Travel for Inspiration

It was a balmy twenty seven degrees centigrade in late October in Venice, Italy; birthplace of Casanova and often referred to as the most beautiful and romantic city in the world. I was lounging in a café, sipping cappuccino and watching the world go by. Gondolas and river taxis glided past and the canal water gently lapped at the edge of the patio, a scant three feet away. Tourists stopped to pose for photos on the iconic Rialto Bridge.

Traveling can provide endless inspiration if you pay close attention. Immersion in new surroundings while being unplugged from the normal distractions of busy lives invites creativity. Travel really is all about living in the present, relaxing and focusing on the myriad of sights, sounds and people in front of you.

The best lesson for me on this trip was the importance of pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone. It was okay to get lost, to connect with people without knowing the language, to not have a plan and to face something that was scary for me. These are a few of the parallels between travel and the writing process.

The vacation started out in Austria at a friend’s home, perched on the side of a mountain 3,000 feet above sea level. Looking down from his porch the view included rooftops, church steeples and clouds. I felt I could actually tip over and fall off the mountain. I’d never experienced a fear of heights before then.

Our host was determined to visit the highest peaks in the Dolomite Mountain Range around Lienz; to see a five hundred year old monastery, watch the sunset at the top of the world and enjoy some favourite restaurants. But getting to mountain tops involved endless driving up and, even more unsettling, driving down, narrow switchback roads that induced nausea and vertigo if looking over the edge at the alarmingly steep drops. Keeping my eyes closed through areas without guardrails seemed to help.

Eventually the drives became less traumatic and the destinations were always worth the trip. I gained a little insight into describing fear for future writing and was reminded of the rewards of pushing myself more often.

Celebrating Oktoberfest was never on my bucket list but when in Munich, why not? Meeting partiers from Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Switzerland made for a memorable night and I recommend everyone partake in singing, dancing and beer drinking on such a scale at least once in their lives. The setting was too loud and boisterous for much chat so it is left to the imagination how the friends met and their tradition of attending Oktoberfest began. The claustrophobic feeling among huge crowds, everyone’s friendliness and the easy bawdiness of the event are all tucked away for future reference.

I suggest exploring out-of-the-way places and spending time with local folks – everyone has a story. You never know what details could help readers to picture themselves in your story. We also get to know ourselves a bit better when traveling and that can only be helpful to us as writers as well.

My favourite part of the trip, from a writer’s point of view, was being inspired by people I met or imagined and the potential for character development.

There were the two family members feuding over an ancestral grave. For many years, each of them has removed and rebuilt the family monument in a local cemetery, each to their own liking. What could possibly have happened to create such a long standing rivalry over relatives long passed?

Visiting the Maria Luggau monastery on a remote mountain top made me wonder at the enormity of construction so long ago in such an unforgiving environment and about who might have lived there. Were they brave, adventurous or resigned? And who planted the herb garden and roses that were still blooming? ‘Interviewing’ an imagined former resident could be the foundation of a very interesting character.

A middle-aged Croatian man has been courting a woman who lives in Kiev for ten years. They see each other several times a year for a day or two. His desire is to spend the rest of their lives together but she is reluctant. This begs the writer’s question ‘What if…?’ What if he proposed? What if there was a reason why she couldn’t be with him?

Curiosity and need for connection with each other are at the heart of storytelling and traveling broadens our horizons and sparks the imagination in surprising ways.

I’d only been home a few days when I heard the news that Venice was flooded and Lienz was hit with mudslides that made the town inaccessible for four days. As the adage goes – truth is stranger than fiction.

I couldn’t have imagined a flood and mudslides but I know the disasters would have inspired some great stories.