“Travel definitely affects me as a writer,” said Anthony Doerr, and he was far not the first one to admit this. Remember Jack Keruac’s “live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry,” or E.B.White’s “travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness… Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime,” or E. Hemingway’s: “it is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” I could continue the list of quotes on dozens of pages, but it seems there is no need trying to prove this; everyone already agrees that travel broadens our horizons and boosts our creative energy.

At the same time, we only get to know the healing and inspiring effect of travel when we are smart enough to be able to analyze things that we see around us. Those who are unable to grow excited, admire, appreciate, or at least compare things to each other will never see the beauty of travel. It is like bringing romance with you to an island when you are looking to have a romantic adventure.

My recent trips have been doing something wonderful to me. I come up with numerous ideas when I hit the road. Then, during months on returning home, I can’t stop thinking them over and writing. At times, they become overwhelming, but every creative person goes through this stage once in a while. I have an unbeatable drive to put it all on paper, so I have to say to my friends who call me out for coffee: “I’m Sorry. Not now,” I rub my temples and add, “not today… er- maybe some other day… later. Bye.”

It feels rather bad to postpone every other task besides writing, but again, I hear inside me: “To hell with little obligations and tasks, they can wait! To hell with unfinished books that long for some final editing. To hell with everything that is not writing!”

I glsnce at my calendar and my working diary. They seem to look back with reproach. “I will be with you… some day,” I say sternly, “but now, I’ve got to write, it’s important, you know.”

In the end, this is not my fault! It’s the travel…

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