Travelling and Writing – Open Book Blog Hop #400

♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

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Topic #400

Do you write while you are travelling? How do you make it work?

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Trips cost a lot of money and missing out on the experience regardless of that fact still feels like a betrayal! Usually, when I go on vacation, I’m going somewhere I want to be busy doing activities that take me out of the hotel room, or out of the house. In the end, that really is the whole point: to set your work down and rest.

I’d write while travelling to the destination, but it’s difficult to do so. If you’re driving, you can’t (even if you’re riding it can be bumpy). Space to work is limited on planes and in automobiles. When I wrote in a notebook, I found it hard to deal with the space and motion. I can’t even read while riding. On a plane, you’re limited in the use of devices. I can’t just whip out the laptop. The attendants don’t like you to use your devices, as they can’t tell if you’re online or not, and they’re prohibited in various portions of the flight besides. Again, a notebook may be alright but planes also have a motion to them and the spacing in the seats…

When I get to my destination, the last thing I am thinking about is work! However, if I am travelling for work, I like a diversion for the evenings. Often, hotel televisions pose difficulties. Finding a show to watch either costs extra or poses a scavenger hunt, making it more of a point to leave it off the whole time instead. Bringing your own device is useful for navigating those difficulties, and since my I write on a laptop, I can often use mine to work on a book.

That said, even when travelling for work, it is difficult to find a substantial span of time to get in the mood and the groove of writing. Think about those conferences. They keep you hopping from one event to the next right up until later evening. By then, you just want a shower and bed! While I find it hard to sleep in hotels, writing wouldn’t help me unwind. I am quite obsessive once I start, and then hours and hours pass without needed rest.

By now, you can probably tell that I don’t travel to write, either. I’d travel to research something for a book, but travelling to do writing would be a foolish thing for me to attempt. No writing would happen but I sure would see some sights! And, yes. It always amused me when movies or television depicted writers resolving their writer’s block with a trip to write far away from their life. Inevitably, you see, they can’t do the deed either!

When I travel, my favorite artistic endeavors are to make notes for future works or do photography. Painting trips are something I would not mind undertaking, either. Not sure how I would get anything home again, such as supplies and canvasses. If I could drive to the spot, then that would be no matter. However, flying to France or Italy, or elsewhere beyond my borders, creates a little logistical issue. Still, travelling to paint makes so much more sense to me.

I suppose one could travel to an interesting place and spend many weeks both exploring and writing. Who has the cash laying about to do that?

Click on the links below to see how the other authors in our hop manage writing on trips. Remember to subscribe to the blog to receive this hop in your inbox weekly on Fridays! See you here next time!

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