For me, it’s impossible to start a trip without this one essential item: my travel sketchbook. It is my eyes, my memory, my inquisitive mind on paper. Together we take on the world.

It is in the act of drawing that I learn to look, listen, perceive, and remember. In fact, I have not experienced a place fully unless I have sketched it.

For travel sketchers like me, there is something powerful in the act of drawing—the magnetic draw to draw. The gift back is a travel sketchbook that offers surprises, discoveries, and a souvenir collection of aha moments.

OIC Insights about Time

It was during a train adventure from Chicago to Los Angeles that Ken Avidor sketched the changing landscape. In the process, he realized he could record the passage of time on a single page—something impossible to find in a snapshot.

Roberta and Ken Avidor may be the ultimate sketching duo, always set to travel! They live in an apartment at the Union Train Station with no car and two folding bicycles. At a moment’s notice, they hop a train with travel sketchbook in hand to discover and draw.

Travel is about movement and each travel sketchbook captures the changing frontiers. Ken Avidor explains, “The thought that often occurs to me is I am the first person to sketch this. . . . It’s kind of territorial, like a dog marking a tree.”

Roberta had another insight about time. Unlike photographers, she was able, through her drawings, to invent, erase, stylize and organize how things changed in front of her eyes. On this page of Roberta’s travel sketchbook, she captures the transition from city to country.

OIC a New Strategy for Preserving Memories

In the pages of Suzanne Cabrera’s travel sketchbook, she embeds clues to preserving memories. Like a detective or archeologist, Cabrera often sketches single details that connect to a story (or create one!) and forever solidify a memory.

Cabrera says, “Ask me what I did this time last week and I may not have the slightest clue. Ask me what was going on in any drawing I’ve included here—even one that dates back years ago—and I can tell you everything.”

For her, the small and unremarkable provide powerful connections (like pieces in a mind puzzle) to a particular experience or story. Often Cabrera’s travel sketchbook reflects her perusing mind. It offers a blank page to clarify her personal thoughts.

In her sketchbook, Suzanne sees clues to her travel memories. I see clues to an aha moment: drawing creates narrative, an illustrated autobiography of the sketcher’s memories, perceptions at the time, and later reflections.

OIC So Many Ways to Sense a Place

When Fabio Consoli packed for his world bicycle trip, he made sure to find space for an important tool: the travel sketchbook. Pedaling on bicycle creates an intimate connection to a place, experiencing the elements of the environment first-hand. Consoli found a similar experience with his travel sketchbook.

While perusing the souks (markets) of Marrakech, Consoli discovered a red pigment that he could mix and use as watercolor. Then he happened upon a bigger discovery: the use of local materials in his travel sketchbook gave him an even greater sense of place. The smell and taste of his materials instilled a memory of his travel moments in a way that an image cannot.

Consoli talks about his many travel destinations: “I don’t choose the places because they are interesting to draw. In reality, it’s the place that chooses me.”

And Consoli brings home a bit of each place in his sketchbook. He now uses local fruit, coffee, soy sauce, and wine for color in the location he is drawing. His sketchbook not only serves as a visual memoir but an ongoing sensory experience of the places he has visited.

OIC a Great Way to Slow Down and Focus

If you decide to walk the forests of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) or hike the steep stairs to Machu Picchu, you might run into Kolby Kirk sketching a tree, a bird, a noteworthy leaf, or an ancient ruin.

In 2001 Kirk backpacked around Europe, all the while sketching and writing. His aha moment came at the Temple of Apollo in the ruins of Pompeii, Italy. While drawing, he was flooded by a herd of tourists who snapped photos and rushed on to their next site.

Kolby Kirk explains, “I realized that the act of sketching—paying close attention to the details of the scene—was etching this moment into my long-term memory. I can still remember that day, that moment even, now nearly fifteen years ago. I wonder if the same could be said by those tourists?”

In Kirk’s sketchbook he gives time and appreciation to a place and, thus, sketching becomes an act of compassion giving him time to look, draw, and study his surroundings.

OIC Power in the Travel Sketchbook

Each mark made in the travel sketchbook absorbs the artist’s experience of a place and imprints its memory.

While cycling in Mexico, I met a family of cyclists who were traveling with their sketchbooks on a trip from Canada to Panama.

