One of my favorite things about being a freelance writer is the flexibility it offers me.  Without a boss and a cubicle and a 9-to-5 schedule, I can pretty much do whatever I want, as long as I get my work done.  (And if I didn’t have to pay my bills, I wouldn’t have to do that, either.)

One of the biggest ways that this comes out is in my ability to travel and take vacations.  My husband and I take several trips a year to go visit his family — it’s a 10-hour drive and usually 4 or 5 days away from home, but I usually can keep working just like nothing is out of the ordinary.

My laptop, as you can probably imagine, is my best friend — precisely because it allows me to do this.  It basically allows me to take my virtual office with me.  And because so many places offer wifi now, oftentimes my clients never even have to know the difference.

Usually my husband and I will try to find an Internet connection for me at least once a day.  Although sometimes we stay at hotels or motels with free wifi, we usually have to find establishments that offer it.  Wifi window stickers near the door usually tells us whether a coffee shop, bookstore, or restaurant offers an Internet connection, saving us the trouble of going inside to find out.

Some establishments offer free wifi, while others require you to pay for a one-time usage or a prescription.  We are pretty good at finding the free ones now, since I really hate to pay for what I can get for free!  Wifi stickers or a sign on the door usually will tell you if it’s free wifi; if the stickers or signs say nothing about the price, free or otherwise, it’s probably safe to assume that it’s NOT free.

I actually get a thrill out of getting an Internet connection when we’re traveling.  Being able to take my work with me and go wherever I want is one of the advantages of being a freelance writer.

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