Travel ideas are all around you! You just have to look for them. 

Over the years, my travel has been inspired by all kinds of stimuli! In this blog post I'll share some of my favorite. Hopefully, they'll help you to brainstorm ideas for your own travel dreams.  

Computer Wallpaper

Every morning when I turn on my computer, a new randomly selected photo appears as my wallpaper. Most are locales around the world, and every time I always hover over the "where is this place?" button to find out where it is. A lot of these places have inspired my future travel. 

Take for instance, Hallstatt, Austria. Photos of this place had shown up numerous times on my wallpaper and so on my Christmas trip to Austria in 2022, I included a visit to this charming island town. When I arrived, I felt like I was literally walking into a photo on my computer! 

Documentaries and News Footage

Over the years, I've repeatedly viewed Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down this Wall" speech and watched Tom Brokaw's live coverage on the night the wall fell, with the iconic Brandenburg gate serving as a poignant backdrop. 

The impact of those videos has stayed with me, fueling a long-held desire to visit Berlin and walk through the awe-inspiring Brandenburg Gate.

On my very first solo trip to Europe, I did just that. On this trip, I wasn't able to walk through the gate though (like I wanted to), because it was blocked off for the scheduled 30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Wall celebration. So, the next time I was in Berlin a couple of years later, I made sure to return so I could walk through the gate. It felt really amazing to do so knowing that only a few decades before, this grand gate was blockaded by the Berlin Wall and armed guards preventing anyone from crossing. 

Other important places I've seen on documentaries and the news have also inspired by travels including the Hoover Dam, Pearl Harbor, and the 9/11 Memorial. 

Movies and Television

I'm definitely not the only person out there to get inspired by what they see in popular movies and television and want to visit those places. 

Harry Potter sites are hugely popular in the London area. Outlander Tours are a must-see for many a fair maiden traveling to Scotland. I even met two fellow travelers in Florence who were there specifically to see the sites from the Netflix series Medici. 

My own personal travels have been inspired by such classics as Barefoot in the Park, An Affair to Remember, The Monuments Men, Bridge of Spies, Night Crossing, Magnum P.I., Anne of Green Gables, and the list goes on and on. 

As a young child I was enamored with Barefoot in the Park and always wanted to visit New York because of it. I dreamt of going to the Plaza hotel, riding the Staten Island Ferry, and walking through Washington Square Park, but with my shoes kept on, of course. One time, I even carefully rewatched the movie to find their building's address and tried to find it—but sadly it didn't exist. Of course, New York's Empire State building was also the location where Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr were supposed to meet in An Affair to Remember and so as a devoted fan, I also wanted to go up to the top of that building, too, which I have done many times. Magnum P.I. truly became one of the inspirations that led me to apply to a university in Hawaii and The Monuments Men and Bridge of Spies inspired trips to specific locations in Europe. Anne of Green Gables and its emerald green slopes of Prince Edward Island have been beckoning me for decades, but I have yet to answer the call. Hopefully some day. Most recently after watching an obscure movie titled See You in Venus, I was inspired to plan another trip to Spain to visit all of the cities I had missed on previous trips.

My point in mentioning all of this is to show that the media we consume most certainly can serve as an inspiration for our travels. It's a fun way to travel because it helps you implement interesting things you've seen on the big (or small) screen into your own life.

Famous Works of Art 

Art has inspired my travels in two main ways. First, when I see a print or photograph of a beautiful work of art, I often feel drawn to want to see the original in person. I will often seek out more information on the work, find out where it is located, and then make plans to go see it someday.

I did this with the Bruges Madonna, the David, the Pietà, the Woman in Gold, and the Night Watch, to name just a few. And, I have had the great pleasure of seeing all of the aforementioned works in person, because I made the specific effort to go see them. 

Second, art has inspired me to go see the places featured in the art. For instance, in my blog post titled "Walking Into a Painting on my First Trip to Venice," I describe how a work of art from my childhood led me to find the exact spot featured in the painting! It was an incredible experience getting to see the real place several hundred years after the scene had been painted and find that it was just about exactly the same.

In another example, I remember looking at the back of a penny when I was a child and seeing the little tiny Abraham Lincoln in the center of the Lincoln Memorial. When I finally got to Washington, D.C. and scaled the steps of this monument, I felt like I was walking right into a penny! 

Noteworthy People in History 

I frequently like going to places that are tied to people in history that are particularly noteworthy. For instance, on my first trip to Amsterdam, I naturally wanted to visit the annex where Anne Frank and her family went into hiding. On a trip to New York, I visited Theodore Roosevelt's birthplace in Manhattan. I've also been to George Washington's home of Mount Vernon, Queen Liliulokolani's Iolani Palace in Honolulu, and the final resting place of Mozart in Vienna. 

