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The Ultimate Guide to Keeping a Travel Journal
Create a travel journal for your next adventure.
Let’s talk about creating a travel journal for your next trip that you’re planning.
Traveling starts long before an actual trip begins.
It usually starts with a dream.
A dream of a different place, new scenery, a vacation or a getaway. It can even just start with a feeling. We call it Wanderlust….
Planning a trip is just as much a part of traveling as the trip itself.
A travel journal can be start all the way at the beginning of the idea of the trip and then be a keepsake when the adventure ends.
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Why Keep a Travel Journal?
When you travel, you are collecting memories.
When you bring those memories back home with you it gives you a chance to relive them, and share them, and maybe even learn from them.
Travel can expand your view of the world around you, even if you don’t go very far from home and it gives you a chance to escape from your daily routine.
I know that we all use our phones to organize things thees days, I love having everything at my fingertips too, but there’s something romantic and special about writing things down in a journal.
This is your chance to disconnect from your daily habits and try something new.
A travel journal can be a great keepsake and also a great resource after your trip has ended. How much easier will it be to remember the name of that fantastic restaurant if you’ve got it written down in your journal?
By keeping a travel diary you have a reflection of your experiences that you can revisit anytime.
What is a Travel Journal?
A travel journal is your diary of a trip, or multiple trips. It’s where you can write about your experiences and how you felt about them. It’s the place for you to collect your stories and memories of your trip.
Your travel journal is yours. It’s personal and it can include anything that you want to jot down about your trip or during your trip. It’s also a great place to store memento’s.
Using Your Travel Journal to Plan Travel
You can use your travel journal before your trip even begins. Keep a travel bucket list of places you want to see and things you want to experience. This is a great list to refer to, and to update and see if it changes as you travel and have more experiences.
You can keep your packing list in your travel journal. Make notes on what things worked best on your trip and what things you didn’t need. This can help you plan your packing for future trips.
Remember that one thing you always forget? Write it down for next time!
![tips for keeping travel journal Best Travel Quote by WildflowersandWanderlust.com](https://wildflowersandwanderlust.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/no-one-has-seen.jpg)
Travel Journal Tips
Plan your trip in your travel journal.
Use your travel journal to plan your trip. Write down your ideas while you’re researching your trip or talking with fellow travelers. Is there a great hike you heard about or a restaurant you want to try?
Put them in your planning pages.
This is a great way to keep track of your ideas before the trip to help you plan your time during the trip. You can keep contact information and planning all in one central location.
If you’re moving around to different places you can keep your itinerary and lodging information in your journal.
![tips for keeping travel journal Blank Travel Journal | WIldflower and Wanderlust](https://wildflowersandwanderlust.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/INSTA-Travel-Journal-Guide-3.jpg)
Write During Your Trip
You don’t want this to feel like a chore, but you do want to get a few notes down while they’re fresh in your memory. Try to spend a few minutes each day putting your thoughts on paper. Even if it’s just a few lines to be able to jog your memory later, getting some notes down will help you put your story together.
Try to use all your senses when you’re writing – how did you feel, what were the smells and tastes you experienced. All these details will help you retain a more vivid picture of your trip and experiences.
There’s always an aspect of wonder when you travel too.
Try to put down a few of your feelings so that you will be aware of how the trip changed you. Travel is a great chance to experience personal growth.
Add Keepsakes to Your Journal
You can glue in photos, menus, napkins; really anything that strikes your fancy can be included in your travel journal.
I like to keep ticket stubs and entry bracelets and write about the places that we’ve visited. After we return home I might add a few photos that go along with the trip. If we pick up a tourist brochure for someplace we visit I like to keep those too.
Finish Up When You Return
When you get home be sure to take a little time to look back through your journal. You may have some memories that you want to add or you may just want to relive a few moments from your trip.
It can also be a great stress reliever to review your journal after you’ve been home awhile.
![tips for keeping travel journal A travel journal can be just like your bullet journal, a place to organize and keep your plans for your adventure WildflowersAndWanderlust.com](https://wildflowersandwanderlust.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/travel-journal-2-683x1024.jpg)
The Benefits of Keeping a Travel Journal
It’s a great way to beat boredom.
If you’re traveling a great distance, or traveling alone, your journal gives you a nice distraction when you need something creative to work on. You can write anything you want in your journal, it doesn’t have to make sense to anyone but you when it’s all said and done.
But don’t feel that you have to write about every little thing. You journal belongs to you and it can just be a keepsake of your favorite things, or notes for future travel. Remember that it’s always supposed to be fun and not a chore.
You’ll Remember More
Writing helps us commit things to our memory.
By putting down your thoughts and memories in a journal you will remember more about your trip. It’s also a great place to jot down notes when you visit with the people you meet along the way.
Ask the local’s the best place to eat and jot it down. Ask a fellow traveler about what they saw that was unexpected and make a note of it. Sometimes these are the things that will you get off the beaten path and have experiences that you didn’t expect.
It’s a Great Keepsake
When your trip is all said and done you’ll have a live scrapbook about it. It can be a great resource when planning another trip or offering tips for someone traveling to the same area.
It’s also a great place to revisit some memories later.
I always like picking up little things, bottle caps, napkins and other small items. This gives me a great place to hang onto them so that they’re memories and not clutter. It’s always fun to keep a bit of the local currency and ticket stubs.
But don’t be limited to that, you can keepsake most anything.
It also helps me keep different trips and places straight. I can look back and tell my friend where we ate or the name of the hotel. It’s all written down and easy to find.
![tips for keeping travel journal Travel is Good for the Soul | Wildflower and Wanderlust](https://wildflowersandwanderlust.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/INSTA-Travel-Journal-Guide-2.jpg)
Travel Journal Prompts
Do you need some ideas for thing to include in your travel journal? Sometimes staring at a blank page can be a hard way to begin. Here are some prompts to help get you writing.
Where are you going and why?
It can be as simple as taking a vacation or it can be traveling for a service project. There are no right or wrong answers, it’s your trip. Tell about why you chose the place and what you hope to find there.
Some trips are mainly for relaxation and some are to enjoy a great activity. They are all equally important.
What are you planning to do?
Maybe some drinks by the pool, or maybe you’re building a school. Hey Dr. Seuss, what do you want to do on your trip? This is something you can write about before you leave and then follow up with while you’re traveling.
Don’t forget to talk about the food you want to try.
No matter where we travel, we always make it a point to eat locally and not at chain restaurants.
Pick something to focus on
I have a thing about doors.
I love to see all the beautiful painted and patinaed doors and I make it a point on every trip to take door photos. At this point I could probably publish a book of just those alone, but it’s also something that ties many of our trips together.
If you have a similar fascination it’s a great focus. Do you visit all the beaches? Do you collect sand from each one? It’s amazing how different beach sand can be.
Write about the Food
You can use your travel journal as a food diary too. Trying new foods can be a great experience when you travel, or it can be a funny tale in the future.
I know that we only eat beignets in New Orleans. In my mind they are part of that city and the food there is part of the whole experience. Conch fritters in the Bahamas, Red Stripe beer in Jamaica. Is there a food that’s native to the region that you want to try while you’re visiting?
Make a Highlight Reel
If a friend was visiting, what experiences would you tell them to not miss. What restaurants would you send them to? Where’s the best place to see the sunset, go dancing, etc.
Devote a page to just your favorite’s from the trip for reference.
Next time you visit
Every time we visit a place we make a list of things we’d like to do the next time we are there. The best part of traveling is feeling like there are still things to discover when we return.
Where do you want to go next?
Did this trip give you more ideas of places to visit? Is it someplace that you can’t wait to visit again? Did it change your mind about other places you thought you were interested in? .
Travel Journal Inspiration
Here’s a great example of a journal spread for your packing list.
Here is a great example of a memory page in a travel journal.
Here’s a map spread so you can keep track of where you’ve been or where you want to go!
As you can see there’s no end to the creativity you can use in your travel journal.
Do you already keep travel journals or are you planning to start? Let us know in the comments below!
Follow us on Pinterest and on Instagram for lot’s more ideas and inspiration!
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This was quite useful for me. I already purchased a nice notebook for my next travel plans. I would like to receive more ideas about this. Thank you very much. Mariana
Mariane: We’re so glad that you found this helpful – I bet your travel journal is going to be amazing! WildOnes
Your post on Pinterest says ‘Hot to make a journal…” instead of ‘How’
Thanks so much for letting us know!
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Travel Journal: 100+ Prompts, Ideas, and Tips
- March 30, 2023
Home » Day One Blog » Travel Journal: 100+ Prompts, Ideas, and Tips
Keeping a travel journal can be an incredibly rewarding and transformative experience, whether you’re an avid traveler or someone who’s embarking on a new adventure. From documenting unforgettable memories to fostering personal growth and reflection, a travel journal can be a window into the unique journeys you take in life.
In this guide, we’ve put together an extensive list of 100 travel journal prompts, tips, and ideas to help you create a travel journal that truly captures the essence of your adventures. Get ready to explore new cultures, savor the beauty of the world around you, and create a one-of-a-kind keepsake that will forever be a reminder of your incredible experiences.
What is a Travel Journal?
A travel journal is simply a personal record of your experiences, thoughts, and feelings during your travels. Travel journaling is a wonderful way to document and reflect on your travel experiences, capturing memories of the places you visit, the people you meet, and the adventures you have.
Travel journaling can take various forms, depending on your preferences and needs. You can choose to write in a traditional notebook or sketchbook, or create a digital journal or blog. Some people use their travel journals not only to record their experiences but also to plan their trip, track expenses, and organize important information such as flight details, reservations, and contact information for locals they meet along the way.
Keeping a travel journal can be a valuable tool for reflecting on your travels, preserving memories, and sharing your experiences with others.
![tips for keeping travel journal A person sits on an overlooking writing in a travel journal](https://i0.wp.com/dayoneapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/travel-journaling.jpg?resize=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1)
10 Convincing Reasons to Keep a Travel Journal
Keeping a travel journal or travel diary offers several benefits, both during the trip and long after your travels have ended. Some of the key reasons to keep a travel journal include:
1. Preserve your memories.
A travel journal helps preserve memories of your experiences, sights, and encounters that might otherwise fade with time. You can look back and reminisce about your adventures, learning from and enjoying them all over again.
2. Be more present.
When you write about your travel experiences in real-time, you tend to be more focused on the present moment. This can help you to be more present and mindful during your travels, and can also improve your memory of the trip.
3. Sharpen your observational skills.
Journaling pushes you to pay closer attention to your surroundings, which can improve your observational and descriptive abilities. This heightened awareness can lead to a more enriching travel experience.
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://i0.wp.com/dayoneapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/travel-journal-inspiration.jpg?resize=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1)
4. Organize your thoughts and experiences.
A travel journal serves as a central location to record important information, such as trip itineraries, contact details, and to-do lists. This can help you stay organized and focused during your travels.
5. Enhance your creativity.
Writing about your experiences encourages creativity and storytelling skills. You can experiment with different writing styles, descriptions, or even drawings to capture the essence of your trip. Since traveling has links to creativity , keeping a travel journal allows you to expand these benefits in both ways.
6. Encourage self-reflection.
Traveling can be a transformative experience, and a travel journal can serve as a tool for self-reflection . Writing about your experiences can help you process your emotions, thoughts, and feelings, and gain insights into yourself and your place in the world.
7. Boost your personal growth.
Recording your thoughts, feelings, and reactions to new experiences can provide insight into your own personal growth and development. You can track how your perspectives and attitudes have evolved over time and learn more about yourself.
8. Reduce stress.
Studies have shown that even short vacations can improve stress levels , and writing in a travel journal can be therapeutic, allowing you to process your emotions and experiences in a healthy way. Travel journaling can also help you work through challenges and setbacks that may arise during your trip.
9. Create a unique keepsake.
A travel journal is a personalized souvenir that tells the story of your adventures. What you write can become a special item to share with friends and family or pass down to future generations.
10. Encourage deeper gratitude and appreciation.
Writing about your experiences while traveling can foster a deeper sense of gratitude for the opportunities and experiences you’ve had, helping you appreciate the journey and the people you’ve met along the way.
![tips for keeping travel journal a person holds a map on their phone while travel journaling](https://i0.wp.com/dayoneapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/traveling.jpg?resize=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1)
What to Write About In A Travel Journal
There are many things you can write about in a travel journal. A travel journal usually involves writing a personal record of your thoughts, feelings, and observations throughout your journey. You can also include details about the food you try, the sights you see, the cultures you encounter, and the emotions you experience.
Here are a few things to write about in a travel journal:
- Daily activities: Write about what you did each day, including any sights you saw, people you met, and activities you participated in.
- Observations: Record your observations of the places you visit, including the landscapes, architecture, and culture.
- Food and drink: Describe the local cuisine and drinks you try, and note any favorites or new discoveries.
- Thoughts and feelings: Reflect on your thoughts and feelings about your experiences, including any challenges, surprises, or moments of joy.
- Cultural insights: Document your learnings about the local culture, customs, and traditions.
- Travel tips: Share any travel tips or advice that may be useful for others planning to visit the same places.
- Accommodations: Write about your accommodations, including any interesting details or experiences you had there.
- Write about the people you meet: Describe the locals, fellow travelers, and any interesting characters you come across. Note any conversations or interactions you have with them.
- Reflect on your growth: Traveling can be a transformative experience, and writing about the ways in which you’ve grown and changed can be a powerful exercise in self-reflection.
- Budget and expenses: Keep track of your expenses and budget, including any unexpected costs or money-saving tips.
- Memorable moments: Jot down any particularly memorable moments from your trip, including those that took you by surprise or left a lasting impression on you.
- Challenges and triumphs: Write about any challenges you faced during your trip, and how you overcame them. Celebrate your triumphs, big and small, and the sense of accomplishment they brought.
- Sights, sounds, and smells: Use all your senses to describe the places you visit. Write about the sights, sounds, smells, and textures that make each destination unique
- Overall impressions: Sum up your overall impressions of each place you visit, including what you liked, what you didn’t like, and what surprised you the most.
![tips for keeping travel journal an example of a digital travel journal on the Day One app](https://i0.wp.com/dayoneapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Day-One-Travel-Journal-1-1600x1067-1.jpg?resize=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1)
13 Tips for Keeping a Travel Journal
Keeping a travel journal can be a great way to document your experiences and memories from your travels. Here are some tips to help you get started:
1. Find a travel journal that suits your needs.
When choosing a travel journal, consider not only the size and weight but also the durability of the journal. If you plan to carry it with you all the time, it’s best to choose one that can withstand wear and tear. Additionally, think about whether you want a plain notebook or one with prompts and questions to guide your writing. Some journals may have pre-designed sections for you to fill in with information about the places you visit, what you did there, and what you learned.
2. Consider a journal app with travel journal features.
Using a travel journal app like Day One is an excellent way to capture your travel experiences conveniently. You can quickly jot down notes, take pictures, and record your thoughts and feelings, even if you don’t have your physical journal with you. The app’s Map View is especially useful, as it allows you to see where you’ve been and what you’ve done in each location. Plus, if you’re traveling internationally and plan to limit your data usage, Day One will store your entries and uploads locally on your device until you connect to WiFi.
![tips for keeping travel journal A woman uses a travel journal app while traveling.](https://i0.wp.com/dayoneapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/travel-journal-app.jpg?resize=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1)
3. Decide on your travel journaling style.
When deciding on your travel journaling style, consider what you want to focus on. Do you want to describe the places you visit in detail, or do you want to focus more on your thoughts and emotions during your travels? Writing daily entries can be a great way to capture everything that happens, but if you prefer to write less frequently, consider making notes of significant events or experiences.
4. Set a journaling goal.
Setting a goal for your travel journal can give you a sense of direction and purpose while writing. Your goal could be as simple as writing in your journal every day during your trip, or more specific, such as recording a unique experience or learning something new about the culture of the places you visit. Create a list of goals before you begin your travels so you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your journal.
5. Slow down.
When traveling, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of new sights and experiences. However, taking the time to slow down and observe your surroundings can help you appreciate the small things that you might otherwise miss. Take a moment to sit down and watch the world go by, or go for a leisurely stroll to take in your surroundings.
6. Include as many details as possible.
Include details such as the names of the places you visit, the foods you eat, and the people you meet. The more specific and detailed your writing is, the more vividly you’ll be able to recall your experiences later.
7. Use your senses.
Using your senses is a powerful way to immerse yourself in your surroundings. Try to pay attention to the smells, sounds, textures, and tastes of the places you visit. Describe the scent of a local market, the sound of a street musician, or the texture of a historic building’s walls. Using your senses to describe your experiences can help bring your travel journal to life.
8. Ask questions.
Asking questions can be an excellent way to learn more about the places you visit. Locals and tour guides can provide valuable insights into the history, culture, and traditions of the places you’re exploring. Don’t be afraid to ask for recommendations on things to see and do, or for tips on where to find the best local cuisine.
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://i0.wp.com/dayoneapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/travel-journaling-photos.jpg?resize=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1)
9. Stay in the present moment.
When you travel, it’s easy to get caught up in planning, taking photos, and checking items off your bucket list. However, it’s important to take the time to slow down and appreciate the present moment. Take a few deep breaths and focus on your senses, noticing the sights, smells, sounds, textures, and tastes around you. Take time to observe the people you meet and the interactions you have with them. Engage with the local culture and try to understand their way of life.
10. Take photos and videos.
Taking photos and videos can be a great way to capture details that you may not be able to describe in words. Use your camera or phone to snap pictures of interesting sights, people, and places. These photos and videos can provide valuable inspiration when you’re writing in your travel journal later.
11. Stay curious.
Staying curious while traveling means keeping an open mind and embracing the unknown. Try new things, explore new places, and take risks. Step outside your comfort zone and embrace the unfamiliar, whether that’s trying new foods or engaging in new activities. Keeping a sense of curiosity can inspire your writing and help you capture unique experiences that you may have otherwise missed.
12. Keep your journal safe.
Your travel journal is a precious record of your travels and experiences, whether it’s in a physical or digital format. Consider investing in a sturdy, waterproof journal or storing your journal in a plastic bag or waterproof cover to protect it from moisture. It’s also a good idea to keep your journal in a safe place when you’re not using it, such as a backpack or hotel safe. Consider making a backup copy of your digital travel journal, whether it’s on your phone, tablet, or laptop. For example, the Day One app offers secure cloud-based backups and file exports. Additionally, you can encrypt your digital journal to protect it from unauthorized access. This way, you can ensure that your journal is safe and secure, and you can enjoy peace of mind knowing that your memories are protected.
13. Make it fun.
Remember that travel journaling should be an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. Use your journal as a creative outlet to express yourself and capture your unique perspective on the world. Experiment with different writing styles and formats, such as poetry, short stories, or essays. You could also include sketches, paintings, or other visual art to enhance your journal entries. And most importantly, don’t worry too much about making your writing perfect or adhering to a strict structure. The most important thing is to have fun and enjoy the process of documenting your travels in a way that is meaningful and fulfilling to you.
![tips for keeping travel journal a woman sits on a bridge with her travel journal](https://i0.wp.com/dayoneapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/travel-journal-ideas.jpg?resize=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1)
20+ Travel Journaling Ideas
A travel journal is a fantastic way to capture memories, thoughts, and experiences from your trips. To get started, here are some creative travel journal ideas to help you get started with travel journaling:
1. Record your itinerary and travel plan.
Record your trip itinerary, including transportation details, accommodations, and planned activities.
2. Organize your packing list.
Create a packing list for your trip and reflect on what items were useful and which ones you could have left behind.
3. Create a bucket list.
Create a bucket list of activities or experiences you want to have during your trip, and check them off as you complete them.
4. Recap each day.
Write about your daily experiences, such as the places you visit, the people you meet, and the local cuisine you try.
5. Use journal prompts.
Using journal prompts can be a helpful way to spark creativity and reflection in your travel journal. Choose a travel journal prompt below that resonates with you and write freely without worrying too much about structure or perfection.
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://i0.wp.com/dayoneapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/travel-journal-sketch.jpg?resize=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1)
6. Sketch and doodle.
Illustrate your memories with drawings of the landscapes, architecture, and other interesting sights.
7. Capture quotes and phrases.
Jot down memorable quotes from locals or interesting phrases you learn in the local language.
8. Include your favorite travel photos.
Include photographs of your favorite moments, places, and experiences from your trip.
![tips for keeping travel journal A woman looks at a map while traveling](https://i0.wp.com/dayoneapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/travel-journal-tips.jpg?resize=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1)
9. Collect ticket stubs and mementos.
Attach ticket stubs, maps, postcards, brochures, or other small mementos to help you remember your trip. If you prefer to go the digital route, scan items or take a photo of these items.
10. Write about your feelings.
Traveling can be an emotional experience, and writing about your feelings can be a cathartic and introspective exercise. Reflect on how the trip is making you feel and what emotions are arising.
12. Go deeper by reflecting.
Write about your personal growth and what you’ve learned during your travels. Reflect on how your travels have impacted you, whether it’s a new perspective on a cultural issue, a realization about yourself, or an enhanced sense of empathy and understanding. Think about the ways in which your travels have shaped your worldview and how you can apply these lessons to your life back home.
13. Express your gratitude.
Express gratitude for the experiences you’ve had and the people you’ve met along the way.
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://i0.wp.com/dayoneapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/travel-journal-food-diary.jpg?resize=780%2C585&quality=89&ssl=1)
14. Keep a food diary.
Record the local dishes you’ve tried, including their names, ingredients, and your thoughts about them during your trip.
15. Add notes on culture and customs.
Describe the local culture, traditions, and customs that you encountered and found fascinating.
16. Write about your travel challenges.
Write about any challenges you faced during your trip and how you overcame them.
17. Include maps and routes.
Trace your travel route on a map, or draw your own maps to remember the places you’ve visited.
![tips for keeping travel journal A photo of a person used in a travel journal.](https://i0.wp.com/dayoneapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/travel-journaling-new-friends.jpg?resize=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1)
18. Write about the people you meet.
Traveling provides opportunities to meet new people and learn about their lives. Use your journal to document these interactions and what you’ve learned from them.
19. Use poetry and creative writing.
Use your travel experiences as inspiration for poems, short stories, or other creative writing exercises.
20. Keep track of your budget and expenses.
Document your travel expenses to help you plan better for future trips, or to help stay on track with your budget.
20. Include ratings and reviews.
Rate and review accommodations, restaurants, attractions, and other experiences to help you remember the highlights of your trip.
21. Make a travel wishlist.
Write a list of destinations you’d like to visit and why they appeal to you.
22. Plan for a post-trip recap.
After returning home, reflect on your trip as a whole, including your favorite moments, any personal growth, and what you’ll take away from your journey.
23. Print your digital travel journal.
Having a physical copy of your travel journal can provide a tangible reminder of your travels and serve as a cherished keepsake for years to come. By printing your travel journal, you can create a physical record of your adventures that you can hold in your hands and share with others. It can be a meaningful way to preserve your memories and reflect on your journey, long after your travels have ended.
![tips for keeping travel journal A woman reflects on the scene while traveling](https://i0.wp.com/dayoneapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/travel-journal-prompts.jpg?resize=780%2C585&quality=89&ssl=1)
50 Travel Journal Prompts to Try
Still not sure what to write about in your travel journal? Journal prompts are a great way to spark your creativity and dive deeper into your travel experiences.
These travel journal prompts are designed help you capture the essence of your trip, and encourage introspection before, during, and after your adventure. So, whether you’re exploring new cultures, savoring local cuisine, or simply taking in breathtaking landscapes, let journal prompts guide your writing, enrich your narrative, and ultimately, help you create a captivating and memorable travel journal.
Journal Prompts For Before You Leave
Preparing for a trip can be just as exciting as the trip itself. Before you head out, consider using journal prompts to help you focus your thoughts and prepare for the adventures ahead. The following travel journal prompts can help you dig deeper into your travel expectations, identify potential challenges, and set meaningful goals for your journey. By reflecting on these prompts, you can better prepare yourself mentally and emotionally for the exciting journey that lies ahead.
- What are my expectations for this trip? What do I hope to gain from it?
- What are the places I want to visit and why are they important to me?
- What am I most looking forward to experiencing on this trip?
- How do I think this trip will change me?
- What are my travel goals, both short-term and long-term?
- Can I describe my travel companions (if any) and why I chose to travel with them?
- How am I preparing for my trip (mentally, physically, logistically)?
- What are my top three fears or concerns about the trip?
- How will I react if the trip takes an unexpected turn?
- What am I most looking forward to about this trip?
- How do I plan to challenge myself during this trip?
- What role do I hope this trip will play in my personal growth and development?
- What specific moments or experiences do I hope to capture in my travel journal or through photography?
- How do I plan to stay open-minded and present during my trip? What steps can I take to cultivate this mindset?
![tips for keeping travel journal A woman stops to write about a view in her travel journal](https://i0.wp.com/dayoneapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/travel-journaling-hike.jpg?resize=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1)
Journal Prompts For While You’re Traveling
While traveling, it can be easy to get caught up in the excitement of the moment and forget to take time to reflect on your experiences. By using travel journal prompts to capture your thoughts and observations during your trip, you can deepen your connection to the places you visit and the people you meet. The following prompts are designed to help you stay present and engaged during your travels, and to encourage you to take a closer look at the world around you. Reflect on these travel journal prompts to create a meaningful record of your journey.
