I've had a spring in my step this week, and it's not just because spring has sprung - though it definitely has. It's only been a few weeks since I returned from my last trip. It was a hard return in many ways - I had been sick, and had some travel tangles along the way. But in these past days I have realised I operate best when I have something to look forward to. Therefore, I hopped over to Pinterest and started collecting beautiful photos of places I would like to revisit. The above is a screenshot of part of my feed. It's exciting, I tell you! I love to feast my eyes on images like these, to remember being there - yes, that's what it was like, and it will be again.
Experiencing a range of places is also essential in my writing journey. No location has quite the same feel as another - there are the little things you notice, the smells, the ambience, the colours of the sky, the mannerisms and language of the local people. I have written about many of these places before, and hope to do so again with all the force I can muster, to drag readers inside the experience as if they were there themselves.
Of course, writing science fiction often means the settings have to be tweaked - say, a little for a futuristic Ireland, or a lot for an alien planet.
Even if the travel itself is still a faraway dream, looking at the pictures is a darn good substitute for now.
Visit Grace's new website at www.gracebridges.co.nz (still under construction, but feel free to have a nosey!)
Friend Me
Travel, aah what a great word....my bag is packed, but it is getting dusty. I have been to 21 countries and would go in a minute if I could: back surgery, knee replacements and winning the lottery are the essentials! Some days, especially the rainy ones, I take out the photo albums and let them trigger memories to add to my journals. And an occasional poem.
ReplyDeleteTravel most definitely stirs the senses! Judith Coopy