I sent my last project back to its writer last Tuesday, December 23, intending to take a long, well-deserved break. I’ve been feeling a little toasty, a little burned out, and there are things I want to catch up on and a new initiative to launch.

I spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday with the kids and with friends. Because we don’t celebrate Christmas over here, Thursday was one boring day, with all our friends busy with their holiday and their families, and my family not bothering to travel to celebrate someone else’s holiday.

And then Saturday came along. It was a beautiful, warm day, so I packed up my bike and went for a ride. I got home and it hit:

That itch.

The itch to edit, to play with words that aren’t mine, to sit in my office and turn on the Spotify and concentrate and get lost in what it is that I do.

Sure, that list of stuff to do is a mile long. E-mails to deal with, posts to write, new initiative, some financial stuff.

But man, all I want to do is edit.

So if you’re on my calendar for January, get ready. I may be running a bit early ’cause if I take another week off? Bad things are bound to happen.

In a week from today, I’m heading out on my first REAL vacation in three years. Not a week at Scout camp (although that’s always a welcome break). Not a weekend adventure. A real, honest-to-God, airplane-involved vacation.

And like any good Boy Scout, I’m going to mostly be camping. In a national park.

If you are savvy enough, you’ll realize what that means… NO INTERNET.

Which means NO E-MAIL.

If you’re a client or a potential client, next week may not be a good time to reach me. Waiting until I get home on the 20th isn’t wise, either. Jet lag, exhaustion, the need to make up for lost time with my bed (and re-locate what’s come dislocated while sleeping on the ground, usually pelvis, vertebrae, and ribs)… all that’s going to play a role in how long it takes me to catch up. We are talking about someone who gets, according to Google, 1300 mails a month.

Now for the good news: If you’ve got something short — 50k words or less, or an almost-polished proofread — and want to slip it past my editorial senses before I leave, get in touch with me NOW. I’ve purposely left time open in my schedule between today and Wednesday. And I’ve refused to unpack certain things from last week’s camping adventure, making it easier to get ready for this trip. Preparations are under control. No sweat.

I’ll remind you again before I leave, of course. Spread the word. Your editor par excellence is headed out to clear her head, see bison and bear and mountain goats and bighorn sheep and moose and wolves and mountains and streams and geysers and paint pots and canyons and rivers and… Those of you who’ve been here a long time may remember the last time I headed out that way. Sadly, the pictures have been lost, but the posts are still there, buried in my archives.

Do I really need to come home? I could just stay, right? I’d be REALLY West of Mars then. No need to change the business name. I can work in that beauty and grandeur. I can do better work out there. I know it.

Just don’t ask me to do it next week.