Travel spurs creativity!
Whether flying half-way across the world to experience a new culture or driving to a “cool” vacation destination closer to home, travel offers both an opportunity to rest and to be inspired.
Conversations with locals, even when language is a barrier, provide a rich perspective of the culture and community history, more than guidebooks and websites ever could; and sometimes they bring new friendships.
Use your observation powers and camera/smartphone to capture designs, signs, symbols, and sounds, to update your content on websites, emails, social media posts and other communications.
In Italy, well everything is great, but you may find that the fabulous church marble floor patterns will catch your eyes.
In Costa Rican rainforests, the sounds of the howler monkeys, high humidity, bright flowers, colorful birds, and marching leaf ants are a symphony of stimulation.
Cross country road trips in the U.S. foster fantasies about living in an adobe home in the Southwest, a brownstone in St. Louis, a railroad apartment in NYC, a California bungalow, or a century old homestead in the heartland, pushing you “beyond the walls” of your own existence to think about where your target audiences are living and receiving your messages.
When you visit museums, attend plays, sports, concerts, festivals and street performances outside of your normal community, you reinvigorate your passion for thinking, writing, enjoyment and design. And anytime you can view art by the likes of Goya, Picasso, Pollock, Dine or Rothko, do it!
And if you aren’t as a rule out in nature, traveling to the mountains, beach or anywhere to hike, fish, swim, camp, bike or just hang out, can bring a strong reconnection to Mother Earth. A dark night in the high desert of New Mexico or Andean mountains of Peru viewing the Milky Way touches your spirit and reminds you we are a speck in the universe. Nature never fails to impress. Dial down your stress levels and breathe.
Get the most out of your time away. Open yourself to inspiration. Feed your mind and boost your creativity by taking time to soak up the colors, smells, tastes, sounds, people and feelings of the places you visit.
But beware, “A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions,” –Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Thank goodness!