Seriously I feel a bit like Bilbo Baggins.
The tour company was like the perpetual wizard leaving a perpetual mark on a perpetual door for a perpetual burglar to join a crew of perpetual dwarves.
The wizard was a tour company. But instead of a burglar, they needed a tour guide, and in the words of Justin Timberlake, “iz gonna be mayyy…” So sally forth I went, into the sunset. And as it turns out I found some amazing sunsets.
Sunset in the Grand Canyon.
But that’s besides the point. Is taking people on vacation for a living fun? Why yes. Yes it is. Does it also sometimes suck? Why yes. Yes it can. Quite a lot. But I figure that’s life anyway. Or as they say, all sunshine makes a desert and all rain makes a marsh. It’s a balance of both that makes a lush garden.
Oh, didn’t I mention another dream I’m currently pursuing is tour guiding? Some of you knew, I think. Now all of you do. I always thought if I could travel and write for a living that would be a good life. We’ll see if that yields true. So far I feel like there’s so much to the tour gig I don’t have as much time for writing when I’m doing it. Though I did think a lot about story and plot. And I really do enjoy thinking.
But having taken quite a long hiatus from blogging, I’ve tried to rekindle my motivation for doing this. And if we’re being honest, I still haven’t gotten to full flame readiness. The thing is I like all of you people and it’s hard to stay away. So I don’t know what the future of Lit and Scribbles is blogwise, but it’s evolving. I may even try occasional vlogging (after all, I have Gloria’s example to follow).
I’ll probably be discussing the six weeks of travel, I’m getting back into Row80, because life feels empty without goals, and I’ll see whatever tidbits I can throw this way, but my current blogging goal is a Tuesday/Thursday post, with a Wednesday Row update in between. That’s all the chunk I can bite off for now.
So what were you up to this summer? Follow any dreams? Accomplish some major goals? What do you do to stay motivated with blogging?
Lit and Scribbles with Jae 
Yay! Jae’s back!
There are definitely better examples of authors vlogging than me. Like Kelsey Macke or Megan Whitmer. I just prove anyone can do it. 😉
Summer was lots of walks in the park with the kids and trying to survive them (the kids not the walks). The latest dream I’m following is getting guinea pigs and I have almost all my supplies… It’s just something just keeps coming up, so none yet. A major goal I’ve managed is I have a chapter book out making the rounds. My blogging motivation is guilt, but being part of groups (ROW80 & WIPpet Wednesday) give me topics so I only have to think up of one a week.
I’ll have to check those authors out. Eventually I want to do it, but I want to do my best when I do, which probably requires a little bit of studying.
Glad you survived the kidlets. That’s so cool you’ve got a chapter book out! Gratz! Row80 will definitely help me with at least a once a week post. 😉
I figured that you’d want to do it real nice. That’s why I suggested them. They definitely have better game than me. 😉
Summer was the usual writing, publishing, and editing for me. The kid was in school, so I had to be on call for any ’emergencies’. The tour guide gig sounds like fun. Are you going to be working a specific area? I’m not really sure how it works. I mean, does a tour guide work in a certain area or are there those that can go anywhere after some research? That second one sounds more like the basis for a primetime show.
Yeah, it’s the major national parks area, so like Rushmore, Yellowstone, Bryce, Zion, Grand. That’s more or less my neighborhood. But I’ve also run tours out in NYC. I’m trained for Washington DC too, but haven’t done any official tours as yet. You could pretty much go anywhere. I have a friend who did some in Hawaii. Typically they train you and then you take it on. It’s both a lot of fun and a lot of stress. But that’s life.
So, do they fly you out to the location? I’m curious how someone that lives near the national parks area can easily run a tour in NYC. It sounds like a fun job especially for an author because you get to meet interesting people. Opens up a lot of inspiration opportunities.
Yep, they fly you out. There’s such a demand for tour guides on the east coast for student tours that they’re willing to fly us out. You meet a lot of interesting people, both people you wouldn’t mind completely leaving behind and never hearing from again and people you’ll remember forever because you were able to show them something fabulous. I always envied the Doctor in his travels, so I feel like this is as close as I can get. 😉
Nice comparison. Though let’s hope you don’t run into any Daleks . . . and that uses up everything I know about Doctor Who. At least anything with confidence.
I like the social aspects of blogging but keeping up with IRL stuff/blogging is hard!
Ah, perpetual. It’s good to see you back, though. 🙂 Also, I am liking your new blog theme. A change of colour from the black/blue theme before, but not in a bad way. 🙂