Vacations are always a bit treacherous for me. On one hand I feel as if I am burning valuable daylight while more and more tasks are slowly piling up at the door, all awaiting me when I return to the studio. In some ways, time off creates more stress, more work than just continuing on uninterrupted. I tend to get into a nice little groove and every sojourn seems to break it. I feel like there is only so much I can do from where I am, and sometimes wonder whether I should just go completely incommuncado during time off to avoid emails, decisions, general worries about things. I get frustrated with the time wastage while I should be enjoying the quiet.
I do still like taking most of my vacation time in the summer to allow for occasional Wisconsin jaunts and general enjoyment of good weather (roadtrips, outdoor lounging, campfires, flea market/thriftstore prowling and numerous dinners al fresco) which usually keeps me reasonably occupied. It's the downtime that makes me feel unproductive and stuck, while also offering to much free time to worry and obsess. Next week, of course, I will return and be immediately plunged into the fall semester. While I am not ready for it by any stretch of the imagination, it does mean free mornings to get stuff done while my head is stil fresh and unmuddled and therefore much more productive.
