We visited Italy in late spring. Of course I was excited, I hadn’t visited Rome or Florence in 40 years so this was a treat!
My husband and I traveled with two friends and we all agreed that the trip was more about experiencing the vibe, pasta and wine and less about checking off monuments and museums. It was a good strategy. We toured Rome, Florence and Cinque Terre relaxed and happy.
But secretly I also hoped I would be inspired to write, or to create art while there. I wanted to practice sketching, watercolor, collage. I wanted to draft deep poems about ruins and history.
But.
It’s difficult to contemplate the Colosseum when you are busy avoiding the aggressive buskers who press small bracelets into your hand then demand money.
It’s challenging to wonder over the masterpiece Printemps while dodging the herd of tourists shuffling by dutifully gazing at what they are told is important art and so immediately block the view with raised cell phone and selfie sticks.
It’s hard to feel the romance of Trevi Fountain while throwing elbows to reach the very front for the very best Instagram post only to realize that this view is not as interesting as that couple taking their ninth selfie using ancient ruins as merely a colorful background. You take a picture of the couple taking a picture.
It can be challenging to be inspired for more than another gelato or better, a glass of wine even though it’s. 10:00 but it’s hot and muggy and all these crowds are pushing you off the sidewalk in their rush to score a genuine, yet significantly discounted, just for you, Gucci hand bag.
Even though you vowed to sketch more and take fewer photos – there is no place to both sit and view. So you end up sketching the only item on the table, the wine bottle (I made a series).
Ironically, when you travel you discover that the more information you have, the more difficult it is to light on a single, inspiring idea. Is this Hadrian’s column and was he the same guy who built that wall we didn’t get to see in Scotland? And did you make a mistake dragging the group to Diocletian’s Baths (Rome) but you had faith because his house in Split, Croatia, was so marvelous? I was so busy being relieved that it worked out I forgot to contemplate the ruins.
And the anticipated evenings creating poems and drafting long essays about your experiences is interrupted because your room overlooks the alley in which a line forms every night to get into a pizza place that serves “different” ie American style pizza and it’s packed every night and you think. Really? And you are reminded that a friend warned:
If there is a line
It’s a thing
If it’s a thing
It’s not authentic
And you don’t stand in that line, especially when there are so many other lines in which to stand.
And it’s hard to be inspired when your feet hurt.
Additionally it’s a challenge to be inspired when the weather is too rainy or hot or a combination of the two and you try to remember that weather happens everywhere, not just at home, and even though you are on your dream trip, Mother Nature does not care.
And it’s hard to be an enthusiastic creative early riser when you are too tired (see noisy streets) to make all the notes you promised you’d make every single morning, but there is no place to sit in the room to write the notes, and the lobby coffee isn’t ready until 7:30 AM but you are habitually awake at 6:00 AM so you sit on the floor and gaze at the view of the building across the alley and think. I should just shower and start the day because I have castles to visit, museums to learn from, souvenirs to purchase and your realized you don’t have time to be inspired. (But as you journal every day, this is a great outlet to express what is going well and what is frustrating instead of sharing it out loud.)
What do you do if you are enjoying your travels but are not expressing your art on site?
I gave over to just being in the moment. I packed the i phone and a small notebook. I scribbled short notes while we waited for a meal or on the train.
I took photos, and made notes about the photos.
I quickly figured out that I just can’t stress over the lost goal of writing out brilliant observations or even putting the whole trip into perspective. I simply noted a favorite painting, the light on a statue, the couple sitting next to us.
Once home, I gathered the photos and first sorted and edited them into a narrative to share with friends. I created a photo album. I categorized the disparate photos I took to use in later collages. I made a list of photos that were meant to inspire, both for sketching and for contemplation and yes, inspiration.
I learned to be in the moment, and preserve that moment as best I could.
However you travel, solo, with a group of friends or a tour packed with strangers, you may find that inspiration and art is less long afternoons contemplating the fading horizon and more grab and go. Lean into it and you’ll arrive home with more than Florentine leather and Murano glass, you’ll have files full of art projects that will sustain you through the winter.
