Creating Art While Traveling

Other, more recent research suggests that being creative can relieve anxiety and worry, give you a feeling of achievement and boost your mood. Of course, creativity can also be a route for examining and expressing your feelings. 

But You Say, “I’m Not Creative” 

That is so not true! All human beings are creative. Being creative can take many different forms, but at a basic level it just means you are bringing something into being. And no matter what you create, even if it’s childlike or primitive, you are activating pleasure centers in the brain. In fact, one study from Drexel University in Philadelphia found that your artwork doesn’t have to be “good” to be beneficial for you — it’s the act of creating that provides the psychological benefits. Drexel University researchers also found that 45 minutes of drawing a day can reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol, making you feel calmer. 

Travel Sketching and Drawing 

An easy way to be creative while on a trip is to bring a small sketchbook along with a pencil, markers or watercolor paints, brushes and a small cup for water to create images of what you see. Alternatively, you can pack some watercolor pencils, which can be used dry or wet. If the blank page is too intimidating, you can trace a postcard or other image onto your sketchbook or stamp an image and color it. Even simpler, you can buy an adult coloring book and colored pencils or an adult paint-by-numbers kit to complete on the road. 

One of my favorite things to do while traveling is to create a Zentangle drawing. When I went to Germany, I brought along an image of a cuckoo clock to draw on. When I went to New Zealand, I sketched a kiwi bird onto card stock, and likewise, I finished up a lotus flower when I journeyed to Bali. 

Never heard of Zentangle? It’s a structured drawing technique where you sketch various patterns that look like doodles onto paper. The composition as a whole looks complicated, but when you break it down to its many patterns (called tangles), it’s actually very easy and can be done over the course of several days. Doodling is mindless, whereas Zentangle is all about being in the moment and being mindful, paying attention to what you are doing. Getting into a rhythm and a flow. What I like about the technique is that there is no right or wrong, and even if you make mistakes with the patterns, you can simply alter them. (And no one will know!) I also like that I don’t have to be super precise for my drawings to come out well.  

To get started with Zentangle drawing, you just need some paper, a pencil and a marker. You can find out more about the technique and tangle patterns to draw at  Zentangle.com and Tanglepatterns.com, on YouTube, and on the smartphone app Zentangle Mosaic. 

Other Crafts That Travel Well 

Embroidery and other types of hand-held sewing projects are alternative craft options that are suited for travel. To embroider, you’ll typically need a preprinted canvas, threads, an embroidery needle and a snipper. (The TSA says you can bring scissors on board a plane in your carry-on luggage if they are less than 4 inches in length from the pivot point. That applies in the U.S., but I had my embroidery scissors confiscated on my last international trip, so I recommend bringing nail clippers instead.) I knew an artist who brought a blank canvas on a trip and embroidered one image or icon a day to remind her of where she’d visited. 

If you like to knit — a particularly good choice for reducing stress, since it’s well proven that rhythmic and repetitive motions can calm the body and the mind — you’ll need needles and yarn. (The TSA allows both knitting needles and crochet hooks in your carry-on baggage.) 

Tips on Creating 

Once you decide on your travel craft, be sure you’re in a therapeutic frame of mind by... 

• Focusing on the process of creating as much as the product: While it’s nice to have a memento, it’s just as important to reap the benefits of creating by being mindful during the actual experience of making. 
• Not comparing your work to that of others: If you measure yourself by other people’s yardsticks, you’ll negate your enjoyment and the benefits of being creative. 
• Allowing yourself to be imperfect: Many people expect to be able to do a craft well, right from the beginning. You may never have drawn before, so give yourself a break if your work isn’t perfect. Instead, embrace what Buddhists call “the beginner’s mind” — a sense of openness to creating without judgment or expectation.  

Come to think of it, that’s a good attitude to adopt for travel in general!