Finding Inspiration on the Road!

Traveling -It leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.
– Ibn Battuta

The long days of summer have finally faded into the fall. I have been reflecting on my journey to India in July and about how I can continue to draw inspiration from my experiences in this mystical land. While many people travel during the summer months, if you still have dates circled on your calendar, you can start thinking about how you can use those days of freedom to feed your creative soul.

Experiencing new places and meeting new people can expand your worldview in ways that stay with you even after you return home. The more your surroundings are different than your everyday life, the more you will be challenged. Thing about it – you are a blank slate to the people you meet while on vacation. They do not know your “story” and if there is a language gap, you need to find new ways to communicate even simple needs. Traveling forces you to live in the moment and be connected – something we often often forget to do in our smartphone driven world.

All artists can tap into their creative side while traveling – regardless of whether it is a trip to the beach or down the Nile. Here are some reasons why traveling is one of the best ways to find inspiration.

Experiencing new surroundings

New experiences can bring about new ideas. The memories stay with you long after you are back home, and can help you look at your everyday surroundings with new eyes. You will appreciate the beauty that surrounds you and may even find creative inspiration in things you took for granted or considered routine.

Meeting new people

If you are traveling abroad, chances are you will meet people from many different countries, with beliefs and customs different than yours. Through simple conversations, you can not only challenge long-held belief systems, but you can find unexpected inspiration in the stories you hear. Maybe one night when you are staring at a blank page or canvass, a sliver of a memory will come back to you and get the creative juices flowing.

Learning to leap

While travel mishaps are never fun or welcome, they can be sometimes be a source of inspiration and a reminder how important it is to embrace the unknown and not to be too attached to expectations. After you are home, you can reflect on your experiences, both good and challenging and find creative outlets for expressing what you’ve experienced, seen and heard. Your personal art is a perfect way to deepen your connection to a place.