Readers, I am in awe. I am also amazed, nervous, totally buzzed, and maybe even a little hungry.

One of my favorite vegetarian chefs, Rachel Demuth, has invited me to attend a vegetarian cooking course in Southern France this May as a journalist.

Of course, I’m totally stoked. Southern France in May. Five days of cooking Mediterranean food. Hanging out with fellow veggie lovers in a 19th century stone castle. It should be a great vacation, or should I say, the best working holiday EVER. I won’t be spending all my time in the kitchen – I’ll be writing about the trip, as well.

I’ve already agreed to do a day-by-day blog of the event, with recipes and hopefully a giveaway or two for you wonderful folks who read SmarterFitter.

I’m also writing a few articles about the trip for some yet-to-be-determined publications, online and off. This is where the nerves come in. I’ve spent the last couple of years trying to establish myself as a freelance writer, but lately my efforts have focussed more on making money rather than getting published. My latest gigs have involved writing for big companies rather than publications. Don’t get me wrong – I’d rather write for magazines, newspapers, and blogs, but I also have to make a living.

In many ways, this trip is just what I needed: a reminder that I became a freelance writer to “get free”. That is, to work for myself, doing what I love, on my own terms, based on my own ideas.

It’s too easy to do nothing. This goes for anything that requires confidence: freelance writing, running a marathon, learning how to cook, getting a PhD. I’ve been letting my lack of self confidence keep me from pursuing the dream as hard as I should be. It’s funny, I feel way overextended lately, working too many hours for my paying client, and then teaching and studying on top of it. But in a sense I’m also doing nothing, or at least nothing that gets me closer to freedom. It’s time to change that.

So many thanks to Rachel for kicking my freelancing butt back into high gear. I’m so grateful for this opportunity and I plan to make the most of it. I’m done doing nothing. Now, time to brainstorm some article ideas and publications to pitch them to.

Now, bearing mind that YOU are my audience, I throw this out to you all:

Which magazines, newsletters, ezines and blogs do you read? I’m looking for publications that publish stories about veggie food, healthy travel, recipes, chef interviews, and so on. If you know of any, let me know!

Also let me know if you would be interested in running the series or an article about my experience on your own blog.

So stay tuned for some French-inspired goodies and giveaways this May. Au revoir!

Photo of Languedoc courtesy of jloisvillage on Flickr.