5 reasons why writers have the best vacations

Recently, my Ragan.com editor and I traveled to Istanbul.

We had the best vacation ever.

The whole time, we kept wondering, “What are we doing right? Why is this trip so good? Is it the food? The people? The city? The sights? The sounds?”

Well, frankly, it was us. When you have two writers team up to go on vacation, magic happens. The skills that we’ve perfected over the years at the desk serve us well on the road.

Here’s how to travel like a writer:

Stop communicating back home

When we put our away messages up on Outlook, we meant it. We weren’t checking email.

Disconnecting is the most important thing you can do on vacation. If you’re still responding to email, what’s the point of leaving?

Find multiple sources

We weren’t glued to “Lonely Planet” during the trip. Although it was helpful, it didn’t tell us everything we needed to know. To get the best insider tips, we talked to anybody who seemed as though they wanted to help us. Whether it was people on the plane ride, hotel staff, servers at restaurants, or shop owners, we knew locals could tell us more than books.