Solo Travel Ideas To Inspire Your Inner Artist

Solo Travel Ideas To Inspire Your Inner Artist, a guest post by Jane Roberts*: Going on a solo vacation is a wonderful way to leave behind the stresses and strains of everyday life, and you can get even more out of a solo trip if you combine your travels with artistic pursuits. Scientific studies have shown that creating your own art reduces stress levels, no matter if you are a complete beginner or a more advanced artist. Art is a valuable form of self-care that helps to rid your mind of worries and problems, improving your state of flow in the same way that meditation does. When you are booking a trip away, use it as an opportunity to inspire your artistic passion. 

Solo Travel Ideas To Inspire Your Inner Artist:

Take a journey into nature

Artists are often inspired by the natural world around them. Even in the abstract you can create beautiful images by replicating the form, patterns and shapes of flora and fauna. As a solo traveller, you can really indulge your passion by making a special vacation to see the subject of your drawings and paintings. For instance if you are inspired by beautiful roses, then take a trip to visit the incredible Exposition Rose Garden in Los Angeles. Here you can see more than 200,000 rose bushes growing, with over 200 varieties. If you spend the day, you can learn how to draw roses, making sure that you observe the details of the petals. The geometric shape of the unfurling rose is truly amazing – no wonder Renoir was so inspired by them!

Go on an artist’s retreat 

Going on an artist’s retreat is the ideal way to learn new skills and meet some like-minded people. It is also the perfect way to mentally relax – you can even have a digital detox. When you are choosing your solo traveller package, include a few days to head off on a course. For instance if you are heading to Venice on the Italy and the Alps tour, take a stop gap and check out the Venice Biennale Art Course. There are also some wonderful painting workshops available to solo travelers at the Istituto Venezia. Not only will you improve your skills, but you can also learn to appreciate the masterpieces of some of the greatest Italian painters. 

Painting your travel journal

Pablo Picasso famously said, “Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.” When you are on your travels, instead of keeping a journal, putting brush to canvas can be far more effective. Instagram photos are forgotten in a moment, but paintings last forever. They can be a wonderful memento of your trip. If you are creating landscape pictures, see if you can capture the changing light – you will find that it is very different to home. Take time to paint the sunsets and be generous with color where the horizon meets the sky.  

Your solo travel adventure is the ideal opportunity to brush up on your artistic skills. You can create some beautiful paintings that you will treasure as the ultimate vacation souvenir from your trip. 

___

(For more ideas on how to combine travel and your artistic skills, see these select travel photos.)