A World of Inspiration

by Deborah Raney

Last Wednesday I returned from the dream trip of a lifetime, one I wasn’t sure would actually happen before I died. It was our first time to travel overseas and we spent three glorious days in Paris, then wound our way through the United Kingdom—England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland—over the next ten days before returning to London to fly home.

Our trip was everything I could have ever hoped for—made all the more fun because we traveled with my husband’s brothers and sister and their spouses. There was something special about sharing the trip with family. A chance to talk about what we’d seen at the end of each day, and to see the world through the eyes of others as well as my own.

Since Europe is so full of history, it seemed that this trip might be wasted on me, a writer of contemporary stories, but there is something about traveling to new places that triggers ideas, no matter what genre you write. In fact, on a wild ferry ride across the channel from Wales to Ireland, while we tried not to fall off our chairs or lose our lunches, Ken’s sister helped me plot a new book idea that I just love!

I think writers get stuck sometimes when we never venture out of familiar territory in our real lives. Or if we tend to write books that are all set in the same locale, ideas tend to stagnate. I firmly believe that traveling to new places, experiencing new views, tasting new foods, hearing other languages and accents, is a great formula for exploring new themes in our novels, no matter where our stories are set.No matter how far from home you travel—to the next town over or the other side of the world—here are a few tips to get the most inspiration for writing from your travels.

• Don’t hesitate to talk to the people you encounter on your journey. Even if they don’t speak your language. Some of our most interesting interactions were with cab drivers or café servers who spoke very little English. We found everyone in France and the U.K. so friendly, helpful, and willing to share!

• Take notes! You think you’ll remember, but in my experience, the minute I get to the next state or country, I’ve already forgotten important details of what I experienced before. If time is short, use voice recording and send yourself a text or email.

• Take tons of photos. Not just of the famous places (you can always find those photos on the Internet when you get home) but of the side streets, the hotels, the laundromat where you did your laundry, the grocery stores, post offices, and other places where the locals live life. And be sure to label photos soon after you take them. I’ve only been home two days but already I’m glad I took the time to label my pictures because my memory banks are full!

• Take videos when possible. There’s nothing that brings back the flavor of a place like hearing its sounds! The way the language sounds when everyone around you is speaking in a different accent than yours. The sounds of the traffic or street vendors or children playing in a park.

• Keep a journal of your impressions, and if you’re in a place for more than a day or two, note how those impressions change. I was expecting Paris to be unfriendly to us as Americans, but we couldn’t have felt more welcome or cared for everywhere we went in the city.

• Grab maps and tour guides and any literature you can get your hands on from the places you visit.

• Get out of your gustatory comfort zone and try something you’ve never eaten before. On the other hand, eat at a foreign McDonald’s, Burger King, or KFC at least once. You’ll be surprised how different it may be from the same American fast food places.

• Note the phrases and idiosyncrasies of the places you visit. We noticed how often the words lovely and brilliant were used in the U.K. And we were soon all saying “good golly gumdrops” after hearing our tour guide use it multiple times. (Be careful though, that you aren’t seen as mocking.)

Ken and I have been RVing throughout the U.S. for the last five years and I’ve grown so much, gained so many insights into how people think and interact. Traveling abroad widened my horizons even further. But in case your budget or current life situation doesn’t allow you to roam, like mine for so many years, don’t let that stop you from writing. I wrote and successfully published almost 40 books before I was able to travel. But I certainly recommend you put travel on your bucket list for the future. I came home with a wealth of ideas. And even though our trip wasn’t technically a research trip, it certainly ended being just that!

Happy travels! Whether you’re flying across an ocean, riding a bicycle a few miles from home, or traveling via books and movies from the comfort of your armchair, a world of inspiration awaits you.

Deborah Raney’s first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title and launched her writing career. Forty books and numerous awards later, she’s still creating stories that touch hearts and lives. She and her husband are recent Missouri transplants and enjoy traveling, biking, and spending time with their kids and baker’s dozen of grandkids.