A writer's retreat?

My good friend Dan Wagstaffe (fellow writer) recently informed me that he's going to take a week out of his life and rent a cottage in Laugharne, the place were Dylan Thomas used to get himself utterly wankered before writing.  His intention?  To be inspired to labour intensely on the book he's currently writing.

I'm jealous.  

Not so much because of the Dylan Thomas connection - I'm more of a Steinbeck/Bukowski sort of guy, and the work of Thomas has never done much for me - but because the notion of getting away from it all to concentrate solely on writing for a week sounds so appealing.

All last year, it was my intention to disappear with a backpack, a tent and a sleeping bag, and do some wild camping, away from modern life.  Write in longhand rather than type.  Pack 7 bottles of cheap vodka, loads of tuna and pasta, and just spend the time writing in complete solitude.  I never got around to doing it.  This year, 2014, I know that I definitely will.  Thing is, should I go wild camping, or should I do what Dan is doing and rent a cottage for a week?  I don't want any distractions.  No Internet, no television (not that I actually watch TV), not even any music.  Just the tools to write with.

I guess there are pros and cons with both ideas.  The main con with camping is that I'm liable to get lost or, I don't know, eaten by a werewolf?  But the biggest pro is that I'll only have to roll out of the tent to vomit up a bottle of vodka after a heavy session - roll out of the tent (bed) in a cottage and puke my guts up, and there's a massive cleaning bill the next day.  But with the cottage, I guess I could take my laptop (sans Internet), and I wouldn't have to type up my longhand manuscript afterwards.  Also, I won't have to shit in a plastic bag, and I can have a shower or a bath every night so I don't end up smelling like a dirty, skanky, manure arse.

2014, I want to write lots.  It's conceivable that I could get a lot done during a writer's retreat.

Or maybe I'd just get pissed every night and lie on my back looking up at the stars.