I always figured I could write anywhere.  When I started out, I carried a bound notebook and a pen.  I wrote when and wherever the spark hit me.  Years later, I write on the computer and have a hard time getting anything done outside of certain places.  I have a home office, and this is one of the spots that works for me.  Also, I write in my office at work on my lunch breaks.  These are places where I’m comfortable.

Unfortunately for me, I travel quite a bit in my current job.  I’m typically out of town every other week, living out of hotel rooms.  I thought this would be ideal for writing.  I’m alone in a hotel room for several evenings.  I have nothing better to do — right?  Then how come I have a hard time writing when I’m out of town? 

I think it is a psychological thing, and I haven’t quite worked out how to get past it yet.  I’m a creature of habit.  I like routine.  I have a hard time being productive when I’m out of my element.  I recognize these things and have tried to set up a travel writing routine:  Get off work, eat dinner, go back to the room and write for at least an hour before calling it a day.  It sound so easy, and yet here I am frustrated over the whole thing.

So now I’m thinking I need to find a place away from the hotel to write.  In the hotel room, it’s too easy to lay on the bed or turn on the television.  Maybe a coffee shop, although I don’t drink coffee.  I think I’m going to look for a place in each of the areas that I travel.  I just now recognized, while typing this, that another issue I have with writing while I travel is that I hate to type on a laptop.  I use a normal keyboard at work and home.  I only use the laptop keyboard when I travel.  Hmm, I wonder how much trouble it would be to carry a spare keyboard in my bag?  Do they make portable keyboards that are easy to carry around?

Time to stop fretting and make some changes.