Writers do that.We don’t even need to leave the house, or our desk, or our notebook. A stray thought can spin itself into a lovely little story that, just for a while, turns us into someone else entirely. We end up halfway across the world with famous people doing things that in reality we’ve never been any good at. We can survive on ice or in deserts, we can live underwater or we can fly. The pen and notebook, paired with your imagination, is the surest way to travel.

Of course real travel is good too. However, it is expensive, and often we can’t responsibly leave the house and our duties just to go wandering. (That doesn’t mean you can’t daydream about it!) That’s when the notebook comes in useful–write a line or two, and just for a minute you’ve been out of town. You’ve been a new person, or created the perfect best friend. You can design a new creature, ride a dragon, sing better than you ever could in real life!

Any art can do this, but the one that I’m good at is writing. The one I can create most with is writing. My head is never quiet, with “the voices” whispering that such-and-such would be a good story. So I store it away, and if I don’t use it in whatever novel I happen to be working on, I save it for a new one–or write a short story with it. A phrase or a picture. A feeling or a glance at someone in the streets.

Something simple right in front of your nose takes you far, far away.

It’s the most beautiful thing.

Try it sometime.