I’m back after a week long trip to Ireland to see family and the Emerald Isle. Yes, Ireland is so green it does literally hurt your eyes. I love travelling and seeing new places. It serves as great inspiration for writing…
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve enjoyed travelling. The travel bug bit hard in my late teens when I first ventured out into the world on a trip to Switzerland and Austria. Since living in Finland, I’ve been fortunate enough to explore a fair amount of Europe although my places-to-visit list seems to grow faster than I can tick off destinations.
Every time I travel, I try to soak up as much as I can about the land and culture. Experience truly is the greatest tool of the writer and seeing and experiencing different countries and cultures enables my imagination. Walking through the ruins of a Norman castle, I was struck by several story ideas, by the history the stones witnessed, the tales they could tell if only the limestone could talk. It reminds me of the opening to the Ralph Fiennes version of “Wuthering Heights” where Emily Bronte explores the ruins of an old manor house and imagines the lives lived there on the moors.
Perhaps there is something magical about Ireland, something almost supernatural. It’s not hard to imagine a hidden world, the Tuatha de Danaan dancing between the ferns and sunbeams in an overgrown forest or Celtic ghosts haunting the countryside. Ireland certainly is a magical place, but every place I’ve visited has had its own unique charm, elements easily incorporated into stories: the lunar landscape of Iceland, the ostentatious gilding in Russian palaces, the majestic peaks of northern Norway, the unforgiving desert of Australia, the flushed face of a flautist playing on snow covered cobbles in Latvia, the dirty faces of gypsy children in Romania… the list goes on. Each place I’ve visited had treasures to offer me as a writer, had stories waiting to be told. I think that’s why I’ve always loved travelling and while I’ll never stop wanting to explore the far reaches of the world.
For now, I’m content to weave my explorations of the faery forests of Ireland into my stories until my next adventure takes me to another new and inspiring destination.
Have you had any exciting travel experiences? Where would you most like to visit?
