My first reading retreat is in the books! It was a bit unconventional in many respects because I had to bring my cats along and I quickly learned that all future reading retreats need to be cat-less. Sorry, girls! But it was a great time, making me want to try to do these retreats once or twice a year if I can. It’s a great way to get away from normal life and indulge in my favorite hobby. I’m already scoping out other VRBOs for a future reading retreat!
I’m going to discuss this reading retreat by talking through two lows and two highs of my time.
The Lows
Bringing the cats.
This was a necessity this time around because we all had to be out of the apartment for at least 24 hours while my tub was getting refinished. And while it was fun to have them around at times, it was also a bit anxiety-inducing. First, there was Lila. She does not do well in new environments and spent most of the time hiding under the couch. She would come out every now and then, but the immediately go back to her hiding spot. I started getting nervous that she wasn’t eating or drinking. I almost googled how long a cat can last without food/water, but eventually she hydrated and ate a little food. Whew.
Then there was Eloise. I was excited to have a fenced-in backyard so she could enjoy some outside time (she loves being on my balcony and rubbing her body all over the dirty concrete, sigh). So on Thursday morning, I let her out into the backyard (I was out there, too, keeping a watchful eye on her.) And then homegirl decided it was a great time to explore the neighborhood because she found an opening in the fence and hopped right through to check out the neighbor’s backyard. !!! The way I was terrified, you guys. It can’t be expressed. I had no idea how to get her back to our backyard, and after doing some running around to try to find her, I eventually had to accept that she would come back to the backyard. And she did, thank god! I found her in the grass on the other side of the backyard, and she tried to run past me when I went to pick her up, but I was able to grab hold of her and unceremoniously dump her back inside. She is officially BANNED from outside time!
(I also feel the need to say that she was only gone from the backyard for 10 minutes, maybe less. But it felt like 10 hours.)
There were other issues with bringing the cats: the litter situation (I brought a disposable litter box but woke up every morning to litter EVERYWHERE), the scratching situation (“these are not our couches, Eloise!”), and Eloise hissing/swatting at Lila every time she got near. (I think Eloise was feeling territorial; she hasn’t hissed at Lila since we’ve been home.)
Anyway, all of these cat-specific things impacted how much time I could devote to reading, so they will stay at home the next time around. (Which I think Lila will be very happy about.)
Not enough reading spots.
I first heard about reading retreats from Meredith of the Currently Reading podcast. She and a group of friends take an annual reading retreat, and when she was talking about how to choose the right place for these kinds of weekends, it’s important to find a place that has a lot of different kinds of reading spots. Ultimately, I was limited in my options for VRBOs because not only did I need a place that would accept pets, but they had to accept more than one pet. (Most pet-friendly VRBOs have a one-pet limit.) While this VRBO was perfect for my needs when it comes to giving my girls and me a safe place to stay while the tub was getting refinished, it was not a great spot for a reading retreat. There were only a few options for reading: a sectional, a banquet table, a bed, and a couch/table outside. (Although I was too traumatized by Eloise’s escape act to sit outside after it happened.) Now, as I search for a VRBO for my next reading retreat, I’m mostly concerned about how many different options I have for reading spots. I want variety!
The Highs
Reading as my sole goal.
Gosh, there is nothing quite so restful as knowing my only goal for the next few days is to read as much as possible. I did not read as much as I expected to, but that’s okay! By the end of the two days, I logged 10 hours of reading time. I finished one book, got halfway through another, and read 75 pages of a third. So I’m happy with that progress. Sometimes I have trouble focusing on reading for a long period of time, so this was good practice for me to put my phone down and let a story envelop me. My goal was to finish four books, and I didn’t get close to that, but this was my first reading retreat, and hopefully I will get better at this type of focused reading in the future.
Not having a reading schedule.
I mentioned in another post that I wanted to make a reading schedule for this retreat. Meredith has talked about the very strict schedule they adhere to on their reading retreats, which I thought I was interested in doing as well. But actually, I liked not having the pressure of a schedule! I would usually read for an hour (or 100 pages) and then take a break to read some blogs or take a nap or play games on my phone. I would have been able to log more reading time and finish more books if I had set a schedule for myself, but I liked taking it easy and letting the reading time unfold naturally. And still, 10 hours in two days is impressive!
Overall Thoughts
It was not exactly the reading retreat I had envisioned, but it was a good practice run. (I ended up leaving the VRBO on Friday evening rather than Saturday morning because we needed to be at home. Lila was especially struggling in this new environment.)
Next time, I will be better prepared. Plus, I won’t have to spend all of my mental energy worrying about what the cats are doing. Instead, I can focus on reading and enjoying the time away. I’m also thinking about how to have a reading retreat at home (inspired by Jenny!). Obviously, it’s harder because there are more distractions (chores! cats! dishes in the sink!), but if I could carve out one day per month where I have no plans, I can use that day as a mini reading retreat. I’m single and have no children, so there’s no reason I can’t do this for myself! This is one of the prime benefits of my lifestyle. I think I can make it happen, and I would love to use that day to just pick up a random book on my bookshelves and read it in one day. More to come on that!
