Sooooo I’m leaving this afternoon for a 5-day excursion.

It’s really nothing extravagant; I booked this trip about three months ago after returning from the Everything Food Conference filled with inspiration and the pull to write again. You can read that post here.

That previous post really sums up the what and why of this trip, so I’m going to jump into my expectations of what I want from the next five days in order to keep me accountable. As Type-B as this entire thing sounds, my Type-A personality needs some structure in order to actually make it relaxing. That may sound like counterintuitive, but trust me, it’s necessary.

I still plan on getting my three posts up this week, so it will be a regular schedule around here. I plan on only checking my email about twice a day (fingers crossed I can stick to this) instead of always having a tab open so I can check it 213245647 times throughout the day. I will be limited on social media, but do want to record some stories on Instagram to help document what’s going on (and you know I haven’t disappeared into the woods), so if you’re interested in following along, you can find me here.

Here are some rough goals for what I want to accomplish this week.

Write

This is number one on my list. The entire reason I booked this trip was so that I could get through a first pass of the book I’ve been trying to write for two years. I’m full of all kinds of feelings ranging from excitement to fear that I won’t actually be able to get anything written.

My plan is to write an outline and not let myself get overwhelmed as I did previously. Don’t spend an entire afternoon trying to format and pick a font when I don’t have any actual content written. Take things one day at a time and let what happens happen.

Explore

The place where I am staying is surrounded by woods and water. I’ve mentioned many times before that these conditions are conducive to helping me feel inspired and revitalized. I plan to bring my camera so I can practice more with it as I spend time grounding myself outside. I’m looking forward to feeling centered again.

Disconnect

It’s been a long time since I’ve spent an extended amount of time with myself. There have been days here and there when Neil has a late work event, but since he switched jobs almost a year ago, he doesn’t travel nearly as much. On one hand I appreciate the time we get to spend together, but on the other I’ve found that the time I can just sit with myself has become much more limited.

It’s true that I’m with myself for the entirety of the day, but the hours until Neil gets home from work are spent training clients, answering emails, writing, answering comments on Instagram, texting with friends, and on and on. I have a hard time putting everything else aside to just be with ME. I feel like there’s a part of me who can’t wait to hang out, just the two of us.

Read

There’s a connection for me between reading and writing. The more I read, the more easily I can write. I also don’t have as much time as I’d like to read while I’m at home for all the above reasons. Even if it’s just before bed, I want to dedicate at least an hour to reading each day.

Related: 5 Books You Should Read If You Want To Write

Experience

Due to a variety of reasons, I’m not staying solo in the house, but in a private guest suite offset from it. Originally, I felt that this dampened my grand vision, but as time has gone on, I feel like it’s actually a better scenario.

The owner of the house is a chef and with the farm outside, he’ll be preparing fresh, farm-to-table meals. Anything involving food is amazing to me, so I’m looking forward to trying everything and having another reason to use my camera. There’s a dog — the same type as Donut — which will help me from missing her too much while I’m gone. There’s an in-home yoga studio which I can’t say I’ll take advantage of, but you never know.

It’s somewhat out of my comfort zone, but those are the times I usually grow the most, so I’m going to embrace it.

Reset

Ultimately, I feel like I need a reset. Everything has been GO GO GO for awhile now, and I’m ready to slow down and take this time for me. I think everyone needs that once in awhile.