Refilling the Well in Uruguay

If you happen to follow me via social media, you know that I’ve been traveling recently. I’m lucky that my dayjob occasionally requires that I hop on a plane and travel  to somewhere interesting. Since I’ve started working as an editor with this group, I’ve been to Panama and the Bahamas. And last week… I was in Uruguay.  Yep, that tiny little country squeezed between Brazil and Argentina.

Other than a long nine-hour flight and I traveled without my dear husband, I loved everything about my trip. I flew into Montevideo airport, which is small but extremely beautiful and modern. From there, a car picked me up and whisked me off to Punta del Este, which is about 60 to 90 minutes away from Montevideo. I got to see a bit of the countryside with its rolling green hills and beautiful trees. The country has a lot of pine and eucalyptus trees. If you’ve never heard of it, Punta del Este is the premier beach resort for South America. It’s where all the rich Argentines and Brazilians vacation during the Season (which is January and February). Outside the Season, the town and the beaches are pretty darn empty.

While I was responsible for helping with a conference and serving as an “on the ground” reporter, I managed to see some sights. Outside of Punta del Este, we went to neighboring La Barra for lunch and out to Jose Ignacio for the farewell dinner. There, a group of us arrived early and we took a stroll on an empty beach to see the lighthouse. It’s hard to believe that I managed to live this long and not see a lighthouse up close until last week. Also during the conference, we went out for a vineyard and farmland tour. I think I fell in love with the country on that vineyard tour – and that was before they started serving the wine and lunch.

In Uruguay, I discovered that I’m a little homesick. I miss rolling hills and vast stretches of farmland. I miss the winding roads. The country has a different quality of green that you don’t see in Florida, but it reminded me so much of Kentucky, where I grew up. Don’t get me wrong. I love Florida. I love the warm, snow-less winters. But there are certain things you get used to seeing, like hills and valleys and certain trees that will go through the changes of the seasons.

However, homesickness aside, Uruguay was a place made for writing. The country was so peaceful and quiet. Every where I went, I was relaxed and felt safe. I wanted to just plop down with a notebook and start writing. I did make some notes for a future novella and I wouldn’t be surprised in Uruguay shows up in other stories.

I worked some long hours during my week in Punta del Este, but I still came away feeling mentally refreshed. My busy schedule made it impossible to pick up a pen for creative purposes. I had to just soak in my surroundings.

I’ve heard of my authors talking about “refilling the well” when it comes to writing. You need to take a break, experience new things, travel to new places so that your well is constantly full of new ideas for writing.

My well is full again and I’m ready to dive into the third book in the Unbreakable Bonds series.

I wanted to include pictures in this post, but WordPress is giving me fits. If you would like to see lots of pictures, you can go to my Facebook page where I have three slideshows of pics.