I MAGINE, if you will: A breeze off the Mediterranean wafts through your open window and plays at the curtain above your writing desk—or a staggering view of Switzerland’s majestic Jura Mountains dazzles you from beyond your cabin, or a bustling streetscape thrums just down the hill from the walled garden where you’ve set yourself up to work. A plate of something delicious waits on your desk. On your open laptop, a cursor flickers with possibility. And most important, ahead of you stretches unencumbered time to write, approaching your ideas with new perspective, energy, and freedom.
Such a retreat is the stuff of dreams for many writers—and for those who put their mind to it, it can sometimes become a reality. Every year writers make their escape to dozens of retreats abroad, in locations that span the globe and awaken new possibilities in their work. For those who find it nearly impossible to set aside their responsibilities and give undivided attention to a manuscript, an international retreat can be just the right opportunity for their writing to flourish, putting miles, if not oceans, between their creative practice and the obligations of everyday life. But an international writing retreat can offer much more than distance at which to write productively. Time spent abroad can loosen creativity, push work in new directions, or offer abad news, not to mention a pandemic that quashed many a big travel dream, we could all use a proper vacation—and our creative practice probably could too. Consider this your invitation to imagine the wildest possibilities for your writing and contemplate such a trip for yourself, perhaps at one of the following six inspiring retreats. (And if you’re a writer with your feet planted firmly on the ground, unable to dream until the logistics have been squared away, read on in this section for advice about finding the funding and the time to make such a dream a reality.)
