How Travel Helps Designers
Posted in Travels, on October 14, 2024
As designers, we often find ourselves stuck in routines, confined by the walls of our offices, or limited by the scope of our current projects. We can push pixels all day, solve problems through wireframes, and discuss user flows endlessly, but there’s something about stepping out of our day-to-day lives that opens up new perspectives. Travel, I believe, is one of the best investments a designer can make in their personal and professional growth—if done right.
I’m not just talking about travel for the sake of escape or relaxation (although that has its merits), but traveling with intention. This means immersing yourself in new cultures, paying attention to details, and observing the world around you with a designer’s eye. It’s the kind of travel that can expand your creativity, refresh your problem-solving approach, and help you see design not just as a job, but as an essential part of life. Let’s break it down:
Exposure to Diverse Cultures and Perspectives
Travel throws you into unfamiliar environments, and that’s a good thing. You’re suddenly faced with different languages, behaviors, and values. These experiences broaden your understanding of how diverse the world is and, as a designer, how varied your audience can be.
Designers often get caught up designing for users like ourselves or the ones we’re most familiar with, but travel challenges that bubble. For example, traveling to Japan showed me how design is deeply rooted in subtlety and simplicity. From the minimalist interiors of a tea house to the functional yet elegant layout of their train systems—everything has a purpose, a rhythm. These little observations have a profound impact on how I think about design choices in my day-to-day work.
A New Lens for Problem Solving
We all have a go-to approach to problem-solving in design—whether it’s using certain frameworks or sticking to design patterns we know work. But travel pushes you to think differently. You’re in situations that require you to be adaptive and resourceful, much like how we handle user pain points.
For instance, navigating public transportation in a foreign country where I didn’t speak the language forced me to think outside the box, simplifying complex information into something understandable (sound familiar?). This type of thinking is transferable to our work. When faced with a difficult design challenge, you’re able to approach it with a fresh, more flexible mindset. You start looking for simpler, more intuitive solutions, just like you did when navigating unfamiliar terrain abroad.
Designing for the Human Experience
When we travel, we’re no longer just observers—we become part of a different community, if only temporarily. Whether it’s sharing a meal at a crowded street market in Bangkok or attending a local festival in Mexico, these experiences immerse you in how people interact with their environments, each other, and—without realizing it—design.
Travel gives you an opportunity to observe how design affects people in real-life settings. This hands-on understanding of human interaction, be it through signage, public spaces, or cultural artifacts, can inform your own work. You begin to design with a more human-centered approach, asking yourself how your creations will affect people’s everyday lives.
Recharging Creative Energy
I don’t need to tell you how easy it is to burn out. We’re constantly in the pursuit of innovation, often at the expense of our mental and emotional well-being. Travel is a reset button. It removes you from the monotony of daily work and forces you to live in the moment.
But beyond relaxation, travel refuels your creative energy. New environments stimulate your brain, sparking ideas and solutions you might not have considered before. For example, after a recent trip where I visited both sprawling cities and quiet villages, I found myself experimenting more with contrast in my designs—creating tension and balance in ways that felt fresh. That’s the power of travel: it unlocks creativity through experience, not just through research or brainstorming sessions.
Investment in Personal Growth
Travel, particularly for designers, is not a luxury—it’s an investment in personal and professional development. The value it brings in terms of broadening your worldview, fostering empathy, and improving problem-solving skills is unmatched. More than that, travel makes you adaptable, open-minded, and resourceful—qualities that can only enhance your work as a designer.
It’s important to note, however, that not all travel will yield these benefits. You have to be intentional. Avoid the tourist traps and dive into local life. Stay curious. Talk to people. Observe your surroundings as you would a user navigating a product you’ve designed. Ask yourself questions about why things are the way they are, and how different cultures approach similar problems in different ways.
If there’s one piece of advice I’d give to fellow designers, it’s this: don’t just travel for leisure. Travel to learn. Travel to see the world through new lenses. When done right, travel is an experience that informs and transforms your work as a designer in ways no book, blog post, or online course ever could.
Your next great design idea might just be waiting for you at the corner of a street market in Mexico City, in the meticulous layout of a Japanese garden, or in the energy of a bustling metropolis. The world is a canvas—go out there and explore it.