Travel Tips

Finding Travel Inspiration

I am a travel junkie. Traveling is in my blood and I am finding travel inspiration all throughout my day. I have a bucket list that is ever growing. My poor husband jokes that he has knocked quite a few things off of my list in our 25 years of marriage, but it just seems to get bigger. He jokes, but it is a true story. By contrast, I have friends and family who would love to just stay put and look at me funny as I head off on a new adventure. I don’t get it, but I love them, so I accept them anyway. They probably say the same of me.

When I think about my friends and family who don’t travel, I often wonder if there is a place they can start finding travel inspiration or if that is something that you are either born with or gain younger in life. I don’t think it is something my husband had when we got married, but it is something I don’t remember a time that I didn’t have myself.

Where to find travel inspiration

Where can you start finding travel inspiration? Here is a short list to hopefully get your wanderlust juices flowing and peak your curiosity.

Blogs – This is probably obvious, since I’m writing this blog. There are loads of blogs where bloggers talk about the amazing places they have been. The great thing about most blogs is that the writers are regular people, just like you and me, who had an experience they are sharing with their readers. Mostly they aren’t the super wealthy who can go anywhere and spend any amount of money. Just Google Travel Blogs and you will see.
Magazines – The thing I love about magazines is that they are full of beautiful, colorful photos. Sometimes all it takes is a photo to get me dreaming about visiting a place.
Travel websites – By this I mean websites like National Geographic Travel and Conde Nast Traveler. Both, and many others, have valuable information and beautiful photos.
Instagram – I’ve actually just recently discovered this one. Follow some pages, like mine (@creativeworldwanderer) and see the most amazing places. I can get lost for hours on these pages, finding a photo and then investigating where it is and what there is to do there. I think it’s a sickness, but it is a wonderful place to find travel inspiration.
Facebook – If you follow some of your favorite travel blogs or websites, you will see some of their photos and favorite places. Getting lost in travel articles is a great way to spend some time. You can follow Pebble Pirouette on Facebook too, if you like.
Friends – Do you have any traveling friends? Invite them to dinner and listen to their adventures. If something strikes your fancy, look it up, see what’s there.
Books – Go to the bookstore or library and find the travel section. There are loads of books. Just pick one up at random and explore it. Plus, pictures!
Deal Websites – If you just want to go, but don’t know where to go, sign up for some deal websites that will send you emails of trips that are on sale. When one peaks your interests, sign up and go.
Cruises – This one sounds weird I know. After all, you are already traveling. However, when you’re on a cruise, you just get a tiny taste of a place when you stop for a few hours. Which of those tiny tastes did you want more bites? Here is an example. My husband fell in love with Alaska long before I ever stepped foot there. To me, Alaska was a cold wilderness I wasn’t interested in exploring. One year we went on an Alaskan cruise and I saw the beauty and majesty of it. Photos just didn’t do it justice. Less than a year later, we went on a fishing trip to Alaska so I could explore it and less than a year after that, we bought a piece of land that we are slowly building a cabin on. Had we not gone on that cruise, I probably never would have gone to Alaska.
Movies – We all watch movies from time to time. Maybe all is an exaggeration, since I’m certain there are people in remote parts of the world who do not, but most of us reading this do. When you’re watching a movie, do you ever see a place in the movie and think it is someplace interesting or beautiful? That is your inspiration. Investigate. Go.

Enjoy Your Journey

I’m a firm believer that there is something good every place you are located. We’ve lived in some pretty bad places, but we’ve always managed to find something wonderful hiding in plain site. In the photo above, my daughter was trying to enjoy some fries and instead ended up sharing with so many birds. It’s one of my favorite moments from this trip to Amsterdam. You can see pure joy in her face. Enjoy the journey

As I start this new blog, my hope is that it will be full of useful information and that it will provide inspiration for others to travel and explore the world in which we live. It is a fascinating place, full of wonderful people, amazing foods and breathtaking sites. Get out there and see it all.

It’s a great big world out there. Where is one place you want to see, no matter what?