5 Reasons Why Every Artist Should Travel the World

We believe every artist should travel the world. As a creative professional, I wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t make the jump and study in a foreign country. Travel and creativity go hand in hand. Every artist should travel!

From childhood, I always knew I would be an artist whether it be from filmmaking or being a professional painter. I would be immersed in my little world finding inspiration to create from the small things laying around my room. As children, it’s easy to get carried away into our limitless field of imagination.

When the stresses of life begin to pile up, our creativity starts to feel like its being smothered. Everything around us becomes more and more unnoticed due to the constant routine we find ourselves in. As creative professionals, we rely on getting those bursts of inspiration for our next project to pay the bills and build our businesses. So what do we do when we’re caught in a creative block?….I say travel.

5 Reasons Why Every Artist Should Travel the World

1. Renewal

As artists, we know the feelings of self-doubt, self-criticism, and loneliness all too well. Working long hours locked away in a studio isolated from the world might be revitalizing for some of us introverts… but even introverts need some social time. We need to surround ourselves with new senses and absorb the life happening outside of ourselves. When we are surrounded by the unfamiliar, the usual chatter in our head becomes silent. We begin to absorb new observations and curiosities. Traveling will fill up our internal bookshelf with new collections of stories. Staring at a blank canvas not knowing what to paint, write or design can make us feel powerless and empty. Travel will fill us back up again replenishing our creative resources. Renewal is one of the main reasons why artists should travel the world.

2. New Perspectives

Creativity is about shining a light into the unseen, unusual and unthought about parts of life. Visiting a new place will take you into a completely new viewpoint where everything you thought you knew gets challenged. Experiencing other cultures and societal structures you will start to let go of old belief systems. Subsequently you’ll begin to embrace how other people live.

After living in Italy I fell involve with how people gave themselves time to relax and recharge midday. This is very different then NYC culture where I watch people burnout and freakout. Therefore, I decided to incorporate the European styled siesta into my life. Every self-employed entrepreneurial person stresses the importance of waking up early and every artist finds that they get a creative hit at nighttime. So why don’t we all skip over that hectic midday time frame and take a midday nap?

While taking a walk in another person’s shoes you may just find amazing new ways of living. Travel makes you look at your own life with new eyes. Every artist should travel the world if they want to develop a new style, message, and viewpoint in their work.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” -Mark Twain

5 reasons why every artist should travel

3. Knowledge

From immersing yourself in museums, galleries, and historical sites, travel brings you learning opportunities that are far better than what you’ll get inside a classroom. Seeing artworks that you’ve only seen pictures of, will be awe-inspiring to see in-person. Secondly, From talking to locals and fellow travelers, you’ll learn so much more about the world. You will learn about economies, politics, history, and sociology in a perspective that differs from what you were taught in your home country. You’ll be able to gain knowledge that is less bias and more well rounded. Stories of history will be told differently and politics won’t be covered with a nationalist vail.

It makes you smarter…
As you travel and come across new situations, your brain begins to make new connections and new synapses form. You’ll experience new languages, sounds, smells, and sights. Rewiring your brain helps you find creative solutions. By rediscovering multiple meanings and uses in things around you, you’ll become a better problem solver and have more innovative ideas.

“Foreign experiences increase both cognitive flexibility and depth and integrativeness of thought, the ability to make deep connections between disparate forms. The key, critical process is multicultural engagement, immersion, and adaptation.” Adam Galinsky

4. Networking

It’s pretty common knowledge that it is easier to make friends while you’re traveling than during your usual routine in your home town. Generally, people are more open and welcoming because you’ll already have a few things in common. Similarly you’d have a passion for travel and would both be seeking knowledge and new experiences. That’s usually enough to spark up an engaging conversation right from the start!

Along my journey, I’ve met many creative people from all around the world that have similar aspirations and dreams. We now collaborate on projects and inspire each other to constantly expand out of our creative comfort zone. Travel brings you in contact with people who are naturally curious about the world around them. Artists should travel the world to meet inspiring people who choose to live life to the fullest. The connections you make while traveling can change who you are, and who you will become. Lastly you will gain memories that will last a lifetime.

5. Confidence

Being an artist is no easy affair. We are sensitive people that require visual stimulation, harmonious environments, and space to navigate our complex internal world. Creative people tend to perceive the world more intensely. They absorb a far greater amount of stimuli than the average individual. Living in a world filled with a lack of sensitivity can make us feel like outliers causing our confidence to dwindle. The key to a successful creative life starts with confidence, without it, we develop an avoidance to our pursuits.

We need confidence to put ourselves and our work out into the world. Confidence grows when we challenge ourselves and overcome our preserved limits. Travel with show you abilities you never knew you had and helps develop self-knowledge. Opening ourselves up to the unknown exposes your fears. It increases our tolerance, strength, and perseverance.

“What a lot of psychological research has shown now is that the ability to engage with people from different backgrounds than yourself, and the ability to get out of your own social comfort zone, is helping you to build a strong and acculturated sense of your own self.” -Mary Helen Immordino-Yang

These are our 5 Reasons why every artist should travel the world. Travel will help you develop a deeper self-knowledge, confidence, and new ways of looking at the world. Check out our favorite books that inspire you to get out of your comfort zone!