In this series, Beth Barany and I continue to share with you the magic of travel and writing. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, novels, short stories, personal essays or keep journals, we offer information, tips, techniques and tools for making the most of your travel for your writing. Look for posts from us every other Wednesday. And get information on our destination retreats, Beth’s in Paris, mine near Delphi, Greece. For this third post in the series, Beth and I share with you how to prepare and what to take for your travel and writing adventure.
This past spring, my husband Bob and I had the opportunity to fulfill a long-time dream—a three-week trip to Tuscany, Italy.
I knew that there were going to be long hours of travel and other little pockets of time at cafes and in the evenings as well. I wanted to be prepared to work on my manuscript, read, or record and play with the ideas and images inspired by the trip.
Determined to pack as lightly as possible, we each took one carry-on—a backpack for Bob and a tote for me—and one small checked suitcase that we could manoeuvre on and off trains and buses. So I had to think carefully about what other than clothes and a good pair of walking shoes (Sketchers) I would pack.
Take your phone and, if you have one, a tablet.
Taking my computer notebook to Italy and back was out of the question. So were paperback books or a hardbound journal.
Instead, I relied on my Samsung Galaxy S4 phone and my Samsung Galaxy Tab2 7.0 tablet. Taking pictures, listening to music, and reading were possible with both. And my tablet has a Bluetooth wireless keyboard that I used for emails and writing. I packed the necessary cords in a Ziploc bag.
I uploaded my manuscript to DropBox so I could access it wherever I was for more writing and editing. I also had Evernote on both phone and tablet so I could make notes, file pictures or other bits of info if necessary.
Add one or two soft cover journals.
Whether you like Moleskine or Leuchtturm or Martha Stewart or some other maker, soft cover journals are lighter than other types and allow you to fold back the pages to write when elbow space is at a premium. Many of these also have pockets in the back which make them a great place to stash picture postcards that provide inspiration for settings or other story details, maps, and even small menus. I took one journal for my novel and one for everything else.
These went into my tote along with a 9 ½ x 12 ½ plastic zip poly envelope that held a magazine, some other notes on my novel. Because my tote was a soft-sided tote, the envelope kept my papers clean, flat and in one place.
Don’t forget writing tools.
Whatever you like to write with, make sure to take several. You aren’t always somewhere that is easy to buy just the right pens, pencils, markers or highlighters when inspiration strikes.
I happen to love writing with fountain pens and took several disposable Pilot fountain pens. I packed these in a soft-sided zip pen case along with some sticky tabs for noting pages and lines in my writing.
A small cosmetics bag and jewelry case and a change of top and underwear (in case luggage was lost or delayed) went into the tote as well.
Happily, no matter where I was or what was happening, I was prepared to write, explore and record it all.
For more advice on how to prepare and what to pack check out Beth’s post here.