- How did I feel when I arrived at my destination? What were my first impressions?
- What was the most memorable moment of my day?
- What beautiful or interesting sight did I encounter today?
- What new foods did I try and how did they taste?
- How would I describe the atmosphere of a specific location I visited today (e.g. café, beach, market)?
- How have the locals treated me and what are my experiences interacting with them?
- What was a conversation I had with a local or fellow traveler?
- What cultural differences or similarities have I noticed during my trip?
- Can I describe a piece of art, architecture, or natural wonder that left an impression on me?
- What local tradition, festival, or event have I witnessed or participated in?
- How is my trip living up to my expectations so far?
- What were some unexpected challenges I have faced during my trip so far?
- Can I share an act of kindness I’ve experienced or observed during my trip?
- What was a moment when I felt outside my comfort zone and what did I learn from it?
- What’s a funny or embarrassing moment that has happened during my trip?
- What has been my favorite and least favorite aspects of the destination(s) so far?
- How has my perception of the world changed during my trip?
- Who is an inspiring person I’ve met on this trip and what is their story?
- What new skills or knowledge have I gained on this trip?
- If I could give advice to someone visiting the same destination(s), what would it be?
![tips for keeping travel journal A man packs to return home after a trip with his travel journal](https://i0.wp.com/dayoneapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/packing-travel-journal.jpg?resize=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1)
Journal Prompts For After You Arrive Home
Returning home after a journey can be bittersweet. While you may be happy to be back in familiar surroundings, it’s also common to experience a sense of loss or nostalgia for the experiences you had while traveling. These travel journal prompts can help you reflect on your journey after you’re home, so you can continue to process your experiences and keep the memories alive. The following prompts are designed to help you unpack your thoughts and feelings about your trip, to identify the ways in which it has changed you, and to set goals for future travel. By reflecting on these prompts, you can continue to grow and learn from your travel experiences long after the journey has ended.
- What will I remember most about my trip experience?
- What was the biggest highlight of the trip?
- What is a food or drink that I tried during my trip that I still think about?
- What moment from my trip challenged me in a significant way?
- What did I learn about myself during this trip?
- How has my trip influenced my perspective on life and my priorities?
- What souvenirs or momentos did I collect on this trip? What were their significance?
- What was my favorite photo of the trip? What is the story behind it?
- What was my favorite destination on my trip? Why?
- What was the most valuable lesson I learned from this trip?
- How have my travel goals changed after this trip?
- What aspects of the local culture would I like to incorporate into my daily life?
- What places would I I want to visit in the future?
- What was a place or experience that I wish I had more time to explore?
- How has my trip influenced my outlook on the world and my place in it?
- How did my trip impact my sense of identity? Did I discover anything new about myself?
Wrapping Up: Your Travel Journal Awaits Your Next Adventure
Travel journaling is a fun way to preserve your memories, foster personal growth, and enhance your travel experiences. With the travel journal tips, prompts, and ideas we’ve shared in this post, we hope you now feel well-equipped to embark on your own travel journaling journey. Remember, there’s no right or wrong way to capture your adventures—the most important aspect is to embrace the process, stay curious, and allow your unique voice to shine through. So, grab your journal, explore the world, and let your creative spirit soar as you document the unforgettable moments, the hidden gems, and the personal discoveries that make each journey truly yours. Happy travels and happy journaling!
About the Author
Kristen Webb Wright is the author of three books on journaling. With a passion for writing and self-reflection, Kristen uses her experience with journaling to help others discover the benefits of documenting their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. In her role at Day One, she helps to promote the power of journaling so people from all walks of life can experience the transformative power of journaling.
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How to Travel Journal: Tips for Getting Started
Posted on Published: July 19, 2020 - Last updated: April 26, 2023
![tips for keeping travel journal How to store a finished journal to keep it safe from age, moisture, and prying eyes](https://www.wanderbig.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/wb-how-to-store-a-journal-tall-150x150.jpg)
A travel journal is a powerful way to record your travels. In a time when destinations, souvenirs, and even iconic photo-ops barely vary from traveler to traveler, creating a personal notebook of your trip guarantees you’ll have a treasured souvenir that’s all yours. A journal filled with lists, photos, longhand reflections, ticket stubs, itineraries, doodles, and/or art is sure to be a treasured keepsake long after other souvenirs are lost or forgotten.
In this article, we’ll talk about getting started making your first travel journal or travel art journal. Including: supplies you’ll need, types of travel journals, how to decide which type is right for you, set up, post-trip storage, and a FAQ. It’s a long article, so feel free to use the table of contents below to jump around to find the information you need.
My First Travel Journal
I didn’t start my first travel journal until I was 30. I spent most of my 20’s working so hard I never made space for art and journaling, but after selling my business at 33 and returning to school for a Masters’s degree, I found myself often doodling in the margins of my notes. These margin doodles eventually turned into illustrated notes, so when I took my first big solo international trip the summer after my second year of grad school, it felt like a natural extension to begin the first of many solo international travels cataloged in mixed media art journals.
![tips for keeping travel journal A free guide to how to create, store, pick, and pack a travel journal](https://www.wanderbig.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/travel-hournal-pin2-sq-1024x1024.jpg)
I created my first travel journal on my inaugural solo trip – a month-long trip from Italy to Croatia , then Bosnia and Herzegovina and back again. It was the PERFECT trip to experiment with my style and practice of travel journaling, since as a solo traveler I had the time to make my own schedule, and my trip included a little bit of everything- including famous art, iconic architecture, awe-inspiring visas, and a few amazing air B&B experiences to illustrate.
![tips for keeping travel journal Lb travel art journal video still 4](https://www.wanderbig.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/lb-travel-art-journal-video-still-4-1024x576.jpg)
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Get this full article- plus all the information you need to create an amazing travel journal, via my free eBook: The Ultimate Guide to Travel Journaling . Download the PDF + eReader bundle below!
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![tips for keeping travel journal Wb journal ebook](https://www.wanderbig.com/wp-content/uploads/edd/2020/09/wb-journal-ebook.jpg)
Types of Travel Journals
The way I see it, there are five types of travel journals, explained below. Which style – or which combination of types – that you use is up to you.
How to choose? Consider what style works best for you, what skills you’d like to practice and grow through your travel journal, and what kind of memories you most want to put on record through art and illustrations.
The “Listicle” Travel Journal
Half article, half list, the “listicle” is a top format for new sites, and it’s a format that works great for travel journals. A photo or doodle, paired with a brief description is a good way to organize a travel journal without spending too much precious travel time writing.
This style of journal works well with a bullet journal style format, and can even be started well before your trip. Using your travel journal before your trip to plot out things to do , itineraries, and points of interest you dream of traveling to can be a helpful way to organize your trip and set up journal pages that can then be filled out in more detail on-location. (Need some inspiration to start? Download my printable Bullet Style Travel Journal Template )
The “Sketch Note” Travel Journal
In medieval times, scribes who were tasked with hand-copying sacred texts often added complex illustrations in the margins. Over time, these illustrations began to communicate context and tone in a language all their own. These text, which came to be known as “ illuminated texts ” were valued because they offered something that text alone could not- the visual experience of the story.
Similarly, this style of travel journaling draws on the inspiration of the naturalist illustrations of 19th-century environmentalists- who painstakingly recorded botanical or animal details, adding Latin genus and species and common names, to create records that to this day are used in biology textbooks.
![tips for keeping travel journal Truffle hunting travel art journal page](https://www.wanderbig.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/lb-travel-journal-doodle-art-009sm.jpg)
The sketchnote style travel journal brings both of these traditions together in a format that combines short-format text mixed with small and medium-size illustrations. The travel journal page shown here describes my unforgettable day on a truffle hunting Airbnb Experience in Italy. It’s a combination of a landscape-style travel art journal page and a sketch note version.
In the illustration above, I capture a broad-stroke memory of the day via the landscape, add words, and include an educational close-up illustration – in this case, a little study of what I learned to look for in a good black truffle mushroom.
Sketchnote Travel Journals are best for:
Sketch note style journal pages are great for taking notes on things you want to remember. They can help illustrate your memory and review what you learned. This type is perfect for remembering details, key points, and specifics of your trip. It’s perfect for using your travel journal occasionally. If you’re in the food business, you can make notes about meals and ingredients to try back home, if you work in tourism/travel, you can take notes detailing what is/isn’t working about your current trip, etc.
How to create sketchnote style journal pages
- REFLECT. When you sit down to work on your art travel journal, think about what sticks out to you from your day – what objects or images are most poignant? What did you learn?
- ILLUSTRATE 2 to 3 of these items. Even if they’re just rough sketches, research shows that the process of translating the memory to a drawing (even a terrible drawing) helps us remember much better than we would if we wrote about it or didn’t record it all.
- ANNOTATE. Once you’ve done a rough doodle – or a full-on finished illustration, add a few notes to the drawing. Draw lines connecting important parts to relevant text and highlight what you’d want a reader to notice or know about the thing that you drew.
My Experience Sketchnoting in my travel journal in Italy
I didn’t actually get the chance to doodle the page above until I was in Croatia. To be honest, it’s not one of my favorite travel doodles but it captures that experience well- and that is what my travel journals are all about. The journal gave me space to capture what stood out about the experience- the texture of a truffle, our guide and his dog, and the views as we hiked through the Tuscan hills overlooking Florence. Space left for text allowed me to record a few things I learned about truffles. You can read more about my adventure truffle hunting in Italy on my post about it .
The architectural record travel art journal
If you’re a student of architecture, an artist practicing perspective, or just appreciate the hard lines of urban landscapes, including architecture in your art travel journal – or even creating a travel journal that focuses exclusively on architectural scenes, may be a fun way to create a personalized, unique record your trip and practice your architectural drawing skills.
![tips for keeping travel journal Lb travel journal doodle art 008](https://www.wanderbig.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/lb-travel-journal-doodle-art-008-1024x1024.jpg)
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Steps to create an architectural focused travel art journal:
- PLAN. Decide if you will dedicate entire pages or if you will split pages to also include journal entries.
- PACK. If this is your focus, your travel art kit may need extra tools or, I recommend, just a goniometer . This fancy word actually just refers to a simple, hinged ruler that can replace packing a ruler, protractor, and a drawing compass. It makes it easy to draw straight lines, circles, and measured angles while weighing hardly anything and flexing enough to not break in your pen case.
- DECIDE whether to sketch live or by photos. Keep your eye out for sketchable scenes as you travel. For travelers with a lot of flexibility, you may wish to stop and find a park bench or café where you can sit and sketch. For others, it may fit better with your itinerary to take photos and later create a sketch from the photographs.
- BE INCLUSIVE. You’ll be tempted to put only iconic, majestic, or famous buildings in your travel art journal, but one of my favorite things to include in this type of travel art journal is ordinary rooms and buildings that were significant to my trip: the interior of an Airbnb apartment overlooking an Adriatic coastal bay, or the exterior of my Florence Airbnb apartment, shown below, that blended so nonchalantly into the background of shops, vendors, and residents’ doors.
A travel printer is such a cool way to add easy visual elements to your art journal- creating a travel scrapbook as you go. Sometimes, like shown below, I print a photo of the scene I drew live, just to add more depth to my record of the experience.
![tips for keeping travel journal Travel printer for art journal](https://www.wanderbig.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/img_art__2017_printer_0709_024313-1024x768.jpg)
Studying the Masters with a Travel Art journal
I started my very first travel art journal in Florence Italy. Starting my travel art journal in the city that is home to so many of the art world’s greatest masterpieces was an invitation I didn’t quite expect.
I didn’t start that journey expecting to create studies of these famous artworks, but I couldn’t resist the invitation to sit in the great hall at Galleria dell’Accademia with Michelangelo’s David or stand in front of The Birth of Venus at the Uffizi Gallery without creating. After a jaunt over to the Dalmation coast of the Adriatic, I ended my trip in Rome and I got a repeat: again getting to create replicas of Caravaggio and the iconic Trevi fountain in my travel art journal.
If you’re a student of art- formal or informal- dedicating pages in your travel journal to creating your own versions of classic art isn’t just fun – it’s an important part of how art students have learned and honed skills for ages. It’s okay if you aren’t a dedicated art student, giving yourself the opportunity to learn in this way can both improve your skills and create a souvenir that’s far more personally significant than any of the replica tchotchkes sold in gift shops in the surrounding area.
How to create a travel art journal focusing on studying the Masters:
- MAKE TIME. Plan your travel itinerary so that you’ll have plenty of time for live sketching. Although you can technically do this through photographs later in the trip, there’s something really powerful about creating the work live. Plan to spend at least an hour creating your own version of the art. Some museums may have seating nearby, and others do not, so be prepared. (When I doodled David, I just had to wait for a bench to open, but the Birth of Venus had no chairs, so was created via a combination of standing-sketching and working from a photo from a bench in the hallway)
- MODIFY KIT. Modify your travel art journal kit for museum rules: NO scissors, NO paint, and ADD a hard-backed drawing surface since you won’t have a table. Although scissors and watercolors are must-haves in my travel art kit , there’s a chance that security will confiscate any art supplies that could damage valuable art – like scissors or, in the case of many museums, even watercolor and pen-style watercolor brushes.
- PREPARE to be, well, looked at. If you choose to sketch in a popular museum, you may become something of a tourist attraction yourself. My advice? Keep focused and let people look.
- PACK LIGHT. Most museums that house priceless artwork will not allow a large purse or even a tiny backpack. On museum days, pack yourself down to a tote bag or even a fanny pack to be sure that the essential art supplies you need will be with you in the museum. (I love Travelon’s travel purses because they are secure/zippered, hands-free, big enough for my whole art kit, but small enough that museum security waves them through without a glance.)
My Experience Studying Classical Art via a Travel Journal
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Florence was my first big solo trip- and what a great place to start! I intentionally planned my days without an itinerary, so I had the freedom to wander, to bask, or to explore. On my first full day of my trip, the only thing on my to-do list was to make it to the Academia Gallery by day’s end. Galleria del Academia was built specifically to house their most famous piece: Michelangelo’s David sculpture.
It was at this gallery that I discovered the best part about solo travel as an artist- the freedom to really pause and take in great art. Without having to be sensitive to a partner or group’s interest or boredom, I could sit for hours with David- and I did! After some study and some people watching I went to work on this little doodle shown above.
I had so much fun doing this sketched that when I stumbled onto Logia Del Lanzi plaza later that day, I sat and doodled one of those ancient sculptures as well:
![tips for keeping travel journal Doodle travel journal entries during italy vacation](https://www.wanderbig.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/lb-travel-journal-doodle-art-010-917x1024.jpg)
Making a Landscape-focused Travel Art journal
Landscape travel art journals are perfect for capturing a broad glimpse of what it’s like to be in the place for you are. Unlike architectural-focused urban drawings, landscapes tend to feature natural elements or a combination of natural and urban, like this cityscape of the bay in front of the Diocletian’s Palace in Split, Croatia.
![tips for keeping travel journal A landscape in my travel art journal](https://www.wanderbig.com/wp-content/uploads/hh-travel-art-landscape.jpg)
A landscape travel art journal can be fun to create in cafés and restaurants in tourist spots. Often, prime locations with scenic overlooks feature cafes, making them a perfect spot to sit for a bit and rest while creating a piece for your travel art journal.
To create an artistic travel journal that focuses on landscapes:
- PICK supplies accordingly. Landscapes sometimes require different supplies than a basic travel art journal kit. For example, if you plan to get very detailed you may need multiple sizes of pen nibs.
- PLAN. Landscape travel art journaling is perfect to do as a midday break – especially since landscapes sometimes require climbing up to a vista point. A break is much needed and desired by the time I reach the pinnacle of a scenic overlook on foot!
![tips for keeping travel journal Lb travel journal doodle art 003](https://www.wanderbig.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/lb-travel-journal-doodle-art-003-1024x1024.jpg)
“Self-portrait as a traveler” travel art journal
I’m not sure this exists as a genre outside of my own travel art journal, but some of my favorite art from my travel journal has been drawings of myself experiencing something significant from my trip. In the image below, it’s me wading into the Adriatic Sea on a beach about 20 minutes south of Dubrovnik near Cavtat, Croatia .
A self-portrait in your travel art journal offers the opportunity to create art that represents both internal and external landscapes . It says something about the place and it says something about you. At the time of this drawing, I was doing a lot of processing around what it means to be a human with a larger than average body and to live fully in that body in environments that aren’t always welcoming to it.
This little painting in my art journal is so special to me because it captures not just the beauty of the Adriatic seascape, but also something really beautiful that was happening within me as I waded into open water.
To create a travel art journal that focuses on self-portraits:
- Give yourself permission to represent yourself however it feels right at the time. When we do self-portraits can be tempting to feel that we have to be accurate or that we might be judged if other people look at our self-portrait and don’t determine it to be “close enough”. Allow yourself to create what you need to create, in the way that you need to create it – this is never more true and art and when it comes to your own journal and your own body.
- Work from photos or by feel . When I created this doodle at a little seaside café after my swim, I was looking at the water but obviously not at my own body. Instead, I drew the landscape as I saw it and sketched in my own body informed by feeling rather than what was in front of me.
Where to Start: Materials and Planning your Travel Journal
Best notebooks to use for travel journals:.
The two most important things when you’re looking at journals to use as a travel journal are (1) paper quality and (2) how flat the book lays when it is opened. Although strong binding can be helpful in other journals, for a travel journal it’s important that each page be able to lay completely flat in order for your art not to be distorted and for the paint to dry right where you put it.
The journal featured most prominently on this site is a blank staple-bound Fabriano EcoQua softcover notebook . The staple-bound binding (like a basic booklet) lets the notebook lay perfectly flat with no significant gap- enabling double-spreads. The hardcover spiral-bound version of this notebook offers more rigidity which may be helpful if you expect to create art on the fly without a table or flat surface. The paper quality in these journals is, to me, well balanced between texture, weight, and finish. Read on to learn more about paper quality for a travel art journal.
![tips for keeping travel journal Lb travel art journal video still 2](https://www.wanderbig.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/lb-travel-art-journal-video-still-2-1024x576.jpg)
I like the paper in these notebooks because it’s smooth to write on but not too slick to accept simple watercolor washes. It’s thick enough to prevent bleed and minimize show-through between pages.
The paper that works best for you might favor pen and ink, or lend itself to standing up to more complex watercolor art. If you know you’ll be watercoloring a lot, you’ll want to choose thicker paper, but if your emphasis is pencil or pen sketches – even with a bit of watercolor wash, you’ll want to choose thinner, smoother paper. Notebooks in Canson’s Mixed Media Paper line have paper that is perfect for journaling and mixed art use, but I personally find their notebooks too bulky to make good travel journals.
Gathering & Packing Supplies for your travel journal
Whether you’re creating a traditional travel journal, a bullet journal, or a travel art journal, the supplies you bring will significantly shape the final look of your journal.
Free Bullet Journal Style travel art journal template
It can be hard to know how to get started when you are staring down a blank page. If you find that the blank page can be a little bit intimidating, I recommend starting with templates. A template can be as simple or as complicated as you need or wanted to be. Sometimes, rotating a few basic layouts can be a way to create visual interest while stimulating your own creativity within those blocks.
If you think a template might be helpful for you, you can start with my travel journal template printable , which you can download and print for free. It includes page layouts for a typical size travel journal as well as some prompts of things that might be helpful to journal about during your trip.
If you like the idea of the support of template blocks, but don’t want to be tied into my single layout in the resource above, you can make your own templates to pack them to use in your travel journal.
![tips for keeping travel journal How to make a travel journal filled with art](https://www.wanderbig.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/bujo-travel-header-Copy-683x1024.jpg)
How to Pack Art Supplies
My list for making your own travel art journal kit is designed to provide you with all the supplies you might need without triggering any issues and airport security or airline policy. Everything in the travel art journal kit is allowed in your carry-on on an airplane and allowed to be used in the airplane during your trip.
Use a pen case.
The best way to pack art supplies for your trip is inside of a pen case. A pen case often has interior straps that help keep art supplies in place to keep them from getting damaged during your trip.
Keep your art supplies in your carry-on.
Always keep your art supplies with your carry-on luggage. Scissors under 4 inches from the pivot point are allowed through any airport in your carry-on luggage (even if they are sharp scissors) however museums and UNESCO sites set their own rules and may x-ray bags and demand the surrender or paid-storage of scissors, paint, or even permanent markers before entry into their area. Art supplies are generally always allowed on a plane, within reason.
Place art supplies inside of an airtight bag before flying.
Be aware that some markers and pens can do funky stuff due to changes in air pressure (I’ve observed pens ooze ink uncontrollably after being uncapped mid-flight). To remedy this, many travelers carry their journaling supplies in sealed zip lock bags. This method can work to prevent potential issues caused by air pressure changes during takeoff and landing, but you should avoid opening the bag at any point during your flight .
In years past, simply keeping pens capped helped avoid issues with pressure changes, but with most caps perforated to prevent choking, you’ll need to be a bit more proactive about protecting your pens from pressure changes in flight.
![tips for keeping travel journal Stari most travel art journal](https://www.wanderbig.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/hh_travel_journal_art_BOSNIA.MOSTAR_20909-939x1024.jpg)
6 Things you should always include in a travel journal
Everyone’s travel journal will turn out different and will include different elements – after all, our journals are a reflection of who we are, where we went, and how we travel! Despite these huge differences, there are a few elements that every single travel journal should include:
- Date marking the day of your visit and the day of the art-making, if different.
- Location – always identify where you made the piece.
- Location Depicted – if different from above.
- Your Signature – or an @username tag you plan to share on social media
- Something about your experience. If you don’t want to write a block of text about your day, just name something you touched, saw, tasted, smelled, or experienced.
- Anything else that’s important. I love adding Illustrative Highlights: see above in the sketch note style travel journal, it can be fun to add arrows and circles to highlight important things to remember within a larger piece of art in your travel journal.
1 Tip for Bridging Journals and Social Media
Although your travel journal exists as a way to keep the memory of your travel adventures, one of my favorite ways to bridge the gap between a travel journal and social media (which, for many, is a modern format for journaling life events like travel) is by merging the analog journal and the digital. I do this by taking photographs of my journal spreads on location, in front of the icon or landmark they depict.
Taking a photograph of your travel journal entry in front of famous landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, the White House, or an Iconic mountain scene in Patagonia is a great way to digitize your travel journal – keeping it safe in case something happens to it and making it more accessible.
Why You Should Create a Travel Journal
To enhance memories.
Over time our memories of travel naturally fade. By creating an art journal as we travel, we can not only create an amazing unique record of our trip, but researchers have found that through making art, we can actually experience our trip in a different way- and remember more of it!
Taking photographs, it turns out , makes us less likely to remember an experience than just being present to the experience. Drawing an experience, however, increases the vibrance of our memories significantly. For this and so many other reasons, a travel art journal is an incredible way to enhance any travel experience.
In my professional life, I’m part researcher- so I’ve tracked the research (or rather, lack thereof) of travel-journal related research for a few years.
Finally, in early 2021, a research team from Hong Kong, the UK, and the Netherlands presented the results of the first study centering on how a journaling practice may or may not enhance the experience of traveler. You can read the full pape here , but essentially researchers found that travel-created happiness is generally short-lived, but journaling well (in the case of the study, through a guided journaling app designed by the researchers) increased the memorability and meaningfulness of participant’s travel experiences, which appeared to result in positive long-term benefits from travel.
To create a totally unique souvenir
Except for the unique, antique souvenirs you can pick up at a good street market , most travel souvenirs are pretty unremarkable. 5-10 years after your trip, you’re probably going to donate that Starbucks mug emblazoned with “London” to a thrift store and toss out those laminated travel magnets, but a well-preserved travel journal creates a unique, quality souvenir that even your grandkids would likely treasure. Journal well and follow the journal preservation instructions below, and you’ll return home with a priceless and enviable souvenir of your travels.
![tips for keeping travel journal Lb travel journal doodle art 007](https://www.wanderbig.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/lb-travel-journal-doodle-art-007-1024x1024.jpg)
To grow writing or art skills
We are often led to believe that the ability to make art or write well are skills that people are born with. While it’s true that some people are more artistically inclined, everyone has the capacity to develop their skills as an artist. Often, the way that we encourage children based on their natural inclinations determines what they dedicate time to, which determines what they become good at. Whether you are a skilled artist/writer or not, practicing will make you better at your craft .
Travel is an amazing opportunity for practice – it dovetails so well with exhausting days of endless walking as a tourist. Taking a very long break in a café to sip a hot drink and sketch- even very terrible sketches- allows you to experience a location in a completely different way while developing your skills.
To grow through personal reflection
Research is very clear that when we reflect on experiences, our ability to be mindful and make more thoughtful, emotionally mature decisions develops. Journaling isn’t just a great way to grow your art skills and create a cool souvenir, journaling can help you grow into a kinder, braver, more thoughtful human.