Would you ever consider doing a reading retreat? If you had two days solely to yourself, how would you use them?
This DOES sound stressful! I think it would be the same if I tried to do a retreat with my kids in tow. You can look at this as a learning experience and know you know exactly what you want/need out of your next experience.
I love Jenny’s idea to carve out a reading retreat at home. I am such a home body. I think unless I was at a sunny destination with truly nothing to do (at which point I never want to read anyway), I’d find it hard to relax in an unusual environment to focus on reading?
Yes- I can totally imagine ALL of this. Bringing the cats sounded like a fun idea, but I can see how it didn’t work. And btw when you mentioned letting Eloise out into a fenced-in yard, I knew exactly what was going to happen. Strangely, EVERY fence has a hole somewhere, and your cat will find it. I know this from experience. Why can’t they just stay in the yard? Is the yard not good enough for them??? This happened to us a few times when Muffin was little- even though we actually went all around the fence and blocked up every potential exit spot! Once she got out into the neighbor’s yard to the back of us, and a couple times to the side neighbor. We learned that all you can do is wait for them to come back, which they always do. But it’s not fun.
ANYWAY. I never even would have thought about having multiple reading spots- but I can see how that would be nice. And, it’s weird how you never somehow read as much as you think you will! In your case, I can see how the cats were distracting. But still- it sounds fun. I also want to explore this idea of reading retreats further! I’m into it.
Oh those kids…I would have been terrified if I had a cat and it got out at home and I would be even more terrified if it was a strange place. I mean of course she’s going to come back to you, but it’s still scary. I would like to take a trip with Doggo sometime, but I know that there will be a bit of lift involved and it probably won’t be that relaxing.
One thing that I’ve learned to look out for in Airbnb listings is to make sure that the bed has a nightstand and a lamp, and that the living areas have coffee tables and lamps next to the furniture. If they don’t then there is a good chance that the unit was not designed with reading in mind.
If being on a schedule works for Meredith, that’s great but it doesn’t sound appealing to me. When we go to the beach I have no problem putting in hours of reading every day, while still sleeping in if I want to, and doing other activities such as exercise, walking and swimming, and wasting time on my phone. I would never want to start a day with the intention “I will read for six hours today” – it needs to be something that happens because I want it to happen.
Oof the cat situation sounded stressful! I would have freak out about Eloise finding a way to escape the yard! Yikes! Hopefully you can do this again sometime but not bring your girls with! I am glad you still have a great getaway, though.
I have never done a reading retreat but my shouldless days feature quite a bit of reading. I am able to let go of the guilt of feeling like I should be cleaning or doing laundry, etc. I tell myself it’s a shoudless day so beyond cleaning up after myself, I don’t have to do anything else. That allows me to read for hours if I so desire! This Friday will be a mini-shouldless day as we get the day off due to Good Friday but the boys both have school/daycare! Hurrah!
Stephany, when you said at the beginning of the post that the cats were a low, I was SHOCKED. And then I read the details and OMG! It sounds so stressful! Who knew?! Such a bummer that it wasn’t a fun and snuggly time with your girls, but I am impressed by your progress and all the reading time you logged!
Eloise is such a brave girl!!
Two days to myself? Am I still in charge of pet care? Because if the pets are around, the whole day will revolve around them, as you found out. If I had two days to myself and the girls weren’t around, there would be a lot of sleeping and reading. LOL. And eating nachos. I am who I am.
Argh it does sound stressful having the cats with you. I know you love them and I bet they are great snuggle company but this is a bit much.
However, I am impressed that you did 10 hours of reading. So cool.
I read about Jenny’s mini home retreat and was inspired. And I really want to do a retreat now too. I think I will do it at the country home this summer.
Oh goodness, I would have major catastrophic thinking if my cat went into the next yard while not at home, I would worry that they might not find their way back, blah blah blah. We stayed at an AirBnB once for a wedding, and I considered bringing Mulder with me, but we were going to be gone so much of the time, I worried about him barking and disturbing the neighbors. We boarded him in someone’s house via Rover.com, and he had a GREAT time, and she sent pictures so we knew he was OK.
I love the idea of a reading retreat, but unless it was a town where there was NOTHING to do, I would feel like I was wasting my time by staying inside reading when I could be outside seeing things. I do sometimes take myself to lunch (or coffee or wine) and bring a book, just to avoid the distractions of home. I really enjoy it when I do that.
OMG the cat stress! I know it couldn’t be helped but aiieeeeeee.
I rarely travel with Rex, unless we are going someplace he’s been before like my parents’ or our friends in Calgary. He’s a decent traveller but I can’t really leave him, you know? So he’s with me all the time. Not super relaxing. We board him locally when we travel and he seems to like it. We pass it on one of our walking routes and he always gets excited!