every trip I’ve taken.

  1. Take that picture now. You might tell yourself you’ll come back later and get that shot, but let’s be honest: it’s not going to happen. If you want to get a picture, or eat that street food, or buy yourself 4 new gnomes at that souvenir store, do it now because something will come up that keeps you from doing it later.
  2. Take the road less traveled.
    fog

    Early morning fog on the Ohio River

    If life is a journey, not a destination, why not apply this to trips as well? There’s a spot in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Repair that explains this: “Secondary roads are preferred. Paved country roads are the best, state highways are next. Freeways are the worst. We want to make good time, but for us now this is measured with emphasis on ‘good’ rather than ‘time’ and when you make that shift in emphasis the whole approach changes.”I don’t like interstates because the scenery is the same: Applebee’s and Walmart in a strip mall, distant fields, everything the same. Sure, it gets you there more quickly, but you’re not actually seeing anything. I tried to take pictures as we drove through the Appalachians, but you can’t get anything from an interstate. On a highway, however, you can stop and savor the details. You can find random stores and people and a deeper understanding of what shapes people’s lives, from empty storefronts to neighboring farms to dozens of Baptist churches near a community.

    Same goes with tourist attractions. My son and I joke that we’ve gone to an overrated water attraction ever year: Niagara Falls in 2013, Old Faithful last year, and Chattanooga’s Ruby Falls this year. Ruby Falls was nice, but the next day we hit up Raccoon Mountain Caverns and they turned out to be the best cave system we’ve been to – plus there were a ton less people AND it was cheaper.

  3. Take more time.
    OBX

    NC’s Outer Banks – beautiful AND no one’s there!

    When I travel, I have goals for the day: on the road by 8. Destination by midmorning, lunch at a particular restaurant, at the campsite by 5. I don’t think we met my timeframes a single day on our last trip. And that was okay. We left late because we were chatting with neighbors. We arrived late because we stopped along the road to take pictures. We spent more time at the destination than we anticipated. Maybe we didn’t do everything I’d wanted, but we still had a great time.

  4. Don’t take
    surfing

    My son “surfing” at Virginia Beach this summer

    control. Midsummer, my son asked why we always had to do what I wanted on trips, so I let him plan our big end-of-summer trip. We ended up at some places and restaurants I wouldn’t necessarily have picked, but all ended up having fun.

  5. Take chances. Is there somewhere you want to go, or something you want to do, but you’ve never gone or never done it? Do it. Maybe it’ll turn out sucky, but at least you’ll get some good road warrior stories to share. Like #1 above, don’t go through life forever regretting not taking that trip or doing that activity while there.

If you’re a traveler, what do you think of this list? Anything you would add or change? And if you’re not a traveler – what are you waiting for??

Resolutions: 2014 review and 2015 goals

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Every year I set goals for myself and periodically evaluate them. Here are 2014’s:

1. Finish my third novel, tentatively titled On the Other Side, which will be a steampunk political thriller because, well, why not.

Did not happen because the combination of working full time while attending grad school full time kicked my butt this year.

2. Write and submit at least one new short story every month.

Did not happen because the combination of working full time while attending grad school full time kicked my butt this year. I have several ready to send out, but I haven’t submitted anything since late last winter.

3.Get a short story collection ready for publication (not including The Futility of Loving a Soldier, which was released by Evolved Publishing in December).

Did not happen because the combination of working full time while attending grad school full time kicked my butt this year.

4. Self-publish at least two long short stories through my publisher.

My publisher, Evolved, released “Not My Thing” in April. It’s been free since this summer and did pretty well for downloads.

I haven’t gotten anything else written because the combination – you get the idea.

5. Read 100 books.

I read 56 (post to come soon), which averages to about 1 a week. Not bad, considering this doesn’t include all the reading I did for classes and my thesis proposal.

6. Learn a new language – either Spanish, Tamil, Arabic, or Icelandic – to the point I can carry on a basic conversation in it.

Hahahahahahahahahaha.

shortline

I didn’t do so well last year when it came to writing goals – I started a new job that had about 5-10 hours/week mandatory overtime for several months, I took 4-5 classes each semester, I had a 20 hr/wk summer internship, and I was working on a thesis proposal the whole time. And I bought a 100-year-old house this fall that’s needed a bunch of work – painting everything, refinishing hardwood floors, etc.

