My creative processes revolve around finding inspiration in life as an entrepreneur and expat. Some of those things are:
- My morning routine
- Finding something online I am inspired by (videos, images, music, etc)
- Interacting with friends online and in person
- Exploring my new home in Madrid, Spain
- Conversations with my boyfriend
- and more…
The biggest contributing factor to my creative processes, though, is travel. Travel guides me in work and life. I find little joys in discovering a new restaurant or cafe, connecting with locals and expats, and finding my way around my new city. But how does travel actually guide me in my creative processes?
Decide what I want and where it’s going to go
When traveling, the first part of any trip is to first decide what type of trip you want (vacation, road trip, adventure, etc) and afterward, where you’re going to go. In one of our trips, my boyfriend and I decided we wanted an “off the cuff” road trip, something that was left to spontaneity and improvisation.
We picked the north of Spain, specifically the region of Asturias, and left it at that! We didn’t have any lodging picked out, no real plans on which cities we’d like to go to, and a very general and loose idea of what we wanted to see. The list went something like this:
- Mountains
- Small pueblos (EN: villages)
- Eat good food
The rest, we left up to chance.
In my creative processes, the beginning stages look a bit the same (to be honest)! I first choose what I want to create and the purpose of the content. How will it help my audience?
Next, I decide where I want to share the content: in a new blog post, social media caption, or even jumping on YouTube with a video. Where will my audience see this content and how will they receive it?
Like travel, I decide the purpose or idea of what I want my audience to understand or learn from my content:
- Copywriting tips
- Content creation tips
- Strategy behind content
- Creating a community that loves them
- Or something else
After I decide all of this – it’s time for the trip (or uh, content creation process).
Exploring and learning about different viewpoints
After planning our trip to Asturias, or deciding not to plan and winging it, it was time to head off on our road trip! We packed the car with our inflatable air mattress, a lot of blankets, and sheets (just in case we didn’t have anywhere to sleep) and left for the north of Spain. From Madrid, Asturias is about a 5-hour car ride, made of tiny two-way highways, tall mountains, and scattered villages built into the landscape.
For winging it, we left pretty late in the day and realized we would be arriving much later to our first destination than we hoped. So we took a little pit-stop in León, the capital of the region Castille y León, and enjoyed the sight-seeing and food – which, by the way, was delicious and the city is beautiful!
During the content creation stage of my process, I usually gather my resources and collect my thoughts on the topic I’d like to talk about. Similar to travel, I lay out everything I need beforehand (and for just in case moments): my laptop, the editorial calendar for the year, and the topic I’d like to discuss. Then, I sit and write.
When I write content for my blog posts (my main sharing platform), my thought process is:
- 3 main points I want to use to guide readers to understand my message
- How this topic can help or inspire my audience
- The call-to-action at the end of the post for what to do next
When it comes to travel – it’s the same thing:
- Main things I want to see
- How this city or country offers something unique or different than what I’m used to
- What did I learn from this new destination that I can take back home with me?
My main goal during my creative processes is finding a different point of view that most people might not know. Travel motivates me to take in different perspectives, visions, and opinions – shaping my own thoughts.
Sharing with my community
The beauty of travel is all about the amazing and cultural differences we get to learn along the way. During our trip to Asturias, we saw a side of Spain that most people usually never see! There were snow-capped mountains, lush green scenery, the northern beach coast, and delicious seafood.
Although Asturias has a bad reputation for always having rainy and cloudy weather, we lucked out! There were rainy days, but it eventually stopped and the weather was perfect to explore.
The pueblos were small and the cities were inviting. Most small villages had one main street and were nestled in the crook of the mountains. To go from town to town, we snaked through the mountains, going uphill then downhill. Many say that the ambiance in the north of Spain is a bit more “cold”, being more closed-off and not as warm as the Andaluces. My boyfriend and I found that to be quite the opposite. Everywhere we went, we were met with warm hospitality!
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Similar to the process of content creation, I love sharing everything I’ve written, learned, and created with my community! If my content helps my community see a different point of view, learn something, or inspires them – I’ve succeeded. After a trip, I let the new surroundings and ambiance inspire me to create more content and relating it back to my business.
By sharing what I’ve learned in business and in travel, I let travel guide my creative processes in content creation!
What guides you in your creative processes? Share them in the comments below!
Do you have a process and strategy for content creation? Are you ready to get back your time from creating content? Let’s schedule a FREE 30min call to see how to get strategic with your processes and get your time back!
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