With Claire out, it's a good time to talk about vacation strategies for freelancers. One downside of freelancing is that there is no paid vacation, so time off may mean turning down a great assignment or passing on a hard-to-snag interview. I'm not very good at it myself.

But if you do go on vacation, do the following:

1) If you will not be checking email, set up an "out of office" message. If you use an email client like Outlook, you'll need to go to your ISP's Web site to do this.

2) If you will not be checking phone calls, change your voice mail message.

3) If you will be doing work and bringing your laptop, find some local wi-fi hot spots where you can work.

4) If you will be doing work but will not be bringing your laptop, you can bring files on a flash memory card, email them to yourself, or set them up on a network. (One service that allows you to do this is Laplink. And, of course, figure out where you'll get a computer. You can beg the mercy of friends, or you can find a local Internet cafe.

5) No matter what you do, bring a notebook and a pen! Few things in life are finer than sitting in a cafe, watching the scenery, and putting it all on paper.