In 2026 my husband and I decided we were going to do three months in the UK. The trip was motivated by a want to spend a good amount time close to family and friends before our lad started school and our holidays after that would be dictated by school holiday schedules.

A trip of that size takes a fair bit of planning. Logistically for the trip itself, but when you take a holiday as a freelancer you also need to plan what’s going to happen with your business during that time.

Thankfully, this wasn’t my first rodeo when it comes to taking time off. I also paused my business after the arrival of my son in 2021, so I had some idea of the steps I needed to take.

That said, there were a few differences between planning for a holiday and planning for maternity leave. So I thought it would be useful to outline the specific of my freelance holiday preparation.

If you’re planning on taking a holiday and you’re a freelancer, you may find my process helpful in your planning. It might not look exactly the same, but at least give you some ideas for the actions needed to prepare your business, care for your clients, and make sure you have work ready to go when you return to your desk.

Preparing your freelance business for a long or short holiday

If you’re a fellow copywriter and wondering how I’m navigating the idea of taking three months off, here’s what I’ve done so far.

Behind the scenes: timelines and logistics

Before announcing that this copywriter was off on holiday, I needed to know how long I’d be away and the rough dates. The last thing I wanted to do was dick current and potential clients around by announcing ideas we had for our trip, only for dates to change. And it’s a good job I stuck to this.

Originally the trip was going to be for 12 months but timings changed twice. Could you imagine the confusion and annoyance from people if I’d said, ‘Hey I’m taking a whole year off,’ only for it to change a few months later to six months off and then three months.

Whether you’re looking at taking two week or two years off, make sure you’re sure on that time span before saying anything to anyone.

Budgeting and money stuff

I fucking hate maths and thinking about money stuff. It’s not my strong point. But it’s an essential part of holiday planning when you’re a freelancer. There’s no paid holiday leave so you have to make sure that you can still cover your expenses while away.

For me, this meant making sure I would have enough saved up to cover mortgage and bills for three months without earning, as well as having some spending money for the trip. Looking at the figures was a must.

This involved working out:

• my monthly expenses
• estimated income
• known business expenses from July to September
• tax deductions
• ideal spending money for the trip.

It took two attempts to get the figures right, but I eventually got there. And by the end of my mathing, I knew how much I needed to:

• earn every month up until we go away
• put aside to make sure mortgage and bills are covered during the three months
• put away every week to make sure we have some spending money.

Despite hating maths this process felt very liberating. It gave me something solid to work towards.

Client action plans

At the time of writing, I have five clients I write for monthly. Before letting them know about my trip, I wanted to be clear on two things.

1. The work they needed from me before leaving.
2. Whether they’d need ongoing copy support while I was away.

To figure this out, I created a spreadsheet that listed out each of my clients and outlined:

• their regular copy needs
• what they are likely to need from July through to September when I’m away
• how I plan to approach and fulfil their copy needs
• what I need to tell them when I make my client email announcement.

Laying everything out helped me plan my time and, as someone who is used to (and quietly enjoys) working to deadline, I knew this would keep me on track.

Letting my clients know

I held off telling my clients anything until we were on the brink of booking our flights. Securing flights felt like a solid marker that the trip was definitely happening.

This gave my clients five months’ notice, which felt like a good amount of time to break the news, let it settle and talk through any worries they had.

In the initial email, I explained what was happening, my reason for taking the tip and then I included their personalised client action plan.

Keeping clients updated

After the first action plan email, the only other one I’ve sent to was after I booked my flights. Once I had the firm dates, I was able to properly see when my very last day at my desk would be and when I’d return, which I could then let them know about.

Letting my contractors know

I work with two editors and a handful of designers. I send them pieces to proofread and get images for on a monthly basis and, as they’re freelancers too, I contribute to their income. They needed to know there would be a few months when they wouldn’t be getting the usual workload and therefore cash, from projects I send through.

Once my flights were booked and I’d made sure the clients were happy with the action plans and upcoming work, I was able to email my contractors to let them know what they could expect from me in the coming months and when it was likely to go quiet.

Letting my wider network know

Regular clients take up a lot of my available work time but it was still important to let those who might have an eye on booking me, whether I might have availability for the project they have in mind before I go away, what they might do if they were thinking of booking me during the time while I was away, and how they might book me once I’m back.

I know I probably shouldn’t say this, but when it comes to my marketing, there is a bit of a pecking order in terms of who gets to know what and when.

After my clients, my blog readers and email subscribers are the most important to me. Followed by social media followers. And so I rolled the announcement out to those channels in that order.

Working and saving

With the ground work done, all that was left was to work my arse off until we left in July. Currently, I only work three days a week. Knowing I wanted to maximise my income, I did work out some extra weekend and evening work which involved juggling my schedule and my husband’s calendar to make that happen.

To make sure money was being put aside for bills and spending for the trip, I set up a separate bank account and paid a minimum amount into it weekly. On thrifty weeks when my every day expenses had been less than expected, I was able to top that amount up.

How well did my plan work?

Alright, I’m feeling pretty confident at the moment about how all of this is going to come off. But I won’t know for sure until I’m back from my holiday.

I’ll update this section in October and let you know how it all went down. So watch this space.

In the meantime

If you’re a fellow freelancer and you liked this article, then you might be interested in some more of the freelance life pieces. Happy reading.