I recently took a bucket-list theater trip to London with 25 friends from People’s Light. We saw eight shows in eight nights. We met with cast members and other experts on theater and culture. Several of us enjoyed a walking tour that celebrates Beatles history. The group spent a memorable day in Stratford-upon-Avon, where I played dress-up in Shakespeare’s old grammar school before we enjoyed a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
A week later, I began teaching a course in travel writing for Main Line School Night. Travel essays are among my favorites as a reader. We see ourselves differently when we travel. We are more mindful of the stories we tell about ourselves and more aware of our surroundings. This is my second time teaching this course, and I love encouraging others to document and carefully consider their travel experiences.
One tip: Write (and actually mail) postcards to yourself about travel experiences or encounters you want to remember. Writing by hand and distilling memories into just a few lines will help if you want to write about your travels later. And when those postcards show up in your mailbox, you’ll relive moments from your trip.