My Vancouver Island writing retreat at the end of 2010

If you followed my Twitter stream, I semi-announced I was disconnecting for a few days in order to complete a major project. You’ll see, publications are the currency of academic life. You are not assessed by how many blog posts you publish or how many unique hits your popular blog gets on an every day basis. You are valued by how many high-quality, academic-style pieces you have and what impact you’ve had in the body of knowledge you are supposed to be contributing to.

In my case, one of the areas of research where I have had a major interest has been the governance of water, and in particular, of wastewater. I’ve been puzzled by why we are so focused on water scarcity in the social sciences literature yet we seem to be so keen to forget contaminated effluents. I have already completed 2 years of field research and didn’t want to let it go to waste. I hadn’t published my research on wastewater policy in the English language market, so I decided to take my data and write a book on water governance in Mexico. More specifically, wastewater governance in Mexico.

So thanks to the amazing PR skills and resourcefulness of my friend Luba Plotnikoff, I was invited as a guest in several Vancouver Island properties, including the following: Parkside Victoria Resort & Spa (Victoria), Coast Bastion Inn (Nanaimo), Kingfisher Oceanside Resort & Spa (Courtney), and The Beach Club Resort (Parksville). And also thanks to the collaboration of Chelsea Barr (Destination Nanaimo) I also got to stay not only at the Coast Bastion but also at the Dorchester Best Western Hotel (Nanaimo) on my way back. These were all amazing properties in locations that allowed me to complete a major project (I successfully completed the first rough draft of my book), while still travelling all the same.

I did feel so much at peace and at ease as I spent countless hours writing the first draft of my water governance book. You’ll be reading my posts throughout the next couple of weeks interspersed with the rest of my blog writing. I would strongly recommend all the destinations I visited to spend time away and complete a major project.

Disclosure: My stay at various properties that will be mentioned in my post series was sponsored very generously by the hotel as part of my recent Vancouver Island book writing retreat (which included stops in Victoria, Courtenay/Comox, Nanaimo and Parksville/Qualicum Beach). I covered every single expense I incurred during this travel, including (but not limited to) breakfast, lunch, dinner and transportation (except only when explicitly indicated). I wasn’t paid to write this series of blog posts, nor was I required to do so either. The purpose of this and subsequent blog entries about my writing retreat is just to describe my experience at various hotel properties and my breakfast/lunch/dinner experiences. As with any review or complimentary post I write or publish on my site, I retain editorial control at all times. Should you have any questions/concern feel free to contact me via e-mail through my contact form.

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