While working from home has lots of advantages too obvious to outline here, it also has plenty of drawbacks, which I guess came as a surprise to me.

I really do miss the camaraderie of working in an office, and I also feel there’s a limit on how much or how quickly I can learn my trade from home. Yes, I can call and e-mail my colleages around the country and I try to set up meetings as much as possible here in town, but it’s not the same as being able to pop your head into someone’s office and shoot the breeze.

That’s how you really learn in journalism, I think. That mentoring process is absent for me right now, and I’m not sure what I can do to replace or recreate it.