I asked eight-year-old Charlotte Conk what she had learned from drawing during her travels. She replied with a smile:

Charlotte’s aha moment—learning to look a little harder—is powerful in its simplicity, providing an insight that she’ll use the rest of her life.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

$\"A$

Sketchbook in chest pocket, Kolby Kirk is always ready to draw on the trail.
\u00a9 Kolby Kirk<\/p><\/div>\n

There’s\u00a0an\u00a0Aha Moment on Every Page!<\/h2>\n
For me, it’s impossible to start a trip without this one\u00a0essential item: my\u00a0travel sketchbook<\/em>. It is\u00a0my eyes, my memory, my inquisitive mind on paper. Together we take on the world.<\/p>\n
It is in the act of drawing that I learn to\u00a0look, listen, perceive, and remember. In fact,\u00a0I have not experienced a place fully unless I have sketched it.<\/p>\n
$\"Drawing$
The Jungle Collection: taking a moment to record and remember.
\u00a9 Eva Boynton<\/p><\/div>\n
For travel sketchers like me, there\u00a0is something powerful\u00a0in the act of drawing—the magnetic draw to draw. The gift back\u00a0is a travel sketchbook that\u00a0offers surprises, discoveries, and a souvenir collection of\u00a0aha moments.<\/p>\n
OIC Insights\u00a0about Time<\/h4>\n
It was during a train adventure\u00a0from Chicago to Los Angeles that Ken Avidor sketched the changing landscape. In the process, he realized he could record the passage of time on a single page—something impossible to find in a snapshot.<\/p>\n
Roberta and Ken Avidor<\/a>\u00a0may be the ultimate sketching duo, always set\u00a0to travel!\u00a0They\u00a0live in an apartment at\u00a0the Union Train Station<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0no car and two folding bicycles.\u00a0\u00a0At a moment’s notice, they hop a train with travel sketchbook in hand to\u00a0discover\u00a0and draw.<\/p>\n
$\"A$
A travel sketchbook offers the freedom to show how an environment can change.
\u00a9 Ken Avidor<\/p><\/div>\n
Travel is about movement and each travel sketchbook captures the changing\u00a0frontiers.\u00a0Ken Avidor explains,\u00a0“The thought that often occurs to me is I am the first person to sketch this. . . . It\u2019s kind of territorial, like a dog marking a tree.”<\/p>\n
Roberta had another\u00a0insight about time. Unlike photographers, she was able, through her drawings, to invent, erase, stylize and organize how things changed in front of her\u00a0eyes. On\u00a0this page of\u00a0Roberta’s travel sketchbook, she captures the\u00a0transition from city to country.<\/p>\n
$\"Drawing$
“All places seem more interesting when you draw them.”
\u00a9 Roberta Avidor<\/p><\/div>\n
OIC\u00a0a New Strategy for Preserving Memories<\/h4>\n
In the pages of Suzanne Cabrera’s<\/a> travel sketchbook, she embeds clues to preserving memories. Like a\u00a0detective or archeologist, Cabrera often sketches single details that connect to a story (or create one!) and forever solidify a memory.<\/p>\n
$\"Drawing$
A clue…
\u00a9 Suzanne Cabrera<\/p><\/div>\n
$\"A$
And another!
\u00a9 Suzanne Cabrera<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cabrera says,\u00a0“Ask me what I did this time last week and I may not have the slightest clue. Ask me what was going on in any drawing I\u2019ve included here—even one that dates back years ago—and I can tell you everything.”<\/p>\n
For her, the small and unremarkable provide\u00a0powerful connections\u00a0(like pieces in a mind puzzle)\u00a0to a particular experience or story. Often Cabrera’s\u00a0travel sketchbook reflects her perusing mind. It offers a blank page\u00a0to clarify her personal thoughts.<\/p>\n
$\"Drawing$
‘Cause there’s is a story behind every-thing.<\/em>
\u00a9 Suzanne Cabrera<\/p><\/div>\n
In her\u00a0sketchbook, Suzanne sees clues to her travel memories. I see clues to an aha moment: drawing creates narrative, an illustrated autobiography of the sketcher’s memories, perceptions at the time, and later reflections.<\/p>\n
OIC So Many\u00a0Ways to Sense a Place<\/h4>\nWhen\u00a0 Fabio Consoli<\/a>\u00a0packed for his\u00a0world\u00a0bicycle trip, he made sure to find space for an\u00a0important tool: the travel sketchbook. Pedaling on bicycle creates an intimate connection to a place, experiencing the elements of the environment first-hand.\u00a0Consoli found a similar experience\u00a0with\u00a0his travel sketchbook.<\/p>\n
$\"A$
The adventure cyclist travel kit. Can you find the travel sketchbook?
