To paraphrase Ferris Bueller, if you have the means, I highly recommend picking up a #momcation.
Let me explain. Months ago, my dear husband brought up an idea. During spring break, he and his father would take our two darling children to Mexico. His dad has a time-share at a resort with swimming pools and all-inclusive meal options. But what would Olivia do, you ask? It was a no-brainer. The first words to pop into my head: WRITING RETREAT! A me-treat, if you will. Immediately, I got to work putting together a little getaway of my own, and scheduled my time so I’d be free of any freelance projects. I knew if I stayed home, with all its distractions like laundry, email, and TV, I’d get very little done, even with the family gone. I needed a place that was semi-isolated, but not too remote. Somewhere with Wi-Fi and a room of my own. Simple. Clean. Nice but not too expensive. I did some research into Zen Buddhist centers and cheap hipster motels, but I already had a place in mind. I’d been wanting to try it for a while, and it turned out to be just the ticket. Costanoa is an "eco adventure resort" roughly 80 minutes south of San Francisco on CA-1 in Pescadero. It offers lots of different accommodation types. On one end of the spectrum there’s a KOA on the property hosting tent camping and RVs, plus some cabins. On the other end is a luxury lodge and spa. This part also has deluxe cabins with housekeeping, fireplaces, bathrobes, phones, and mini-fridges. For some reason, Costanoa emphasizes its accommodations have no TVs, although if you bring your laptop with a DVD drive, as I did (I didn’t trust the Wi-Fi would be stable enough for streaming), who cares? I need me my stories, people! Anyway, what met my modest needs were the resort’s tent bungalows. My friend introduced me to the term glamping a few years ago—glamorous camping or glam camp. Apparently the British coined this clever phrase, no surprise. The tent bungalows come in a variety of sizes, some for families/groups of up to six. Since I only had me, I reserved a two-person lodging. Mid-week, it was a pretty good deal, and with my AAA membership, the nightly rate was $79-ish. There’s electricity and yes, some spotty Wi-Fi. My laptop and tablet connections were pretty good, but for some reason I had issues pushing through texts on my cell phone. The queen bed, which takes up most of the space in the cozy quarters, is covered in an electric blanket and comforter for those super chilly, early spring evenings and nights. Next time: Part 2 of my Glamping Me-treat Momcation story!
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About Olivia
I'm the author of two novels, Year of the Smoke Girl and The Flower Bowl Spell. My stories have been published in anthologies and lit mags. I'm currently working on a chapter book series, a middle-grade novel, and I've posted an award-winning novel, Hearts & Minds, to Wattpad, which is free to read! Archives
December 2020
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