Before I started studying abroad I had a plan to do more personal writing in the hopes that I could get back in the swing of a writing routine. This was something I had much more of in my sophomore year when I would write one poem a day and experimented a lot with what I could do with writing in general. But I hadn't done much in the way of a long story in some time, the last time being when I began work on a rather lengthy short story that I stopped half way through because the idea had grown a bit dull.
But I think the main point to shine light on is how a change in environment really did help my writing. I suppose it's a bit of a cliche typically shown in film and sometimes in books. The writer's block addled author who has come to a new location, usually a small town or somewhere in the middle of nowhere, to find purpose in their writing once again. This if fine but these narratives never seem to point out just how a change in scenery can help the mind creatively. What I've found most interesting is that through traveling I have met a collection of people along the way that have brought inspiration to me.
Of course people watching has been helpful. I once met a woman in a cafe who had a conversation with me about how she feels regarding her treatment by the religious services on campus. I had a conversation with a Dutch family in line for the Van Gogh museum. I think that it's important to meet new people in order to refresh your creative outlook.
But beyond that, the isolation has helped a lot too. It seems strange, but there are less distractions while I'm traveling. I think that it's important to find time to isolate yourself from the rest of the world, at least in a healthy capacity. If anything it removes any reasons you may have for not writing, as anxiety inducing as that may be if you're still prone to avoiding writing while you have little else to do.
But most importantly, I have found that simply seeing new places on its own is enough to give me fresh ideas for personal writing. It's not much, but it's enough to help break through any writer's block you may be having. Having interesting experiences in old cities where you don't speak the language is enough to send a jolt of creativity through. I know for one, that when I return home after spending hours lost in a foreign place that the one thing I want to do is put finger to keyboard and start putting a story together.
