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See more ▼Post may contain affiliate links which give us commissions at no cost to you.Designers spend years studying and putting in long hours in their studios in order to improve their skills and produce work that brings them both personal satisfaction and profit. And yet, some of the most important lessons and experiences that shape them and influence their trajectories aren’t taught in the classroom or acquired through practice – but learned in the wild, through traveling.
The moment you step out of your comfort zone and start exploring the world is when the most important part of your education begins. But how exactly can traveling serve as a teacher, and what lessons does it impart? What happens when you decide to leave all that is familiar behind and embark on adventures in new and exciting destinations across the globe?
Breaking the rut
Being a designer might be a creative occupation, but that doesn’t mean creativity is all you need to make it in this industry. You also require discipline, patience, and perseverance, which doesn’t really align with the popularized and hyperbolized image of the free-spirited artist who follows no rules and whose entire existence is dictated by supernatural forces.
That’s just a romanticized idea that’s been spread around, but in reality, working as a designer is much less glamorous than most people imagine. Contrary to common belief, the day-to-day life of most professionals in the field looks quite different, being shaped by organization and structure, not chaos and momentary spurts of inspiration that come unannounced in the dead of the night and wake them up from their slumber. Discipline and strict schedules are what turns creativity into a career that pays well.
But while well-planned frameworks and routines can help you stay productive, they can also work against you. Repeating the same activities every day without ever straying from your schedule can cause you to switch to autopilot mode or even make you come down with a serious case of designer’s block. Ideas stop flowing, and nothing feels interesting or exciting anymore, which is less than ideal since you rely on creativity and inspiration for your work.
And that’s where travel comes into play. When you put yourself in unfamiliar environments, your brain automatically starts working harder to help you take in and process all the newness that surrounds you. This wakes up all your senses, making it easier for you to break through creative blocks. You don’t need to live the life of a nomad to stimulate your thinking like this, but booking a trip to a new place every now and then can work wonders for your creativity.
Nevertheless, you don’t want to go completely MIA when you travel. Connectivity is an important aspect to focus on, as you’ll want to be able to keep in touch with people back home, which might have you search for a reliable eSIM provider. For instance, with Holafly’s eSIM in Sri Lanka, you can enjoy strong connectivity for the entire duration of your trip there, so it’s definitely worth considering this option.
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Fresh inspiration
Inspiration is an elusive beast. It comes and goes as it pleases, and there’s not much you can do to lure it in. But traveling can certainly help a lot in this respect, and it’s not difficult to see why. Exploring places you’ve never been to before, exposing yourself to new cultures and interacting with people who lead a lifestyle that is completely different from yours can open your eyes in ways you could have never imagined.
You feel compelled to reflect deeply on the things that you see and experience, which broadens your perspectives and unlocks new ways of thinking. Even if we now have modern technologies ensuring easy access to information, this kind of personal growth cannot happen if you stay in one place all your life. That’s how travel feeds your imagination and inspiration.
You never know what might ignite the spark: an unusual color combination that you’ve never thought about, an unexpected scenery, strange shapes that somehow remain etched on your memory, meetings and conversations that make you feel a little bit richer. All these things are like fuel for your creativity and can help you bring to life concepts and ideas that you could have never dreamed of before.
Empathy
Whether you travel for business or leisure, you are much more alert when you’re abroad. That’s because apart from exploring and sightseeing, you also have to think about practical aspects, such as booking flights and accommodation or staying safe when you’re out and about. But this alertness we’ve mentioned is not limited only to practical situations. It extends to all other areas of life and helps you gain a deeper understanding of the cultures and places you visit. That makes you develop more empathy for others, which is a crucial skill for creators.
You become more aware of how the places we live in influence our perceptions and standards, and make us behave or respond in certain ways. Design-wise, you come to realize that things that may work in one country or culture might not work in another, and that is something that can prove extremely useful in your line of work.
Networking
In your travels, you might also have the chance to meet with other designers and expand your professional network. You can also attend workshops, industry events and conferences where you can connect with people who can help you advance your career and unlock new opportunities.
Graphic design is a very complex discipline that blends aspects from many different domains like art, psychology and communication, and continues to develop at a very rapid pace. By traveling to different places, you gain exposure to different design styles and techniques and get to stay up to date with the latest developments happening in the field through first-hand experience, so you can keep on learning and improving your skills.
As a traveling designer, the whole world becomes your moodboard, and your next trip can inspire your next big project.
