Writing while traveling

[Jackie.Hikaru]

Sharing some red wine writing our separate things in the quiet evenings was nice and relaxing

That’s wonderful

 

[KittyOfSteele]

was ist das?

Bullet Journal.

 

[redgarters]

That’s wonderful

It really is
And she's a much better writer than I am, so it's nice to have a veteran to ask advice from

 

[SimonDoom]

I’ve recently gone on a sabbatical to travel, and I hoped to use the time to write a lot more. But since I’ve started traveling, I’ve been writing far less than when I was working a stressful job with long hours lol. Truth is, I don’t look forward to writing as much now as I used to…I suppose that tells me something about why I write — escape apparently. Maybe it’s a good thing I don’t have that urge for an escape anymore, but at the same time I’d love to get back to writing while I have the time to write.

So, I’m curious to know, what do you all do for writing when you’re traveling / on vacation / on holiday etc. ??

Do you write? Do you try to stick to your daily ritual? Do you adopt a “traveler mode” writing regimen, or do you take a pause and just soak up life?

I went on a 3 week trip to Europe in June, and I didn't write a lick. I just wanted to focus on the travel. I'm glad I did.

 

[iwatchus]

Because of my knee, I haven't done much travel at all since I started writing fiction nine months ago. So I can't comment much on that. But I have done non-fiction writing on trips before.

To me, tourism travel and relaxing travel are completely different things. When I go somewhere to experience the place and its culture, I want to spend all my energy soaking that up. I have occasionally gotten small amounts of work done. But there are relaxing trips (I prefer the outer banks to south jersey, Emily, although I have spent substantial time at both), which are great for writing.

I get motion sick, so I cannot read or write in a moving vehicle, including a plane. I have not taken a long flight since I started writing fiction, but I know I have worked out a proof for a theorem in my head on a transatlantic flight. I'm looking forward to sketching out plot ideas and dialogues in my head on a long flight once my knee allows travel again.

 

[THBGato]

But when I'm on holiday in our cabin out in the country I'll write on my tablet.

Sounds idyllic.

I can't write when we travel. Our kids are school age, so summer is when we head back to other European countries from the one we live on to visit friends, family and festivals. (PS: if anyone is looking for an EV setting, try the Wilderness festival - 24 streakers during a single innings of a cricket match.) There's no time for writing; we're flitting from place to place too much, trying to cram in cultural visits the kids.

It's a small data set, but judging on the last two years, that summer break screws me up creatively. 2024, 2025 I seemed to hit a real writing zone from March through to July, but then I've really struggled to get back into it once the kids go back in September...

 

[crookedletter]

Depends on the trip. I almost always bring a notebook with me, even if I know I'll be busy, in case I get the bug. It often just stays in the bag until I get home.

If we take an adventure type trip, I like to sometimes keep a sort of log of what we're doing, write about trails we hiked, etc., which is writing I guess but also doesn't really count. Sometimes on a trip like that my mind will get to noodling something and if time allows I'll sit down and jot it down. But more often than not, not much.

Now a beach trip is different. I'm one of those people who can sit on a beach indefinitely if you keep me in beer and books, and that's fertile ground for the mind to wander. The last time we took a beach trip I actually wrote a lot. Had a new idea for a novel that I wrote down some thoughts on (still haven't started actually writing it since I'm working on another one); wrote some stuff for the novel I'm already working on; and wrote some rambling nonsense that may or may not become a story one day. I aspirationally brought two notebooks, because one only had a handful of blank pages left -- I finished that one and bit off a solid chunk of the next one.

Enough to justify packing the notebook again next trip, at least.