A change of scenery unlocks creativity
Discover the magic of words - writer travellers in Crete in June 2025
Writing is often a solitary process. It takes place at a desk, in quiet moments, while thoughts wander off into the chores of everyday life.
But when writing is taken out of its familiar framework, when it is given time, space and community, something special happens.
That's why writers' trips and retreats often have a greater impact and deeper impact than traditional workshops. They are transitions and detachments, small breakpoints in life that create visible and invisible movement in words and within.
"It wasn't a one-off trip, but there's plenty to take away from it all for a long time."
A new environment sensitises the senses
Whether it's a trip to another country or city, or a decision to take a different route to work than we normally do, a change of scenery does something to our minds. It sharpens our senses, shakes up our habits and invites us to stop.
On a writing trip, this effect is multiplied:
🌀 When the colour of the sea changes, so does the memory.
🌀 When the mountains appear on the horizon, your outline becomes clearer.
🌀 When we sit at the table writing together, we realise: I am not alone.
The new landscape is therefore not just a background, but part of the writing process. It invites us to look at ourselves and our lives from a new angle. Perhaps even to write what we would not have dared or been able to say in familiar landscapes.
And when the landscape is in Crete, something else goes with it.
In Paleohora in the summer, we wrote, among other things, in the setting of a Venetian fortress dating back to the 13th century.
Crete's storied history is reflected in its interior
Crete is not just an island - it's a narrative of time. Every street and stone, the scent of the wind, the quiet chapel on a hillside, tells a story that has lived for centuries.
In such an environment, reflecting on your own life history seems somehow... more natural. You don't have to rush forward, you can look back. You can let the past speak and listen to the words that want to be written right now.
Marja, who has already been on two writing trips to Crete, found herself a stone island in the Venetian fortress of Paleohora:
A copper-coloured stone, my sister.
We both have a jagged hole in the middle; the hole is not yet rounded, the process is ongoing. Someone has to help us grind it.
It could be that the blow has come from the inside. The grief brewing inside has swelled so painfully that it has sucked a hole in the shell.
My sister of stone, your insides are cleansed by the hot wind.
My insides are cleansed by these words.
"I found Annamar's way of guiding the group to be gentle, space-giving, calm, attentive to the needs of the group and supportive. With her own way of being and her choice of exercises, she managed to awaken dormant sources of creativity."
Many writers have found their voice in the world
Throughout the ages, writers have sought to escape from everyday life in order to find something essential:
✨ new perspectives
✨ awakening of the senses
✨ clarification of your own voice.
Travel is good for creativity, and no wonder. New landscapes, smells, sounds and rhythms are not only invigorating, they actually change the way we think and write. When the familiar disappears for a moment, words can move more freely.
This is not just my own experience: studies also support the idea that a change of scenery is good for creativity. For example, in an article published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Maddux & Galinsky argue that living abroad and encountering new cultures improves cognitive flexibility and helps you see connections you hadn't previously noticed.
In other words: when you leave your familiar circles for a while, you come back with new eyes, and often new words.
"In Paleohora, verily, the mind took and the pen wrote, we were all free to wander. Great gratitude to life I feel when I remember us ❤️."
Join us for the next trip
If your heart needs a break and words for your soul, the next opportunity is in October, when I will again be leading writers to Crete. This time, the tour operator in charge is Matkapaletti.
Discover the magic of words and colours with a trip to Kissamos, Crete, from 6.10.-13.10.2025.
Find out more and register:
www.matkapaletti.fi/sanataide-matka
You can set off exactly as you are. You don't have to be an experienced writer - just be curious to hear what comes out of your gut when you give yourself permission to write.
Soon you may find that the knots in your words begin to unravel, as in this poem by Arja, who has been on the journey twice:
Sun, sea and wind
called the buds of words,
to open their delicate petals.
As wind and sea danced, the buds opened,
each in its own way and pace.
And soon, in the lap of all the petals, an indescribably beautiful pearl was discovered,
ripened by the sun,
the product of a life lived.