To share your experience with others
One of the hardest parts of traveling is not being able to share the experience with the people that we love. Even if we are traveling with a partner, a group of friends, or family, there are people we love back home that are only getting the Facebook version of our experience. Being able to come home and walk our loved ones through a travel journal is a gift both to them and to us. This has been especially true for my elderly grandmother who passed away just after I returned from my Transylvania trip , sending her postcards with foreign stamps and hand-scrawled doodles was an important way that we stayed connected over the many miles. ( Click here to read more about my story and how sending postcards to my grandmother from around the world was a way we stayed connected)
![tips for keeping travel journal Sharing your paper journal of drawings can be a way to share our travels with family, like grandparents, back home](https://www.wanderbig.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/wb-grandparents.jpg)
Steps to Make a Travel Journal or Travel Art Journal
![tips for keeping travel journal A travel printer shown next to a travel journal.](https://www.wanderbig.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/blog__2017_printer_0709_023716.jpg)
How to Make a Travel Journal
Time required: 30 minutes
Pick a notebook and create a kit of supplies
Use our travel journal supply list as a guideline to create your own, compact journaling kit.
Take your journal everywhere
While traveling, always keep your journal in your bag. Use it to fight boredom on long layovers , jot down impressions of a place, sketch loved scenes, collect papers, and even to press flowers or leaves.
Create a routine
Your journal will turn out best if you create- and stay faithful to- a routine. When I’m solo travelin g, I often spend an hour or more after dinner relaxing, drawing, writing, painting, making a bullet list of the day’s itinerary, and printing photos on my travel printer for my journal.
Give yourself permission to make mistakes
Think of your journal like a record of your trip- and embrace the imperfect parts as part of the experience. In a travel journal, like in travel, perfectionism can ruin the fun.
After your trip, preserve your journal
Follow our tips to preserve your journal safely so you can return to it to remember your trip for many years to come..
Estimated Cost: 10 USD
- Blank notebook
- Pens and/or Art Supplies
Flip Through of a Mixed Media Travel Journal:
A travel journal can be an amazing way to record your adventures while traveling, help you grow as an artist, and improve the memory of your significant travel experiences. By creating a travel journal that focuses on- or combines- scenes of architecture, natural landscapes, studying the Masters of classic art, creating self-portraits, or creating a sketchnote styled doodle record of your trip, you can create a souvenir with priceless value that’s totally unique to you and will be cherished for years to come.
![tips for keeping travel journal Avatar for lynli roman](https://www.wanderbig.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/av-tiny-lynli.jpg)
Lynli Roman’s unique approach to travel is informed by decades of experience on the road with a traveling family and, later, years spent as a solo international traveler. When she’s not writing about Seattle from her Pike Place Market apartment, Lynli writes on-location while conducting hands-on research in each destination she covers. Lynli’s writing has been featured by MSN, ABC Money, Buzzfeed, and Huffington Post. She is passionate about sharing information that makes travel more accessible for all bodies.
Friday 3rd of September 2021
"It’s ok for your art to reflect your experience of a place rather than create an exact record- you get to make the rules and document what is important to you" - truly, truly priceless advice. So very obvious in retrospect, but the sense of freedom it brings is astonishing. Thank you!
LynLi Roman M.A.
Saturday 4th of September 2021
Thanks for commenting Tammi! I'm glad that way of looking at it was helpful- it's definitely helped me feel freer to make MY travel art, whatever that will be!
![tips for keeping travel journal The Travel Hack](https://thetravelhack.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/The-Travel-Hack-Blog-Logo-Transparent-background.png)
Travel journaling: 10 tips to create a gorgeous travel journal to treasure for a lifetime
By: Author Monica
Categories Blog
![tips for keeping travel journal Travel journaling: 10 tips to create a gorgeous travel journal to treasure for a lifetime](https://thetravelhack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Travel-journal-Athens.jpeg)
Do you write a travel journal?
I know, it’s the 21st century and we all take a billion photos a day and share everything online. That’s like a modern form of journaling travel, right? Well…no. Today I’d like to make a case to bring back the lost art of travel journaling.
This post about travel journaling was created in collaboration with Snappy Snaps and I’d like to share some tips to help you create a beautiful and thoughtful travel journal. I’ve got some tips to get started and also tips to keep travel journaling, even on the days you aren’t in the mood!
For me, writing a travel journal or a travel diary is one of my favourite times of the day while I’m travelling.
In my opinion, not enough people write travel journals! Travel journaling is honestly the most therapeutic and creative way to store and reflect on your travel memories. A journal brings back memories in a way a photo never could, and the act of writing helps solidify memories so you’re less likely to forget them.
I’ll usually write in my travel journal before going out for dinner, at that gorgeous time of day when the sun is setting and everything is peaceful and calm. I love to reflect on the day, write about everything I’ve done and jot down notes about things I want to remember. I’ll have a cold beer or a glass of wine and spend half an hour quietly jotting down my thoughts from the day.
Even on the days where I don’t have a lot to say, I’ll just bullet point some thoughts and stick in a few tickets or notes or whatever I’ve collected that day.
I love writing my travel diary but I love reading it back even more.
I’ve got travel journals from my first backpacking trip in 2009. I’ll admit that many of the pages make me cringe, but it’s a joy to read and it brings memories flooding back in a way that photos never could. It’s interesting to see what felt important at the time and there’s always so much I’d forgotten about until I see the words on the page written in my own familiar scrawl. I’ve written pages and pages about people I no longer remember and destinations that are just a vague blur in my mind.
![tips for keeping travel journal Journaling Travel - Tips to help you write a travel journal](https://thetravelhack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Valencia-travel-journal.jpeg)
Here are some tips to help you create travel journals you’ll treasure for a lifetime
![tips for keeping travel journal The Travel Hack Journaling Travel](https://thetravelhack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/The-Travel-Hack-travel-journal.jpeg)
#1. Why should you create a travel journal?
- To preserve your memories
- As a fun, creative outlet
- To ensure you have a moment of calm during a busy trip
- As a form of self-care to help organise your thoughts and talk about your feelings
- To give yourself a wonderful thing to read back in years to come
- To help with writing travel blogs and Instagram captions
- To help remember key facts that could help people plan their future trips
#2. What should you put in your travel journal?
The lovely thing about journaling travel is that there is no right or wrong answer here. You can write about whatever you want. You don’t need to be a good writer or be artistic or creative. You just need a notepad and a pen and some thoughts in your head.
I like to play around with different formats in my travel journals such as:
- Brain dump – Just sit and write anything that comes into your head. Don’t overthink it, just write.
- What I did today – A traditional journal style, chronologically following everything you did that day
- All photos – Some days I don’t want to write so I just stick a load of photos in
- Bullet points – No time to write sentences? Just get your thoughts down quickly with bullet points
- Scrapbook style – Stick tickets or other notes into your journal that will remind you of your day
![tips for keeping travel journal Journaling Travel](https://thetravelhack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Athens-travel-journal.jpeg)
#3. What do you need for your travel journal?
You could keep it simple with nothing more than a notepad and a pen, or you could go all out!
Take a look at craft supply stores like Hobby Craft, Etsy or even bargain shops like Poundland for crafting supplies. You can get things like travel themed washi tape, cute accessories to stick in, stamps, stencils, frames and fancy pens.
Notepad – Personally, I like a notepad where I can tear pages out if I need to. I like knowing that if I make a mistake I can just rip the page out.
A nice pen – Stationary geeks will understand the joy of finding the right pen!
Two coloured pens – I try to stick with a particular colour scheme so I’ll rarely use more than two colours
Photos – More on photos below
Scissors – Remember that you can’t take scissors in your hand luggage!
Pritt Stick – Vital for sticking in tickets and notes
Travel wallet – I also travel with some kind of travel document wallet. I’ll use this to store any of the tickets or notes I want to add into the journal as I often do this once I get home.
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://thetravelhack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Bullet-journal-stamps.jpeg)
#4. Printing photos for your travel journal
I wait until I’m home to print out my photos and stick them into my journal. When I’m writing I’ll leave pages blank to allow space for photos.
For me, photos in a travel journal are SO important. This is mostly because they encourage me to look back and read old journals as it’s more enticing when the pages are broken up with pictures.
For my latest travel journal I used the online photo printing service with Snappy Snaps. I was so impressed with this service. I ordered them at about 2.30pm on Tuesday and they arrived with my postman by midday on Wednesday. I couldn’t believe they came so quickly!
The quality is brilliant and I love the matte effect in my journal.
Travel Hack Tip: When selecting the photos you’d like to print, always choose the best quality ones you have. Avoid filters or heavily edited photos and, if you can, use photos taken on a camera rather than a phone. You often don’t notice the difference in quality when it’s on the screen of your photo but you really do notice the difference once they’re printed. Filters look great on your phone but they don’t look great in print.
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://thetravelhack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Snappysnaps.jpeg)
#5. Digital travel journals vs paper travel journals
I’m sure you’re aware that there are countless travel journal apps available. Personally, I prefer a good old fashioned paper journal. I find the words flow easily when written with a pen and it’s a more rewarding and creative process. I’m also more likely to read it back in years to come when it’s a paper journal.
If you’re the kind of person who prefers to keep things digital then I’d highly recommend using an iPad along with an Apple Pencil and the app Day One Journal. It’s a lovely, intuitive app and you can add photos into each journal entry. It also gives you daily journal prompts if you’re struggling for ideas!
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://thetravelhack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Santorini.jpeg)
#6. Travel journal prompts
If you’re struggling for ideas for what to write in your journal then here are some travel journal prompts to get you started:
- What was the highlight of your day?
- Who was the most interesting person you spoke to today?
- Write about an interesting conversation you had.
- Describe the best meal you had today.
- What was the worst thing you did today?
- What surprised you today?
- Did you learn anything new today?
- Did anything scare you today?
- Describe your accommodation.
- What are you missing from home?
- What happened today that you never want to forget.
![tips for keeping travel journal Journaling Travel](https://thetravelhack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Tea-and-biscuits-while-journaling-travel.jpeg)
How travel journaling led to my career as a travel blogger
I’m just going to interrupt these travel journal tips to share how my travel journal led to my career as a travel blogger!
Read more: How I turned my passion for travel into a career as a travel blogger
Passive income and making money as a blogger in 2022
I’ve always been a journaller. Yes, even back in the days when writing a journal wasn’t ‘cool’ and it wasn’t part of every millennial’s self-care routine. I wrote journals about my best friends and my latest crush, my days at school and my hopes and dreams for the future. Yes, it was just as embarrassing as it sounds! It was my way of processing all the confusing thoughts that jumbled around my brain and journaling helped me feel calm and relaxed after a hectic day.
It felt natural to begin a travel journal when I left to go backpacking for two years in 2009.
I wrote a daily journal and eventually typed these handwritten notes up and posted them on the internet in the form of a blog.
I did this for years without anyone really noticing what I was going…until one day people did notice. And quite quickly, lots of people noticed! And, to cut a very long story short, I’m now lucky enough to do this full time! If I hadn’t written that journal all those years ago then I never would have ended up doing this and I just feel so pleased with myself for taking the time to write those journals!
![tips for keeping travel journal Journaling Travel](https://thetravelhack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Fun-accessories-for-a-travel-journal.jpeg)
#7. Travel journals + self care
Let’s not forget that writing a journal, even if it isn’t a travel journal, is an invaluable form of self care. Whenever I’m feeling stressed or overwhelmed or like I have too many thoughts in my head, I always find journaling will help.
Travelling can often be stressful and we often travel when we need to escape things at home. While you’re writing your journal, don’t confine yourself to just writing facts and figures and descriptions from your trip, write about everything. Write about how you’re feeling, what you’re thinking and how the overall trip is affecting you. Observing your feelings and how the world around you is making you feel. No one else needs to read your journal so don’t worry about getting personal because this is only for you.
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://thetravelhack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Writing-a-travel-journal.jpeg)
#8. Should you use an Instant camera for your travel journal?
Polaroids look gorgeous in scrapbook-style travel journals and it is nice to instantly print your photos and add them to your journal as you write. Aesthetically I think they look amazing but realistically I’ve always found it cumbersome.
Polaroid cameras are bulky and annoying to carry. You’ll probably be taking the majority of your photos on your main camera or phone so it’s a big thing to lug around for just a couple of snaps each day. Not only that but the reels are expensive and you’ll have to make sure you’ve got enough for your whole trip.
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://thetravelhack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Journaling-travel.jpeg)
#9. What if I’m not artistic, creative or good at drawing? How can I make my travel journal look amazing?
That’s OK, I’m not either!
If you’re no good at drawing but would like something extra in your journal then use brochures, maps and tickets to create gorgeous pages.
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://thetravelhack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Cruise-journal.jpeg)
#10. Travel journal inspiration
I’ve left this tip until the end because it can be a double edged sword. Looking at other people’s travel journals for inspiration can give you so many ideas and inspire you to create your own, but it can be overwhelming and put a lot of pressure on you to create ‘the perfect journal’.
The best places to find inspiration are:
Search for the terms:
#TravelJournal
#ScrapbookingIdeas
#BulletJournal
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://thetravelhack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Why-you-should-write-a-travel-journal.jpg)
Tuesday 19th of October 2021
Oh I'd love to try this out when I go on holiday next!
Definitely give it a go! It's a lot of fun and such a nice way to keep a record of your holiday.
Ambica Gulati
That was a very interesting read. I used to keep a diary as a kid, now everything is online. But would love to write again.
That's how I feel too. I love writing blog posts and sharing photos online but it isn't the same or as creative as sitting and writing a journal. It's so theraputic!
![tips for keeping travel journal Journo Travel](https://www.journohq.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/logo.png)
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How To Write A Travel Journal: Ideas, Tips, Prompts & Resources (2023 Definitive Guide)
![tips for keeping travel journal Travel Journal](https://www.journohq.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Travel-Journal-Title.jpeg)
Before I give you the A-Z on creating your travel journal, I have an interesting thought experiment for you…
Can you imagine packing up your life into ONE SINGLE duffel bag?
That’s exactly what my wife and I did when we first moved onto our sailboat Sea Otter : one duffel of personal items each, and one small box of other items stored at our folks back home.
It turns out over 90% of the “stuff” we all own can happily be given away or tossed in the bin.
Look around you right now. How much of the things you see are truly meaningful enough that you’d NEED to keep if all you could leave your home with was ONE duffel?
You’ll like this…
One of the DEAD SIMPLE decisions you’d face with a “purging” like this is with your travel journals because I can GUARANTEE it wouldn’t take more than a nanosecond for them to be placed delicately in your bag so you could keep them forever (which is exactly what I did with mine).
That’s how important your travel diary will become to you. It will become a cherished vault of memories…
…stories you’d have forgotten if you didn’t jot them down…
…memories you’ll look back on for the rest of your days with an ear-to-ear grin…
…a memento you can pass along to future generations so they can bask in your adventures.
And today you’re going to see how to write a travel journal of your very own , including travel journal ideas, writing prompts, tips and all the best resources around!
What Is A Travel Journal?
![tips for keeping travel journal What is a travel journal](https://www.journohq.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/What-is-a-travel-journal.jpeg)
Simply put, a travel journal is a diary of your time on holiday or vacation. It’s a place to jot down the things you never want to forget: people you met, important details, funny events, raw experiences.
And as we’ll discuss, it can take many forms, such as a paper notebook, a DIY scrapbook, an app, a website, and everything in between.
Is There A Difference Between A Travel Journal, Trip Diary, And Travel Log?
People often get confused about whether there’s a difference between these terms, but the answer is that they’re all the same thing.
Whether you prefer to call it a diary or a log doesn’t matter because you enter inside is the same: the stories of your travels.
And here’s an interesting fact you might enjoy:
The term “travel log” (otherwise known as “travelogue” or “travelog”) originally comes from the term “ship’s log,” which was how sailboats and other seafaring vessels tracked the details of the voyage. They called it a “log” because of a wooden float that they used to drag behind the boat to measure speed.
…You know, in case you were really wondering. 😉
Why Keep A Journal While Traveling?
![tips for keeping travel journal travel journal memories](https://www.journohq.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/travel-journal-memories.jpeg)
The experience is priority one.
Followed closely by a way to remember that experience.
You know this conundrum:
If a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound?
Now how about this doozie:
If you forget most of the things you did on your trip, did they really happen?
Well of course they did! But wouldn’t it be so much sweeter if you KNEW you would remember that adventure for the rest of your life? Hell yeah!
THAT is why it’s SO important to keep a journal while on your trip: to remember the best days of your life — those days spent abroad exploring new places, meeting new people, experiencing new cultures.
What Are The Different Types Available?
If you want the best travel journal, you first need to know what type you would prefer.
There are 2 main types to consider, and they are very different:
1. A paper notebook style journal 2. A digital, multimedia style journal (such as an app)
Let’s take them one by one:
A Paper Travel Journal:
![tips for keeping travel journal Travel notebook](https://www.journohq.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Travel-notebook.jpeg)
These are, most often, simple notebooks that you tailor to your travels. Blank page after blank page, ready for ink to cover the lines.
The main benefits of a paper notebook style journal are:
- Some people like the physical act of writing, as opposed to typing on their phones or tablets.
- It’s physical. You can hold it in your hands. It can sit on your bookshelf and physically take up space.
- They make really cool gifts (especially personalized travel journals ).
- You scrapbook with it by gluing in boarding passes, ticket stubs, and anything else you want to keep a hold of.
A few shortcomings of a physical journal are:
- You can lose it! 😩
- You can only write it in, not easily add pictures or videos from your phone.
- You can’t track or tag locations automatically.
- They take up physical space (if you are a diehard minimalist).
- You can’t share your stories online.
A Digital Travel Journal:
![tips for keeping travel journal digital travel journal](https://www.journohq.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/digital-travel-journal.jpeg)
Digital journals are usually apps and websites that work well for journaling. That said, you could also DIY it by simply documenting your travels in a simple text doc on your computer or the ‘Notes’ app on your phone (just make sure you back them up properly!).
The main benefits of a travel journal app :
- The best ones store all your entries securely to the cloud, so you never have to worry about losing your memories.
- You can add pictures directly from your phone’s camera.
- The best ones allow you to add videos too!
- You can collaborate with travel-mates to the same journal, which makes sure you get ALL the stories from all angles (and pics too).
- The best ones automatically tag locations for you and show your routes on a map.
- The best ones allow you to ‘publish’ your journals online for your friends and family to follow along .
A few shortcomings of a digital journal are:
- It’s in the cloud, so you can’t place it on your coffee table and peruse when you’re in the mood (although the best ones do allow you to print your journals too).
- You can’t glue in physical mementos you want to hold on to.
- They’re harder to give as gifts because the “ unwrapping ” just isn’t the same.
As you can see, there are tradeoffs with each style and the answer to which is better truly lies in what you find as more important. Do you want to share it online or are you happy to keep it privately written on your bookshelf? Are you cool with just being able to write or do want to add pictures, videos, and maps ?
Think about what’s best and go for it! Remember, you can always choose a different style next time!
5 Of The Best Travel Journal Notebooks To Buy
![tips for keeping travel journal best travel journals](https://www.journohq.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Adventure-Journal.jpeg)
There are loads of travel journals available for you to buy online. Some with simple ruled pages, others with prompts and other interesting things inside, and some are personalized for that extra cool touch.
Here are our top 5 favorites (including a few of our best selling personalized journals, of course 😊):
1. The Extraordinary Life & Adventures Notebook (Personalized!) by Journo Travel Goods
2. Refillable Leather Journal Traveler’s Notebook by Moterm 3. Personalized ‘Comrades in Life, Love & Adventure’ Couples Travel Journal by Journo Travel Goods
4. Simple Premium Leather With Monogram by OxAndPine
5. The Custom Boarding Pass Travel Journal by Journo Travel Goods
There are plenty of options out there. The best of which comes with personalization and are an ideal size for hauling around on a trip.
What Is The Best App For Journaling?
![tips for keeping travel journal best travel journals](https://www.journohq.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Journo-Hero_Adventures.jpeg)
I founded Journo to do ONE THING: help fellow travel junkies track, remember and share their adventures like they couldn’t do ANYWHERE else.
It all started while at anchor in a secluded bay in The Bahamas, when I was trying to describe in my paper journal the most strikingly red sunset I’d ever seen. But I couldn’t find the words.
…and I felt like I was going to miss out on that memory if the only way I was trying to document it was on paper.
The very next day the idea for Journo was born. It’s taken on a life of its own since – developing a huge community of incredible travelers and winning “Best Travel App” by IMA Awards.
National Geographic Travel put it simply:
“Sharing memories from a trip can get messy. Journo removes the pain.”
Journo is loaded with cool capabilities that make it so much easier to document your trips. And even comes with your very own travel blog so your friends and family back home can follow along (and endlessly drool at your adventures 🤤).
Journo is available on iOS for iPhones and iPad , with Android coming soon. Of course, there are a few other travel journal apps out there and I encourage you to compare with Journo and use whichever you think is best.
What do you write in your journal? 10 Fun Travel Journal Ideas To Inspire You!
![tips for keeping travel journal Travel Journal Ideas](https://www.journohq.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/travel-journal-ideas.jpeg)
A little nudge can go a long way when you’re first starting out. So to get your mind running, here are 10 of our favorite ideas to include in your trip diary:
1. Start before your trip. Jot down your pre-trip planning list , where you’re going, who with, what items are on your must-see and must-do lists . Write about anything you’re most excited about, even if it’s simply relaxing on the beach and going through a couple of great books !
2. A picture is worth a thousand words. If you’re using a travel journal app like Journo, the simplest thing to do is start in your photo album. Look through, grab a pic that catches your eye, add it to your Journal and then write the story about it! If you’re using a paper journal, consider bringing along a mini polaroid like this , and then paste in your pics!
3. A video is worth all the words. This one only works with a limited number of apps that allow for video (like Journo, of course 😉), but including a video of a memorable moment can really take your entries up a notch.
![tips for keeping travel journal tourist attraction](https://www.journohq.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/tourist-attraction.jpeg)
4. Oh, the sights! We often say, “ Don’t be a tourist. Be a traveler. ” But we always recommend seeing the big sights, even if they’re in massive tourist traps. They’re big sights for a reason – they’re incredible! Add them to your journal. Write about if they lived up your expectations or not.
5. It’s all about the people. I guarantee some of the longest-lasting memories you’ll have from a trip are of the people you meet. We, humans, are built for connection, and so a beautiful connection with a new friend or complete stranger can have a lasting impact. Document it!
6. Let’s not forget about the food. Even the most non-foodies amongst us love to talk about amazing food experiences abroad . I’ll never forget my squid ink spaghetti on The Amalfi Coast, or navigating my way through Cuy (Guinea Pig!) in Cuzco, or my daily street dumplings in Shanghai. Take pics of your favorite dishes, jot down the restaurant (or pin it on a map in Journo), and describe the food in detail! 😋
7. Map it! If you’re anything like me, you love the look of a cool map. Now, doesn’t that map get even sweet when it’s of YOUR travel route? Yep! Draw it and color it if you’re using a paper journal (gives you something to do when in limbo or on a long train ride ). If you’re using an app, it should pin your route for you .
![tips for keeping travel journal travel ephemera](https://www.journohq.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/travel-ephemera.jpeg)
8. Paste in awesome mementos. This one is best for the paper journalers amongst us because you can literally glue in cool stuff from your adventures, like maps, ticket stubs, bottle labels, coasters, postcards, foreign dollar bills, candy wrappers, etc. Whatever you find interesting, toss it in! If you’re using an app, just take a pic of it!
9. Write about yourself. No better place for a little bit of introspection than on a trip. And that’s usually because – if you’re doing it right – you’re pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and growing as a person. Write about that. Write about your feelings, changed opinions, ups, and downs, whatever it may be that you’re going through!
10. Team up! We created Journo as a collaborative journaling tool because it’s a ton of fun for you and your travel-mates to be journaling in the same place ( here’s my wife, Mak, and my collabo Journo from a sail a while back , as an example). You get all the stories and, oftentimes, a hilarious new angle on a shared experience. If you’re using a paper journal, just pass it around, maybe even taking turns documenting the days.
>> New: 100 travel journal prompts for ever part of your adventure.
And whatever you do… don’t overthink it! It’s better to just roll with it than overthink it. It’s just an entry, after all. Just write!
One thing we’ve discovered from our community of travel journalers is that it can be hard to find the time while on a trip to keep up with your journaling. Here’s some help with that…
4 Writing Tips To Fill Your Travel Journal With Ease WHILE Vacationing
![tips for keeping travel journal Travel journal prompts](https://www.journohq.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/travel-journal-writing-tips.jpeg)
1. Start with today. With limited time, and being pretty beat after a long day, it’s tough to keep up. So just don’t worry about previous days, just start with today (and catch up as soon as you can or when you get home and maybe feeling the post-trip blues ).
2. Think “highlight reel.” The quickest way to get that entry rolling is to think about the top 1-3 things that went down today. Add those, then expand later if you want.
3. Start in your phone’s photo album. As mentioned above, it’s simplest to start by pulling up the date in your phone’s photo library, find the best pics, add them to your journal and write a short snippet of it.
4. Consider giving your friends back home a touch of the #TravelEnvy bug. 😜 With Journo, you can publish your entries to your very own travel blog with a couple of taps. This will both make your friends drool and also keep you on track with adding more stories of your adventures.
I hope you found this helpful in getting started with traveling journaling. Remember, the most important thing is to simply begin.
Step one is to grab the right journal for you (thanks for considering Journo in your decision). Step two , if you have time before your departure date, is to start writing now ! That easy!
Ok here’s one last helpful tip for you…
Try to develop the habit of daily journaling now will make it even easier while on your trip. Here is a free downloadable journaling prompt exercise book for you: The 21-Day Journo Challenge.
