Traveling Creatively...

I am all packed and ready to get on a variety of planes tomorrow to head from Moncton, New Brunswick to Geneva, Switzerland.  “Aunty Dragon” is needed to look after my niece and nephew for a week while by brother and sister-in-law are away on business, so between the two families, we are getting me there on a combination of airline points.

I will be waiting in one airport for almost 7 hours, so I have already planned how to travel creatively.

My small carryon bag has my iPod touch, my sketchbook, my journal, my old gameboy colour with Pokemon Blue in it (nostalgia gaming) and a pair of socks that I have been meaning to finish for a while now but got distracted by other projects.

My suitcase is full of craft supplies to do with my wonderful dragonlets over there, graph paper to chart a magazine design in cross stitch that I will need to stitch when I get home, two big sketchbooks, watercolour pencils, a manuscript to read over and a knitting project that I have been hoarding for quite some time now.

Now I just need to find enough hours in each day!

INHALE:  Traveling isn’t always easy, even though we can now fly around the globe in shorter times than ever before.  There can be waits, delays, turbulence and unplanned events.  Learning how to travel creatively can go a long way towards reducing stress.  Having things to do and read can make the hours go much more quickly.  I love writing long journal entries or working on projects while sitting in an airport because I so seldom get that time to just focus on one task.  Maybe I should learn how to carry some of that traveling creativity back over into my everyday life!

EXHALE:  Traveling teaches us a lot about ourselves and the incredible world around us.  Drop by a travel agency and pick out brochures that intrigue you.  Clip out photographs from magazines, the internet or articles in magazines that show places where you’d love to visit.  Make a list of your top ten destinations in the world and then start saving or planning for a trip somewhere. We have our coin jar ready for our next big family trip and you can bet that our children keep an eye on how often we add to it!  When we take it to the bank and add to the trip account, they learn that dreams can come true bit by bit if you just plan for it!