My excuse is that it's hard to get out a laptop, or even a notebook when you are on the beach with the family. Or watching a film together in the evening. Or having dinner out. Or anytime, really. It just never feels quite right.
I suppose that's okay because it is meant to be a holiday, a break from everything normal, and it's only once a year. But afterwards I find it hard to get back into the writing thing: pick up plots and characters and dialogue. Even sitting down and slapping out a few hundred random words can be tricky when there has been a substantial break. Maybe it's just me, but I seem to lose my mojo, or something.
Anyway, there is a solution: the three step ease in.
First I read something decent, a couple of chapters from a novel or some short stories or poems. Anything that's not emails or Facebook or Twitter or the news. Next, I write a short piece about stuff I've been up to or how I feel. Like I'm doing here. Finally I return to whatever creative project is current - the novel Blasphemous Isle, at the moment - and write from where I left off. Then, that's it. I'm back.
Really, I should keep a journal or diary or notebook going all the time. But I never do. Having a break from writing seems to be vital for me. And, so far, I've always picked it up again after the gap.
So far.