how to be consistently writing even when you're on vacation there is a
surprisingly a lot of downtime when traveling but writing is also a lot work
in transit or after a long day of excursion you might not have the energy
to sit down and write but that is because you're thinking of writing a big
story you are thinking you need to sit down and craft a whole novel you don't
vacation time is not the time to immerse yourself in a new project and it's a bad
idea to pack your epic work and bring it on the trip with you the trip itself is
the project what you need to do is document it yes if you really want it to
you can most certainly piece together a first draft on your trip but what I want
to talk about is filling the well in our day-to-day lives we are pulling water
from the well this is our creative inspiration these are our experiences
these are our energy and motivation these are conversations and ideas we
fetch water from this well every time we start a new conversation meets someone
new or sit down to a blank page eventually we find ourselves saying the
same things or expressing the same ideas over and over again in the same way
vacation and traveling is a good time to pause the fetching and begin the filling
here's another metaphor for writing while traveling it's more about
collecting dots then when you are home and you have those lazy Saturdays to get
to work that is the time to connect them so how do you collect these dots here
are five tips that will help you get your ideas down on paper while traveling
find alone time if you're traveling with companions you will need to find not
only time but alone time it's hard to write in the middle of dinner during an
excursion or while everyone is watching you so 5 15 to 30 minutes here and there
to jot down your thoughts this can be early in the morning while you are
grabbing breakfast and coffee or while everyone is getting ready to head out
for the night find a few moments to order a drink
chill and just be alone with your thoughts take pictures and record videos
even if you aren't carrying a camera with a smartphone you could capture a
moment not in the same way your memory will but you can definitely get some of
the physical detail recorded then when you get back to a writing spot or even
when you return home you can reference those pictures and videos to help expand
your writing free right don't think too much of a plot or character development
or the end result with only a short amount of time to write before you have
to head out for the day or crash for the night
you want to make the most of the time you have this is the time to simply get
the idea on paper make a habit to just dump your thoughts once a day or a few
times a week one technique you can apply is to pretend like you're writing a
letter or an email to a friend or a family member back home don't worry
about technology or organization I prefer writing in a notebook when I'm
traveling it's much easier to deal with then lugging around a laptop you want to
be able to write in a moment's notice so none of that booting up the computer
shit I also try not to worry too much about organization or having one clear
thought going from page to page I jut down my thoughts and ideas in the moment
with a goal for me to reflect on later nevertheless your smartphone is once
again a great tool if you're writing captions for Instagram post to me that
still counts as writing remind yourself your writer it's easy to
go on vacation and completely forget your goals you stop exercising you eat
more you party harder yes you paid a lot of money to enjoy your trip and if you
don't want to write don't if you feel like you might miss out on something fun
don't write right then and there go enjoy the experience there's nothing
worse than being on vacation and feeling like you should do something else like
work it's all about a frame of mind be in the moment you are a writer whether
you write one word that day or a thousand words don't feel guilty because
sooner or later you will return to the pages there you have it bring a notepad
with you on your next trip and just jot down your thoughts whenever you have a
moment or two you pretend like you're writing to someone back home don't worry
about any finished products or what these idea can become it's all about
collecting dots and filling the well my name is Elliot Chan and if this is your
first time on this channel I make videos to inspire and motivate writers and
creators while documenting my own journey if you like what you see don't
forget to subscribe and follow me on my other social channels thank you for
watching have a safe journey