Escape.

I rarely travel without a book in my bag.

It's why I insist on carrying such a large purse....

But having a book is the perfect way to escape when I need a break from big city living. Like today. Mondays are generally busy for me with teaching group exercise classes in the morning, working as the web editor for my grad school's newpaper all afternoon and then going to grad school class at night.

However, sometimes I have a couple of hours of break in between work and class. Lately I've been taking myself over to Starbucks to work on crossword puzzles (which we can turn in for extra credit! also, because I am terrible at them and am determined to get better) and enjoy an eggnog latte (because really there's not a whole lot that's better as a treat when it's windy and chilly). Today I worked on my crossword for as long as I could (read: for as many words as I could figure out) and then called it quits. Still having time to kill, I pulled out my book (which happens to be Eat, Pray, Love again because i love it so much) and enjoyed an escape for just maybe 15-20 minutes.

That's the thing about reading vacations, if you will, that they don't need to be a lengthy ordeal. Even if you're got 10 or 15 minutes to spar, jumping into that story and getting lost is a wonderful break from reality. It calms me if I'm frazzled or gives me some energy if I've hit a lull, which happens a lot after working, working working on Mondays.

No matter what I'm reading or where I am in the story, I can jump right back in a take a little time away from whatever it is I was doing or will be doing or finished doing.

Sometimes a little escape is refreshing and enough to get through the rest of the day.