Why Travel Is The Best Investment For Your Professional Creativity

One of the best things an individual can invest in is travel. This is especially true for creatives. 

Creativity is a skill that can be learned and strengthened over time. Meditation, physical exercise, and having a consistent sleep schedule have been linked to boosting creativity. As has been engaging in new experiences and seeking out diverse perspectives. You can get these from reading an interesting book or checking out a new band, but there’s no more impactful way to expand your horizons than to travel. 

Luckily, traveling has become a lot more accessible over the years. The benefits remain plentiful. 

Research conducted by Columbia Business School found that multicultural experiences are positively related to creative performance, such as remote associations (widely used to test creative potential) and generating ideas. It also increases creativity-supporting cognitive processes, such as the ability to retrieve unconventional knowledge. 

Here are some additional ways in which travel boosts creativity: 

According to Sternberg’s Theory of Intelligence, there are three types of intelligence: Analytical intelligence (commonly referred to as book smarts), practical intelligence (a.k.a. street smarts), and creative intelligence.

Sternberg believed that one need not have high levels of all three types to be successful, but that one should build on the area in which they are strongest. As a creative person, you may already be good at ideating or seeing patterns/connections that others don’t. By traveling, you can optimize this ability. 

Travel forces us into unfamiliar environments, landscapes, foods, languages, and cultural norms. Differences that can challenge existing assumptions (“I didn’t know that was possible!”), spark curiosity (“I’m going to try making this dish when I get home.”), and force us to problem solve (“I got lost in the metro, I don’t recognize where I am, and don’t have wi-fi, how do I get back to the hotel?”). 

These experiences expand our cognitive abilities, leading to new perspectives and fresh ideas.

Creatives are no strangers to blockages (writer’s block, anyone?). Blockages are often caused by burnout and stress. Stress diminishes creativity. 

One of the antidotes to stress is travel, as it has been consistently linked to stress reduction. Taking a load off and stepping away from immediate stressors can help one find innovative solutions that perhaps they were too exhausted to see before. 

Research corroborates this. A study aiming to measure the self-reported creativity of employees before and after a vacation found that employees noted a perceived increase in creativity two weeks post-vacation. 

When we travel, we make memories that’ll likely last forever. Memory and creativity are closely linked. A 2023 study found that different types of memories are central to certain creative processes. Traveling gives you lifelong memories that you can pull from when engaging in creative tasks. 

As it takes you out of your comfort zone, travel also makes you a more open-minded person. According to Psychology Today, people who encompass the personality trait “Openness to Experience” tend to be more creative, due to their enjoyment of accumulating experiences and meeting new people. This is a good thing, as research also states that having close intercultural relationships (whether romantic or platonic) can make us more innovative. 

It appears, then, that not only can a little travel get you a nice tan and some duty-free goodies, but it has also been empirically proven to make you a more effective creative. However, keep in mind that travel has to be done right. It must be intentional, respectful of other cultures and people, and reflective. 

As Clinical Psychologist Charlotte Russell told Psychology Today: “Frequent travel alone doesn’t guarantee greater creativity. What matters is how we engage and the meaning we make from those experiences.”