Using travel encounters as inspiration

You don’t have to be a freelance travel writer to keep your eyes open for the unusual or the unexpected when you’re away from home.

One of the joys of travel is seeing things that take you by surprise. It can be a rich source of inspiration for any kind of story telling.

Here’s an example of something I saw when I was touring Morocco in a Motorhome.

Did I use the encounter in my writing? You bet I did!

Here’s an extract:

On the way to our latest site at Ouarzazate we were driving through a magnificent stark red and ochre land flanked by mountains, when we passed a chap buried almost up to his chest in the sand. We did a double-take and stopped. I jumped out and walked towards the half-buried man, calling out to ask if he was OK. He looked slightly bewildered, but calm enough. Another chap popped out of nowhere, explaining that his chum was buried in the hot sand to help his rheumatism. They offered to bury my husband too, which I thought was a good idea, but my other half declined.

This encounter also received a mention in a travel essay: Africa for Softies, published in the Writers Abroad anthology: Foreign and Far Away

http://www.amazon.co.uk/FOREIGN-FAR-AWAY-Writers-Abroad/dp/1492762008/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1433540954&sr=1-1&keywords=foreign+and+far+away

Meantime, I'm off travelling in Europe for a couple of weeks, so I'll be on the lookout for more interesting photo opportunities...