How To: Keep a Travel Journal

The “How To” series will discuss important topics related to volunteering abroad and traveling in general. As you read on, the following will give you advice on “how to” do something. Sounds simple enough, but a lot of these tips & tricks will make a world of difference once you’re out there traveling abroad. We know this because we’ve been there, and we’ll be sharing personal notes along with best-practice advice from world travelers!

We have this innate desire to create things that make some aspect of our lives permanent, so that those moments appear less fleeting and memories are easier to hold onto. Instagram, journals, photography, scrapbooks, Twitter, Facebook, you name it! Most often your memories are what you cherish most, more than the trinkets you picked up along the way. What better way to keep the memories intact than to create and maintain a travel journal?

I suppose that the question at hand is, what is the best way to keep a travel journal?

Pick your medium. 

Whether you get your thoughts out best when given a pen and paper or with your trusty laptop, there are plenty of options for your journal. For those who love the feeling of scribbling and doodling down their thoughts and having a physical journal, I suggest Moleskine Journals. Moleskine offers a variety of different types of journals that have different formatting and are all both attractive and durable; they even have one specifically for travel! Of course, there are other options as well. Oftentimes, your local bookshop will have artisanal and basic journals available for purchase. If you’re looking for a more DIY approach, scrapbooks are always a good option, or even a simple composition notebook will do.

Are you swifter with your trackpad and keyboard than you are with a pen? Have no fear! For the tech savvy, the options are (literally) boundless! There are a variety of web platforms available for making your travel experience live far past the end of your itinerary. The original web-platform for travel blogs is the website Travelpod, which has great features such as maps that allow you to track your travels, easy photo uploads, the ability to access your blog from your smartphone, and at the end of your travels, they’ll even turn your blog into a printed book. For something a little less complicated, try Tumblr, Blogger, or WordPress on for size.

Make it a habit.

Just like any other skill worth perfecting, writing every day will better your journal and your writing skills. If you write each and every day, whether it is jotting down notes throughout the day or before going to sleep, it will help with your writing skills and will better capture your journey. The length of each post can vary; it’s all a matter of style. A post could be short enough to be Tweet-able, or it could be long enough to be a chapter in a novel. It could vary from day-to-day, as long you’re capturing your journey just as you’d like, the level of detail included is all up to you. Remember, a short entry is better than none at all.

Mementos. 

Mementos can work like a map, showing you where you went and when. If your travel journal is paper-based, attaching things such as boarding passes, train tickets, ticket stubs and other mementos is always a sweet addition to any travel journal. As well, if you choose to blog, taking a picture of these mementos can also work (personally, I’d still hold onto the physical mementos). It adds dimension to your travel journal and will often inspire memories that might have ventured to the back of your memory by the time you have come back home. I, for one, have found that some of my fondest memories of my travel have been while in transportation, reading or chatting with others who are traveling as well.

Take photos. of. everything. 

To put it simply, photos makes everything better. Photos can grab your attention and oftentimes, capture memories better than words can. If your journal is physical, photos can be added just as mementos can; they can be frantically scotch-taped in or meticulously placed with photo corners or glue. With a blog, adding photos is as easy (and with a good internet connection, as quick) as snapping your fingers. Uploading photos is a simple way to add depth to your blog.

So go ahead! Get out there and start writing!