I had never done a travel journal until this trip, but I am happy I started one. Traveling prior to now, I usually just try to take pictures as a means of remembering my travels. To a point that has worked, but in time the little moments that I once thought to be treasured start to fade as new ones take their place. My journal has started to help preserve these moments for me to look back on later.
The set-up of my journal is nothing intricate or set up in a certain way, but it captures my thoughts and the events that occurred throughout the day.
Ways that I keep track of what happens during the day:
- I keep a note on my phone of the metro stations I used on that day to later draw in the travel journal
- Take notes of little things that I want to remember
- I keep receipts and small pieces from places I went to eat or visit to also put in the journal as visual aids
All of these things are compiled onto two pages in my journal, leaving places for photos to be added at a later date. So far I have over a month of thoughts, memories, and keepsakes that are compiled in such a way that I will never throw out or forget.
Other Benefits to travel journaling that I have discovered
- A time to reflect on my day, the good, the bad, and the perfectly ordinary.
- Feeling like a day is never wasted, as I always have something to write about.
- A creative escape – I can doodle places I went, leave space for artistic photos, use the space in my journal in creative ways, add color to reflect moods, etc.
- Something I can show my family! Parents always ask what I did and I can show them the journal as a means to explain my day!
- And so many more that are small and often times personal and specific to certain times.
A list of things you will need to start your own travel journal:
- A journal (Can be bought at a local paper store or online)
- Glue sticks!
- Pens and markers
- A notes app
- A camera of some kind
Happy Travels!