I’m about to pull off my favorite kind of professional alchemy: turning mostly remote life into four days of in-person sparkle without needing a recovery nap in a supply closet.
My organization hosts two conferences a year, and I love the variety of moving from “sweatpants competence” to four straight days of eye contact and an adult wardrobe. I just need a brief runway first, because navigating 1,000+ people after hanging out in your office alone with your dogs most days, is like putting on an extrovert costume and hoping the seams don’t split by lunch.
So, I’m taking some solo PTO in the conference city before the conference. Not because I’m wildly responsible (debatable), but because if I’m going to be in a city anyway, I’m not going back to my real life after like a dehydrated conference goblin who’s only seen carpet patterns and banquet coffee.
I’m arriving early to explore and to live like a person with free will. I’m doing things that aren’t “networking,” unless you count me making intense eye contact with fresh bread and something irresponsible to dip it in.
I’ll be writing the whole time: fiction, non-fiction, and whatever genre ‘thinking too much in a beautiful place’ counts as… Because the point of this trip is to let the creative part of my brain take over for a minute. New streets, new faces, and new conversations do that for me. It’s like my mind remembers it was designed for more than triage.
And yes, I’m escaping work. But I’m also escaping the non-work admin that follows me around like an unpaid intern: errands, tabs, obligations, tiny decisions that multiply in the dark. I want a few days where I don’t have to be impressive, just present.
Then, next Tuesday through Friday: conference mode. Four straight days. 1,000+ strangers. Which means I’ll be professionally sparkling on the outside while my introvert battery quietly texts me, “We need to talk.”
Here’s where you come in. I’m running a poll because I want my vacation writing to stay professionally useful while I’m living inside 5-days of Xanadu, and my conference writing to stay sharp during 4-more 12-hour days, with real-time humans. So, I need you to steer, because my brain will be on coastal settings and intermittent Wi-Fi.
What should I write about during my time off, and time “very on”? (these are Descriptions only, vote in the poll please)
1. Invisible labor – The work nobody counts, but somehow, it’s always yours.
2. The “quick ask” that became a second job – A tiny request that grew legs and moved into your calendar.
3. Fog feedback – Vibes. Opinions. No specifics. No path forward. Just… feelings.
4. The meeting after the meeting – Where decisions magically occur, just not in the meeting you attended.
Vote in the poll, and/or add a prompt in the comments (a scene, not the full memoir.) DM me if your shy… I get it!