2015 should be calmer though (or not – I may be in a PhD program instead of working, so we’ll see how that trade-off goes). However, every time I cross something off my list I seem to add two more things in its place, so with that in mind, here are my goals for 2015:

1. Write and submit at least one new short story every month, with the goal being at least 10 publications this year.

2. Write the rough drafts for a seven-part novella series, and maybe even publish one or two of them.

3. Have at least one novel published, with another one polished enough to publish in 2016.

4. Publish at least two long short stories (10k+) or short story collections.

5. Improve my marketing strategy in order to increase my fanbase (as measured by newsletter subscription, Facebook page likes, and social media interactions like comments, likes, and favorites), sales, and reviews.

6. Read 100 books.

7. Get healthier: cut out my daily breakfast Pepsi (not sure how the lack of caffeine will work when I generally only get 4-5 hours of sleep) and eventually almost all soda; go out to eat once a week or less; eat more fruits and veggies and less processed, sodium-drenched foods; use the gym membership I’m paying for; ride my bike to work when it warms up; etc.

shortline

What are your goals for 2015?

5 writers that have inspired me

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One of the great things about my publisher, Evolved Publishing, is that we have a street team – a group of people who love our books and are committed to sharing them with others. Not only is it great for promotions, but it gives readers and fans a chance to meaningfully interact with authors.

This week we were asked, “Which 5 authors have most influenced your writing choices, style, and career aspirations?”

Thinking about this, there are two things that stand out in my choices – ordinary people not always coming out ahead, and prose that conveys their emotions well.

1. Ernest Hemingway.

When I was a high school junior, our crazy English teacher, Sr. Betty, had us read The Old Man and the Sea. And by read, I mean dissect every single freaking sentence in the book. Needless to say, it really turned me off Hemingway. In fact, I didn’t even teach any of his stuff in my own HS English classes. While picking books for my students’ book bingo assignment, I decided to give him another try. I picked up For Whom the Bell Tolls, and then promptly read everything else he’s written. The Sun Also Rises is one of my favorite books, and I love Jake Barnes.

The thing I love most about Hemingway is his sparse style. He manages to deeply and vividly convey characters and emotions with stripped-down prose. This is something I try to do in my stories, and it’s part of the reason I write so much flash fiction – with a smaller word count, every word has to count.

2. Annie Proulx

She’s most notably the author of The Shipping News (much better book than movie, of course, and I really liked the movie) and a couple books of short stories set in Wyoming, Close Range and Bad Dirt.

Her prose is beautiful and alive. It flows and dips, rolls and hesitates, with a life of its own. And she writes about ordinary people in bad situations, which sometimes work out but most often don’t – something that readers say I’m guilty of as well.

3. Anton Chekhov

Speaking of writing about ordinary people in bad situations – that’s pretty much all mid-late 19th century Russian lit. And Chekhov is one of the best at it, telling the slice-of-life stories of ordinary people so that they matter just as much as royalty and warriors. “Lady with a Lap Dog” is my favorite of his stories. He was one of the first to do this, focusing even more on the rustic peasant than his contemporaries Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. And his short stories are more approachable for ordinary people than their massive tomes.

4. Nikolai Leskov

Probably the best Russian author you’ve never heard of, he mixes Chekhov’s everyday characters with Gogol’s satire and offbeat sense of humor. His short stories are painfully real, with emotions that come alive as he makes his characters suffer for goals they’ll never reach; again, something I try to do. Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is one of his best known, thanks to Shostakovich’s opera based on it.

Leskov’s influence is evident in the works of later Russian writers I admire, especially Soviet-era authors Mikhail Bulgakov and Ilf and Petrov (both of whom you should read).

5. Brian Jacques

Jacques is best known for his Redwall children’s series, about woodland creatures waging war. I’ve written about him before; basically, he was the first author I read who killed good guys, either for the sake of the plot or for no reason at all. For a fourth grader reading books with happy endings, this was profound. Bittersweet, is the word I’d use to describe his books.

What writers have influenced you?

13 tips for a cheap, awesome road trip

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I know I say it a lot, but I love road trips. Not only do I get to see beautiful/weird new stuff and eat great food, but the trips are a great way for me to recharge, think my way through stories I’m working on, and gather ideas for new stories.

Niagara Falls’ rapids

But I’m currently a bit on the broke side, so I have to find ways to get my fix as cheaply as possible. I’ve taken two big trips this summer – camping in Minnesota and Thunder Bay, and a recent sightseeing trip to Detroit and Toronto – as well as multiple trips the summer before – New Orleans and Pensacola, FL; Door County, WI; and Duluth, MN – and have come up with some useful tips I thought I’d share.

