Like most people, creatives love to travel, where creatives are different are the habits and routines they practice to support creativity. Here are 5 essential creative travel habits to adopt and master.
What habits do you have when you travel? Do you pack smart to avoid stress and heavy luggage? Do you plan every detail or fly by the seat of your pants? Travel habits can make a big difference not only to improve travel experiences but also to support creativity.
Creative minds throughout history traveled not only to improve their well-being but also to guide their creative process. From Hemingway’s adventure-seeking for story inspiration to artists learning from Japan, creative travel habits can turn an ordinary vacation into a creativity-boosting adventure.
Slow Travel
How much can you truly experience in a one or two-week vacation? Any travel is good travel with many benefits on the creative mind and well-being, but if you want to get the most out of your creative adventures, slow travel is the way to go.
Slow travel emphasizes connections. From meeting locals and other travelers to soaking in experiences and destinations. A slow travel habit immerses you in a new way of living to experience a destination and yourself in new and deeper ways. For the creative mind, slow travel also helps cultivate new connections in the brain that can support divergent thinking and novel ideas.
At its heart, slow travel is mindful travel. Creative minds, especially those traveling to support their creative process, practice this habit to guide and free the mind.
Tips
- Do your research – Travel deeper and experience more by knowing the destination and all it has to offer. Learn the language. Read books and watch movies about the life and history of the destination.
- Cultural exchange – Connect with the locals. Join activities to learn their creative hobbies and way of life. Volunteer and learn how the locals live and open yourself to putting yourself in another’s shoes.
- Go inwards – Use other creative habits like journaling and meditation to get to know yourself better. Travel opens our eyes to the world and ourselves. Make sure you’re supporting your journey inwards while traveling outwards.
- Don’t plan everything – Be open to wandering and spontaneous adventures. Slow travel doesn’t mean you need to have no plan but leaving space and openness to experiences creates opportunities for unique creative adventures.
Live Abroad
There’s no better kind of slow travel than living abroad. When we travel, the mind builds new connections based on all the new experiences and sensations. This is amplified with slow travel and living abroad. There are many benefits to living abroad, from personal development to professional advantages. For the creative, this creates an environment for creativity to thrive.
Perhaps the best example of creatives living abroad to support their creativity is the “Lost Generation” of writers and artists of the 1920s living in places like Paris. These international communities of creatives living abroad, learning from each other, and exploring other cultures have created some of the greatest creative works in history.
Creative Benefits of Living Abroad
- Self-discovery and development
- Cultivates an open mind
- New skills
- Builds connections and communities
- Develops new perspectives and empathy
- Improves communication skills
Creatives Who Lived Abroad
- Gustave Flaubert – Mediterranean region
- Scott Fitzgerald – Paris
- Gertrude Stein – Paris
- Stanley Kubrick – London
- Ernest Hemingway – Paris, Cuba,
- Tina Turner – Switzerland
- Pablo Picasso – Paris
Tips
- Learn the local language.
- Document your time abroad with a journal.
- Embrace culture shock. Get outside of your comfort zone and try new things.
- Learn local hobbies and creative lessons from different cultures.
Seeking Water for Inspiration
From ancient to modern times, creative minds have based travel around water for inspiration and well-being. In ancient Greece, poets and artists traveled to the Hippocrene Spring on Mt. Helicon, which was sacred to the muses for inspiring creativity, a gift of the gods. Picasso, Dalí, Monet, and other artists all had travel spots near water to inspire their creativity.
Beyond its mythical sources of inspiration, why do so many creatives throughout history seek out water for inspiration? Over the years, science has begun to uncover why water is more than just a tasteless substance vital for all known forms of life it’s a source of creative inspiration and well-being. Drinking water, especially tea, can support brain functions that can improve divergent thinking and mood. Even the color of water affects us both cognitively and physically, making us feel more comfortable and calm. The list of scientific benefits of water goes on and on. Without knowing, creatives have always been fascinated and inspired by water, which is why it has always been a dominant feature in artistic expression and a metaphor used in religious creation stories. Just like creative minds, water is a source of creation.
