Eleven years ago I traveled to Poland for the marriage of my son to his Polish fiancée. It was my first experience abroad, and one that has stood out in my mind in the years since. My first book The Shrouding Woman had been published a few years earlier, and I had just finished edits for my next novel the day before we left for our trip. Subsequently, I’d learned barely enough Polish to sustain a conversation.

I did bring copies of The Shrouding Woman with me as gifts, even though it was printed in English. My small, and what I thought an insignificant gift, was met with tears of gratitude, and a great deal of hugging. We ended up traveling with some of the guests throughout Poland, and their insight into the culture and scenery were priceless.

Solotgad, in Poland

From the sparkling waters of the Baltic coastal cities of Sopot and Gdansk, to the market square of Krakow and the Tatra Mountains of the South, we discovered how colorful and diverse this country was, with breathtaking medieval architecture as well as the emotional sites of Auschwitz and Birkenau.

Torun, in Poland

In Torun, where the wedding took place, we visited the birthplace of Copernicus, and saw traditional gingerbread being made. We climbed the countless stairs to the top of the church where our son was married to appreciate a view of the city that it has offered since the twelfth century.

Mark Twain wrote that travel is “fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” Like James Joyce in Paris, F. Scott Fitzgerald in Switzerland, and Ernest Hemingway in Spain, I found that the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and the fact that I didn’t hear English for two weeks, fueled my creativity in ways that I could never anticipate, and also made for friendships that still exist today.

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Loretta Ellsworth is a former Spanish teacher and the author of four young adult novels: The Shrouding Woman, In Search of Mockingbird, In a Heartbeat, and Unforgettable. Her debut adult novel, Stars Over Clear Lake (May, 2017, St. Martin’s Press) is set in Clear Lake, Iowa. Loretta received her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University and lives with her husband and children in Lakeville, Minnesota. When she’s not reading or writing, she’s usually playing tennis. Learn more at lorettaellsworth.com.

I am the sole parent of a seven-year-old girl who is the most spirited, magical person I have ever met. She is also the noisiest person I’ve ever met, and has the most questions and observations. Know when peanuts were invented? 1871! When a color is kind of pink and kind of purple and kind of fuchsia, you can just call it Patricia. Your armpits smell like burnt Christmas cookies. Can you lick my elbow?

The questions and observations never end. I don’t want them to end, but I do need a break sometimes. I need space to hear myself think, and to let my own questions and observations drift to the surface. This is true in general, but especially true when we’re talking about writing. When a fiction project needs a sustained burst of attention and time, I call the nuns at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota, and I reserve the hermitage house.

The tiny log cabin sits on the edge of campus, near the cornfield and the long tunnel of trees leading to the woods. The house is just big enough for a twin-sized bed, a small desk, a soft chair for reading and a hard chair for writing. There’s also a small bathroom and a mini kitchen. The scale makes everything feel intensely simple. In the simplicity and quiet, I can easily hear myself think. And after thoughts have the chance to rise, they can then settle, like the contents of a snow globe. I spend a lot of time at the hermitage not thinking. Just slicing potatoes. Oiling up a pan of asparagus. Memorizing the knots in the exposed rafter beams. Taking another hot shower. I sometimes take three hot showers in a day, just because I can.

When I wake up each morning, I make a giant pot of green tea, I write until I’m tired, take a nap, wake up, drink more tea, write again. The rhythm is my own, not syncopated by anyone else. When I’ve spent my creative courage for the day, I walk down the fairytale lane of trees, into the woods. I don’t intentionally think of my story but it might reveal itself to me on its own terms, like a wild rabbit. I hold very still and feel grateful for any glimpse I receive. At night, I cook and listen to audiobooks, nourishing myself with both good food and good words.

In the tiny house, rain on the roof is louder than at home, and night is darker. The flat fields reveal sunrises and moonrises I never see in Minneapolis. Here, I feel very alive and I sense magic. Sometimes I write good things and sometimes I write less-than-good things. That’s always the way it goes. I return to the Twin Cities and to my Rainbow Tornado feeling recharged and ready to reunite with the magic that awaits me at home. I’m ready to listen to observations such as: When the sun shines, it’s the sun opening its mouth. Everybody has to go grocery shopping except zombies. Did you know that Frog and Toad are old people?

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Stephanie Watson is the author of the middle-grade novels Elvis and Olive and Elvis and Olive: Super Detectives, both Junior Library Guild selections. Her picture books include Behold! A Baby (2016 MN Book Award finalist, illustrated by Joy Ang), The Wee Hours (illustrated by Mary GrandPré), and the forthcoming Best Friends in the Universe (illustrated by LeUyen Pham, 2018). Stephanie enjoys teaching writing workshops to kids and adults at schools, libraries, and the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. Learn more at stephanie-watson.com.

Step into Yakashima’s Moss Forest and you will be wrapped in green velvet. Let your heart slow to the splash of waterfalls and the drip of tears slipping from tips of ferns. Somewhere in the canopy of thousand-year-old cedars a monkey howls, a Japanese bush warbler whistles. Stand still and breathe in the moist air of the rainforest. Breathe out hurry and worry. I did just that while hiking in Yakashima’s World Heritage forest located on one of Japan’s most southern islands. Hiking in the Moss Forest was like drifting through a meditation. Ideas came to me, shimmered, soften, then took a seat in the back of my mind. Pristine moss protected me from the intrusion of my mental “mugwomp” that always rides on my writer’s shoulder. My personal “mugwomp” has matted fur, large vocal cords, and a discouraging vocabulary that makes me feel small, incompetent, a failure. In the Moss Forest, my “mugwomp” shrank to a thumb size. A slight breeze swept in and brushed the thing to the ground. My steps lightened. In the Moss Forest, a peacefulness sprouted in my heart. Ideas bloomed possibility. Slowly, I followed the rocky, rooted trail, pacing myself, placing one foot in front of the other. I’ve taken trails like these before. The writer’s path is always rocky and rooted, branching in every direction. Writers are left to follow a path to the summit relying on gut and instinct more than a map. That day in the Moss Forest, it didn’t matter how much my ankles twisted or my calves ached. I was fully alive, wrapped in living greenery. Now I’m back at home at my writing desk. If I close my eyes and bring back the image of walking through the velvet Moss Forest, who knows what ideas will bloom at the keyboard.

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Caren Stelson is the author of Sachiko: A Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivor’s Story and other works for children and young adults. To write Sachiko, Caren traveled to Nagasaki five times to interview Sachiko Yasui and research her story. Caren has had a long career in education, as a teacher, writer-in-residence, and freelance writer. After receiving her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Hamline University in 2009, Caren decided it was time to write the stories that needed her attention. Caren and her husband Kim have two grown children. They split their time between home in Minneapolis and the small town of Lanesboro. carenstelson.com

Learn more about the power of storytelling.

And, from Psychology Today, “Creative Writing and Your Brain.”