\u00a9 Fabio Consoli<\/p><\/div>\n
While perusing the souks<\/em> (markets) of Marrakech, Consoli discovered\u00a0a red pigment that he could mix and use as watercolor.\u00a0<\/em>Then he happened upon a bigger discovery: the use of local materials in his\u00a0travel sketchbook gave him an even greater sense of place. The smell and taste of his materials instilled a memory of his travel moments in a way that an\u00a0image cannot.<\/p>\n
$\"Scene$
There’s a whiff and a view of the destinations in Consoli’s sketchbooks.
\u00a9 Fabio Consoli<\/p><\/div>\n
Consoli talks about his many travel destinations:\u00a0“I don\u2019t choose the places because they are interesting to draw.\u00a0In reality, it’s the place that chooses\u00a0me.”<\/p>\n
And Consoli brings home a bit of each place in his sketchbook. He now uses local\u00a0fruit, coffee, soy sauce, and wine for color in\u00a0the location he is drawing. His sketchbook not only\u00a0serves as a\u00a0visual memoir but an ongoing sensory\u00a0experience of the places he has visited.<\/p>\n
OIC a Great Way to Slow Down and Focus<\/h4>\n
If you decide to walk the forests of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) or hike the steep stairs to Machu Picchu, you might run into Kolby Kirk<\/a> sketching a tree, a bird, a noteworthy leaf, or an ancient ruin.<\/p>\n
$\"A$
Notes on the Pacific Crest Trail
\u00a9 Kolby Kirk<\/p><\/div>\n
In 2001 Kirk backpacked around Europe, all the while sketching and writing. His aha moment came at\u00a0the Temple of Apollo in the ruins of Pompeii, Italy. While drawing, he was flooded by\u00a0a herd of tourists who snapped photos and rushed on to their next site.<\/p>\n
Kolby Kirk explains,\u00a0“I realized that the act of sketching—paying close attention to the details of the scene—was etching this moment into my long-term memory. I can still remember that day, that moment even, now nearly fifteen years ago. I wonder if the same could be said by those tourists?”<\/p>\n
$\"A$
Pompeii 2001
\u00a9 Kolby Kirk<\/p><\/div>\n
In Kirk’s sketchbook he gives time and appreciation to a place and, thus, sketching becomes an act of\u00a0compassion giving him time to look, draw, and study his surroundings.<\/p>\n
OIC Power in the\u00a0Travel Sketchbook<\/h4>\n
Each mark made in the travel sketchbook\u00a0absorbs the artist’s experience of a place and imprints its memory.<\/p>\n
$\"Drawing$
Charlotte Conk, 8, draws her
surroundings on a family trip.
\u00a9 Charlotte Conk<\/p><\/div>\n
While cycling in\u00a0Mexico, I met a family of cyclists who were traveling with their sketchbooks on a trip from Canada to Panama.<\/p>\n
I asked\u00a0eight-year-old Charlotte Conk what she had learned from drawing during\u00a0her travels. She replied with a smile:<\/p>\n
“That the arms of people do not go on their head.”<\/p>\n
Her travel sketchbook is a portfolio that\u00a0shows a developing eye.<\/p>\n
Charlotte’s aha moment—learning to look a little harder—is powerful in its simplicity, providing an insight\u00a0that she’ll use the rest of her life.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Thank you to\u00a0Roberta and Ken Avidor<\/a>\u00a0and Jefferson Lines<\/a>, Suzanne Cabrera<\/a>, Fabio Consoli<\/a>, Kolby Kirk<\/a>, Charlotte Conk,\u00a0and all the other artists who offered photos from their sketchbooks. Thank you for inspiring me to continue my travel sketchbook!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
Comment<\/a>\u00a0on this post below, or inspire insight with your own\u00a0OIC Moment\u00a0<\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":24778,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,202,227],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-travel","category-lessons-life","category-worldwide-mappoints"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24650"}],"version-history":[{"count":98,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25122,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24650\/revisions\/25122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

There’s an Aha Moment on Every Page!

OIC Insights about Time

OIC a New Strategy for Preserving Memories

OIC So Many Ways to Sense a Place

OIC a Great Way to Slow Down and Focus

OIC Power in the Travel Sketchbook

OIC Power in the\u00a0Travel Sketchbook<\/h4>\nEach mark made in the travel sketchbook\u00a0absorbs the artist’s experience of a place and imprints its memory.<\/p>\n