How boring is it when you’re travelling companion doesn’t seem interested in anything at all? Travel should especially bring out the curiosity in us. Our interest should be more than piqued; we can and should develop obsessions. Obsessions are inherently interesting—they compel us to act in pursuit of them, even take risks. Once you have identified an obsession, and you’ve acted in pursuit of it, you have a story.
So what are your obsessions? It could be something long held, like a love of Anne of Green Gables and a lifelong dream to visit Nova Scotia, or a deep interest in the history of Vikings and a trip to visit Norway and Sweden. But your obsessions don’t have to be lifelong, or even that specific.
You could have an obsession with coffee, and therefore aim to try all the coffee places in Penang, Malaysia, which inspires you to learn more about the different kinds of coffee they serve there, how the beans are roasted, and the way locals like to drink it. This is great material to write about, along with what you learned about yourself in the process.
You could find and pursue an obsession while travelling. This is something that often happens to me: falling in love with some material (batik in Yogyakarta) or snack food (leblebi in Istanbul) or a practice, like siestas in Spain. It could be the mural you pass every day or the architecture in the town where you stayed. Anything at all can become an obsession.
The key is to then act on that obsession. Learn more. What is the history? What are the ingredients? Who created this thing? How do locals feel about it? And it also involves digging deeply into yourself: why have you become so taken with this local practice or food or landscape? What is it about this thing that you like so much, wish to seek out, and aim to find out more and more? The answer to that question gets woven into your story, giving us a complete picture of what you learned about yourself because of this obsession.
So, feel like trying this? Here’s some steps to follow:
Write down a list of some of your obsessions from past trips.
What do you remember about those obsessions? Why did they compel you?
What did you do to follow them, seek them out, learn from them? (And if you didn’t do very much, you can still potentially do some Internet or library research to find out more about coffee roasting in Malaysia or batik in Yoygakarta.)
Or, get ready for your next trip armed with an obsession or two, and be ready to follow some new ones while there.
Either way, ask yourself what you learned in the process of pursuing this obsession.
It could have to do with the circumstances of your life at that time, a useful, beautiful distraction. Or your obsession could lead you to make a small change in your life, perhaps a vow to always notice the beauty around you. Or if could lead you to make a life-changing decision. Big or small, what has come from your obsession? How did your view of your world, or your view of yourself, or your view of this new place, change?
Next, get started writing the story of your obsession!
I think you’ll find it’s a unique angle into a travel story that might be just what you were looking for to find your way into that tale you’ve been wanting to tell.
