I flew with my parents to the U.S. over the weekend and they'll be staying here for a few months. I'll be hanging out with them for a month to get them settled in, though, but far from being a holiday, it'll be just like a regular month for me, since I'm technically not on vacation, having brought all my work for me. I DID skip working during the flight here, though--a very refreshing change!

This isn't the first time I flew to a different place and still had all my work materials with me. Last year, my mother and I went to Cebu and, thanks to my laptop, I still got to do my work, same as the time we stayed in Tagaytay for Holy Week and during trips to Baguio as well. In 2006, I stored my work files on my MP3 player on a trip to Spain, and it was a good thing I did: Instead of going straight home to Manila afterwards, my sister and I had to fly back to the U.S. because my dad underwent triple bypass surgery. I had to let my clients know where I was and what happened, and because I was only supposed to be away for a week, they were worried that I wouldn't have their materials for them done during the time when my holiday was supposed to have ended. Thanks to a little foresight, I managed to keep that from happening.

Simply put, one of the perks of freelancing has to be the mobility. I love being able to do my work anywhere--well, any place that has Internet access, at least!--even though I'm not officially on holiday. Being away from home actually makes me a lot more productive, since I don't have any errands to run, places to go to, and other such distractions.

I give myself around two weeks' vacation time however, and it's two precious weeks wherein I simply don't do a scrap of work. The rest of the time involves full-on working, but because I do get to work no matter where I am, most times it hardly feels like I have jobs.