Friday, October 28, 2011

Second two weeks of October

Like many authors, my travel schedule is erratic. I can go weeks or sometimes a month or more without having to get on a plane or even a car for school and conference speaking engagements, but there are also times when they run back-to-back.

Three times in the past four years, I've been away for work for two weeks straight.

And strangely, all three times have
, for no discernible reason, been the second two weeks of October (which so happens to be my favorite two weeks of the year to be in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic).

In 2008, I was in San Francisco and Ohio (mostly Cleveland).

In 2010, I was in Houston.

In 2011, I was in Guam.

In 2014, I was in Nebraska

The second two trips were similar in a way beyond the heat. Both were completely organized for me by my kind hosts, from scheduling each school to arranging volunteers to pick me up for and drop me off after each commitment. All I had to remember to do was set my alarm and bring my flash drive.

For obvious reasons, being away on speaking tours for fourteen days is both a rush and a challenge, but in each case, my hosts have made the experience as rewarding as possible.


12/26/12 addendum: Friend and tireless fellow author Doreen Rappaport told me that in the 1990s, she was invited to Indiana for nine weeks. (I did not ask if that included October.)

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