Comments on: Travel inspiration: what works for you?

By: Hong C. Wern

Hong C. Wern — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:55:38 +0000

Natural landscapes, historical ancient city, sustainably developed country, and cultural values are my four turn-ons for traveling..:D

Been flying since 2007..

By: Linda Benton

Linda Benton — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:11:20 +0000

Paint a vivid picture through colour, taste and texture.
Bring a story to life through warmth and humour, and I guarantee I’ll be booking that flight!

Carla Coulson’s book ‘Italian Joy’ did more for me than any glossy advert for Italy will ever do.

By: FiFi

FiFi — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:39:39 +0000

Great post and I totally agree a lot of advertising does not work on me. I agree with most of you list, plus my interest in history or even a documentary can make me snap and go “I want to go there!” And more times than none I pick a place because I have never heard of anyone I know going there!

By: pam

pam — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:20:08 +0000

Here are some words I rarely write: This is a pretty great list. A lot of what I see is “I am having an awesome time” in some aspect or other. No, I don’t just mean blogs, I mean the mags, too. And I’m with you on this — I think, “How nice for you.” But it’s something else that makes me shift to “I want to do that.”

I like:

Gorgeous landscape
Compelling back-stories (I’m genuinely interested in history, in all its ugly glory)
Things that seem achievable for me — I’m not going to skirt the coast of Chile by kiteboard, I’m just NOT.
Deep descrption — writing that makes me feel like I’m there, regardless of destination.

I get Travel + Leisure and every time I read it I just think, “Oh, I’m SO not doing that.” And I also get National Geographic and every time I read it I think, “I WANT TO BE THERE AND SEE THAT.”

By: Andy Jarosz

Andy Jarosz — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:21:15 +0000

Sounds good Alf, and that’s how travel blogging should be. Issues with inadequate disclosure and unwillingness to venture beyond sponsors’ itineraries does seriously compromise that honesty and impartiality in many cases.

By: Alf Welch

Alf Welch — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:31:59 +0000

Advertisements from regional promoting agencies do nothing for me. If I want to know about a place,warts and all I read as many blog accounts of the destination as I can.
You get the plus and minus info of a place with an honesty that won’t be found in regional tourism advertising. Go the Travel Bloggers.

By: Tash

Tash — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:21:43 +0000

My inspiration for places tends to creep up on me – a combination usually of someone who is a fellow traveler talking about somewhere awesome, and then I seen to come across pictures of said place (perhaps drawn to) – and then suddenly that place is all I can think about in a wanderlust kind of way!

By: Natalia

Natalia — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:40:28 +0000

I think I could have written exactly the same list. I think you have identified two points of travel writing (including blogging) that proliferate but don’t really inspire a lot of people – egotism (this is what *I* did, and I am so interesting, you must be interested in it) and confusing journalling with informing.

Great post.

By: Maxine Sheppard

Maxine Sheppard — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:54:01 +0000

I think about this a lot.
What inspires me:

a) Landscapes. Especially if two or three completely different types of scenery can be experienced relatively easily on a single trip (most of my trips are no longer than 2/3 weeks at a time these days), hence plenty of visits to the USA and its national parks.
b) Wildlife in its natural habitat. No bigger thrill.
c) Music: I’ve been drawn to places immortalised in song many times, and I love watching live, local music in unfamiliar places.
d) Design/architecture/art lures me, either through an entire aesthetic (ie, I’m intrigued by places like Brasilia) or art/design-focused cities like Copenhagen or Berlin
e) History. Reading or watching a riveting, revealing account of a place and its people.

As you and others have said, it can often be a book, or an anecdote that sparks the flame of a new trip idea. But it’s as likely to be an overheard conversation between strangers, an old travel poster, a random set of photos on Flickr, a chat with a waiter about his hometown, or even something more banal like the announcement of a new route from Gatwick (my local airport) or a massive sale on air or train tickets. In fact, I like to think I could find at least something to inspire me in most places. Except Bratislava maybe

By: Andy Jarosz

Andy Jarosz — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:25:13 +0000

An excellent set of additions to the list Chris (in fact I think I prefer your set to mine!) I agree that food is an important issue and a country’s cuisine will attract me rather than that of a particular restaurant (India, Thailand, Japan; take a bow).
The Anglophile point is a good one. I do like to go non-English speaking places although there’s a point (at around three to four weeks) where I do miss being able to communicate easily.
Morocco – I’ve never been but if you ask Ben or Anna at http://www.tourdust.com they’ll point you in the right direction. They both travel there regularly and send many of their customers that way.