10 Inspiring Reasons Why Fiction Writers Should Travel

First off, I’m not saying you need to travel to be a writer. But I am saying that traveling can change both the writer and their perspective of the world, and I think that’s why fiction writers should travel, if they could.

When we think of traveling writers, we often think of travel writers, or even memoirists. That is, we think of non-fiction writing. But as a fiction writer, I am aware of how much travel influences and enhances my writing.

You know the saying that you should write what you know? Well, if you travel you know a lot more about the world as a whole than someone who has never left their hometown. And while there are plenty of great writers who never traveled, many have.

Here’s what I think: the more you live, the better writer you become. And when you travel, you’re really living, not just existing.

As always, there are exceptions to the rule, but I think that translates into being able to write better stories.

Maybe you’re already a fiction writer who travels. (If you are, check out my free travel-inspired creative writing prompts.) This post might help you realize the benefits you’re getting from doing that.

Or maybe you’re a writer who has not yet embarked on a journey into the world, and you are wondering how travel can benefit your writing.

Either way, I hope I can convince you that it’s helpful for fiction writers to travel, not just travel writers or other non-fiction writers.

1. Travel Removes You from Your “Normal”

This is one of my favorite parts of travel, and it’s why I don’t like staying in one place for too long. Once you get used to a place, you’re less likely to be aware of all the little details you are more aware of when you first go somewhere new, or somewhere you haven’t been for a long time.

And personally, I think the little details are what make all the difference in exceptional writing.

What I also find so inspiring about this is that when you do eventually go back home to your “normal,” you see your home with fresh eyes again, having been away. So even if you’re writing about a place or topic that is familiar to you, coming back from travel will help you look at it with fresh perspective.

2. Travel Makes You Try New Things

This adds on to the sentiment of writing what you know. Trying new things and having experiences you wouldn’t have had otherwise is how you “know” more. The more experiences you have, the more authentically you could give those experiences to your characters.

You’ll also be more in tune with different emotions. Trying new things makes you alert, and it’s normal to feel excited, nervous or even scared. If you’re experiencing all of those emotions, it will be easier to write about them.

And the best plots usually need characters to feel some of these intense emotions.

3. Travel Teaches You New Things About Yourself

Going off that, trying new things will make you look inward at who you are. There’s nothing like, for example, standing on top of a cliff and seeing if you have the guts to jump into the water below, to make you see who you are as a person.

When you’re traveling, you’re more likely to be truly and fully living than just thinking about living, and that helps you get to know yourself. It’s easy to sit at an office desk and think that you’ll take the jump, but saying and thinking is not the same as actually doing.

Also, because in between your packed itinerary you don’t have time to live in your head, you’ll come back to that inward living with a fresh perspective.

Why is this beneficial to your writing?

Your writing tends to reflect you, so the deeper you know yourself, the better you will be able to observe the intricacies of your characters.

4. Travel Changes Your Perspective of the World

You’re not going to want to read a book where every character shares the same perspective (that of the writer), right? And while you don’t need to travel to learn about different views and perspectives, it’s certainly easier to achieve this and to better understand when you’re in a place where people are different from you.

Seek the places where you’re the minority and challenge your views. Your characters will likely be much more interesting if you do so.

5. Travel Introduces You to New People (a.k.a. Future Character Ideas)

Many writers draw character ideas based on real people they have met. If you never meet new people, or meet people who are all pretty much the same, your characters might be fairly similar as well.

When you meet people who you normally wouldn’t have met if you didn’t travel, you’re going to be able to write more diverse and convincing characters.

Who knows: maybe a really interesting person you meet will even inspire a story idea.

6. Travel Can Help You World Build: in any genre of fiction

It’s sometimes difficult to imagine—and write about—a world that you have never been to. Especially if you’re writing fantasy or sci-fi and that world doesn’t exist outside your head.

This planet has breathtaking and vastly different landscapes that make us feel like we aren’t on Earth.

How many people have visited the red rocks of Utah’s desert and said it looks like Mars? And it’s no wonder many landscapes were used to film and inspire fantasy/sci-fi films, like Wulingyuan in China for Avatar and New Zealand for Lord of the Rings.

And the benefit is not just for fantasy worlds. If you’re writing a historical fiction book, it could help to explore one of the well-preserved cities and towns of Europe that haven’t changed much in centuries.

And even for contemporary books set in places you’ve never been to, your book will be so much richer if you’ve visited the setting in real life and have the added benefit of realistic details you can sprinkle into your writing.

7. Travel Pushes You Outside of Your Comfort Zone

And that’s good. Since pushing characters outside of their comfort zones is what makes a good story, shouldn’t you know what that feels like yourself?

No matter if you are an anxious, introverted traveler like me or not, travel will inevitably be uncomfortable at some point.

Embrace it. Let it show you what happens when you allow it to push you. Take note of it in great detail.

8. New Surroundings Means Better Inspiration & Motivation to Write

There is nothing like waking up to a new view—seeing the ocean or the mountains or a foreign city—to give me inspiration. It makes me observe better and deeper, and when I observe I want to write.

I have numerous notebooks and lists on apps with writing ideas. Looking through them, many of them (I’d even say most) came into existence while I was traveling.

I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

Also, for me, physical movement seems to make the creative side of my brain move as well, which is why I also love going on walks or runs or bike runs when I’m not able to travel and need writing inspiration.

9. You’ll Find Unique Name Ideas

From street names to town names to river names, it’s both fun and easy to collect names for your stories. I’ve been keeping lists since I was a teenager with names I came across while traveling that would be great for character names or names of fictional places.

While you could do this near home too, the farther away you’ll go, the more unique ideas you could get!

Little tip: Some writers have been known to find name ideas in cemeteries. Since I love finding old cemeteries in my travels, I’ve gotten great name ideas for characters!

10. Research is More Fun When Traveling

Sure, you could Google what you need to know for your book. Or, you could go to a museum or on a tour and learn it the fun way. Not only that, but you might even learn things you didn’t know you wanted to know in the process.

Museums and tour guides often do a great job of immersing and engaging you in a certain topic, and it will make your writing more real for both you and your readers.

For example, the Bloody Tour of York makes you feel like you’re in medieval York, which will make you better equipped to write a story set in that time.

---

So, fiction writers who travel, what’s your favorite writing benefit of traveling?

I want to know; let me know in the comments below!

Also, don’t forget to check out my free travel-inspired creative writing prompts, designed to help you extract writing inspiration from your travels when you’re back home.