I'm certainly not the only one who visits places that were important to specific individuals. After all, think of the hoards of fans who have made their pilgrimage to Elvis Presley's Graceland or to the thousands who have taken the Hollywood Stars tour and driven past the homes of former Hollywood celebrities. 

While some of these places might be tourist traps, others can be quite interesting. Basing a trip around seeing places that were important to people you admire can certainly add a richer dimension to your travels. 

Geographic Wonders 

I always wanted to see the majesty of the redwoods, so on a trip to the Bay Area, I added Muir Woods to my itinerary. Another time, on a trip to upstate New York, I drove a few extra hours to the west and then up to Canada so that I could see the famed Niagara Falls! I've been to Maui's Haleakala to see the sunrise (three times), the Florida Keys, the red rock hoodoos of Bryce Canyon, and Zadar's famed sunset over the Adriatic. I still have a huge list of other natural wonders I'd like to check out someday, too! So many places to see, so little time.

Here's a list of the top 10 geographic wonders in the world: 

1. Grand Canyon, USA: A massive canyon carved by the Colorado River, showcasing unique geology and stunning landscapes, representing millions of years of Earth's history.

2. Great Barrier Reef, Australia: The world's largest coral reef system, home to a vast array of marine life and ecosystems, serving as a crucial habitat and contributing to global biodiversity.

3. Mount Everest, Nepal/Tibet: The highest peak on Earth, revered by climbers and adventurers, symbolizing the triumph of human exploration and the awe-inspiring power of nature.

4. Amazon Rainforest, South America: The largest tropical rainforest, playing a vital role in regulating the Earth's climate, harboring unparalleled biodiversity, and providing essential ecosystem services.

5. Sahara Desert, Africa: The world's largest hot desert, spanning several countries, with its vast expanse of sand dunes, ancient cultures, and unique adaptations to extreme conditions.

6. Great Wall of China, China: An iconic symbol of Chinese civilization, spanning thousands of miles and embodying centuries of history, culture, and engineering ingenuity.

7. Victoria Falls, Zambia/Zimbabwe: One of the largest and most spectacular waterfalls, renowned for its sheer size, power, and natural beauty, attracting visitors from around the world.

8. Galápagos Islands, Ecuador: A remote archipelago famous for its role in shaping Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, with its diverse and endemic species, unique ecosystems, and ongoing conservation efforts.

9. Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights): A mesmerizing natural light display in the polar regions, created by solar particles interacting with the Earth's atmosphere, inspiring awe and wonder in observers.

10. Machu Picchu, Peru: An ancient Incan citadel nestled in the Andes Mountains, showcasing remarkable architecture, cultural heritage, and panoramic views, representing the ingenuity and achievements of pre-Columbian civilizations.

Personal Experiences and Recommendations 

I love talking travel with anyone. When I do, it's fun to find out where other people have visited and what they've thought about those places. For example, I remember talking once to a friend who had just come back from Mallorca. Honestly, I had never heard of that place and so I quickly googled it. I vowed right there to add this Mediterranean Spanish island on my bucketlist. 

This is actually one of the reasons I love staying in hostels. These truly are meccas for authentic tourism info. Shoot, they might as well be tourism boards. The people who stay here are generally world travelers and so they'll have all kinds of unique travel advice to send your way. 

Social Media: YouTube and Instagram

Years ago I was working on a writing project—a fictional story about a young boy and his grandfather who were traveling on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. In order to make this piece authentic, I needed to find out what it was really like to travel on this long-distance train across Russia.

So, I conducted a few google searches and ran across a YouTube video of a twenty-something married couple (Kara and Nate) from Tennessee who documented their own seven-day Trans-Siberian journey. Needless to say, their content totally helped me out with my project. And it also truly opened up my mind to a brand new idea. I had no clue that people were actually living as full-time travelers and documenting their journey through the written word and through visual content. I binge watched a ton of their videos and as a result felt inspired to take my own solo adventures. They made travel across the world look so accessible and easy and because of that, I felt confident that I could also accomplish the same things! 

I say all of that to explain that YouTube is filled with tons of inspirational content creators who share their travel journeys. So is Instagram. I follow a bunch of travel influencers on there as well and then when I see content that I want to remember, I save it to my "travel" folder. Instagram is what gave me the inspiration to visit the Beauty and the Beast towns of the Alsace, which I had never heard of before! 

Travel Blogs

I couldn't leave this post without giving a plug for travel blogs! Since you're here, you know that travel blogs are a great way to get inspiration for travel. 😊

I hope you've felt inspired by some of the tips given here in this post (or any of my other posts). 

Thanks always for reading!