There are many ways you can incorporate water into your travels, from activities to just being near it. By stacking other creative travel habits like unique experiences, you can support your creativity and well-being in healthy ways to get more out of your travel.
Creatives Inspired by Water
- Claude Monet – Gardens ponds and water lilies
- Ludwig van Beethoven – Bath/shower Brainstorming
- Oliver Sacks – Swimming for creative blocks
- Albert Einstein – Sailing
- Pablo Naruda – Lived by the sea for poetry
- Henry David Thoreau – Hiking and writing near ponds
- Julian Schnabel – Surfing
- Benjamin Franklin – Swimming
Tips
- Meditate and brainstorm in water.
- Stay hydrated to improve brain functions for creativity.
- Try unique travel experiences in water like scuba diving and snorkeling.
- Learn the local cultural connections with water, like the water festivals in Southeast Asia.
Journaling
Journaling is a great daily habit for creativity and productivity. It’s hard to find a famous creative mind that didn’t keep some kind of journal to track their ideas and experiences, especially while traveling. Getting thoughts out of your head to explore for self-development and creative brainstorming can be key to finding that novel idea that could change everything.
Travel has many benefits for the creative mind. When you track and explore your experiences with journaling, not only can you improve the experience by going deeper, but you’re creating a supportive tool for the future. Looking back and reading your travel journals can trigger memories and even flow states to inspire creative thinking. Travel is also a way to go inwards. While putting yourself in unique experiences, you learn more about yourself.
Research shows that expressive writing can be a therapeutic tool for improving emotional health and even longer-term physical health. Traveling isn’t just discovering new places and experiences. It’s a journey of self-discovery and development. By seeing new perspectives and challenging yourself, you’re also learning more about yourself. Travel journaling can guide and support this process. When you journal, you are expressing yourself and exploring your own nature. At its heart, journaling allows you to get thoughts and feeling out of your head for better perspective and release.
Tips
- Start small and keep your expectations realistic.
- Try different kinds of journaling to find what works best for you.
- Don’t try to be perfect. It’s ok to have a messy journal.
- Experiencing a creative block? Try a creative prompt to get you started.
- Best Notebooks for Creatives
Learn From Other Cultures
Whether you know it or not, travel is a learning experience, and there’s plenty to learn from cultures around the world. Each culture has developed its creativity differently, and when cultures meet and learn from one another, great things can happen. For example, the Meiji era in Japan was heavily influenced by meeting Western cultures. Japan adopted many ideas while also sharing its own. This meeting had a profound effect on social structures, economies, and arts around the world.
One of the crucial elements of creative living and travel is an openness to experience. By practicing a beginner’s mind or growth mindset that is open to learning, you support new connections and novel insights. This travel habit can even start before you hit the open road. Reading books, watching movies, listening to music from other cultures is a great way to learn from cultures before traveling.
Many creative minds have felt the stagnation in their creativity while at home, and to overcome it, they would travel to other countries to learn from cultures and creative minds. There’s always something new to learn. When we approach travel with an openness to learn, we support creative thinking, self-discovery, and connecting with creative communities around the world helps us all grow and build a better world.
Tips
- Learn the language – Knowing the local language opens up many possibilities to support creative travel. Either learning before you go, while you’re there, or even using the latest translator apps can help you travel deeper.
- Join local holidays and festivals – Holidays and festivals are a great way to learn about the local culture and the role creativity plays in it. Befriend the locals and join in the fun.
- Try the food – Food always brings people together. It’s a great way to open the mind to new experiences, connect with the locals, and dive into the local culture. Every dish has its story.
Zach is an international writer, photographer, filmmaker, martial artist, and creator of Creative Enso, the Zen art of creative living. His goal is to empower and inspire creatives to live healthier, happier, and more creative lifestyles.