Inside you’ll get ONE word or image, and all you need to do is write about WHATEVER comes to your mind as you read the word or lay your eyes on the pic.
Have any tips we didn’t mention? What do you love travel journaling about the most? Tell us in the comments below!
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Travel Journal Ideas, Tips and 75 Brilliant Prompts
One of the best souvenirs from your travels may just be a travel journal of your experiences that YOU create: the people you encountered, the places you visited, the beaches you loved, and the mishaps you faced along the way.
Keep the memories alive long after the suntan fades and the jet lag has passed.
Discover why keeping a diary of your travels is a must for your next trip and get some inspiration with the best travel journal ideas, tips and prompts.
Bonus * 75 travel journal prompts to get your creative juices flowing!
Table of Contents
What is a Travel Journal?
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A travel journal is more than simply writing down what you did on a trip.
A travel journal is a place for reflection on the vacations you take and the adventures you experience; it may include the new foods you try, the people you meet along the way, and the memories you hope to keep alive.
Travel journal ideas may include:
- Your travel preparation and research
- Your day-to-day travel diary as you explore
- Keepsakes you collect along the way
I believe a travel journal is one the essentials of travel: before, during and after your trip.
Why Keep a Journal?
![Kline 0712 Family photography at the beach](https://justwandermore.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Kline-0712-1024x683.jpg)
I have been journaling my personal and family history diligently for well over 40 years and the information, memories, and experiences are a treasure. I am anticipating the future when my grandchildren read for the first time what their moms (my daughters) were like at their age.
This post shares reasons why you need to “just start” journaling—specifically your travels—with the hope that you’ll discover journaling is a hobby you love whether you are on the road or at home.
If you put a little time and effort into personalized journals—travel or otherwise—you will create something you can look back on and treasure long after your adventures have ended.
![Frontcover scaled e1638026030908 Ultimate Travel Planner notebook to journal your travels](https://justwandermore.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Frontcover-scaled-e1638026030908-1005x1024.jpg)
The Wall Street Journal touts the benefits of journaling as: “One of the more effective acts of self-care is also, happily, one of the cheapest.” Whether you want to create a journal of your life or journal your travels, my best piece of advice is to JUST START .
To relate a wise Chinese Proverb , “The best time to plant a tree [or start a journal] was twenty years ago. The next best time is now.”
In all of my efforts to journal life on my family blog for the past 20+ years, I have always kept notes as we traveled as a family.
These travel notes have become a superb reference for my website: justwandermore.com .
When I travel, I record details and destinations, mishaps and memories all along the way that I can then use to create travel posts with detailed supplemental information .
I always carry a travel journal with me.
How Can You Start Creating Your Own Travel Journal?
1. determine the medium: pen & paper or digital.
You have options here. If you choose to use pen and paper, find a notebook or travel journal . Some people just prefer the feel and creativity of pen and paper.
If you plan to keep a digital journal, find a note-taking app (ie., Evernote, OneNote, Noteshelf, Google Docs) that works best for you.
2. Make a Plan to Write the Same Time Everyday
You may find that if you don’t record the day-to-day happenings as you travel, you begin to mix up days and locations or forget insightful moments ( or maybe that is just me! )
So, whether you are exploring the dreamy villages outside of Florence , planning to paraglide from Mt. Pilatus in Switzerland , or snorkeling with black tip sharks in Tahiti , you won’t forget any amazing moments.
This is the easiest way to remember places you visit, people you meet, brilliant ideas, funny moments that happen along the way, mishaps, favorite destinations and day trips, and interesting tidbits of information.
Once you do begin to journal your travels, pulling the information together into a meaningful blog post, family letter, or digital travelogue once you return home is so much easier!
Make it a habit to write in your journal at the same time everyday.
3. Include the Day, Date and Location
Before I even leave on vacation, I start a page in my travel journal and number it with the number of days our family will be on vacation. I then add the day of the week, the date, and our location. For example:
- Day 1 Thursday, August 10 London
- Day 2 Friday, August 11 London
- Day 3 Saturday, August 12 Train to Paris
- Day 4 Sunday, August 13 Disneyland Paris
- Day 5 Monday, August 14 Normandy
You get the idea. It just makes a quick reference guide as I keep travel notes throughout our travels.
4. Develop Your Observational Skills
Learn to be observant and descriptive.
5. Send Yourself Quick Travel Notes or Messages
I often text myself quick travel notes as a reminder of funny things that happen during our travels, cool things we see, or places we visit. This just helps me to not forget something that I want to include in my travel journal.
6. Take Pictures as Reminders Too!
Snap a picture of a cafe where you have lunch (be sure to include the name of the restaurant in your photo), the spelling of the name of a town you visit, where you stay, a train you take, etc. so that you have it for your records.
I take these pictures to remember our stops throughout the day and then to make sure that I spell names correctly when I begin to journal. These pictures aren’t usually my best efforts, just a record.
Pictures also give you a day-to-day guide in chronological order of where you went and what you saw.
7.Keep Memorabilia
I often bring home pamphlets, tickets, maps, etc. to remind me of our adventures. My girls love to keep the tickets and other memorabilia for their shadow boxes.
What to Write in Your Travel Notes?
If you are at a loss for what to write and need travel journal ideas and prompts, these are some great points to get you started and maybe keep you motivated to continue writing.
Travel Journal Ideas: Planning Your Trip
- Packing list
- Travel bucket list
- Important things to remember
- Bookings for hotel, air travel, ground transportation
- Research on excursions, adventures and tours
- Foreign words and phrases to remember
![Ultimatetravelplannergraphic1 1 Ultimate travel planner for planning travel adventures](https://justwandermore.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Ultimatetravelplannergraphic1-1-1024x1024.png)
Travel Journal Ideas: During Your Trip
- Actual costs
- Tickets, maps, brochures
- Quick sketches
- Daily itinerary of the places you visit, famous sites, food you eat, etc.
Travel Journal Ideas: After Your Trip
- Final budget
- Things you would do differently
- Ideas for your next trip
- Updates to your bucket list
Creative Travel Journal Ideas: How to Share and Display Your Travels
Discover reasons why you need to just start journaling as well as ideas on what to write in a travel journal.
Journaling is not only a great way to keep a record with corresponding and related photos, but it is also a fantastic medium to share your experiences and family pictures with grandparents, family members, and friends… many who may live far away.
I recognize that not everyone is a writer but I hope that you will be inspired to begin keeping your own personal travel record in a way that best reflects your talents and personality .
So, how can YOU begin?
Start a Blog
If you dream of creating a website dedicated to travel (or parenting or recipes or whatever) these are the steps where you should begin:
- Step 1: The Best Way to Pick Your Niche and Choose a Domain
- Step 2: The Best Way to Choose a Hosting Plan and a Provider
- Step 3: The Best Way to Create Your Website
A blog is a fantastic medium for journaling travel (and life) experiences and beginning to share itineraries, tips, and practical advice with would-be travelers.
Others can learn from YOU as you share travel journal ideas.
If you only want to create a personal, diary-style blog to share with family and friends, you could do this at wordpress.com or blogger.com .
I started on Blogger for my personal blog and found it easy as a newbie to use and personalize.
Create Social Media Accounts to Share Your Travel Adventures, Tips, and Research
If you choose to create a website to journal your travels, be sure to claim your website name on social media accounts (even if you don’t know if you will use them yet).
- Instagram – Share your pictures with family and friends; begin to create a following to grow your brand. Learn some of the Best Selfie Poses for awesome shots.
- YouTube – Upload to your YouTube channel (set to private if you wish), and you have a virtual album of your trip you can watch on the big screen or send to Grandma.
Claim your name any social media account where you will also want to share about AND journal your travels.
![Screen Shot 2021 10 08 at 3.08.34 PM Screen Shot 2021 10 08 at 3.08.34 PM](https://justwandermore.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-08-at-3.08.34-PM-741x1024.png)
Create a Travel # (Hashtag) to Document Your Travel
![20220529 London 173 LRE Web 2 Things to do in London outside Buckingham Palace](https://justwandermore.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/20220529_London_173_LRE-Web-2-1024x768.jpg)
If you don’t plan to create a website and don’t really want to create a separate Instagram account where you can journal your travels, you can also create a #hashtag specific to your travel, ie., #simplyjolaynetravels
Use hashtags “#” on Instagram to make it easier for family, friends, followers, or potential customers to find your Instagram feed and “follow you”.
The hashtags on Instagram are usually a combination of words, numbers or emojis preceded by the # symbol (no spacing) to provide a category for content and make your photos easier to discover.
Do you ever wonder why people use so many hashtags on their posts (you can use up to 30 per post)? It is to try and get more people to see their posts. More people viewing your posts means more followers and hopefully more people visiting your website.
Collect Memorabilia or Souvenirs
Do you like to collect? For awhile, my girls were collecting sweatshirts when we traveled to foreign cities. They would say, “You can never have too many sweatshirts,” but hmmmm, I think you can.
How about stamps, Christmas ornaments , t-shirts, or postcards? Train stubs, airline tickets, museum entrance tickets, journal sketches, and coin rubbings all make a unique way to journal your travels throughout the world as well.
Create Scrapbooks
Are you an avid scrapbooker? I was always too busy blogging to add one more medium to my efforts to journal my travels with scrapbooks, but many of my friends love the scrapbooks they have created over the years.
You will want to collect and save memorabilia from your trip such as ticket stubs, vouchers, a napkin, postcards, and receipts. And the hardcopy scrapbooks will give you a great excuse to print your photos and then to look back through the pages.
Make a Photo Book
![20221229 SJ 2460 20221229 SJ 2460](https://justwandermore.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20221229-SJ-2460-1024x768.jpg)
I love to create photo books online. I make one every year for my family as a reminder of all of the fun we had, to recap our momentous occasions, and to highlight the places we visited.
You could make books for each of your travel destinations as a way to journal your travels. If you have never made one, I think you would be surprised to find just how quick and easy they are to make.
75 Travel Journal Prompts
Need some ideas to help as you journal your travels or travel journal questions? Writer’s block is real.
You may just need to pick one of these ideas to get you started or keep the ideas at hand to help you recall events and moments from your day.
I even ask my family what their favorite moments are from the day. Your traveling companions can be great in helping you remember or in bouncing ideas off of them.
- What are your recommendations for your next trip?
- Why did you choose this particular destination?
- What are you looking forward to the most?
- What are your transportation and flight details?
- What are your accommodations with address and contact information?
- Did you plan tours (with contact information)?
- Are there food tours that you would like to try?
- What is your itinerary for this trip?
- How long will your flight be?
- Is there anything that worries you about this trip?
- Are there significant cultural customs to respect?
- Do you have any day trips planned ?
- Have you had any pre-trip setbacks?
- What are some of the basic words to know: thank you, please, hello, goodbye?
- What destinations are on your travel bucket list ?
- Do you have favorite childhood travel memories and places you want to visit?
- If money wasn’t an issue, where would you go?
- What advice and tips have you read about in your research?
- Did you create a playlist for this trip?
- Is this a relaxing trip or go go go with lots of sightseeing?
![20190527 JK 3851 Path along Lake Geneva in France](https://justwandermore.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/20190527_JK_3851-1024x1024.jpg)
Be descriptive. While a picture often says a thousand words, adding your impressions of the sights, sounds, and smells offers an added dimension.
- What puts you out of your comfort zone while traveling?
- Describe the funniest travel moments you have had.
- What is the most beautiful beach you’ve ever been?
- What is your favorite European country to visit?
- Name the most picturesque city, town, or village that you have visited?
- Have you ever visited Christmas markets?
- Are there any places you just don’t want to visit?
- What are your favorite meals or treats to splurge on money-wise and calorie-wise?
- What are the best and worst accommodations you’ve stayed in while traveling?
- What was the weather like? Did it impact your day?
- What are the sights, sounds and smells that you will remember the most?
- Did you have gelato today?
- What was the first thing that caught your attention when you arrived at your destination?
- Describe where you are in right now using as many of your senses as you can.
- Sketch a famous landmark in your travel journal.
I recommend that you set aside some time at the end of the day to update your notes each day of your vacation. It makes it so much easier to journal your travels and remember what you did, where you went, and the funny or crazy things that happened.
Here are 20 questions to consider as you document your travels:
- What are your first impressions of your travel destination?
- Are you suffering from jet lag?
- What has surprised you so far?
- Did anything unfortunate, embarrassing, funny, or eventful happen today?
- What did you forget to pack?
- Do you like your accommodations?
- Did you get lost?
- What was your favorite meal today?
- How will you prioritize your health while you are traveling?
- What can you do for self-care while on the trip?
- Is there one thing that you never travel without ?
- What was the most amazing thing you did today?
- Did anything embarrassing happen today?
- What made you laugh today? Did anything make you cry?
- What is the biggest challenge about the city you are visiting?
- Did anything go wrong today? What happened?
- How is this place similar or different from home?
- Are there any current events that are impacting your trip?
- How are you feeling—relaxed, happy, tired and stressed?
- How many steps/miles did you walk today?
![IMG 5950 1 Giraffe and man at Cheyenne mountain zoo](https://justwandermore.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_5950-1-1024x768.jpg)
As you arrive home and begin to journal your travels, what are some of your thoughts, ideas, and reflections about your trip?
- How did you hear about this destination?
- What advice would you share with others ?
- Is this a trip you would take again or was once enough?
- What would you do differently?
- What would you pack differently?
- What would you add to your packing list ?
- Did you have any travel mishaps?
- What were the humorous moments from your trip?
- How long did it take you to get over the jet lag?
- Did you buy any souvenirs?
- Are you excited by the pictures you took?
- Did you meet someone new?
- What would you recommend to others about this destination?
- Are you glad to be home? Are you ready to go again?
- What do you miss the most from home?
- Is there a tourist spot you wish you had visited?
- What is the best trip you have ever taken?
- Is there a local tradition that you would like to try once you get home?
- What are you favorite foods from this country?
- What did you love/not love about your accommodations?
![familytravelstogether Instagram Content Quote the family that travels togethers stay together](https://justwandermore.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/familytravelstogether-1024x1024.jpg)
Travel Journal Gear
As much as I love to travel I also LOVE to take pictures.
As a traveler AND a photographer, I can often be found with my Canon 6d Mark II around my neck and my iPhone in my hand as I hike, sightsee, and travel. I don’t want to miss a single picturesque moment!
![51Okly2zXgL 51Okly2zXgL](https://justwandermore.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/51Okly2zXgL.jpg)
Tip: Change the time stamp on your camera when you arrive at your destination so that it is the local time. Don’t forget to change it back when you return home.
![Gratitudejournalcover tips for keeping travel journal](https://justwandermore.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/41nDbx4N7gL.jpg)
I have been focusing a lot on how to journal your travels, but there are a myriad of ideas for creative ways to also journal your life:
- Keep a Gratitude Journal
- Record your Yearly Goals
- Create a Calendar of Your Family Photos
- Keep a Personal Journal in a Book
- Create an Instagram Account
- Print Your Photos and Hang Them in Your House
- Create an Online Private Journal
- Respond to Journal Prompts to Create a Personal History
- Use a Sketchbook
- Write Letters to Yourself, Your Children, Others
- Use a Daily Planner
- Create a Recipe Book of Your Family’s Favorite Recipes
It doesn’t have to be complicated to journal your way to a happier YOU !
![reflectionsbooktemplate reflectionsbooktemplate](https://justwandermore.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/reflectionsbooktemplate-815x1024.png)
- Make a Bullet Journal
- Record your Health Journey
- Design a Yearly Vision Board
- Create a Book or File of Your Favorite Quotes
- Write About Your Family Traditions
- Create a Book on the Advice You Would Give to Your Adult Children
- Write Down the Funny Things Your Children Say
- Make Note of the Books and Movies That You Love
- Create a Playlist of Songs
- Write a List of Fun Facts About You and Keep Adding to It
- Write Lists of Fun Facts About Your Family Members
Check out my Ultimate Travel Planner , Travel Journal , Gratitude Journal , and the Reflections Daily Journal . They are great for getting started.
![amazonfav Button for linking to my Amazon favorites](https://justwandermore.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/amazonfav-1024x438.png)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a shadow box frame.
A shadow box frame is a display case (often hung on the wall) with an open space between the glass and photo. A shadow box adds a 3-dimensional frame that lets you showcase photos, mementos, keepsakes, and other cherished items from your travel adventures.
Can a travel journal be filled with pictures?
Definitely. Showcase your favorite photos and memories.
Why keep a journal (of any kind)?
I have kept a personal family journal since 1999. The blog , as we affectionately refer to it in our family, and the blog books which my husband has printed for me over the years, are a treasure. My youngest daughter, Kristen, pours over those books, often reading about the years before she joined our family. It is funny to us when she says, “Do you remember when…” and then references a time before she was even born. They are a treasure and are filled with memories and moments and mishaps.
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Final Thoughts on Travel Journal Ideas, Tips and 75 Brilliant Prompts
If these lists seem overwhelming, just pick one idea and start there. That’s what makes keeping a travel journal so ridiculously easy. Pick what works the best for you! The time you take to make a record of your travels or your life in a meaningful way will make an impact.
Just start. You’ll be glad you did.
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I’m a Colorado-based travel blogger with a passion for exploring the world, enjoying family time, and taking fantastic photographs. I am also a book writing, creative thinking, detail loving, frequent flying, comfort loving mom of three girls and wife to an amazing guy. Discover More .
70 Comments
An oldschool handwrittem journal is useful for every aspect of life, it is just not for the lazy people. And I absolutely agree that there is such a thing as too many souvenirs. In my case it’s magnets, but you have only so much metal surface. 1 fridge.
For some, it is simply easier to have a journal to pick up and take with them.
Photography was always my “thing.” But sometimes being behind the camera can mean missing out in the moment. I think travel journaling might be the perfect substitution. It helps create memories while keeping you in the moment.
I know what you mean. I have to jump into some photos just to prove I was there.
Thanks for sharing this! Actually, I always capture every moment and place it in a journal. Hayyy, missing traveling ..
I loved reading about having a travel journal. As time goes on, it is so easy to forget the names of places you have been. I’m so glad I have kept travel journals from as far back as college. Almost 20 years – how could I remember everything! hehe
I love your recommendations and I love how you create a digital photo album every year of your family’s activities and travels. Great idea. I often forget how much I do and how many places I visit and exhibitions I see. It is only when I look back at ALL the photos that I am quickly reminded of how abundant my life is.
All such great ideas on ways to keep track of travel through journaling! I love having a blog as it is detailed in reminding me of my travels plus lots of photos to bring back those memories. I also enjoy creating photo books of trips!
Lots of fantastic ideas about journaling and remembering our travels! So many great prompts too! One of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received was from my younger sister. As an adult, she copied her journal entries about me that she had written while we were growing up. It was pretty incredible all of the sweet things she shared. Journals are priceless and you have written a really useful article about them. Thanks!
What an amazing gift to receive. Not only was it thoughtful but it took her time to put it all together.
Great advice! My first big travelling experience our professor required us to journal our experience, and now I always try to make an effort to do it! They’re so nice to have in hindsight
Someday you will appreciate them even more.
I love journaling (old school writing pen to paper) so I never really made the connection that my blog and social media accounts are also forms of journaling. Love the journaling prompts…great resource!
The good news if you are a journaler is that you already have a lot of information for writing posts.
I LOVE my travel journal. It always helps me remember fun trips from eons ago.
Exactly. I transfer a lot to my personal blog and my girls love going back and reading about our adventures together.
So many good ideas for journaling! I don’t have a travel journal, but I think I will start one!
Check out my travel journal on Amazon!
I am definitely going to look into these travel journals. So often I just go off of memory, but I know it would be better if I would write down my adventures as they happen.
I would forget so much if I didn’t write it down.
The prompts are great!
Great ideas here! I used to write a bit in my journal while I was travelling, but I decided it was easier for me to write a blog. It’s fun to record your travels in words!
I keep notes as I travel and then on the long flight home, I start creating blog posts.
This is such a comprehensive list of journaling ideas. I always forget things when I’m travelling like where I ate a great meal or those little discoveries I made by accident. Thanks so much for sharing!
Those are the details I try to remember. Comes in handy for travel blogging.
What a great idea! Outside of blogging, I had not considered journaling, but it seems like a great time to start. Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
Well, blogging is pretty much journaling.
These are such good ideas! I used to work for a photo processing company so have tons of photobook of my trips. I use to have a small notebook with me during my travels whenever since I was gifted with a Polaroid, I started journaling.
Photos and journals are great for keeping the memories alive.
Thanks for the inspiration. I have been doing this without realising I was doing it! But your post will help me refine my journal.
Makes for a great reference when blogging too.
I do journaling about my regular life as well as my travels. The latter it´s more like a diary! But I love your prompts and will keep them in mind for my next journey!
Good ideas! Despite a digital lifestyle, I still keep a travel notebook for quick prompts.
Me too. I jot quick notes as I travel each day so that I when I return home I can create a post of my travels.
I would never remember all the amazing experiences from our travels if I didn’t take daily notes and pictures.
Definitely helps when creating travel posts.
These are such great ideas. Love the prompts you gave!
I love the idea of writing down what you’d recommend to others. It’s a good way to discover what the highlights of the trips were for you.
These are some great tips for travel journaling! I’ve tried keeping a journey during my travels but I always end up to busy to write things down. It is funny though because I’d never really considered my blog as my travel journal but I guess it is! Thanks for sharing these tips!
I am so bad at journaling, and I need to change that! I use to journal anytime we did a trip or had a baby. It’s so fun to look back through. I definitely need to get a journal and start again!
In addition to my blog I’ve just started keeping a physical travel journal with photos, notes and little tickets from my trips. It’s been so fun so far and such a great thing to look back on to remember my trips!
Great post, full of ideas for your journal. I was journalling without knowing. I have always kept photos and written about my trips.
I journaled for all of my early travel life. It was really the inspiration that made me start my travel blog. I must admit that I still have separate written journals for my experiences as a private pilot and also for our scuba diving. The one thing I miss with blogging is the deeply personal things that really don’t make it into the blog but did into my journals. Some great tips for things to think about writing.
All great suggestions. I never considered creating a photo book (I’ve been old school using photo albums), but I’d be willing to try it.
They are so nice to have and fit compactly on a shelf too.
I have been keeping travel journals for the past 12 years. It is a great way to remember details. I also find it to be a great creative outlet. I love your list of prompts.
Thanks. And if you are a travel writer, it helps so much in writing for your blog.
This post was so helpful! I cannot count the times I was writing about something happened years before and not being able to remember the details! I will make sure to always take notes while traveling to have reference!
Yay for creating a journaling believer!
I definitely need to be better about taking notes while traveling. Its definitely hard to remember all the details without taking some notes.
I keep a small notebook with me but am not the best at writing in it on trips. I’m usually driving or too tired at the end of the day to write much! LOL Would love to be more organized though!
I keep a notebook too. I find that if I don’t take the time, I just forget all of the amazing little things from when I had thought to myself, “Oh, I need to remember that.”
I’m a huge proponent of journaling travels and just your life in general, but I hadn’t really considered all of the ways to document your experiences without using a journal itself like using Instagram! Thanks for sharing
One thing that my family and I do is grab a keychain of the state/country we visited. We have a nice little collection.
I love journaling my travel journeys, and then going back years later to read what I wrote and it brings back happy memories for me.
Journaling and pictures keeps the memories alive (and maybe more accurate in the retelling).
Perfect combination. I do both, but with phone cameras, everyone in the family can get into the picture taking moments.
Love this! I love revisiting my travel experiences and keeping a journal is a great way to allow myself to do that! Thanks for the great tips!
Great read!
I am another old-fashioned traveler, and use a physical journal during my travels (and stationary life, too). I love photography but I find it “steals away” from my writing (journal, poetry, narratives) — and also, I prefer to travel unencumbered by things that are too expensive to have break or get stolen.
I’m sure your journals are a treasure.
Love this! I’ve been journaling since I was around 11-12 and started documenting my travels on my blog a few years back. It’s been fun looking back on those memories. :]
Not to mention my journals have been an invaluable resource in starting a travel blog.
I love the idea of journaling about your travels. I had never thought of it, but I love the idea. Thanks for opening my eyes!
This is fantastic! One of the most comprehensive posts on Journaling I have read.
Great ideas to journal in so many different ways! Very creative!
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![tips for keeping travel journal Escape Artist Katie](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Minimal-Photocentric-Productivity-Blog-Banner.png)
Travel Journaling Guide: How to Write the Ultimate Travel Diary
![tips for keeping travel journal Travel Journaling Guide: How to Write the Ultimate Travel Diary](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/journalandgear-728x410.jpg)
Travel journaling allows you to preserve your travel memories for life. It’s a fact of life that memories fade over time. Some may disappear within seconds, while others can stay clear for hours, days or weeks. Travel memories that are written down, however, are there for life.
If you’ve been tracking down waterfalls in the Cuban jungle, it’s only a matter of time until you forget the blood-red feathers of the Cuban trogon you stumbled upon. What about the name of that man you met on the Paris Metro? The ins and outs of your journey on a night bus in Vietnam? The accidental shortcut you found in Switzerland?
As a travel writer, I’ve been travel journaling in one shape or form for my whole life. However, you don’t have to be a writer to start a travel journal. It can be as simple, as short or as complex as you like, with the following travel journaling guide.
