"Ladies and gentlemen welcome on board this British Airways service from London Heathrow to Marseille Provence..."
This announcement leading you to immediate take off should be a thrill for any travel illustrator like me, I should get excited to explore new horizons and live new adventures! Instead quite the opposite happens every time I fly. Sweat, anxiousness and the all in between mix uncomfortably inside my head and make me feel awful until the plane wheels touch the floor upon landing.
To picture myself at my final destination I found quite a good trick: buy a nice travel guide and read it on board to imagine how nice my future travel is going to be. It's also an amazing opportunity to get to know where I'm going and to find out about funny anecdotes about the country. This way, I can dive in the South of France's vineyards looking at beautiful pictures, read about a picturesque train journey crossing Vietnam north to south allowing you to capture the most breathtaking scenery.
A paper guide is quite unique and gives you a nice souvenir from the place you've just been. You can scribble, corner the page or attach business cards to it so nothing get lost and everything stay together! As a travel guide designer, it's a fantastic opportunity to remember each place I went to and make sure I recall them all.
To pick the best book I love going and wandering around Waterstone's (the travel section in Picadilly is awesome), Stanfords in Covent Garden or Daunt Books. The Conran Shop has a nice selection of more design orientated ones like Monocle or CITIx60 City Guides. Personally, whenever I'm going to the country for the first time, I always get a Lonely Planet. Most of the times, they are nicely designed and recommend places that aren't too touristy (especially if you are in a non capital city). Then, I add on with another little one I found quirky or nice looking and off I go!
You're going to a place soon and it's for a special occasion?
Don't forget I create bespoke travel packages for your need and I can even fully customize it with your name, your itinerary and a nice illustration of your face.
Contact me here for more information.