How I get some of my best writing done when traveling

Outrigger boats at Alona Beach, Panglao Island, Bohol, Philippines. Photo by Author

I just got back to the United States from a two-week Christmas vacation in the Philippines.

I grew up in the Southeast Asian country until I was fifteen and have been back a few times since then. This time, my husband and I traveled with our two grown daughters and their families. We spent the first week right on the beach in Panglao, Bohol, and the next one in the general vicinity of the country’s capital, Manila.

I was done with writing deadlines, having published two books in December. I could just stretch out in a cabana and relax, right?

Well, sort of.

When I travel, I write in a nightly journal.

Writing-on-the-go is a habit I’ve honed from two decades as a journalist and essayist. Everything in life is material after all. What more for travel?

But it’s not your typical journal — this is what we did, this is what I ate, yadda yadda — I write what are essentially travel essays. They have a beginning, middle, and ending, usually with a change circling back to the starting theme.

Often, months after a trip, I re-read what I’d written and I’m transported back, reliving amazing moments. My entries are rich with details and dialogue. I describe scenes as though someone…