Whether you bullet-point everything or smash out several pages of prose per day, your travel journal doesn’t just preserve precious travel memories. It’s a place to self-reflect on your journey, record facts and quotes, and creatively display your travels so far. The best part? All you need to start travel journaling is a notebook, a pen and a travel plan.
Table of Contents
What is travel journaling?
Travel journaling is the act of keeping a written record of your travels. While this typically refers to keeping a chronological (hour-by-hour and day-by-day) travel diary, some travel journalers might also sketch, create collages or draw infographics to tell a story.
Travel journaling is unique to each storyteller, but at its core, it’s about relaying your experiences for an imaginary or real reader and recording your adventures for your future self to look back on.
![tips for keeping travel journal A woman travel journaling and flicking through the pages of a book.](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/pages.jpg)
The only piece of equipment you need to begin travel journaling is a notebook. This could be as simple as a basic lined or unlined notebook. However, some notebooks are designed specifically as travel diaries and aim to prompt the author, such as the Travel Listography Diary and the You Are Here Mindful Travel Journal .
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Find a tour or experience on Get Your Guide .
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Travel Journaling: Should I keep a travel journal?
Anyone can keep a travel journal, whether you’re creating a travel journal to share memories with family and friends when you return home, or just for yourself. It’s a souvenir of sorts, but one that has a personal meaning to you and captures your exact thoughts and feelings at a specific time and place in your journey.
You might want to keep a travel journal if…
1. You want your memories to become sharper and more meaningful.
At school, teachers often advise students to write down facts to remember them. The same goes for memories. Writing about a memory stimulates your brain to recall and remember specific details from that moment.
When you revisit a memory like that, it sends your brain a signal that that particular memory is important. It is prioritised above other, more insignificant memories from the day, the week or the year. As a result, you’re more likely to be able to recall it in the future.
![tips for keeping travel journal Blonde woman wearing red t-shirt dress gazes over tea bushes in Munnar](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/teaplantation.jpg)
At the same time, revisiting a memory allows you to add meaning to your experience. By exploring the thoughts and feelings that came along with the physical sensations, you’re able to bring a unique, personal meaning to what happened.
2. You’d like to relive a memory a second time.
When I urged a friend I met on my travels to try recording his memories on paper, one of the most significant things he said was, “It’s like I get to experience it all over a second time.”
That’s one of the best parts about travel journaling. In your own, unique way, you get to experience something in detail for a second time. You might feel the same rush of adrenaline, the same apprehension or the same ‘lightbulb moment’.
3. You want to jot down contact details of new friends.
Sometimes you meet people on the road and they have a huge impact on you in some way or another: a blasé comment that stuck with you, a new perspective on a topic you thought you’d already figured out, or an unexpected friend in a moment where you really needed it. Just as often, you forget to ask for their contact information or you lose it in the mayhem.
![tips for keeping travel journal Kathakali performers in elaborate costumes and makeup](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/kathakari.jpg)
Anything can happen to your phone when you’re travelling: loss, theft, damage, or unexpected memory wipes. Jotting down important contact details in your travel journal creates a second, permanent copy of their details. You never know, you might want to share some of the entries they starred in as a way to reflect on your fleeting time together.
4. You want to work through complex thoughts and feelings.
There’s a reason why many therapists and life coaches suggest writing down how you’re feeling. It’s a very effective way of processing complex or difficult emotions.
You might have had a travel experience that has shook you up slightly – an illness or a missed flight, perhaps – and want to get your immediate frustrations out on paper. Maybe you’ve come to a big realisation about the way you handle stress or adversity. Either way, your travel journal is a great way to work through the feelings.
Bottling up emotions isn’t good for anyone, so this is a particularly handy use for a travel diary if you’re a solo traveller who doesn’t have anyone to vent to immediately. This can all boost your self awareness, protect yourself from future mishaps, and generate a greater understanding of yourself.
5. You want to reflect on your travels so far and what you’d like out of the rest of your trip.
Travel can be a whirlwind. However, by reflecting on your travels so far, you can assess what have been the most meaningful experiences in your trip so far, and seek out similar experiences in the future.
![tips for keeping travel journal Lady operating a street food stall](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/streetfood.jpg)
Similarly, it can help you to realise if you’ve been focusing on one particular experience so far – for example, hiking or visiting historical sites. It might influence you to try something new, like attending a cultural festival, going on a village walk or engaging in some offbeat travel experiences.
6. You want to save ideas for an online travel diary or social media posts.
Whether you’re a content creator, a digital nomad, or simply someone who likes to share your travels with friends and family, travel journaling can be a great way to fine-tune ideas for future stories, whether written or visual.
You might be planning to create your own blog or post photos on Instagram with in-depth captions. Setting up your own website is relatively inexpensive to do nowadays with websites such as Bluehost offering cheap, affordable domains and hosting plans – this is the site I used to set up my own blog.
Draft ideas for stories and captions in your travel journal, and use a highlighter to pick out your best ideas.
7. You want to improve your writing skills
Whether you’re a seasoned writer or a complete beginner, the simple act of travel journaling every day (or every other day) will give you more practice in the art of the written word.
This will carry over into your studies, essay-writing, creative writing, email-writing, or general communication skills. It also boosts your confidence as a writer.
8. You want something tangible to share with family or friends.
Unless you’re planning on keeping your travel journal to yourself, a travel diary is a great hand-me-down that will give your ancestors a taste of your travels and personality. It’s also an excellent way to connect with friends and families back home, and give them the run-down on what you got up to. If you travelled with a partner or a friend, it’s also an excellent shared keepsake.
Travel Journaling: What should a travel journal include?
When it comes to the question of ‘what should a travel journal include?’, I use the word ‘should’ lightly. Your travel journal is uniquely yours. It doesn’t have to include anything you don’t want it to.
![tips for keeping travel journal Lady wearing jeans is travel journaling outside of a coffee shop](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/writing.jpg)
However, there are many things that you might want to include in your travel journal, so the following list should provide some inspiration.
Pick and choose the ideas you like and experiment to see what works for you. What works for you will be different than what works for other travel journalers.
1. Brainstorming
You don’t need to wait until your departure date to begin travel journaling. It can also be used to plan your trip. Before anything else, you might want to dedicate a page (or a few) to brainstorming.
Do you want a budget or a luxury trip? Do you want to see the beaches, mountains, jungle, lakes, rivers, or deserts? Which countries match your non-negotiables? Who might you invite, or who can you connect with out there? This sort of brainstorming can streamline the planning process and help you to get the most out of your trip.
2. Trip research
After brainstorming comes the more nitty-gritty trip research. Your travel notebook is ideal for this too. It’s easy to open up a dozen or more tabs on your laptop or mobile device, so you can use the physical notebook to jot down key destinations and activities that have captured your attention. This will help you to narrow down your itinerary once and for all.
3. A trip plan
![tips for keeping travel journal Shrine inside a cave](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/jet-dela-cruz-n9UTyfjgaGo-unsplash.jpg)
You can take this a step further and write a complete plan for your trip. If you don’t want your notebook to get too messy, you can simply add your finalised itinerary. This will be very helpful when you’re actually travelling, because you can store all of your booking information and your travel timeline in one place.
This is what I do, and it keeps my mind clear and my travel plan organised. I also include back-up ideas for activities and alternative transport options should anything go awry.
4. A travel diary
When you start to gather first-hand travel experiences, you can begin to record a diary of the events. You might want to write in prose, which is the best way to let your thoughts flow freely onto the page.
![tips for keeping travel journal Blogger Escape Artist Katie smiles over the waterfront in Lucerne, Switzerland.](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/escapeartistkatie.jpg)
An alternative option is to take bullet points, which help you to get down information quickly before you forget it. You might also want to alternate between the two, writing in bullet points when you’re short on time and writing in prose when you feel particularly inspired.
5. Other travel memorabilia
Your travel journal doesn’t just have to be a written diary. You can collect – and glue down – other travel memorabilia such as ticket stubs, receipts or dried flowers.
Just remember to pack a small glue stick or double-sided tape and scissors (in your checked bag, not your carry-on bag).
Some travel memorabilia that you might want to stick into your travel diary include:
- Ticket stubs.
- Foreign bank notes.
- Newspaper clippings.
- Dried flowers.
- Food wrappers.
- Luggage tag labels.
6. Sketches
If you’re particularly artistic, sketching the scenery, wildlife, or people you see on your journey is a great way to bring your diary to life. If you’re not artistically inclined, a small caricature might be more accessible and just as fun.
Others might prefer to paint in watercolour; there are a number of watercolour travel journals available.
Travel journaling: How do you write a travel journal entry?
When you start recording your first travel journal entry, my first piece of advice is simply to start writing.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t even have to make sense to anyone but you. If you work better with an outline, the following prompts should get you started.
1. Write down the date.
The most important thing to do, and perhaps the only rule of travel journaling, is that you should start by writing down the date of your entry. If you can, include the day of the week too, as this can often give extra context – for example, if it’s the weekend, it might explain why the crowds in your destination were so lively or the public transport delayed.
I recommend using the format: Thursday, 21st July, 2022. You want to be able to look back on the date of the entry and see how much time has passed since it took place.
2. Write down your location.
![tips for keeping travel journal Busy street in Parque Central lined with classic cars](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/cubaroad-e1647293350952.jpg)
The second most important thing to write down is your location. It’s a good idea to be as specific as possible. Include the town, the village or even the hotel or hostel you’re staying at.
This makes it easier to re-imagine the scenario when you’re reading your diary back. It also makes the entry more accurate and places the event somewhere tangible.
3. Decide whether you’re going to write in prose or use bullet points.
As a rule of thumb, it’s best to get your memories down on paper when they are still fresh. If you’re pressed on time, you might want to take bullet points rather than write in prose. If more than a couple of days have passed, you’ll start losing some of the sharper details.
4. Start writing chronologically.
It might be tempting to jump right into the drama that happened in your evening. However, writing your travel diary chronologically is the easiest way to keep it understandable.
The version of events can get confusing if the narrator is constantly skipping from 7pm to 10am, then to 3pm and back to 10am again.
![tips for keeping travel journal Blonde woman swimming in a natural swimming hole with a waterfall](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_5904-e1648656363392.jpg)
Begin by writing about your morning. What time did you wake up? What did you eat for breakfast? Who did you talk to? Where did you go from there? It’s also easier to recall memories this way and follow a clear train of thought.
5. Be specific.
As a rule of thumb, the more specific your writing is, the better. This is because the smaller details such as street names or direct quotes are some of the first things that will fade from your memory.
If you really want to bring the memory back to life, focus on the details: location, names, times, dates, quotes, and specific thoughts.
![tips for keeping travel journal A man multi-tasks with three pans over a fire at the Da Nang night market.](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/cookingda-nang.jpg)
The following prompts might come in handy:
- What did you eat? Where did you dine? How did it taste? What was the texture of the food?
- Who did you speak to? What were their names?
- Did you discover anything new today? Are there any facts you can recall? Did your destination meet your expectations?
- What was your favourite part of the day?
- What was your least favourite part of the day?
- Did you have any realisations throughout the day? What did you learn about yourself?
- How did you feel mentally? Were you energised, homesick, nervous, excited, or content?
- How did you feel physically? Were you in full health, hungry, full, sore, sleepy, or hormonal?
6. Be truthful.
Not every day is all roses and butterflies. At the same time, not every day is packed with drama and turbulence. It can be tempting to over-exaggerate your version of events, for a number of reasons.
You might want to make your trip sound more positive, add drama to your diary, or impress your real (or imagined) readers.
Remember, journaling isn’t just about creating a story. It’s about gaining self-awareness, improving your understanding of the world and working through the feelings that arise as a result of your travels. You can’t do that if you’re trying to paint your journey in a specific light the entire time.
Travel insurance is essential for any trip abroad. If you’re in an accident or experience an emergency, you need adequate cover. I recommend Staysure for single or multiple trips per year and SafetyWing for digital nomads.
Travel journaling tips
1. decide whether you want to use a dated diary or a general notebook..
There are pros and cons to purchasing a dated diary over a general notebook. The problem with a notebook is that it’s just a notebook.
A general notebook:
+ There are no restrictions on how long your entries are.
+ It’s more space-efficient for those travelling long-term, as you don’t have to start a new entry at the top of a page.
+ More freedom to doodle.
– Less incentive to make an entry.
– It can get scruffy quickly.
Purchasing a dated diary can make you feel more motivated to write your entries on a regular basis. They often include prompts, which can help you to get started. Many tailored travel journals also have additional pages dedicated for jotting down thoughts and notes, whereas a general notebook can quickly get messy.
![tips for keeping travel journal Travel journal laid out on a coffee shop table with a mug and glass of milk](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/coffeeshop.jpg)
A dated diary:
+ Looks more aesthetic.
+ Acts as a reminder not to miss a day.
+ Looks like a traditional diary.
+ May motivate you to write more often.
+ Often includes helpful prompts to spark your creativity.
– Can waste line space.
– May limit the space you have to write about each day.
At the same time, a general notebook might be the best option for long-term travellers who are short on space, because you don’t need to start a new entry at the top of a page. Starting a new entry mid-page saves precious line space. Unless your dated diary has blank spaces where you can insert the exact date, you’re also limited on the amount of space you have to write about each day.
2. Put aside 15 minutes every day to journal.
If one thing is for sure, it’s that travel can get hectic. As a result, it’s easy to get out of the routine of travel journaling every day. Since you want your memories to be as fresh as possible when you’re writing an entry, one of the best ways of keeping on track is by putting aside a specific time slot every day to journal.
![tips for keeping travel journal Two bikers riding down a road surrounded by jungle](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/jordan-opel-kmy3-B_NxqU-unsplash.jpg)
You might decide to journal for 15 minutes each morning while you wait for breakfast to be served or for the 15 minutes before you go to bed.
If you have a daily commute – to the beach, to your temporary job, or to your friend’s hotel, for example – take your journal with you and utilise the spare time.
3. Journal while you’re in transit.
If you’re constantly travelling, it’s probably not going to be long until you have a lengthy train, bus or flight ahead of you. As long as the road (or airspace) isn’t too bumpy and you’re not prone to motion sickness, I’ve found that this is the perfect time to get some travel journaling done.
![tips for keeping travel journal Yellow taxis and bicycle taxis parked in bays on the road](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/taxis-scaled-e1647288352794.jpg)
Having a good chunk of time to dedicate to writing is excellent. Plus, if you do get preoccupied on your travels and go off track with your journaling, the plane ride or boat ride back home is a good stretch of time to pick up where you left off and get down everything you can remember in chronological order.
4. Try to write within at least two days of the events.
The sooner you write about a memory, the better chance you have at remembering the niche details. The ideal situation would be to write about your day at the end of the day before you sleep, but that’s not always realistic.
Instead, try to set yourself a goal of writing about a day or an event 48 hours after it happens. If you still fall off track, write about your travels within a week of the date they happened.
5. Don’t feel the pressure to be perfect.
The pressure to get something perfect is often the first obstacle in getting started. Life is messy – and so is writing a travel journal. It’s not going to be perfect the first try. Besides, what is perfect anyway?
![tips for keeping travel journal A horned deer grazes on grass in the Periyar National Park.](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/periyar.jpg)
Your travel journal is for you. It doesn’t matter how many spelling or grammar mistakes there are, as long as it’s legible. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the motivation to write.
Bullet points or a few short paragraphs are better than a blank page. Otherwise, you won’t have anything to look back on at all.
6. Get creative with it.
Harnessing your creativity goes hand-in-hand with letting go of the need for perfection. You could draw caricatures of the interesting people you meet on the road. You could sketch a bird you spotted this morning. You could even make a chart or a diagram of your spendings so far.
Here are some ideas:
- Dedicate a few pages to creating caricatures of people you meet along the road.
- Create a ‘quotes’ section and jot down the most meaningful things people have said to you.
- Make a chart or a diagram of your spendings.
- Put together a recipes section where you write down your favourite meals and their key ingredients (don’t be shy about asking).
- A ‘rant’ section dedicated to unedited writing.
- Glue ticket stubs to the relevant pages.
- Make a collage out of ticket stubs, photographs and other memorabilia.
7. Keep your travel journal safe.
While a journal might not look that attractive to potential thieves, it’s probably invaluable to you. Therefore, it’s very important to take measures to stop it from getting stolen, lost or damaged.
Prevent water damage
Whether it causes smudged ink or crinkled pages, water damage can have a catastrophic effect on your journal. It’s also one of the most common ways that travel journals get damaged, as they’re prone to rainwater and liquid leakages in your luggage.
Some travel journals have waterproof covers, which add some extra protection, but this isn’t a foolproof solution.
![tips for keeping travel journal Long wooden coir houseboat on Alleppey backwaters lined with palm trees.](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/backwaters.jpg)
Storing your travel journal in a waterproof pouch or pocket is the most effective way to prevent water damage.
A plastic bag is effective too. However, it’s more prone to getting punctured by sharp objects and it’s less durable (and less eco-friendly) than a permanent waterproof pouch.
The following waterproof bags and pouches will protect your travel journal:
- Syncwire Waterproof Pouch Bag
- Eono Waterproof Waist Bag
- Waterproof Dry Bag Set
Keep it in a safe or a locked locker
If you’re not planning on travel journaling while you’re on the go, it’s probably best to leave it locked securely in your accommodation. Many hotels provide safes; it will usually be listed on the list of features on booking websites such as Booking.com or Hostelworld.com .
Some hostels and homestays may provide a locker instead. For this, you will often need to bring your own padlock. I’d recommend bringing a set of TSA-approved combination padlocks .
Carry an anti-theft backpack
It’s unlikely your travel journal will get swiped from your backpack. Thieves are far more likely to target a mobile phone.
Still, you should carry your valuables (journal included) in an anti-theft backpack. They come with features such as secret pockets, durable zippers, and designs that make it hard for thieves to gain access.
Anti-theft backpacks:
- Della Gao Anti-Theft Laptop
- TcIFE Ladies Backpack
- Oscaurt Theft Proof Travel Backpack
- Waterfly Anti-Theft Backpack
8. Don’t forget a pen (and back-ups).
A pen is one of the easiest things to forget on your trip. While they should be easy to get a hold of, there are some locations where you might find it tricker (Cuba, the middle of the jungle, or a small town, for example).
I’d recommend using a clickable pen, because this is less prone to leaking ink than a regular ballpoint. Bring spares if you can, because the ink might run out mid-journey or just when inspiration strikes.
Travel journaling examples
As someone who preaches about travel journaling, I’ve decided to share a few entries from my own travel diary so that you can get an idea for the sheer variety of what you can write about and how you can record the details.
Entry 1: Havana, Cuba (Saturday 22nd January, 2022)
![tips for keeping travel journal A street in Havana with people purchasing from a fruit stall](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Cuba-market-scaled-e1646499407147.jpg)
Anisah and I arrived in Cuba late, around 7pm. It was already dark outside and thunder-storming – lightning, heavy rain that soaked through my papers.
The airport was very basic and very stringent with Covid (masks, stalls and many checks) but we cleared security swiftly and had only our backpacks as a carry-on.
Outside, there were taxi drivers holding names, and, surprisingly, they weren’t at all pushy. Our hostel was supposed to arrange a driver to take us directly there, but upon ringing twice (and spending a daunting £3 per minute on the calls), it appeared the driver was stuck in his house due to the storm.
We ended up in a yellow, licensed cab (which cost 25 euros – but down to 20 when the lady hosting us paid on our behalf).
I felt a little unnerved in the taxi, probably because I was exhausted, and because without maps, the driver relied on memory and locals in Havana for directions – and there weren’t many outside due to the torrential rain.
Entry 2: Ubud, Bali (Thursday 20th June, 2019)
Woke at 1am for the Mount Batur sunrise trek.
- Mount Agun nearby “coughed” up lava three weeks ago, according to our guide.
- 1,700-metre climb – our time was 1h35 but it felt way longer.
- Very steep, gravelly, and one of the toughest climbs I’ve done in my life. At one point, I told Jess, “Go on without me”.
- I ate a boiled egg and a banana at the top. I was still starving.
- Monkeys and dogs were fighting on the mountaintop.
- Monkeys almost stole my bag. They successfully stole a purse from another lady.
- We lost Pablo (Goncalo’s cousin) at the top of the mountain. The guide (jeans and sandals) was going to leave him behind, but we refused.
Entry 3: Havana, Cuba (Monday 31st January, 2022)
![tips for keeping travel journal A man driving a bicycle taxi through Havana](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/bicycletaxi-e1647292947716.jpg)
Our host gave us the cheque. We were short by 700 pesos. We went to hunt down an ATM. The ATM declined my card, as did the second ATM… and then the third ATM.
We started to panic, so we went to the Kempinski Hotel in Plaza Mayor to use their WiFi to contact my bank. It quickly emerged that the WiFi had completely cut out city-wide. At this point, we really started to panic. We had to leave for the airport in one hour.
We’d used up all of our options, so I told Anisah we’d have to ask someone for money. She was very dubious. We were walking down my favourite street when I spotted an older man and a younger woman, both blonde, looking lost and carrying cameras and bags.
I took off my mask and asked ‘Ingles?’. Nope, they spoke Spanish. In broken Spanish/English, I started to explain ‘plane’ (hand motion), ‘Londres’ (London), ‘desperate’, ‘taxi to airport’, and ‘short by 700’.
They replied, ‘No, a taxi should be 20’. They thought I meant euros! I said, ‘No, no. 700 pesos’. He nodded, ‘Oh, good price!’. To my disbelief, he pulled out a fat wallet filled with US dollars and pesos, and handed me a 500 and a 200. I nearly cried, but settled for tapping the lady’s arms and doing a prayer hand motion. People are truly good at heart.
Travel journaling: How do you make a memorable trip?
There are two halves to creating a travel journal. The first half is the part where you explore, observe and investigate .
The second half is the part where you write or create .
If one half of the formula is missing, you won’t have a travel journal at all.
Similarly, a travel notebook that documents seven days spent beside a swimming pool, tanning and reading a book, is unlikely to be as riveting as a travel journal that documents a journey into Dubrovnik’s old town, a bus ride through central Vietnam , wild swimming through waterfalls in Cuba or a cruise over the backwaters in Kerala , for example.
- Guide to the Parque Guanayara Waterfalls in Cuba
- Things to do at Alleppey and its backwaters
1. Research your trip.
A great motto, and one I live by, is ‘plan to travel without a plan’. If you want to make your trip memorable, it’s just as important not to over-plan as it is to dive in headfirst without a scooby of what you are doing.
![tips for keeping travel journal Jeep driving on a rural highway](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Tamilnadu.jpg)
Research enough so that you have a huge backlist of itinerary and destination ideas. Make a list of local accommodations that you like the sound of. Book essential, long-distance travel only.
You don’t know what will happen on the trip: delays, unexpected new acquaintances, weather events, romances, and so on.
Sometimes, the most interesting stories form from following your heart or your intuition, so if you’ve planned every single detail, you’ll end up boxed in.
Here are some ideas for your research:
- Research blogs to get practical advice from those who have visited a destination or attraction previously.
- Confirm the main modes of transport, currencies, and WiFi accessibility in your chosen destination. Practical details matter.
- Create a list of destinations and activities you’d like to engage in.
- Highlight your non-negotiable activities, desirable itineraries, and nice-to-have experiences. That way, you know which activities are the most important to you.
- Try to avoid tourist traps and opt for more authentic, local or offbeat travel experiences. These are often the most interesting experiences to write about.
2. Book your flights.
After your research is complete, the first thing you need to do is to book your flights. Skyscanner should be your go-to tool to search for flights. It scans the internet for the cheapest deals, routes and even the most eco-friendly transport options. Google Flights is another useful tool, which you can use to confirm that you’ve found the best deal.
3. Book interesting accommodation.
The accommodation you book has a direct impact on your travel journal entries. It can create drama, it can spice things up a little, or it can act as a relaxing backdrop.
Unique accommodation might liven up your entries: search for things like treehouses, camping tents, shepherd’s huts, and themed resorts.
![tips for keeping travel journal Skyrises and houses merge along the Da Nang skyline.](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/da-nang.jpg)
The following sites are my go-to websites for booking accommodation that will jazz up my travel journal entries:
Booking.com : Booking.com has a wide selection of accommodation, including eclectic stays. I also find that it generally has the best price, compared to other booking websites advertising the same hotel or accommodation.
Hostelworld : Staying in a hostel is one of the best ways to introduce new, wise and quirky characters into your diary. As most hostels have communal spaces, it’s very easy to delve into a deep conversation with a stranger, which is often one of the most interesting parts of travel journeys.
The act of staying in a dorm room or shared accommodation is eventful in itself; you don’t know what sorts of stories you might get out of one night spent in a dorm room. Was there a fight for a particular bed? A sleep talker? Late-night card games and conversations?
Homestay : Homestay specialises in accommodation where you stay in the home of a local. This is a brilliant option for those who are writing a travel diary, because it enables you to connect with the community, learn about local customs and have a more authentic travel experience.
4. Engage in more offbeat travel experiences.
Generally speaking, you won’t get as much of a story out of a tourist trap as you will out of a more unusual or hands-on travel experience. After six years of travelling, this is the biggest lesson I have learnt, and exactly why my blog specialises in offbeat travel experiences.
