The first time I tried to write in a café in Darwin in 2023, I lasted only 10 minutes. My hands had turned sweaty from the heat, and a crying baby disrupted my attention span. Well, so much for focus on writing while travelling, I thought.
If you’d told me that day I’d become a nomadic writer two years later, I’d probably have laughed at you. Because writing was something I did in solitude, tucked away in my little office at home, preferably on a winter day. This was before I realised that writing on your creative adventures is so much more than pushing yourself to get those words out on paper. Focus improves with practice, but mostly by dedicating yourself to your story world every single day of the week. That’s what I’m doing nowadays as a travelling writer of fiction: I visit the places that inspire my fantasy world-building and become one with my story.
The myth every fiction writer believes
Many fiction writers, including my past self, harbour the belief that you can’t focus on writing when you’re constantly on the move. At first glance, this makes perfect sense.
- Exploring new places means constant distractions and a fear of missing out
- Different time zones mess with your routine and writing flow
- You have no consistent desk or writing space
- Socialising and travel logistics drain your energy.
And I get it. I used to crave consistency, too. It’s also true that travelling can be chaotic. Apart from the logistics, you’re transforming constantly, which can make you feel lost at times. But believing that writing only happens when life settles down has cost me seven years of waiting for the perfect conditions, with no book published yet.
The truth about writing focus while travelling
Here’s the thing: focus on writing doesn’t disappear when you travel. It just changes and takes on new forms. Travelling forces you to pay attention to the world again, to observe, to listen, to notice. To use all your senses. And isn’t that exactly the core of great writing?
And, sure, I’ve had days when my brain felt fried. Travel exhaustion, stress in the hectic chaos of Bali’s South and an interrogation by the Australian border control officer have shaken me. But the moments of quiet always return when I plop down on the beach for a sunset or plant my feet into red outback dirt. When I’m grounded, my writing inspiration and focus return full force. And I become impatient to get back behind my laptop and dig into the story.
How feeling safe affects your focus on writing
When I don’t feel grounded, my creative energy scatters. I learned that the hard way. There were days I forced myself to write, no matter where I was or how I felt, but my brain refused to function properly. It changed once I started paying more attention to places that made me feel at ease. Like calm homestays with an ocean view or a house sit with no host expecting me to play tourist all the time. That’s when my creativity and writing flow returned. So yes, travel can be stressful. Only with the right choices can it also offer you the tranquillity your nervous system needs to cool down and refocus.
Redefining your focus on writing when you’re on the move
Most blogs I’ve read about how to keep writing while travelling focus on maintaining a daily word count. But for me, writing and travelling have become the same. Sometimes that means typing those words in my Scrivener project. Other times, it’s scribbling a single line in my journal or imagining a whole new scene when I’m on a hike. Collecting impressions, like smells, sounds, and fleeting moments, is also storytelling.
By living the experience of travel, I’m subconsciously replenishing my creative well in everything I do. When I look back at my notes, I find ideas that become scenes in the next book of my series. The weekend markets in Broome inspire my fantastical marketplace in my fantasy world, and irksome bush flies become comic relief in an adventure scene taking place in the Australian outback. All these little details that make my writing feel real wouldn’t have existed if I’d forced myself to remain stationary behind my computer screen back at home.
Finding your creative rhythm as a travelling writer
Instead of sticking to a fixed writing routine, I learned to follow my natural rhythm, which translates to, “Do I feel like writing today?” I write best in the early mornings when my creative energy is still fresh and I wake up excited to open that laptop. I edit my books in bursts between other creative projects I love (like this blog!). And when I can’t write at all? I let it go. Because I know those “off days” are invitations for new ideas that later develop into something big. Focusing on writing while travelling is about learning to trust that your story is growing, even when you decide to go on that morning beach walk or an unexpected island adventure instead of crawling behind your laptop.
How to nurture focus on writing while travelling
Apart from my writing essentials, my writing focus is on creating small rituals that make me feel at ease wherever I am and let me dive into my story world the same way I can at home. Creating a writing space on my creative adventures is more than picking the right locations. It’s just as much about the proper set-up and atmosphere that recreate a sense of home.
I always start my mornings with meditation and coffee to help me anchor in the moment. I don’t even always bother to get dressed; comfy clothes work just fine to help me find my writing flow. Focusing on writing doesn’t require you to isolate yourself from the world, as long as you create moments of peace that let you write. Even an hour of undisturbed writing can brighten my mood and boost my energy, helping me collect more story ideas throughout the rest of the day.
Letting go to find flow in writing
Writing while travelling has taught me that stories don’t come alive when I’m sitting still. They partly create themselves by being present in the moment. Some days this means I can write for hours. On other days, I can be on my way to the supermarket when the idea for an entirely new book series hits me.
So, if you’re scared to mix writing with travel because you think you’ll lose focus, there’s no need to worry. You’ll discover what it actually means to focus on writing a novel. It might only differ from what you thought it would look like, or you’ll find yourself surprised by the story ideas when you least expect them. Because the truth is: writing while travelling is nothing more than devoting yourself to your stories, and to me, that’s true creative freedom.
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