I attended Balticon this past weekend. (Had a terrific time, as usual.)

Balticon takes place at a hotel in Hunt Valley, Maryland and gets booked solid by the time the event rolls around. On the opening day, the hotel entrance is over-crowded by folks who come from all around loaded for bear with all the things they can’t live without for four days.

It’s amazing to see what folks travel with, and how they travel: like the eight folks that traveled together down from New York in a single car, but got separate rooms because they needed the space.

Then there’s the dichotomy of those who will travel as light as possible, forgoing even a change of clothes (I hope they brought their toothbrush!) so they’ll have room in the car for all the treasures they’ll take home; and those who travel with trunks filled with costuming gear, and you’ll see changed several times a day.

I’ve seen folks come in with several coolers and (little red) wagons loaded with food so they never have to leave the hotel in search of a less-expensive meal. (And NOT at Balticon, I’ve seen these same folks pull their wagons and coolers up to a gaming table so they can play all night without having to leave their chair!)

Here’s Your Prompt:

• Make a list of things your characters absolutely can’t live without when they’re traveling. And/or, make a list of things your characters can’t live without when they’re just “about town.” Now: lose those items.

  Write the scene where your character needs those items and discovers that they don’t have them. What happens? How do they work around the loss?
   

• Send your character on a road trip. Have the car (train, bicycle, airplane — not in the sky!) break down. What happens?
   
• “THE silent room, the heavy creeping shade, The dead that travel fast…” — Fabien dei Franchi, Oscar Wilde.
   
• Write a scene about how the travel (the view, the journey, the people met) affected your character in a life-changing way.
   
• Put your main character in a situation where he or she has the opportunity to embark upon an affair. The setting is a country he’s never been to with a language he does not comprehend.
   
• “How heavy do I journey on the way When what I seek, my weary travels end, Doth teach that ease and that repose to say, Thus far the miles are measur’d from thy friend! — Sonnet 50, Shakespeare
   
• If you journal, write about a time you traveled that had some profound affect on you. Did you make a promise to live life differently after that? Have you kept that promise?
   

Good Luck!

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