![tips for keeping travel journal Farmers digging up tapioca](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_9333.jpg)
So, how do you find offbeat travel experiences for your travel journal?
- Ask at your hotel or hostel for local-led activities. Questions such as ‘where do you eat?’ or ‘where do you go to party?’ are also great ways to find local spots over tourist traps.
- Search for unique travel experiences on GetYourGuide . They list local-led travel experiences, which are a great way to meet fellow interesting travellers and get an insight into the offbeat sides of a destination.
- Use tour organisations that label themselves as ‘local-led’, ‘experiential’, ‘offbeat’ and ‘immersive’. These are tailored towards giving travellers unique, hands-on experiences, and not taking you on the usual tourist trails.
Travel journaling: How do you write a travel journal that is worth reading?
Not everyone wants to share their travel journal. However, if you do want to write your travel diary for an audience – whether that’s family, friends, an online following or a potential future publisher – it’s going to need to be worth reading.
1. Make your first draft in a physical travel journal.
Writing in chronological order and as soon as possible after the events happen, make your first draft in a physical travel journal.
Remember, that you’re going to edit your travel journal when you’re back home, so the most important thing isn’t writing perfectly. It’s about being consistent with your writing schedule and getting the details down on paper.
2. Be as specific as possible.
Specificity is even more important if you’re going to share your travel journal in one form or another.
Use exact times, exact dates, full names, ages, and detailed physical descriptions. This will bring your story to life, especially for those who weren’t there to watch it unfold in person.
3. Feature specific characters.
Just as a novel would be incomplete without a series of in-depth and interesting characters, your travel diary should also feature characters.
It doesn’t matter if they’re fleeting and disappear after an entry or two. The important thing is that your reader can envision and relate to your character.
![tips for keeping travel journal Collection of locals in Havana wearing casual clothes](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/hp-koch-Er1ug5XaOYc-unsplash.jpg)
That might mean describing them physically, disclosing their name (or pseudonym) and age, as well as describing their little quirks and mannerisms.
You should try to quote them directly when possible, and explore their mindset and their backstory.
4. Write up your travel journal.
When you arrive back home, write up your travel journal into a digital format, correcting spelling and grammar mistakes as you go. This will create a second copy of your journal, just in case anything happens to the physical copy.
![](http://wevery.online/777/templates/cheerup/res/banner1.gif)
5. Edit your travel journal.
If you’re going to be sharing your travel journal, the most important part is the editing process. Your journal may only need a light edit, which corrects any spelling or grammar mistakes and makes it more legible.
However, it may need a deeper edit if you’re truly going to post it online or send it to a publisher. The execution, plot, and characters will be more important in this case.
Traveling journaling: Types of travel journals
There are several types of travel notebooks, and they all have their specific advantages and disadvantages.
![tips for keeping travel journal A small travel notebook next to a mobile phone, bag and postcard](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/journalandgear.jpg)
There are also some clear criteria you should be looking for out of a high-quality travel notebook:
Number of pages: The number of pages you’ll need will depend upon the length of your trip. If you’re travelling long-term, it’s better to have a notebook with a large number of pages rather than several, smaller notebooks which will take up more space overall.
Paperback or hardback: While a hardback notebook is more durable, a paperback journal is more lightweight. If you’re limited by space or weight limits, opt for a paperback. Size: Notebooks come in a variety of sizes, such as A4, A5, or A6. In general, an A5 notebook is ideal for a travel diary because it’s compact enough to carry in your packed or day luggage, but not so small that you’ll run out of space quickly.
Line size: Unless you have large handwriting, a journal with fairly narrow line sizes is ideal, because you can fit more writing onto one page, and therefore into one notebook. You could also choose a notebook without lines at all, which gives you more freedom over the size of your handwriting, but can end up with messy, undulating lines.
Paper thickness: Thinner paper is usually ideal, unless you are planning on painting, colouring-in or using heavy ink. Still, bear in mind that ink can bleed through the paper if it’s too thin, ruining other pages in your diary.
Binding: The binding of your notebook is important too. Ideally, you want a notebook that can spread out flat while you write and one where you don’t need to hold the edges of the pages down. A spiral-bound notebook is ideal over a smaller, tightly-bound notebook, in this case.
Traveling journaling: A6 travel diaries
Best for: weekend trips.
- Sovereign-Gear Antique Brown Refillable Travellers Notebook : This A6 notebook has a leather case and a refillable design, which includes three packs of paper (one unlined, one lined and one made from kraft paper). Even better, it has a PVC water-resistant zipper pocket for your valuables.
- Avocado and Spice Hardback A6 Notebook : With a hardback cover and 200 pages, this A6 notebook is an aesthetic travel diary that comes with its own protective velvet bag. It comes with the option of dotted, lined or blank pages, and has a built-in pen holder and a bookmark.
- Antony Olivier Leather Journal : With unlined paper and vintage brown leather, the Antony Olivier Leather Journal is a premium A6 notebook. There are 200 pages, all unlined.
- Newestor Pocket Notebook : The Newestor Pocket Notebook is small enough that you can tuck it into your back pocket. It’s probably not ideal for those who are going to be writing in long prose, but those who are planning on documenting their travels with bullet points or short paragraphs will have 144 pages at their disposal.
Travel journaling: A5 travel dairies
Best for: longer trips.
- EMSHOI A5 Notebook : With the option of lined, dotted or squared pages, the spiral-bound EMSHOI notebook has 640 A5-sized pages. It also has a water-resistant PVC cover.
- Antony Olivier Leather A5 Notebook : This is an A5-sized version of the high-quality, leather Antony Olivier notebook. It includes unlined 200 pages and a journal enamel pen.
- Silvine A5 Executive Soft Feel Notebook : The Silvine 15 Executive Notebook has 160 pages with a sewn case, inside pocket and ivory paper.
Travel journaling: Watercolour travel journals
Best for: artists.
- Seawhite A5 Travel Journal : This notebook has 60 pages and a back pocket. It’s also completely vegan.
- Hahnemuhle Watercolour Book A5 : This sturdy hardback book has 30 sheets of natural white fine-grain paper, ideal for panoramic paintings.
- Tumuarta Watercolour Journal : Designed as a travel watercolour notebook, this journal has 48 pages, made of 25% cotton. The pages can tolerate light washes and they’re micro-perforated, so you can tear out a page if you need to.
A travel journal is a great place to jot down travel affirmations if you experience anxiety or nerves before or during a trip or to write down packing lists and other plans. See where I’ve been to start planning your next trip.
Katie Treharne
![tips for keeping travel journal Escape Artist Katie owner riding a yellow quad bike over former lava fields on Mount Mayon in the Philippines.](https://escapeartistkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/123617CB-5FA3-4624-A6CD-3CB08FF2717D-728x728.jpg)
I’m Katie, the owner of Escape Artist Katie. I have been travel writing since 2018, including writing for luxury travel magazines and publications such as Wanderlust.
As well as being a digital nomad who works and lives abroad permanently, I’m a big advocate for offbeat travel and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.
I hope you found my article useful – find out more about me here or keep up with my travels on Instagram .
![tips for keeping travel journal Vanilla Papers](https://vanillapapers.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-cropped-logo-template-NEWCOLOURS-WEBSITE-JPG-1.jpg)
62 Best Travel Journal Ideas (And Inspiring Prompts)
Travel expands your world and leaves you inspired.
But these days travel is often a whirlwhind with packed itineraries and long “must-see” lists.
And when you return home, you often have photos that you hardly remember taking.
So how do you slow down and make travel more meaningful? And how do you make time to journal on a busy trip?
I’ve kept a travel journal for decades and it’s made my travels slower and more unforgettable .
And here’s my ultimate guide to start a travel journal. This guide includes everything to put in your journal – and the best prompts, travel journal ideas and tips .
It will inspire you to take a travel journal along on your next trip!
Table of Contents
23 benefits of a travel journal:
![tips for keeping travel journal A woman holding a big map to her face stands in front of the Sacre Coeur cathedral in Montmartre, Paris.](https://vanillapapers.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/1-travel.jpg)
1. Increases your self-discovery
A travel journal leads to fresh insights and self-discovery . And it makes travel far more rewarding when you reflect back on what you’ve learned and how you reacted in different situations.
2. Prolongs your pre-trip excitement
Journaling before you leave home gets you excited and prolongs that sweet anticipation. Write about what you’re most looking forward to on your trip. Write about your expectations.
3. Helps you plan an itinerary
A travel journal is an amazing tool to help plan your ideal itinerary. Use your journal to research before the trip – whether that’s finding maps and itineraries or jotting down restaurants to try.
Read books set in your destination and write down your favorite quotes to break the ice if you’re new to travel journaling.
4. Increases your self-awareness
When you travel, you’re thrown outside your daily routine. Self-awareness is easier because you don’t have your everyday surroundings to send you into auto-pilot.
You’re thrown into new situations and meeting new people. Your senses are heightened.
When you journal about your experiences, you get to know yourself. And that leads to more self-awareness and wisdom.
5. Exposes your weaknesses
![tips for keeping travel journal A colorful map of the world lays out on a table with colorful photos and images on top.](https://vanillapapers.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/2-travel.jpg)
Travel journaling lets you see yourself at your worst. No trip is perfect and travel tests your patience and leaves you vulnerable.
When you learn what triggers your moods, you learn how to navigate your emotions.
6. Gives you a pastime
Travel journaling is a great pastime when you’re waiting at the airport or taking a long train ride. It fills up time you’d otherwise waste aimlessly scrolling your phone.
Pick up your travel journal and let your thoughts flow. A travel journal is also a great conversation starter and way to meet new people on the road.
7. Helps you remember specific places
A travel journal increases your mindfulness and helps you remember the moment like no photo could.
So grab a seat when you can – whether that’s a park bench, a cafe or your hotel bar after a day of sightseeing.
Sketch your surroundings and vividly describe the scene in front of you. Take in all the details, sights and sounds of the moment you’re in. And capture that in your journal with descriptive language or a quick sketch.
8. Gathers items and mementos
A travel journal is a great place to collect ticket stubs, bits of leaflets and flyers, or anything you pick up as a souvenir of your trip.
Glue and tape in small items into your travel journal. These small everyday items are a powerful way to keep your memories vivid and give you a sense of place.
Carry a glue stick in your bag and keep an eye on anything you could include in your journal.
9. Keeps you organized
Whether it’s the name of that cafe in Florence or the dates of a Brooklyn art exhibit, your travel journal is a place to jot down details when you’re planning your trip.
A travel journal helps you keep track of everything you want to remember.
Your journal can also be an invaluable workbook that helps you arrange your itinerary, keep track of your budget or reshuffle your plans.
10. Helps you remember details
![tips for keeping travel journal A woman in a bright yellow winter jacket sits on a hillside in the sunshine with the peaks of snowy mountains in the background.](https://vanillapapers.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/3-travel.jpg)
Your travel journal is your personal record of the stimuli that makes your trip memorable – whether that’s the sound of a big city at rush hour or the smell of cotton candy on the beach.
It’s these rich sensory experiences that photos can’t capture.
11. Records your accomplishments
Hurdles that seem impossible are often overcome during travel.
Overwhelming situations later turn into learning experiences.
Your travel journal is a record of all these experiences and a reassurance that – in travel, as in life – everything eventually works out.
12. Keeps you motivated
A travel journal motivates you to change your habits – and your life – after everything you’ve seen on the road.
Whether you return from California and want to get back into yoga, or come home from Taiwan and want to bring more green tea into your life, use your journal to stay inspired.
13. Slows you down
A travel journal forces you to slow down and make the most of your holiday.
When you leave your daily routine behind, it can be difficult to switch to vacation mode. Writing slowly (as opposed to typing) gives you that much-needed time to recharge and observe your thoughts.
14. Boost your mindfulness
A travel journal puts you right in the moment.
When you’re writing, you don’t think about the past or plan for the future. Instead, you’re focused on the present and everything you’re experiencing.
15. Boosts your creativity
![tips for keeping travel journal A book laying open with a map of Australia and a bright blue ocean surrounding it.](https://vanillapapers.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/4-travel.jpg)
A travel journal is a great tool to fuel and inspire your creativity. Include sketches, collages or descriptive writing in your journal to get your creativity flowing.
16. Creates a souvenir
Re-reading your travel journal makes you experience your trip all over again.
17. Makes a great travel guide
Your travel journal makes a great guide if you visit the same destination again or when friends ask for recommendations.
18. Makes you more eloquent
Writing, like any other skill, gets easier with practice.
A travel journal hones your storytelling skills and your powers of description.
19. Shares your experiences
Your travel journal makes a great chronicle to share with friends or pass down to your children.
20. Relieves stress
Science shows that pouring your stress out onto a page helps you process feelings and let go. A travel journal is a portable therapist on the road.
21. Stores important info
![tips for keeping travel journal A woman's hand points to a location on a map spread out on a table. There's a coffee cup and another map laying alongside.](https://vanillapapers.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/5-travel.jpg)
Your travel journal holds your itinerary, hotel info, flight info, departure/arrival times, tour company contact information, and more.
This info proves invaluable when your phone runs out of battery – or there’s no Wi-Fi.
Use your travel journal to keep visa requirements, basic language phrases, numbers and currency exchange rates in one convenient place.
22. Keeps your kids entertained
A travel journal keeps your children occupied during long trips. It also helps them reflect on their experiences and creates a souvenir they’ll treasure when they’re older.
23. Helps you network
A travel journal is a great conversation starter with people you meet on the road. It’s also a great place to jot down their contact info or email.
24. Helps you reflect
When you return from your trip, a travel journal keeps expanding your knowledge of the destination you’ve visited.
Reflect back on your trip: what did you learn, what went better than expected and what didn’t.
A travel journal makes your trip more meaningful and lets you experience slow travel even during a short getaway.
Here are 25 travel journal ideas:
![tips for keeping travel journal My travel journal lays open on a table with a map of Cairo and my drawing of the river Nile.](https://vanillapapers.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/6-travel.jpg)
- plane, metro, train and bus tickets
- luggage tags
- wine and beer labels
- business cards
- food labels
- tea bag wrappers
- cutouts from local newspapers
- candy wrappers
- sauce packets
- sand and earth rubbings
- foreign currency and coins
- perfume samples
- tags from clothes and souvenirs
- paper bags and wrappers
- paper menus
- dried flowers and leaves
- tickets for museums, galleries, theatres and attractions
- tourist maps
7 travel journal tips for beginners
![tips for keeping travel journal A brown leather notebook and a map lay on a dark wooden table.](https://vanillapapers.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/7-travel.jpg)
1. Stay realistic
When you’re starting out, keep things simple.
If you scroll Pinterest and see picture-perfect journals packed with beautiful sketches, you’ll be too intimidated to start.
2. Make your travel journal personal
Buy a simple journal that you won’t mind “spoiling” with awkward doodles or sloppy handwriting.
Remember that it’s better to have an imperfect journal that’s yours than none at all.
3. Don’t mind your handwriting
If your writing feels awkward, remember that it’s still yours. You’ll find it invaluable to reread your journal years from now – and you won’t mind that it’s not perfect.
4. Keep it truthful
Keep your travel journal honest.
Be truthful with yourself and don’t be guided by what you think a travel journal should look like.
Let it be yours – and let it reflect the good, the bad and the ugly of your experiences.
5. Make it comfortable
![tips for keeping travel journal A map and flower petals lay on the table with dim and rosy sunlight alongside a notebook filled with travel journal ideas.](https://vanillapapers.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/8-travel.jpg)
Go for a spiral-bound notebook if you plan to glue and collect souvenirs into your journal. A spiral-bound notebook gives you more leeway to make collages because it expands more than a tightly-bound journal.
6, Make it art friendly
Pick a journal with thick paper if you plan to write in ink (which can easily bleed through thin paper) or if you want to sketch or do watercolors.
7. Make it portable
Pick a notebook that’s large enough to write and sketch in, but small and light enough to carry easily in your bag.
6 travel journal prompts
![tips for keeping travel journal A pile of dozens of different maps lays all on top of each other in layers on a table.](https://vanillapapers.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/9-travel.jpg)
Use journal prompts to get your writing flowing.
Here are 6 travel journal prompts to get inspired:
- What were your expectations for this trip? Is it living up to your hopes?
- What’s your itinerary, and what have you done spontaneously?
- Describe a person you’ve met – their character and personality, their mannerisms, their appearance and clothing.
- Write about a new food or restaurant you’ve tried.
- Describe the best and worst part of your day.
- Describe a place you’ve visited. What’s the history, the atmosphere and the smells and sounds of the place?
The benefits of writing by hand
![tips for keeping travel journal A notebook filled with cursive writing lays open with a cup of coffee on top, surrounded by leaves, a dark green ribbon, a bowl with rocks and paper scraps.](https://vanillapapers.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/13-writing.jpg)
Did you know that the mere act of writing by hand (vs. typing on a keyboard) has countless different benefits – from fighting stress to boosting your memory?
It’s all the more reason to start a travel journal and really unwind on your next vacation.
Read my guide to the Incredible Benefits of Writing by Hand (vs. Typing) to get inspired on your analog journey.
How to start a journal
![tips for keeping travel journal A journal lays open with writing and sketches of birds, next to a white coffee cup.](https://vanillapapers.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/nature-7.jpg)
If you haven’t written in awhile – or just need some fresh inspiration to start journaling, read my Powerful Journaling Tips For Beginners (And How To Start) to get your daily writing habit going.
More resources:
18 Incredible Benefits of Journaling
13 Powerful Journaling Techniques (And How To Use Them)
51 Inspiring Quotes About Journaling (To Get You Writing!)
Nature Journaling: An Essential Guide (+8 Tips To Start)
Journaling for Mental Health (And 30 Powerful Prompts)
Dee Nowak is the founder of Vanilla Papers. She keeps a daily journal and takes long walks on weekends. After a decade of slow living in Cairo, she's on a mission to help travelers navigate Egypt and the Middle East like a local. She loves simple living, journaling and local cultures.
![tips for keeping travel journal Jessie on a Journey | Solo Female Travel Blog](https://jessieonajourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/jessie-on-a-journey.png)
31 Travel Journal Prompts + Creative Travel Journal Ideas
This post contains affiliate links to trusted partners. If you purchase through these links, I earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you!
Looking for travel journal prompts and creative travel journal ideas ?
Then you’re in the right place!
Especially right now as travel is limited and people are searching for ways to travel at home, such as through relaxing staycations , keeping a travel journal can be a great way to relive your favorite trip memories.
Moreover, it can keep travel alive, allow you to explore the world from home, and help you stay curious.
Keep reading for a list of fun journal writing prompts related to travel as well as tips for creating something tangible that truly helps you feel inspired.
Table of Contents
Downloadable Travel Journal PDF
Before we dive into the post, though, I want to offer you the chance to grab my free printable travel journal .
![tips for keeping travel journal printable travel journal prompts](https://jessieonajourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/printable-travel-journal-prompts-freebie.png)
The trip journal includes 56 prompts in total.
This inspiring printable and fillable journal is great for exercising your creativity while traveling from home as you remember your favorite trips.
Grab it, and then feel free to message me on Instagram ( @jessieonajourney ) to let me know which travel journal writing prompts were your favorite and why.
I plan to update the journal in the future — and you’ll get any revisions I make — so your feedback is appreciated!
What Is A Travel Journal?
A travel journal is a place where you can document your trip memories, whether you’re spending 7 days in Cancun , going on a solo USA road trip , off completing the world’s best hiking trails , or something else.
These can be paper or digital, bound or looseleaf, thin or thick. And— when it comes to how to write in a travel journal — it can include just text or a variety of mediums.
The point is, it offers a way to record what happens to you on the road — though you’re welcome to take your entries and give them a fictional twist for fun!
![tips for keeping travel journal creative travel journal ideas](https://jessieonajourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/travel-journal-prompts.jpg)
Choosing Your Travel Journal
I may be a little biased, but if you’re looking for the best travel journal with prompts, I recommend grabbing my free printable journal here .
Because I made it fillable, you can also use it as a travel journal online!
Additionally, there are loads of inspiring options online if you’d prefer to purchase one. On Amazon, I love this vegan leather option as well as this mindful travel journal .
Creative Travel Journal Ideas
Wondering how to be creative in your journal?
First of all, remember that a journal doesn’t just have to be writing. Use markers, paints, stickers, glitter, and even momentos from your travels to really bring the text to life.
Of course, don’t forget about travel-themed accents, too, like stamps, tickets, postcards, and maps — you can even cut out sections of a map to showcase your favorite destinations.
![tips for keeping travel journal travel journal writing prompts](https://jessieonajourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/travel-journal-prompts-7.jpg)
If you’re artistic, you might also consider bullet journaling and other techniques to make your journal more visual.
In terms of keeping your travel writing fresh, having details to pull from can be a huge help.
When possible, try to experience a place with all five senses so you have more to draw from later. I personally like to take notes right after any experience I think I may write about later.
Keep in mind, being fully present in this way is also just an overall healthy practice.
If you’re having trouble remembering details, try to sit in silence and do a visualization. Personally, when I do this exercise I aim to not only see myself in a place, but to put myself back in the place so that I am seeing the scene through my own eyes.
Feeling writer’s block?
Sometimes all that it takes is a change of scenery to get inspired again. Try going for a walk or trying a new cafe to see if that helps.
If not, put the journal away, give yourself some mental space, and pick it back up tomorrow.
And if you’re proud of what you’ve written, feel free to post it on social media, share it in an email with friends or, of course, keep it to yourself.
![tips for keeping travel journal travel journal examples](https://jessieonajourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/travel-journal-prompts-6.jpg)
How To Keep A Travel Journal: Quick Tips
As an avid journaler myself, these are some of my personal tips for having fun, feeling creative, and staying inspired while writing.
As with travel tips and trip styles, everyone has their own process when it comes to journaling, and something that works for me may not work for you. Feel free to try out this advice, keep what works, and let go of what doesn’t.
Overall, the goal is that you get something beneficial out of these pages.
Tip #1: Journal when you feel most creative.
For instance, you might choose some mindful ways to start your day and have completing daily journal prompts be one of your morning rituals.
However, if you find you feel more creative in the afternoon or evening, plan your writing for then.
Tip #2: Don’t edit as you write.
Allow your first draft to be all about getting your ideas and thoughts down onto the paper and getting into a creative flow state.
You can always tweak things later.
Tip #3: Remember the power of lists.
This is one of my favorite trip journal ideas!
Writing in lists can be helpful when you’re:
- having trouble getting started
- wondering what things to put in a travel journal
- feeling like your sentences just aren’t flowing together
This way, you can at least get your ideas down and edit them together in a cohesive manner later on.
Tip #4: Write stories.
While this isn’t mandatory, those who are curious how to write a travel journal that’s worth reading should consider writing your thoughts as stories instead of in a stream-of-conscious fashion.
To write a story, make sure you have a beginning, middle, and end. Actually, if you really want to do it right, you should also consider character, plot, setting, and tension.
For a lesson in storytelling, make sure to check out this video on how to improve your creative storytelling skills for more engaging writing:
Tip #5: Go beyond text.
Wondering what to put in a travel journal?
Realize there is no right or wrong answer to this question!
Keep it text-based, or add paintings, drawings, stickers, momentos from your trip, and more.
Personally, I’ve started writing out my journal entries and then drawing them to add some additional creativity and really bring the pages to life.
![tips for keeping travel journal travel journal template](https://jessieonajourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/travel-journal-prompts-13.jpg)
The Best Travel Journal Apps
Prefer a digital journal option over paper?
There is an app for that!
I’ve talked about my favorite travel safety apps before, but here are a few of my favorite apps for keeping a travel journal:
Travel Diaries . This free app allows you to create both public and private journals. The layouts are customizable, and you can easily add text, photos, and even maps.
One really neat feature of this app:
You can turn your travel diary into a physical creation to be shipped to your home!
Day One Journal . This is another great travel journal app that makes it simple to record your memories using photos, videos, drawings, and even audio recordings.
The “On This Day” feature allows you to go back in time to revisit your favorite trip moments, while automatic backups ensure your content never gets lost.
Unique app feature:
You can handwrite in your journal using your finger or Apple Pencil.
This travel app has both free and paid premium versions.
![tips for keeping travel journal how to keep a travel journal](https://jessieonajourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/travel-journal-prompts-10.jpg)
Polarsteps . Dubbed “the personal travel log in your pocket,” Polarsteps is an app that helps you plan your trips as well as record them along the way in a visually-appealing manner.
In fact, this app puts an emphasis on adding experiences to maps and using video to document, so you can really bring your trips back to life later on.
A feature I love:
You can turn your travel memories into a stunning hardcover book to keep!
Unique Travel Journal Examples
Looking for some travel journal inspiration?
Here are some mood boards with journal examples to help get your creative juices flowing.
These are also helpful if you’re wanting to learn how to make a travel journal.
By the way:
Check out the bottom right photo in the top collage if you’re looking for travel journal layout ideas.
![tips for keeping travel journal travel journal examples](https://jessieonajourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/travel-journal-examples-1.jpg)
Travel Writing Prompts – Quick Picker
If you’re like me and often feel indecisive when choosing a prompt, I’ve got a fun little tool that can help:
The above video moves through the list of writing prompts quickly.
To use it as a quick picker, press play, turn your gaze down, and then stop the video at a random moment.
Then, voilà , you’ve got your travel writing prompt chosen for you!
