With the wanderlust of authors such as Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jules Verne becoming a key part of their craft and personality, writing has long been associated with travel. Few people can resist the image of a creative soul scribbling down ideas as they explore interesting places, and for many writers travelling as they work is a romantic and idyllic image.
The responsibilities of real life mean that most writers find it difficult to search for inspiration on foreign shores, but if you do want to travel and write more there are ways to make this a reality. Everyday tasks and obligations can feel insurmountable at times, but there’s practical ways that you can bring more travel into your life and writing practise.
Save Money Elsewhere
If you need a few weeks out somewhere warmer, colder, livelier or quieter (whatever takes your fancy!) to get your creative brain sparking but don’t have the money immediately to hand, is there anything you can give up? A neglected gym membership, new furniture when the old things will do, even a daily Starbucks habit are all superfluous things that – if they aren’t that important to you – you can easily do without.
There are plenty of things that we buy, even small everyday purchases, which perhaps we would prefer to forgo in order to travel more. Identifying the things you spend money on out of habit and redirecting those funds is a quick way to find the cash to travel more.
Find a Writer’s Retreat
Sometimes, the distractions and often uninspiring surroundings of everyday life can drain your creative spark and demotivate you. In this case finding a space just to write in a beautiful part of the country can do wonders, and there’s plenty of UK creative writing courses out there. This is a great way to create some time purely devoted to writing, meet likeminded people and go somewhere quiet and lovely.
Work Remotely
Working remotely isn’t something that will work for everyone, but for freelancers, or those who work from home, it’s a surprisingly accessible option. Many people need nothing but an internet connection these days to complete their jobs, and if you make money from your writing career, this tends to be even truer.
With this, you can go abroad and still earn money, simply by carrying on working in whatever location you happen to be in. This could be a working holiday or something a little more long term, there’s lots of alternative ways to take your work with you as you see the world.
For more long term stays, one of the biggest challenges will be finding accommodation. If you’re lucky enough that budget isn’t an issue and not being able to travel as much as you’d like is simply a matter of convenience, there are companies that will provide a luxury villa and chalet collection which you can use at your leisure. Alternatively, renting locally, touring hostels, house sitting or even staying with far-flung relatives are all options when you are working abroad.
Go on Local Vacations
Lots of people can become limited by the idea that “travel” means “going as far away as possible”, when there’s plenty of opportunities for travel experiences close by. You could spend some time soaking up the atmosphere of the nearest seaside town, write in the gardens of a country home or check out the best hotel in your local area.
All these things can give you the new experiences and perfect escapes that will bring more travel into your life and work.
Write About Your Travel Experiences
One of the plus sides of all this is that you can then make money from writing about your experiences, which would be a great bonus! There’s plenty of magazines and online blogs that need reviews of hotels and restaurants, first-person accounts of new places, and general travel writing. As a career, travel writing can be hard to break into, but as a hobby or something to supplement your income, writing about your time abroad can be fun and fulfilling.
Carving out a work retreat no matter where you are is essential to being able to write on the road. I have actually written in the bathroom of a hotel room before. LOL
I love to write when I travel. I find that some of my best material comes from trips. They make for great stories.
I love to travel and am working and saving the money I make as a V.A. to go towards a cross country trip that I am planning in September. I can’t wait.
I have been able to travel more by writing about my travels. I am actually going on a trip next week and writing about it on my blog.
When I travel I think my words flow better. Less distractions and more ease when answering emails. I just feel less rushed and more inspired! 🙂 Travel is good for the sou!
I’ve never thought about traveling and blogging about all my adventures at the same time – I could imagine that a LOT of fun could be had
These are great tips! I have a few travel plans next month! All local, but will still be fun!
Sitting down to figure out what you spend money on out of habit versus necessity is just plain smart for many reasons. If definitely would help make sure the cash flow goes where it needs to!
All of these are great ideas I have done before and currently doing except for the writers retreat! I think that is so interesting I need to look into one!
Such an interesting post, will definitely keep these tips in mind!
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Useful tips here. I love to write as I travel.
This is such a great post, I take a road trip every other weekend and plan to write about it but I always forget and can’t write as passionate unless i am in the moment. I will have to try to use these tips to write when traveling!
My husband and I were just talking about how we plan on going to more local destinations/other U.S. states as a method to increase our travels.
Thanks for the other helpful hints you present here for traveling more.
This is great. I wish I travelled more, I bet it would spark a bit more creativity. We don’t travel which is fine but in case I ever do this is great.
When my youngest is off to college, we would love to travel more. Making money writing while doing so would be a dream. These are all great tips to consider for when we are able to finally make that a reality.
I have found, in my life, experiences mean a lot more than material goods. It was a great suggestion to find ways to sacrifice so that you can have those travels.
I write for my blogs when I travel. These are very helpful tips.
Great post – I love travelling and writing about where we go. I love that my blog enables me to do that 🙂 Kaz x
I read an article once about a program that runs once a year where they take several writers travelling around the world to write in different settings. It seems like such a great op.
But then again there’s that similar Chuck Palahniuk novel, haunted, which didn’t end so well!
Corinne x
I love writing and find that it is easier to get the words out when I am away somewhere beautiful. I haven’t been on a trip for a while because of low funds while I was on maternity leave. When I am at work though, I do sometimes wander to the British museum and sit on the stairs inside. There is something about the atmosphere there that always gets me going. Thank you for sharing your tips
These are some fantastic suggestions. I would love to write and travel, alas, it costs so much to get off my island I’m stuck where I am!
Certainly in these times one can work from almost anywhere. I do some travel writing and really like to write when I’m in the area I’m writing about. Great ideas!
I would love to go to a writers retreat. That’s something I really need. lol
Traveling more would be awesome. especially if I could write about it and get paid. 🙂
These suggestions are spot on. Finding a place just for writing is one of those things I would prioritize and finding the time for local targets ain’t a bad idea. Thanks for writing this one! I’ll be sure to share this with my mates.
Really useful advice Sarah. I want to travel, so I’m hoping to get to the point where I’m making enough from the blog to do just that!
Great tips, I would love to travel more but with childcare costs we are more limited than before x
Great advice and tips! Saving money on the little things is really surpiring how much you can actually save. I gave up drinking fizzy and decided to put that 85p in a jar instead of spending it on a can of pop. It all adds up and I was SO surprised to see I had almost £17 after 3 weeks! Madness. Finding a place to write is another good one. I quite like writing down my blogging ideas whilst I’m sat by the river – it’s so relaxing and so much easier to write and think! 🙂 Lovely post. xx