Away-From-Home Creativity

When you are on vacation or a work trip, you do not always have your space, supplies or time to be creative. It can be frustrating to put your creativity on hold for the duration that you are away.

Most of the time we have the expectation that in order to be creative we need to have a finished product. When we are working our craft it also can take a long time to complete a piece. When I would go on vacation or go on a work trip, I would have all these grand ideas of all the art I would create. But with a full schedule I would typically not spend much time on my project and get frustrated and disappointed at the end of my trip.

However, work trips and vacations tend to have already a full schedule. So it is hard to fit in a creative project during those times.

What is needed is a shift in your attitude, goals and expectations. If your goal is to not have a finished piece but to exercise your creative muscles and be playful, then this will open up your options of how to be creative while away from home.

There are many studies that state the health and cognitive benefits of being creative. When you exercise your creative muscles, your capacity to be creative can last 2-3 days afterwards. Just like with being an athlete, if you create regularly you are more likely to do better at your art then if you do it occasionally. So if you recognize that fact, then any creative act you can do will be keeping your creative muscles flexed and primed for when you are back in your studio.

Criteria:

1. Exercise Your Creative Muscle
2. The Creative Process is the Goal, not the End Product
3. Appropriate Creativity (short/smaller activities)
4. Be Fun and Playful
5. Leave Room for Creativity

Appropriate Creativity

If you were on a cruise ship and only have 30 minutes to exercise, you would not try to run a marathon. No. You would choose an exercise that fit the time frame and circumstances.

Ideas for creativity on the road

• Temporary art using materials found in nature: sculptures, sand castles, sand drawings
• Pick a color or shape to focus on. Then go on a walk and note all the things that are the color or shape you are looking for. This practice works your observation muscle.
• Quick sketches. Bring a sketchbook and draw. When I am waiting in the airport for my flights, I usually sketch various people in the airport. The unwitting models can move, so I do quick gesture sketches or pick a subject that is sleeping for longer studies.

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• Write a Haikus that encapsulates a moment or your day. Haikus are the poet’s equivalent of taking a photograph.
• Travel log. Journal about your trip. Write quick notes during the day and then when you have more down time, expand on those notes in a journal.
• Photograph. Walk around and take picture with your phone. If you have photo editing software, you can make a photo collage of your day. This can be fun doing this with a friend or coworker.

• Go dancing at an event or dance on the beach or in a park.
• Creative cooking. If you are staying at a place that you have access to a kitchen and plan to make meals, experiment with familiar recipes or find ways to present the food in a creative way.
• Sit in a busy public area and write down snippets of conversations.
• Record various sounds on your phone.
• Improvisational singing. With a friend or while on a hike.
• Motley percussion jam. Use items you have at hand or collect driftwood that make interesting sounds.

Use your creativity to come up with ways you can be creative.

Creative Muscles

Think about what creative muscle you can work:

• Visual
• Auditory
• Spacial
• Powers of Observation
• Memory
• Coordination – hand-eye or whole body

Before you leave for a trip, it can help to have a short list of creative activities that you can do while away from home, 3 to 4 things. Bring along supplies or equipment that you will need to do the exercises. Prioritize them based on how much interest/energy you have and the feasibility that you can do the activity.

Also, be open to creative opportunities that present themselves. If a new idea strikes you or something creative comes up during your trip, then give it a try.

Mix It Up

Also if you look for ways to be creative in media that you normally do not work in can be very stimulating to your creativity. For example, if you are a poet, you might try dancing. Or if you are a musician you might try sketching. Experiment and find which away-from-home creative exercises work best for you.