31 Travel Journal Prompts
Whether you’re physically traveling or at home dreaming of the road, use these travel prompts for your journal.
I love these prompts for when I’m feeling stuck and am searching for things to write in a travel journal:
1. Remember a time when you met people while traveling that felt like family. Describe your time with them in great detail.
2. Write a postcard to a friend from a place you’ve loved visiting.
3. Think about a problem that exists in travel. Now, invent a solution to the problem. Hey, could this journal help you come up with your next million-dollar idea?
4. If you could go on a trip with anyone, dead or alive, who would you go with? Where would you go and what would you do?
5. Share a time you were lost or that you lost something while traveling.
6. How has travel changed or shaped you? Note: This is one of my favorite self-discovery journal prompts!
7. Start your travel story with the following: “It was a dark and stormy night…”
8. What is the first vacation memory that comes to mind? Come up with your memory in 10 seconds or less!
9. Think back to the most beautiful place you’ve ever been to. Now, describe it using all five senses.
10. Write about a multi-destination trip — from the perspective of your backpack.
11. What is a sticky situation you’ve gotten out of on the road? Hint: Allow this to also be a reminder of your strength!
12. What is a fear you’ve overcome while traveling? How?
13. Take your story from the previous prompt about overcoming a fear while traveling and rewrite it from the perspective of an onlooker.
14. What has been your craziest transportation experience?
15. Write a review of the best hotel you’ve ever stayed in.
![tips for keeping travel journal daily journal prompts](https://jessieonajourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/travel-journal-prompts-5.jpg)
16. Write a review of the worst hotel you’ve ever stayed in using humor.
17. Write a letter of gratitude to someone who showed you an act of kindness on the road .
18. Write about the last trip you took — from the perspective of yourself in the year 2600.
19. Write about a hike you loved doing using all five senses.
20. “Travel makes me feel _____.” Why?
21. Write about a trip you took last year from the perspective of your favorite book or movie character.
22. What is the biggest lesson that travel has taught you? Share a story that brings this to life.
23. Pretend that you were given an extra day on a trip you loved. What would that day have looked like?
24. Choose a trip you haven’t written about yet. Now choose a different time period, and write about the trip as if it happened in that time period.
25. In your opinion, what is the biggest misconception about travel?
26. Think back to an interesting conversation you’ve had while traveling and begin your story with that dialogue.
![tips for keeping travel journal travel journal writing](https://jessieonajourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/travel-journal-prompts-8.jpg)
27. Transport yourself to a beautiful beach you’ve visited. Suddenly, a message in a bottle washes up onto the shore. What does it say? How do you react?
28. Here is a road trip journal idea! Write about a road trip you went on, but have someone else from the trip be the narrator. Hint: If you traveled solo, have the car or an onlooker be the narrator.
29. Think of a time you went on a trip that took you out of your comfort zone. Write the end of the story, then the middle, then the beginning.
30. What is one piece of advice you’ve been told by a local while traveling? Have you applied it to your life? Why/why not?
31. If you were to write a travel memoir, what would the first chapter look like?
Bonus: Pair Your Journal Prompts With Self-Care
In my opinion, the best way to enjoy time spent journaling is by pairing it with other self-care activities.
In the video above, I share my top 10 favorite self-care tips and rituals for travelers — though they can also be enjoyed at home!
My recommendation:
Make a day of it! Use the journal prompts and the self-care rituals to create your own DIY retreat .
Want more travel-themed prompts?
Don’t forget to grab my free downloadable Inspired Storyteller Travel Journal — featuring inspiring quotes, writing tips, and 56 fun prompts to help you recount your favorite trip memories and write creatively.
![tips for keeping travel journal best travel journal with prompts](https://jessieonajourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/printable-travel-journal-prompts-freebie.png)
Do you have any travel journal prompts to add?
What are your favorite creative travel journal ideas, related posts:.
About Jessie Festa
Jessie Festa is a New York-based travel content creator who is passionate about empowering her audience to experience new places and live a life of adventure. She is the founder of the solo female travel blog, Jessie on a Journey, and is editor-in-chief of Epicure & Culture , an online conscious tourism magazine. Along with writing, Jessie is a professional photographer and is the owner of NYC Photo Journeys , which offers New York photo tours, photo shoots, and wedding photography. Her work has appeared in publications like USA Today, CNN, Business Insider, Thrillist, and WestJet Magazine.
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These prompts are just the inspiration I needed to capture my thoughts about travel. Not only do they tap into my travel memories, but they feed my creative spirit. Who says you have to actually go anywhere to be well-traveled? 😉
I have trouble keeping a journal, but have always want too – these are such good prompts ill have to give it another try!
Wow, what an incredible article! I’m so grateful to have come across this treasure trove of travel journal prompts and ideas. The suggestions provided here are truly inspiring and have sparked my wanderlust even more. From capturing the sensory details to reflecting on personal growth, these prompts cover every aspect of a fulfilling travel journal. The beautiful descriptions and practical tips have motivated me to start documenting my adventures with a renewed passion. Thank you for sharing such a valuable resource that will undoubtedly enhance my future travel experiences. Keep up the fantastic work!
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21 Creative Travel Journal Ideas & Prompts for Your Next Trip
February 29, 2024
![tips for keeping travel journal Creative travel journal ideas Pinterest cover](https://www.insidethetravellab.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Creative-travel-journal-ideas-cover-150x150.jpg)
Journaling is a great way to make the most of any trip. Here are some of our favourite creative travel journal ideas.
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://www.insidethetravellab.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Creative-travel-journal-ideas-cover.jpg)
Travel Journal Ideas
Photos and videos aren’t the only ways to capture your travels. A travel diary can help you enjoy the trip you’re on and help you relive all those memories once you’re home. After all, how often do you look back through your phone’s photos?
I’ll be honest. Completing a travel bullet journal is something I often dream about more than I manage to complete, particularly when travelling with young children. But over the years, the travel journals I have managed to complete have brought me great joy and prompted my ageing brain to remember sights, smells and tastes more vividly than ever.
So, don’t get hung up on making it pretty and perfect. Just concentrate on enjoying your trip and use these travel journal ideas to deepen that enjoyment. Don’t let them turn into one more burden or chore to complete!
![tips for keeping travel journal Vintage travel journal open on a table](https://www.insidethetravellab.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/open_travel_journal_canva-1110x666.jpg)
What is a Travel Journal?
A travel journal is whatever you want it to be, baby! Or in more standard talk:
A travel journal is a personal, written account that documents an individual’s experiences, observations, and emotions during their journeys. It serves as a dedicated space for recording details such as daily activities, cultural encounters, and reflections on the places visited.
Typically, travel journals include a mix of narratives, anecdotes, and practical information. Whether handwritten or digital, a travel journal is a valuable tool for preserving travel memories, fostering self-reflection, and creating a tangible record of one’s explorations and discoveries around the world.
Although, don’t think you need to write reams. We’ve plenty of creative travel journal ideas if writing doesn’t happen to be your thing. We’re all about the easy way to fill those travel journal pages.
![tips for keeping travel journal Leather-bound travel journal and pencil](https://www.insidethetravellab.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/leather_travel_journal_canva-1110x666.jpg)
Where to Find the Perfect Travel Journal
The romantic in me says that the best travel journal is found on the road. But the practical side of me knows that it’s easier if you pick one up before you go.
In my experience, you want a book that will stay flat when you fold it open and ideally have a tie or piece of elastic to hold it together again, to stop things falling out.
I also like travel journals with a space for a pen as that makes it more likely that you will actually have a pen with you when the time comes to write. In my experience, the best way to make sure that something happens is to remove as many obstacles as possible.
Personally, I prefer blank pages but I know that many prefer grids or lines. And I’ve never got to grips with a digital journal but if they work for you, then great!
A hard cover can protect from the bumps and bruises of life on the road but, then again, a soft cover is lighter to carry around.
Here are some lovely travel journal examples you can find on Amazon:
- Vegan Leather Beechmore Travel Journal
- Adventure Travel Journal with Prompts
- Moleskine Hardcover Travel Journal
Note: if you buy through any of the links on this page, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Why Bother Keeping a Travel Journal in the First Place?
Firstly, because it’s fun! However, keeping a travel journal also has a number of other benefits.
Such as…
Memory Enhancement:
- According to a study published in the journal Memory, the act of writing helps to consolidate and enhance memory. By documenting your experiences, in your own travel journal, you’re more likely to remember details of your journey. And that fits with what I learned when I was studying Neuroscience at Cambridge.
Stress Reduction:
- A study by the American Psychological Association suggests that expressive writing can help reduce stress and promote overall well-being. Journaling about your travel experiences allows you to process emotions and relive positive moments.
Increased Cultural Awareness:
- Research conducted by the Cultural Intelligence Center indicates that keeping a travel journal can contribute to the development of cultural intelligence. Writing about local customs, traditions, and interactions with residents fosters a deeper understanding of different cultures.
Reflection and Personal Growth:
- Psychologist James W. Pennebaker’s research on expressive writing reveals that reflecting on experiences through writing can lead to personal growth and self-discovery. A travel journal provides a space for introspection and learning.
Enhanced Creativity:
- Again, the busy American Psychological Association suggests that engaging in creative activities, such as writing, can boost cognitive function and creativity. Documenting your travels in a journal encourages creative expression.
Capturing Details:
- Studies on eyewitness testimony indicate that people tend to forget details over time. Keeping a travel journal helps in preserving the specifics of your experiences, ensuring a more accurate recollection later on. Not that we hope you’ll end up in court. More, that we hope you’ll remember the highlights of your trip.
Improved Communication Skills:
- Journaling encourages the practice of effective communication. Documenting your thoughts and experiences helps refine your ability to articulate ideas and stories.
Digital Detox and Mindfulness:
- A study by the Pew Research Center found that 85% of adults in the United States use the internet. Keeping a physical travel journal offers a break from screens, fostering mindfulness and a deeper connection with your surroundings. Little details can bring about a big sense of calm.
Goal Setting and Achievement:
- Again, the good old American Psychological Association notes that setting and achieving small goals, such as completing a journal entry each day, can boost motivation and self-esteem. A travel journal provides a structured way to set and accomplish writing goals.
Legacy and Sharing:
- According to a study by Ancestry.com, 77% of adults believe it’s important to preserve their family history. A travel journal can serve as a legacy, allowing future generations to gain insights into your experiences and perspectives.
So, how about that? Not just a pretty page after all.
21 Gorgeous and Creative Travel Journal Ideas
OK, let’s get to the fun part! Creative travel journal ideas!
![tips for keeping travel journal A collection of colourful ticket stubs](https://www.insidethetravellab.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ticket_stubs_canva-1110x666.jpg)
Collect Ticket Stubs
Ticket stubs may not seem so glamorous at the time but they’re one of those travel journal ideas that’s quick and easy to do, with great rewards later on. If you find yourself too busy on the trip, just shove (ahem, collect) them as you go along in one envelope. Once you’re home, you can then arrange them in a scrapbook or bullet journal along with notes and photos.
Carry Some Lightweight Supplies
It’s easier to keep up with your travel diary if you have the right tools with you. No-one needs to carry about an entire artist’s briefcase but a few pens, pencils and a roll or two of washi tape can help make it manageable.
Not sure what washi tape is? It’s like sellotape only comes with a pattern and is much more forgiving when unrolling and using it. You can pick up some washi tape here . It’s a great option to make sure things don’t always fall out along the way.
Brush up on Some Writing Tips
A travel diary shouldn’t feel like homework. But it will be more rewarding to write and definitely more pleasurable to read if you brush up on some writing techniques before you go.
We run a range of writing courses to get you started, including:
- Freelance Writing Masterclass
- Write Better, Write Now
- The Writing Boost
So, whether it’s a quick weekend away or a road trip journal that spans several months, you’ll feel more confident about what goes into your own travel log.
![tips for keeping travel journal Budapest and London postcards on a travel journal](https://www.insidethetravellab.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Postcards-for-travel-journal-1110x830.jpg)
Pick up Some Postcards
This is one of my favourite creative travel journal ideas.
Now, we’re not talking about standard tourist postcards here (although, obviously, that’s fine if that’s what you want to do. It’s your travel diary, right?!)
We’re talking about flyers and postcards for art galleries, live music, exhibitions and special events. Business cards from cafes. Anything you saw and enjoyed and which gave you a taste of the place.
![tips for keeping travel journal Notes from Dominican Republic, The Gambia and the US on top of a travel journal](https://www.insidethetravellab.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Saving-travel-money-as-a-creative-travel-journal-idea-1110x897.jpg)
Collect the Cash
Spend more than a few days in a destination and the local money soon becomes a background event that you stop noticing. But when you’re back home, it’s a connection to the place.
So, if you can spare some of the lower denomination notes, it’s a great idea to tape a few into your travel journal.
![tips for keeping travel journal A selection of Isle of Wight maps on a table](https://www.insidethetravellab.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/isle_of_wight_maps_canva-1110x666.jpg)
Keep the Maps
You know those maps that are folded back and forth, torn, soggy and scribbled over? Keep them! It’s amazing how quickly you forget the detail of a place but a scribbled note and the white fluff along a folded map seam brings it back right away. New places, new maps.
![tips for keeping travel journal Stacks of colourful cardboard drink coasters](https://www.insidethetravellab.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/colourful_drink_coasters_canva-1110x666.jpg)
Make the Food to Go
At the risk of sounding like a hoarder, look out for sweet wrapper, chopstick wrappers, beer labels and more that really fit the local food you had in a destination.
I always look out for local flavours in particular, so this method of scrapbooking (sounds better than hoarding) works well for me.
Flower Press Stress
Sometimes, pressing flowers or leaves works wonders. And, sometimes, it just makes a mess. This is one of those travel journal ideas that you need to do just right: ideally with a big patch of sellophane rather than just a strip of washi tape.
Be careful, though. Some countries, most notably New Zealand and Australia, are very strict about flowers and seeds crossing their borders. Probably best to avoid this if you plan on heading there.
![tips for keeping travel journal Hand-drawn sketch of a city skyline](https://www.insidethetravellab.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/travel_sketch_canva-1110x666.jpg)
Sketch Skills
Small sketches and beautiful drawings can really bring a travel diary to life. If you can draw, that is.
If not, never fear. While we can’t all be the best at everything, we can all master a few basic techniques.
It’s a good idea to just relax and have a go.
![tips for keeping travel journal Colourful post-it notes with different languages on](https://www.insidethetravellab.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/post_it_notes_canva-1110x666.jpg)
Learn the Lingo
As everyone knows, with a few local phrases, you’ll get a better reception wherever you go. Yet, with age, it’s alarming how quickly that knowledge fades.
Write down those phrases while they’re fresh! It’s a fun way to nurture those brain cells.
Stick in Those Lists
Have you used a packing list? A leaving the house checklist? A bucket list? To-do list? If so, stick them in! They’ll be surprisingly interesting to look at come the end of your trip. Don’t let your trip planning go to waste!
And if you don’t? Check out our collection of packing lists and pre-travel checklists here .
Use Some Travel Journal Writing Prompts
When inspiration fails, fall back on these. Don’t worry if you feel cheesy. No-one has to read this but you.
Travel Journal Prompts Before You Go
- Outline your expectations and goals for the upcoming journey. What do you hope to achieve or experience during this trip?
- Share your pre-trip excitement and any pre-travel rituals or preparations you engage in before embarking on a new adventure.
- Detail the research you’ve conducted about the destination, including its culture, history, and notable attractions. What aspects are you most eager to explore?
- Reflect on any pre-trip concerns or uncertainties. How do you plan to address them or prepare for potential challenges?
- Describe the anticipation you feel about trying the local cuisine. Are there specific dishes you’re looking forward to sampling?
- Outline your itinerary and the key activities you have planned for each day. What landmarks or attractions are a must-see for you?
- Consider the local customs and etiquette of the destination. How do you plan to respect and engage with the local culture?
- Share your thoughts on the packing process. What essentials are you making sure to bring, and what strategies are you using to pack efficiently?
- Reflect on any language barriers you might encounter. Have you learned a few basic phrases or expressions in the local language to enhance your experience?
- Write about your overall mindset and emotions as you approach the trip. What are your hopes, fears, and anticipations for the upcoming adventure?
![tips for keeping travel journal Man writing in journal by a lake](https://www.insidethetravellab.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/man_writing_in_travel_journal_canva-1110x666.jpg)
Travel Journal Prompts For on the Road
1. Describe your initial impressions upon arriving at your destination. 2. What local cuisine or dish did you sample, and how would you rate your experience? 3. Reflect on a memorable encounter with a local resident or fellow traveller. 4. Share a moment when you stepped out of your comfort zone during your journey. 5. Detail the sights, sounds, and scents of a particular place that left a lasting impression on you. 6. Write about a unique cultural tradition or festival you experienced during your travels. 7. Describe a hidden gem or off-the-beaten-track location you discovered. 8. Share a humorous or unexpected anecdote from your trip. 9. Reflect on a challenging situation you encountered and how you overcame it. 10. Write about a place that surpassed your expectations and why. 11. Document a day spent exploring nature, whether it’s a hike, day at the beach, or wildlife encounter. 12. Discuss the impact of local art, music, or architecture on your overall experience. 13. Capture the essence of a local market or shopping district you visited. 14. Reflect on how the local history and heritage influenced your perception of the destination. 15. Write about a moment of tranquillity or relaxation during your journey. 16. Share your thoughts on the transportation methods you used and any interesting experiences. 17. Describe a sunrise or sunset that left you in awe. 18. Document a day focused on immersive cultural experiences, such as workshops or language classes. 19. Write about a place you’d love to revisit and explore further in the future. 20. Reflect on the personal growth or insights gained from your travel experiences.
Travel Journal Prompts for Once You Get Back
- Reflect on the overall experience of your journey. Did it meet, exceed, or differ from your initial expectations?
- Capture the emotions you feel upon returning home. What aspects of your routine are you excited to resume, and what do you miss from your travels?
- Share your favourite moments from the trip and how they contributed to your overall satisfaction.
- Write about any unexpected discoveries or surprises that occurred during your travels.
- Reflect on the impact of the journey on your perspective and personal growth. In what ways do you feel changed or enriched?
- Describe the local cuisine that left a lasting impression on you. Are there any dishes you wish you could recreate at home?
- Outline any challenges you faced during the trip and how you successfully navigated them.
- Consider how the cultural experiences have influenced your worldview. What lessons or insights will you carry forward from your travels?
- Share your thoughts on the souvenirs or mementoes you brought back. Do they hold special meaning or memories?
- Write about your plans for future travels. Are there destinations you’re now eager to explore based on this recent experience?
We hope you’ve enjoyed this collection of creative ways to catalogue different places and, more importantly, what they meant to you.
For all we’ve talked about the benefits of travel journaling, the important thing is that it’s fun. Don’t let your travel journal become a chore. Like all goals and tools, it’s just a way to help you fall even more in love with life.
Journal entries should make you think or make you smile. And that’s enough.
Why not bookmark this article on creative travel journal ideas on Pinterest for later?
More on Preparing for Your Next Trip
- The Only International Travel Checklist You Need
- Printable Holiday Packing List PDF: The Only Checklist You Need
- The 21 Best Souvenir Ideas for 2024
- 27 Long Haul Flight Essentials and a Flight Checklist for You
- The Best Flight Booking Hacks For Savvy Travellers
- The 10 Travel Skills Every One of Us Should Know
- The 50 Best Travel Websites and Travel Resources
- The best travel journal ideas for kids
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Why not pin these creative travel journal ideas on Pinterest for later?
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How to Start and Keep a Travel Journal: A Guide to Travel Diaries
When you capture your memories, you’ll never lose them.
Traveling is a transformative and enriching experience – and one of the best ways to capture and preserve those memories is by keeping a travel journal. A travel journal serves as a personal record of your adventures, reflections, and emotions throughout your journey.
A travel journal offers numerous benefits and can become a cherished keepsake for years to come. Here is a comprehensive guide on how to start and keep a travel journal – and how to make the most of your journaling experience.
Why Keep a Travel Journal?
Keeping a travel journal is a gateway to a treasure trove of memories , self-reflection , and creative expression . From preserving the details of your journeys to unlocking personal growth, a travel journal is definitely worthwhile. Let’s uncover the magic of travel journaling together.
Preserving Memories
Preserving memories is crucial when it comes to maintaining a travel journal. It is essential to capture the moments and experiences during your trips. Here are some techniques to effectively preserve your memories:
– Write comprehensive descriptions of the places, individuals, and activities you encounter. It is important to be vivid and use expressive language in your writing.
– Capture photographs of the landscapes, landmarks, and memorable moments you come across.
– Keep tickets, receipts, and other mementos from your travels as keepsakes.
– Maintain a daily log of your activities, thoughts, and emotions throughout the journey.
– Consider recording voice memos to encompass ambient sounds and conversations, which will add depth to your memories.
– Document the people you meet on your journey, including their names and stories .
Incorporating these practices into your travel journal will allow you to effectively preserve your memories for the years to come.
Self-Reflection and Personal Growth
Self-reflection and personal growth are essential aspects of travel journaling. When you take the time to introspect and process your experiences and emotions, you not only gain a deeper understanding of yourself but also foster personal growth .
Here are five effective ways to enhance self-reflection and personal growth through your travel journal:
1. Embracing emotions : Use your journal to describe your feelings and emotions during your travels. This practice can help you process and comprehend your emotional responses.
2. Contemplating experiences : Take the opportunity to write about the impactful moments, challenges, and lessons you encounter. By doing so, you can gain valuable insights, learn, and grow.
3. Recognizing strengths and weaknesses : Assess your reactions to various situations and identify areas where you excel as well as struggle. This self-awareness will optimize your personal growth.
4. Establishing personal goals : Utilize your journal to set realistic development goals for yourself. For instance, if you tend to be shy, challenge yourself to interact with locals. Regularly reflect on these goals and track your progress.
5. Documenting achievements : Take the time to celebrate your accomplishments in your journal. Whether it’s conquering fears, trying new activities, or pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, recognizing these achievements will boost your self-confidence and inspire further growth.
By actively engaging in self-reflection and personal growth through your travel journal, you can maximize your travel experiences and create positive changes that spill over into various aspects of your life.
Creative Outlet
Travel journaling provides you with a valuable creative outlet that allows you to express yourself and document your experiences in unique ways.
There are several methods through which travel journaling serves as a creative outlet:
1. Writing: You can vividly describe your adventures, including the places you visit, the people you meet, and the emotions you experience. By skillfully using descriptive language, you can bring your experiences to life on the pages of your journal.
2. Drawing and Sketching: If you possess artistic abilities, you can visually represent your travels through sketches and drawings. You have the opportunity to capture breathtaking landscapes or intricate architectural wonders.
3. Collages and Scrapbooking: Incorporating various mementos such as pictures, tickets, and postcards can elevate your travel journaling experience. By artfully arranging these items, you can create visually appealing collages that effectively capture your journey.
4. Mapping and Planning: You may enjoy incorporating maps and itineraries into your journals. By using different colors, markers, and symbols, you can highlight your routes, points of interest, and even plan future adventures.
5. Poetry and Prose: Travel journals offer a platform for you to explore your emotions and experiences through poetry, short stories, and song lyrics. This allows you to express your thoughts and reflections in a profound and meaningful way.
Incorporating a creative outlet into travel journaling enhances the overall experience, enabling you to express yourself artistically. It adds a personal and unique touch to your journals, reflecting your unique personality and perspective.
Editor’s Note : You don’t have to be a famed artist to enjoy adding artistic touches to your journal – even a postcard can help you capture a moment or memory, it’s art!
How to Start a Travel Journal?
You might be wondering, “Where do I start?”
You’ll need to start with a journal and a journey. Consider the following guidelines as you choose and prepare to record an adventure you’ll never forget. Are you ready to dive into the world of travel journaling and embark on an adventure of self-expression and reflection?
Choose the Right Journal
When selecting a journal, it’s important to choose one that suits your needs and preferences. Consider the following factors:
Consider these factors to choose the right journal that meets your needs and enhances your travel journaling experience.
Determine Your Journaling Style
When it comes to travel journaling, determine your style. This helps capture your travel experiences authentically and true to your voice. Consider these factors when determining your style:
1. Writing or Visual: Decide if you prefer writing or capturing your thoughts and experiences through drawings, sketches, or collages. Some may prefer a combination.
2. Length and Detail: Consider how much detail you want in your journal entries. Do you enjoy writing long and descriptive passages or shorter, more concise entries? This determines entry length and depth.
3. Structure: Think about if you prefer a structured journal with a specific format like a daily log or reflection on specific trip aspects. Alternatively, you may prefer a free-flowing and spontaneous approach.
4. Multimedia Elements: Decide if you want to include additional elements like travel photos, tickets, or souvenirs. These bring memories to life and add a visual dimension.
Remember, your journaling style can evolve and change over time. The important thing is to find a resonating style that effectively captures your travel experiences. Experiment with different approaches and embrace the freedom to authentically express yourself. Happy journaling!
Gather Essential Supplies
To gather essential supplies for your travel journal, follow these steps:
1. Choose a journal: Select a journal that fits your style and preferences. Consider factors like page count, paper thickness, and lay-flat design for easy writing.
2. Pens and markers: Bring a variety of writing tools , including pens, markers, and highlighters, to add color and creativity to your journal.
