I failed at being on holiday — Becky Wood Creative

So I know I’ve been terribly inconsistent recently about telling you wonderful people I exist but life just piled up on top of me. I wobbled for a bit but eventually ended up stacking it face first down the proverbial hill.

So I thought to myself, you have a holiday (sort of) booked. Just get your head down, hit your deadlines and get on the damn plane.

So like a little hedgehog blindly stumbling towards autumnal hibernation, I survived until I finally made it to Heathrow. (We’ve all been there, right?)

I was all set up for a break, I had a super exciting shoot to do whilst out in Lisbon, but other than that me and my brand new fiancé (still weird) were ready to sample all the wine, eat our bodyweight in pastel de nata’s and explore the sun soaked city.

Here’s why I failed (in the name of keeping it 100% real):

I deleted my email app 3 hours(!!) before I got on the plane to go home. You can read between the lines on that one, that’s the moment I absolutely lost my rag with myself.
I carried around my camera so desperate to get featured in some sort of travel magazine in some distant future that I forgot photography was my passion and personal work can be creative, a bit weird, and no one refuses to pay you if it’s a bit shit
I held onto the mindset that downtime is money that I am missing out on, rather than an opportunity to reset and get re-inspired with varied and interesting experiences
My screen hours were still massively through the roof instead of giving my eyes a much needed break

Don’t worry too much, I still came home full of custard pastries and red wine addled but also more stressed out than before I left and feeling perpetually knackered.

So I had a talking to myself on the plane. (The air stewards must have thought I’d gone nuts). Never again does my poor mindset interfere with what I literally live my life for. I am incredibly privileged that in this life that I have the means to travel the world. I get to experience new cultures, try food, taste wine and see sights that are so exciting and as much as I truly adore running a business, I need it to not be running me.

‘Can I go and do [INSERT COUNTRY HERE] again please?’ is another question I vow to never ask ever again.

How’s your relationship with taking a break with your business?

Here’s some of my holiday snaps to prove that I actually went on holiday, even if it wasn’t the relaxing break I was hoping for…