Thinking of becoming a travel writer yourself? Well, you've come to the right place!
Now, I'm going to be honest and upfront with you. Traveling is exhausting. Writing is exhausting. Trying to delve into the creative process while being sleep deprived, clouded by the overwhelming feeling of being in a new place, mild dehydration, and having sore feet is a daunting task. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible, however. It certainly can be done it just takes a bit more discomfort.
I traveled to London in March. The first time I had ever been to Europe. The first time I have taken a significant trip without my family. I left my mom, dad, and two younger brothers (and my dog) home in New Jersey and flew 3600 miles across the pond. Thankfully, I had two of my best friends on either side of me for the week we were there. We went for an English class, a travel writing course. It’s our senior year and we figured this was the perfect opportunity to see some of what the world has to offer before we go off into the real world ourselves. So, the night of March 15th, 2019, we departed Baltimore and were on our way to the United Kingdom.
The first days were chaotic, and on little to almost no sleep, these days, to be blunt, were miserable. Then on top of not having enough sleep, experiencing caffeine withdrawal, not drinking enough water throughout the day, and having this contradictory feeling like I am right at home but a total stranger to this place, we had to write. And write. And write. And write. Now, I have always had a very regimented creative process. At home, there is a specific spot in my room in which I have created my best work. When I’m not in that space, I second guess my art, my photographs, my writing, all of it. So, being separated by almost 4000 miles from that spot and having to write some of the most creative pieces that capture the essence of the great city of London was quite a challenge. I felt pressured to write perfect pieces worth sharing to the rest of my peers and professor who were on the trip with me, oftentimes resulting in me not sharing at all.
I learned that I can’t write creatively on the Tube, nor could I do it on a coach bus to a palace outside the city. I could, to my surprise, however, write something worth sharing while I sat in a quiet park and watched dogs run off-leash, a group of schoolkids walking home from school, and a couple snuggled up on a bench nearby. I didn’t have any trouble writing in Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, surrounded by the legacy of one of the greatest writers to grace this planet. Writing at the Victoria and Albert Museum while being nose-to-nose with an 18th century marble bust of the ancient Greek philosopher, Democritus, or trying to grasp the immensity of the Statue of David that towered over the other exhibits was a breeze.
With that being said, I encourage you to go about your travel writing experiences deliberately: take a step back from the hustle and bustle of the city. Find a secluded, quiet place to let your creativity pour out of you. Don’t try to capture all the emotions, sensations, and experiences in your writing. Instead, focus on one aspect and write about it so intensely that you capture the entirety of that one thing. This is when you will find success in your travel writing.
