Freedom is in planning and routine: why the office escapism theory SO doesn't work for me.

There is a lot of talking lately about "escaping the office life", "escaping the organised life and be spontaneous"; so many people seem really convinced that quitting their daytime job and becoming a travel/food blogger who travels around, living with next to nothing, is definitely the way forward.

Basically my idea of hell!

I am a planner. A 'to-do-list' maker. A calendar organiser. My clothes live in different wardrobes depending on the season, and they are sorted by shape, colour, length. One of my favourite moment in the office is at the beginning of January, when I work on my giant whiteboard/wall calendar, planning the whole year in colour-coded magnets.

I like to plan my woking and personal time, allowing space and slots for exercise, outings, theatre, or even simply doing nothing. But those lazy days, those hours of reading the latest sci-fi thriller, or walking in the woods, couldn't exist happily if I was constantly worried about not having worked enough, about not knowing what is left to do when I'm back.

For me, planning is freedom. The freedom of knowing you have organised backup plans B, C, D. The amazing feeling of being sure that, whatever happens, you will be ready. The freedom and sense of achievement given by an all-ticked to-do-list which will make sure my mind is clean for hot yoga. Knowing exactly how much money I earned with my skills, and chose to spend them on a ￡99 golden-coated ice cream cone, if this is what I fancy. I find freedom in knowing exactly what my week looks like, where have I got space for the cinema, a champagne breakfast, some extra time with kiddo, the zoo, an impromptu weekend away. For me, planning is the certainty that I won't forget packed lunches, that I will always be smartly dressed without having to spend my time panicking in the morning, it's knowing that I will enjoy the outing to the park or the beach without having my phone in my hand all the time.

Is the "travel blogger" job better than my going to the office? I adore my job. I CHOSE it. I have the experience and the skills to do it right. It's challenging and exciting. But some days, it can still be difficult, or boring. How can anything, even something as amazing as travelling, not lose its charm when it becomes a job, and your actions are controlled by the sponsor of the moment?

Is the life of the office escapist really SO free? Because for what I see, there are instagram to feed, blogs to write, followers to grow, sponsors to find, new trips to plan, and much more. From my point of view, this is a job, and one that depends on how generous your next sponsor will be, not on your skills or experience. A job where your ability to make choices, or even the job itself, can come to an end the moment no one is willing to place their adverts on your blog, no matter how good you are at what you do.

And for me, this is not a free, spontaneous life. It's a way to transform something amazing like a holiday into a life of uncertainty, leaving no space or ways for planned, "free", holidays to happen.

REAL holidays, those where you don't have to work, or post your every step on instagram. Those where the world doesn't exist, where dolphins follow your sailboat and your phone is nowhere to be found, those where your skis carving the snow is the only sound you can hear, no cameras allowed or needed.

Excuse the rubbish quality of the photo at the end, this is a real photo of mine, printed on real paper, taken on a real holiday that no one is paying me to tell you all about. If you look closely, you might recognise me, sitting in the bow of the boat with the golden sail. And THAT, that is what freedom feels like - if you're doing everything the Captain says ;) .