First, all road trip expenses can be broken into four basic categories: transportation, lodging, food, and activities (I guess you can make the case that souvenirs is a fifth category, but I don’t tend to buy any). No matter where you go, if you’re staying overnight you’re going to have costs from each category.

Transportation

abandoned pirate ship outside Hamilton, ON
  1. Take a fuel-efficient car. Mine, for example, gets about 30-35 mpg on the highway. Especially for long distances, you’ll really notice fuel savings. What if you drive one of those big manly 10 mpg trucks? Consider renting a sedan. Even with the price of the rental, you’ll still save money.
  2. Take highways instead of interstates. You get the best mileage the closer you are to 55 mph, which is the speed limit on most highways, compared to 65-70 on interstates. Plus you get to see more local flavor on highways than you do on the interstate, which is mostly stripmalls, chain restaurants, and hotels clustered around exits, and farmland.
  3. If you’re in a big city, look into a day pass for public transportation. It’ll cost less, plus you’ll be glad to not have the stress of driving in big-city traffic (Minneapolis, for example, is hell, no matter when you’re there).

Lodging

  1. Obviously free is best, so if you’re going somewhere where you know someone, see if you can stay with them.
  2. Don’t know anyone? How about camping? (By which I mean sleeping in a tent; staying in a 40-ft RV complete with cable TV, two bathrooms, and air conditioning is NOT camping. Plus it goes against tip #1 above.) Campgrounds are way cheaper than hotels, and many state and local parks are free; check websites for nearby parks before you go, as many require advance reservations.
  3. If you want to sleep inside (it’s winter or stormy, maybe), stay at a cheap hotel. I’m not talking bed bugs, chalk outlines, and long-term residents with no teeth – put your health and safety first, of course – but do you really need to stay somewhere with hardwood floors and seven pillows on each bed if you’re just using the room to sleep in? In addition to checking travel sites like Orbitz and Travelocity, look at the town’s website; it often has a section with quirky local low-priced hotels not found through the big travel sites.

Food

Our Toronto hotel came with free snacks!
  1. The problems with roadside fast food meals are that they get expensive, they’re unhealthy, and you soon get sick of the same thing over and over. (“Hmm, what’s for lunch? Burger from McDonald’s? Burger from Wendy’s? How about a burger from Hardee’s? No, I think I’ll go for a burger from Sonic.”) Avoid all this by bringing a cooler of food with you. Sandwiches are super easy on the go; either make them in advance or stop at a park and assemble them there.
  2. Same thing with snacks and drinks: buy them in bulk at the grocery store rather than at gas stations and rest stops. Chips, fruit, and sodas are all cheaper this way, plus you get more variety. I bring gallon jugs of water with me ($.39 refills at the local grocery store) and refill my water bottle rather than buying bottled water. There’s less garbage this way too.
  3. Stay at a hotel with a refrigerator and microwave in the room. Some places even have kitchenettes included in the rooms, stocked with basic dishes and pans; hit a local grocery store and cook your own meals. I keep a small tub of kitchen stuff in my car, just in case: a couple each of plates, bowls, glasses, and silverware.
  4. Free continental breakfast! Another advantage to staying at low- and mid-priced hotels is that they offer free breakfast; pricier hotels often have an attached restaurant and expensive room service.

Activities

Sometimes I have to physically restrain
the kid in order to get a picture
  1. Especially when I’m on a trip by myself, I love hiking around – for free. I’ve taken some awesome pictures at free places, like parks and lakeshores.
  2. Do you really need to go in? My kid is six and has a super short attention span; we get inside somewhere (St. Louis Arch, Ford Rouge Factory in Detroit, CN Tower and Casa Loma and zoo in Toronto, Niagara Falls…), he looks around for all of three minutes, and then he starts bugging me to leave. The pricier the admission, the longer I make him stay – but some of these places really aren’t worth the price, and I’d be just as happy snapping a picture outside for free.
  3. Sometimes it’s worth it to bundle. In Toronto, for example, we bought City Passes – admission to five places, four of which I wanted to go to, for way less than buying them individually. Make sure you do the math though, to guarantee individual prices of what you plan to do aren’t less than the pass itself.

What are some travel tips that work for you?

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