My Quick Guide On How To Practice Skills While Traveling
In a lot of ways, this trip is way different than my last one back in 2016. I started this trip solo traveling, Southeast Asia is far less of a focus this time around, and back in 2016 we didn’t have to deal with something like Covid. Travel was overall a lot easier because of that.
But, in a lot of ways, nothing has changed at all.
Bethany and I have been together for all six years, I quit my job at Snap-on to make this trip possible, and I’m still trying to hone my skills while out on the road. I’ve gotta tell you, I can’t recommend it enough. But it’s not always easy putting in the time while you’re on the road. So, no matter what you’re practicing, here are some tips to keep in mind while you’re getting your 10,000 hours in abroad.
For a lot of these, I’ll be giving you my experience with writing and drawing, but I’ll be sure to try and make it relevant to any skill.
Use YouTube To Practice Skills In Different Ways
I’ve been trying to improve my skills in drawing now for about three years, so there are ways to practice certain skills that I already know. It’s good that I have these practice methods, but when you’re traveling it’s nice to be able to branch out a little.
I like to figure draw for 30-60 minutes when I have the chance, but I can go on YouTube and see how others try to capture and understand the human form. In a matter of 30 minutes I can find multiple ways to practice this skill and choose what I think will help me the most. This will help keep your practice fresh while giving you a different perspective on the skill. If nothing else, you’ll have new practice methods to try when you get home.
Consistently Practice, But Not At The Adventure’s Expense
It’s a bit hypocritical of me to say this right now considering I’ve just been chilling and drawing in Rio, but I think my point still stands. My point being: Being able to consistently put time into your skill is key to progressing, but that doesn’t mean sit inside and study up on your craft nonstop. As nice as it would be to do that, we have to keep that momentum of seeing new people and places and use that energy as inspiration.
When you’re able to constantly see new things and have your perspective challenged, you’ll be thinking critically more often. In my experience, this gets the creativity working double time as well. If you take one hour to focus on your skills before you go to bed or right when you wake up, you’ll be able to enjoy the creative benefit of traveling while still practicing. And when you do it right, the rhythm between practice and adventure gets addicting. I think that’s when the learning becomes that much more effective.
Always Have A Way To Document Your Thoughts
The last point pairs particularly well with journaling. You might not always be able to practice your skill, but if you’re always aware of how the things you see pertain to that skill, you can document that for later use. In drawing, many teachers will tell you to always be aware of the horizon line and vanishing point. With these two points in mind, see how buildings, humans, cars, and anything else is affected in perspective.
Being able to take a quick picture of a building and write down my thought on what I’m seeing is key. That’s because at the end of the day, I can bring that photo out and draw down my thought. Was I correct? Maybe I wasn’t. Either way, I can take that information and make it relevant to my learning experience. That’s how you take a day of traveling and learn from it. Journal your observations and test out theories when you have more time.
Find Small Ways To Make Your Trip Relevant To Your Skills
This one’s obvious, but it’s such a great way to learn on the fly. If you like metal working, find a country known for that and plan a tour that involves metalworking. Book hostels near places that you can go to life drawing if you want to practice art. Go to a huge number of art museums. If you want to be a better surfer, hit up one of the many worldwide locations where surfers flock to.
Be sure to also meet up with like-minded people on your journeys. There are plenty forums and Facebook groups where you can find people with the same interests to meet up with. This brings me to my next point.
Join A Forum
When you’re out on the road, you won’t always be able to meet with like-minded people. Maybe meeting up with strangers really isn’t your thing anyway. That’s fine. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that more often than not, you will at least have access to the internet.
While I don’t suggest letting the internet and the phone consume your trip, I do think joining a forum is incredibly useful. You can post what you’re practicing and discuss news in the field you’re interested in. Most useful of all, you’ll be able to get feedback on your work. This will keep you focused on what you need to get better at and give you the tools to ask how.
Again, I’ve been guilty of spending too much time on my phone and it almost feels like it takes away the whole point of traveling, but if you’re responsible with your phone time and would like some feedback, this is the way to go.
Practice Skills In Sections
It’s always nice to practice an eclectic mix of skills, but sometimes it helps to map out your journey a little more. In terms of drawing, sometimes I take a week to focus on perspective. I’ll draw 3D shapes, focus on building, and try to focus on accurate perspective even during a quick figure drawing. However, once that week is over, maybe I’ll study the muscles in the arm or skin tones in different lights.
When I can focus on specific skills, I get to pursue my interests a little closer and have almost a specific badge to show for my work as opposed to studying generally where I don’t always feel my progress. It also helps with making a curriculum before you travel – a small guide that you can follow when you’d like to focus on specific skills.
Find Ways To Stay Inspired
I probably don’t have to say much in this section as traveling is typically inspiration enough for me. But if you feel yourself losing motivation, it always helps to follow a channel or two on YouTube or subscribe to some people on Instagram or other social media that post their work regularly. Again, don’t get lost in this and try not to ever compare yourself to professionals, but if you need the motivation, it’s always nice to see what you love done at the highest quality.
Have Goals To Achieve By Trip’s End
This goes hand-in-hand with practice skills in sections, but it allows you to choose multiple sections to tackle over the course of your trip. This helps keep the guidelines of your day-to-day lose while allowing you to hold yourself accountable for bigger accomplishments as a whole.
Also, be sure to keep your dreams big but attainable. If you don’t set enough goals for yourself, you’ll end up meandering in skills you’re already comfortable with. If you set too many, you might get discouraged with how much there is to do. Be sure to challenge yourself but keep your end goal realistic. For example, I’m studying 10-20 specific skills on my trip, but I hope to put in about 300 hours total while I’m out. With my trip being 180 days, that would mean I’d have to roughly put in 100 minutes a day. It’s doable but not overwhelming. You should pair this with the next skill for maximum effectiveness.
Show Off
If you’re going to spend all this time working on your skill, be proud of what you’re doing. Post some of your stuff on social media. Regardless of what the response is, it’s just nice knowing that your work is out there for the world to see. This always seems to give me the last little bit of energy to finish that project. Also, this gives you a reason to focus on projects. While you’re not mastering skills, you’ll want to have some finished pieces to show off. Planning a few projects for your trip could tie directly into what you’re learning. Give it a shot and see how it makes you feel.