3. Sticky notes and adhesive: Pack sticky notes or adhesive to incorporate extra elements like tickets, postcards, or photos into your journal. This will make your journal visually appealing.
4. Travel accessories: Consider including travel-specific items such as a small pouch for souvenirs, a ruler for straight lines or measurements, or a pocket-sized travel guide for reference.
5. Accessories for organization: Keep your journal organized with accessories like paper clips, binder clips, or page flags. These can be useful for marking important pages or sections.
6. Glue or tape: If you plan to add larger or heavier items to your journal, such as brochures or maps, bring glue or tape to securely attach them.
7. Travel-friendly storage: Make sure you have a sturdy and compact bag or case to store all your journaling supplies in one place. This will make it easier to access them while traveling.
Remember, the purpose of gathering essential supplies is to enhance your journaling experience and creativity. Consider which items will be most useful and enjoyable for you personally.
What to Include in Your Travel Journal?
Keeping a travel journal is the perfect way to capture the essence of your adventures. You have a lot of options when it comes to what to include – especially if you’re detailed oriented. Here are some of the major players.
Daily Itinerary and Activities
When traveling and keeping a journal, you may want to document your daily itinerary and activities. Here are some key points to consider:
– Record your daily activities: Write down the places you visit, the attractions you see, and the activities you engage in each day. This helps you remember the details and experiences.
– Date and timestamp your entries: Include the date and time of each activity in your journal. This creates a chronological account of your journey.
– Include details and descriptions: Be descriptive in your writing, capturing the sights, sounds, and smells of each activity. Use vivid language to paint a picture of your experiences.
– Add personal reflections: Alongside your itinerary, include your thoughts and feelings about each activity. Reflect on how the experience impacted you and what you learned from it.
– Document any challenges or surprises: Note any unexpected obstacles or pleasant surprises you encountered during your activities. This adds depth and authenticity to your travel narrative.
– Attach mementos: Include tickets, brochures, or other physical items related to your daily activities. These mementos bring back memories and enhance your journal entries.
Remember, the goal of documenting your daily itinerary and activities is to create a comprehensive record of your trip. By capturing the details and emotions of each day, you’ll be able to relive your travel experiences in the future. Happy journaling!
Impressions and Emotions
Impressions and emotions are crucial aspects when capturing the essence of travel experiences. By actively describing and reflecting on them, you have the ability to construct a vibrant and meaningful travel journal.
- To start, describe your impressions by taking note of the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes that stand out to you when visiting a new place. Utilize descriptive language to effectively convey the atmosphere and essence of the location. For instance, instead of simply stating “the beach was beautiful,” vividly describe the vibrant colors of the sunset reflecting off the water, the delightful scent of the salty breeze, and the comforting sensation of warm sand between your toes.
- Describe the enticing taste of local delicacies, the texture of cobblestone streets beneath your feet, or the vibrant array of colors at a bustling market. Engaging multiple senses not only makes your journal entry more immersive but also evokes a more vivid recollection .
- It is important to reflect on your emotions while traveling. Travel often evokes a range of emotions, such as excitement, awe, nostalgia, and introspection . Write about how certain moments or experiences made you feel. Did you experience a surge of adrenaline while embarking on a chalenging hiking trail? Were you filled with a sense of wonder and reverence when visiting a historic site? By capturing your emotions in words, you are able to evoke and relive those unforgettable moments while comprehending their impact.
- Express your personal connections in your journal. Share how you connected with the individuals you encountered during your journey. Write about the meaningful conversations you had, the friendships you formed, or the cultural exchanges that touched your heart. These personal connections and interactions leave a lasting impression and add depth to your travel journal.
- Reflect on your personal growth as a result of your travels. Travel provides unique opportunities for self-discovery and personal development. Contemplate how your experiences challenged you, pushed you out of your comfort zone, or broadened your perspectives. Write about the valuable lessons you learned and how you have grown as an individual. Reflecting on personal growth helps to further enrich your travel journal.
By prioritizing and focusing on impressions and emotions in your travel journal, you can create a comprehensive and meaningful record of your adventures. This record will effectively transport you back to those treasured moments whenever you revisit your journal.
Photos, Tickets, and Souvenirs
Photos, tickets, and souvenirs are important for travel journals to capture and preserve trip memories. Here are reasons why these items are valuable:
– Photos: Capture landscapes, views, and moments of travel. They serve as visual reminders of places and experiences.
– Tickets: Save tickets from attractions, museums, shows, or events attended during the trip. These tickets transport you back to the exact date and time of something new and exciting.
– Souvenirs: Physical mementos that evoke powerful memories of travel. They can be notes, postcards, shop receipts, or even food wrappers. Souvenirs remind you of the culture, traditions, and unique aspects of the destination.
By including photos, tickets, and souvenirs, you create a comprehensive record of your experiences. These items add depth and richness to your written descriptions , allowing you to relive your adventures more tangibly. Photos serve as visual aids to jog your memory and bring back specific details of each location visited. Similarly, tickets and souvenirs help recall specific events or attractions interacted with during the trip.
Tips for Effective Travel Journaling
Looking to up your travel journal game? Say goodbye to mundane travel entries and hello to captivating narratives that will transport you and your readers back to your adventures in a heartbeat. Ready to unleash your inner storyteller and create a travel journal that will truly stand the test of time?
Here are our top tips.
Write Regularly
To maximize your travel journal’s effectiveness, it is crucial to write regularly. By consistently recording your experiences, thoughts, and feelings, you can capture the essence of your travels and create a vibrant and meaningful record.
1. Set a schedule : Establish a routine for journaling, whether in the evening before bed or during breakfast each morning. By incorporating journaling into your daily routine, you ensure that you don’t forget to record important moments and details.
2. Make it a habit : Treat journaling as a regular practice, like brushing your teeth or exercising. By prioritizing journaling and making it a non-negotiable part of your day, you are more likely to write regularly and consistently – at home or away.
3. Write in the moment : Don’t wait too long before jotting down your experiences. Memories fade quickly, and by writing while the details are still fresh in your mind, you can capture the nuances and emotions of each adventure.
4. Keep it simple : You don’t need to write a lengthy essay every time you journal. Sometimes, a few sentences or bullet points can be enough to jog your memory and capture the essence of the moment. Focus on the key highlights and impressions that stand out to you.
5. Use prompts and writing techniques : If you’re feeling stuck, use prompts or writing techniques to stimulate your creativity. Try freewriting, list-making, or describing a specific sensory experience. This can help generate ideas and deepen your journal entries.
By writing regularly, you will cultivate a substantial collection of travel memories for future reflection. So, make it a habit, be consistent, and enjoy the process of documenting your adventures. Happy journaling!
Be Descriptive and Detailed
Keeping a travel journal requires being descriptive and detailed. This allows you to capture the essence of your travel experiences and create vivid memories. Besides sharing sensory descriptions and your emotions and responses , here are some tips to help you be descriptive and detailed in your travel journal:
1. Include colorful anecdotes : Share interesting stories, encounters, or observations that stood out to you during your travels. These anecdotes add depth and personality to your journal entries.
2. Add context : Provide background information about the places you visit. This can include historical facts, cultural traditions, or local customs. It helps create a richer understanding of the destinations you explore.
3. Use quotes and dialogue : Incorporate conversations you had with locals or fellow travelers, as well as any memorable quotes or phrases that resonated with you. This adds authenticity and liveliness to your journal.
Being descriptive and detailed in your travel journal creates a personal time capsule of your adventures . So, grab your journal, embrace your inner storyteller, and let your words transport you back to those incredible moments you experienced while traveling.
It can also enhance memory retention – writing about experiences in detail helps solidify memories and improve recall.
Keeping Your Travel Journal Safe
When it comes to keeping your travel journal safe, there are a couple of important considerations to keep in mind. With the increasing use of technology, finding the right methods for digital backup is crucial. Safeguarding your physical journals from loss or damage is also a key aspect of preserving your travel experiences.
Let’s explore the best practices for keeping your travel journal safe and secure!
Digital Backup
When it comes to keeping your travel journal safe and secure, digital backup is essential. Here are some options to protect your travel journal:
- Cloud Storage: Use Google Drive, Dropbox, or iCloud to upload digital copies of your travel journal. This way, even if you lose or damage your physical journal, you can always access your entries from any device with an internet connection.
- External Hard Drive: Backup your travel journal regularly with an external hard drive. These devices have large storage capacities, allowing you to store written entries, photos, and videos.
- USB Flash Drive: Keep a USB flash drive specifically for your travel journal backups. These portable devices are compact and easy to carry, ensuring you always have a backup copy of your journal.
- Email Yourself: Send digital copies of your journal entries to your email address. This serves as a quick and convenient backup method accessible from anywhere.
In addition to these options, it is advisable to password-protect your digital backups for added security. Remember to regularly update your backups and store them separately from your physical journal to minimize the risk of losing all your travel memories.
By implementing one or more of these digital backup methods, you can have peace of mind knowing that your travel journal is safeguarded, and your cherished memories are securely preserved. So go ahead and embark on your next adventure, knowing that your travel journal is backed up and ready to capture every moment.
Protecting Physical Journals
Protecting physical journals is crucial to ensure the safety and longevity of travel memories. To safeguard your travel journal, consider the following tips:
– Use a sturdy cover : Opt for a durable journal , like a hardcover or leather-bound notebook , to prevent tearing or damage.
– Waterproof protection : Invest in a waterproof journal cover or use a plastic sleeve to shield your journal from spills or rain, preserving your writing – especially if you’re hiking or camping with it.
– Keep it separate : Avoid storing your journal with sharp objects or liquids. Use a dedicated pouch or compartment in your bag to minimize accidents.
– Store in a safe place : When not in use, store your journal in a secure and dry location , away from sunlight and extreme temperatures to prevent fading or warping.
– Back it up : Make digital copies or scans of your journal pages to mitigate the risk of loss or damage. Store them securely on your computer, external hard drive, or cloud storage.
– Handle with care : Use clean hands and gentle handling to preserve the binding and keep the pages intact.
By following these precautions, you can protect your travel journal and ensure it remains a treasure of memorable experiences for years to come.
Interesting fact : The oldest surviving travel diary dates back to the 2nd century AD. It was written by a Roman soldier named Aulus Plautius , who documented his exploration of Britain !
Sharing Your Travel Journal
When sharing your travel journal, follow these steps to effectively communicate your experiences to others so they can experience your adventure with you all over again.
– Organize your entries : Arrange your journal entries in a logical order, either chronologically or by location. This helps readers follow your journey and understand its progression.
– Include visuals : Alongside your written entries, add photographs, postcards, or sketches that capture the essence of your travels. Visuals enhance readers’ understanding and create a more immersive experience.
– Be descriptive : Use vivid and detailed language to describe the places, people, and experiences you encountered. Paint a picture with your words so that readers can feel like they are there with you.
– Share personal insights : Include your thoughts, reflections, and emotions in your journal entries. This adds a personal touch and allows readers to connect with your experiences on a deeper level.
– Consider your audience : Think about who you want to share your journal with. If it’s a close group of family and friends, you can be more intimate and less formal in your writing. If you plan to publish or share your journal with a wider audience, make sure your tone and content are appropriate.
– Set boundaries : While sharing your travel experiences can be exciting, respect the privacy of others. Be mindful of what you include in your journal and obtain consent before sharing personal stories or photographs involving other individuals.
Sharing your travel journal allows you to relive your adventures and inspire others to explore the world. So grab your pen, gather your memories, and let your words transport you and your readers to the incredible places you’ve visited.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. how can a travel journal be beneficial for business purposes.
By keeping a travel journal, you can jot down ideas and inspiration for business ventures during your trips. It allows you to document potential collaborations, networking opportunities, and innovative concepts that can be implemented in your work.
2. What are some pre-departure ideas to spark travel journal ideas?
Before leaving for your trip, consider researching the history and culture of your destination. This can help spark ideas for what to include in your travel journal, such as unique landmarks, local customs, or traditional cuisine.
3. How can a travel journal help with post-holiday ideas?
After your trip, reviewing your travel journal can jog your memory and inspire ideas for future vacations. You can reflect on your favorite experiences, places you want to revisit, or even new destinations you discovered during your previous trip.
4. What are some different versions of travel journaling?
There are various ways to approach travel journaling, including “just the facts,” storytelling, envelope-style, scrapbook style, and sketchbook. Each version offers a unique way to document and remember your trips, allowing you to choose the style that suits you best.
5. Can a travel journal be stored digitally?
Absolutely! In modern life, digital travel journal options are available. You can use diary software or dedicated travel journal apps to create a solid collection of your travel memories. Just make sure to backup your digital journal to keep it safe.
6. Is it essential to keep a separate notebook for each trip?
It is not necessary to have a separate notebook for each trip. You can use a single travel journal and section it off for various travels. This way, you can maintain one comprehensive journal that includes all your travel adventures.
Brooks Manley
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://creativeprimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3583-scaled-e1703264326288-1024x974.webp)
Creative Primer is a resource on all things journaling, creativity, and productivity. We’ll help you produce better ideas, get more done, and live a more effective life.
My name is Brooks. I do a ton of journaling, like to think I’m a creative (jury’s out), and spend a lot of time thinking about productivity. I hope these resources and product recommendations serve you well. Reach out if you ever want to chat or let me know about a journal I need to check out!
Here’s my favorite journal for 2024:
![tips for keeping travel journal the five minute journal](https://creativeprimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/61xtFLwJIrL.__AC_SX300_SY300_QL70_FMwebp_.webp)
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![tips for keeping travel journal flatlay of a traditional travel journal ideas with a coffee and flowers](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_614232014-768x511.jpg)
33 Terrific Travel Journal Ideas, Tips + Prompts!
Looking for the best travel journal ideas to help you remember your next trip–plus some prompts to help you think of what to write?
You’ve come to the right place!
As a lifelong lover of both journaling and travel, I have experimented with all kinds of travel journals over the years, ranging from the time-consuming to the simple, from the unique to the very basic.
I absolutely love the travel journaling system that I use now (more on that below), but depending on your habits and writing style, there is no limit to the number of ways to preserve your travel memories on the written page.
![tips for keeping travel journal person writing in one of the best travel journals with photos and a cup of tea spread out next to them](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_454802308-1024x712.jpg)
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This guide to travel journal ideas and prompts covers everything from the physical kind of travel diary to use, to tips on journaling effectively, to travel journaling prompts to help you get your writing started.
Remember, though, that the #1 rule of travel journaling is that there are no rules!
Anything that helps you preserve the intense memories of your travel experiences counts.
That being said: here are some of the best travel journal ideas out there!
Table of Contents
Terrific Travel Journal Ideas
Travel journaling tips, inspiring travel journal prompts, planning a trip.
![tips for keeping travel journal Kate Storm in a blue skirt standing in front of the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland. She's looking away from the camera.](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/CliffsOfMoher-77-1024x683.jpg)
While there are plenty of beautiful travel journals on the market, don’t feel like you need one to keep a memorable travel diary!
I’ve kept travel journals in everything from a $0.99 composition notebook to elaborate leather-bound notebooks to the Notes app in my phone, and I can confidently say that the best travel journals come from the heart–the physical place you put them is the least important function.
That being said, if you are looking for beautiful travel journal examples, I highly recommend these!
![tips for keeping travel journal View from Santa Maddalena Church near Bolzano Italy, as seen during an amazing Italy road trip](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Italy_Bolzano-49-1024x683.jpg)
One Line a Day Journal
This is my current favorite travel journaling system, and I’ve been using it for nearly 5 years now!
Here’s the format: each page in this diary has a date at the top (say, August 17), and 5 small sections to write 1-2 sentences below it.
For 5 years, keep a daily journal of a memorable moment, and at the end, you’ll be able to look back and, on a single page, see what you did on all your August 17ths.
While this isn’t specifically a travel journal, I absolutely adore using it as one: the tracking of time through both days and years simultaneously is incredible, and the short time commitment is perfect for my lifestyle that already includes lots of writing.
I do still try to keep a long-form travel journal once a week or so, too, but I love my One Line a Day Journal so much that I recently bought two more, just to ensure I have the next decade covered if they stop making them!
![tips for keeping travel journal one line a day journal being held up in front of greenery, one of the best travel journal ideas](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/IMG-5308-768x1024.jpg)
Page A Day Travel Journal
Looking for something formatted for you, but with more of a travel theme and more of a long-form approach?
The Page A Day Travel Journal is perfect for that!
In addition to space to write about your day, there are spaces to note your destination and event the weather.
![tips for keeping travel journal woman sitting in a cafe with coffee writing in a travel diary](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_452039203-1024x683.jpg)
Classic Leather-Bound Journal
What reading-and-writing nerd among us hasn’t dreamed of owning a leather-bound journal to track their travels in?
I have always enjoyed this journal style and have owned a few in my life!
There are tons of similar ones on the market these days, given how popular they are, but I love the compass detail and great reviews on this one .
![tips for keeping travel journal leather bound travel diary with a compass on the front](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_1690906876.jpg)
Postcards To Yourself
Looking for more unique travel journal ideas?
Consider sending postcards to yourself from the road!
In many destinations, you can mail yourself (or someone else) a postcard right from the souvenir shop where you purchase it–so bring a pen along, write some quick thoughts about your day, and drop it in the mail.
By the time you get home, you’ll have a collection of memories delivered right to your front door that you can save forever.
![tips for keeping travel journal The Ultimate Packing List for Italy: postcards from Lucca](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/LuccaSquarePostcard.jpg)
Travel Checklist Journal
If you’re the kind of traveler who wants to make sure they don’t forget a thing, the Travel Checklist Journal is the perfect choice!
With daily prompts covering everything from the restaurants you ate at that day to your most memorable moment of the day, it’s an in-depth log of your adventures.
I’ll be honest: I could never keep up with this much travel journaling on a daily basis.
But, some people absolutely can!
If you find yourself not sure what to put in some sections, though, don’t worry about it–better to skip a prompt than make your journal feel like work instead of fun.
![tips for keeping travel journal beautiful travel journaling prompt space with tulips in a vase](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_1416897689-1024x704.jpg)
Bullet Journal
A classic bullet journal like this makes a fantastic travel journal idea!
In addition to writing, consider including drawings, hand-drawn maps, charts, and more.
Standard Notebook
You don’t need anything fancy to keep a beautiful, memorable travel journal!
Anything from a simple composition notebook to the back of a receipt will do in a pinch, and I would never recommend putting off writing because you don’t have the “perfect” vessel to store your memories in.
If you’re looking for a fairly standard, lined notebook that is durable without including much formatting to get in the way of your creativity, though, I love these notebooks .
I’ve owned them in various colors and designs for years, going out of my way to replace my old ones with the same brand when they get full.
![tips for keeping travel journal Photo of a Macbook Pro, a notebook with mountains on the cover, and a red pen. A copy of Moon New York City is laying on top of them--use this to find some of the best things to do in MIdtown NYC!](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/IMG-0363-1-e1563888981731-1024x792.jpg)
Buy one on the road!
While I definitely recommend keeping a travel journal from hour one (airports and train stations are great places to write!), there’s also something special about buying a diary on the road.
If you find a journal you love while you’re traveling, consider picking it up and journaling there from then on.
![tips for keeping travel journal pile of travel journal ideas in a market](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_212346436-1024x761.jpg)
On Your Computer or Phone
I’ll admit, I’m very biased toward analog travel diary ideas–it’s just my style!
But if you prefer typing to writing, or you just don’t want the hassle of carrying a physical journal on the road, you can easily keep a detailed travel journal on your phone or laptop!
Evernote is a fantastic app for journaling on your phone, though a basic Notes app works fine too.
A Word document or Google Doc can work as well.
Alternatively, you can type and send emails to yourself and store them in a certain folder in your inbox!
![tips for keeping travel journal jeremy storm working on a macbook on a train in italy, combining work and traveling](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/IMG-2868-954x1024.jpg)
There is no wrong way to keep a travel journal–whatever works for you, is more than fine.
That being said, based on my personal experience of keeping travel journals over the years, here’s my best advice for preserving your memories!
![tips for keeping travel journal inspirational spread travel journal prompts and postcards with notebook in the center](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_191466938-1024x681.jpg)
Try to write as often as possible.
Here’s the sad truth: you will forget much of your vacation.
Even if you remember the basics such as where you went, what you did, and who you were with, the passing years will steal the sensory details from your memory, jumble the order of events, and soften the edges of your stories, making it hard to recapture the emotions of your travel experience.
While some of that is the inevitable result of living a full, exciting life packed with beautiful memories, a travel journal can absolutely help preserve those experiences for you for decades to come.
The period of time that I was worst at keeping a travel journal– the first year of our full-time travels –is also the one where memories have faded the most.
It’s my #1 travel regret that I didn’t keep a detailed travel journal that year!
![tips for keeping travel journal kate storm overlooking the bay of san juan del sur nicaragua](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/girl-san-juan-del-sur-playa-1024x683.jpg)
Imperfection is better than procrastination.
Don’t have time to write pages and pages?
Can’t find the right words to capture exactly how you felt seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time?
Don’t worry about it: a couple of sentences jotted down that afternoon while waiting for your coffee to arrive will capture your emotions far better than waiting weeks to find the right words.
![tips for keeping travel journal flat lay of a travel diary with a map and coffee cup](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_1015057606-1024x683.jpg)
Write what you can’t see.
Photographs and videos can do a lot to preserve visual and even auditory memory–but they can’t capture scents, or the feeling of the humidity lingering in the air, or how soft the dog you stopped to pet was, or the expression on the waiter’s face as you managed to order lunch in a language that you barely speak.
These kinds of recollections, paired with photos and videos, are invaluable for helping place you back in that moment of travel, even years after it has passed.
![tips for keeping travel journal How to Ethically Visit Elephants in Thailand](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/DSC_0323-683x1024.jpg)
You don’t have to be a “good” writer.
Forget the English essays of your youth: whether you consider yourself a skilled writer or not, you can absolutely keep the world’s most perfect travel journal for yourself.
Because travel journaling is nothing but a conversation with your memory, and you know exactly how to talk to yourself!
It doesn’t matter if you wouldn’t want to publish it as a memoir or that other people wouldn’t understand what you’re trying to say, because you’re the only audience!
Trust me, as a professional writer of sorts, the things that I write publicly–even in more personal blog posts like this –are not nearly as unguarded as the conversations I have with myself when preserving my own travel memories.
![tips for keeping travel journal kate storm standing on top of a staircase of books at libreria acqua alta venice italy](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/IMG_20171116_122436_629-819x1024.jpg)
Don’t edit yourself.
This goes somewhat with what I wrote about being a “good” writer, but it’s a solid tip for travel journaling even if you’re a very confident one.
Each of us sees the world in a completely unique way and will use entirely different experiences and criteria to jog our memories.
If none of the travel journal prompts in this blog post speak to you, ignore them.
Write about literally anything you like–anything that speaks to how you experienced your day.
The uniqueness of how we each see the world is never more obvious to me than when I compare the things that Jeremy writes in his travel journal to what I write in mine–many times, we each remember things that the other person didn’t even notice!
![tips for keeping travel journal person writing travel journal examples in a notebook with laptop open](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_149436986-1024x683.jpg)
Save more than words.
Ticket stubs, brochures, boarding passes, postcards, even foreign currency–anything small and tactile that you can tuck into your travel journal is a fantastic addition.
If you print out any photos along the way or purchase any of the cheesy-but-fun souvenir photos for sale around the world, those can be great components of a travel diary, too.
Full maps are often too big to save in a traditional travel journal, but you can save them separately–or cut out your favorite section(s) and place them in your journal!
![tips for keeping travel journal Kate Storm in a black coat standing on a brick footbridge in Brugesduring a trip to Belgium](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_20171120_134013_850-820x1024.jpg)
Sadly, the ink on receipts tends to fade within a couple of years, but you can try storing a few memorable ones for a while as well.
Depending on your travel journaling style and how much you collect, you may want to tape these extra items to individual pages or keep them tucked into a separate pouch (cheap and fun cloth zip pouches can be found at souvenir markets across the world–maybe you can buy one along the way!).
For something more fun than basic tape, buy a few souvenir stickers along the way and use those to secure your mementos to the page!
![tips for keeping travel journal Second Trip to Paris: Books on Banks of the Seine](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Paris-6-1024x682.jpg)
Avoid spiral notebooks.
If you want a very inexpensive place to save your memories, opt for a composition notebook over a spiral one–trust me.
Between the spirals being pulled out of place from being moved around so much during your adventures to the fact that they’ll scratch up anything they’re stored near (like your laptop, for example), they’re just not worth the trouble.
I learned this lesson the hard way and will never use a spiral notebook (without a cover, that is) for anything while traveling again!
![tips for keeping travel journal young woman writing travel writing prompts in the mountains](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_1697451967-1024x683.jpg)
Always keep your travel journal in your carry-on.
I’ll admit, I’ve broken this rule before, but it’s terrifying checking your travel journal–especially when, like my current one, it contains years worth of irreplaceable memories.
Much better to keep careful watch over it in your carry-on/hand luggage!
![tips for keeping travel journal Kate Storm wearing a brown coat and blue backpack, looking up at a departures board in an airport. Her purse holds some of her long haul flight essentials!](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/IMG-4366-1024x768.jpg)
Wondering what exactly to write down in your travel diary?
These travel journal writing prompts will get you started!
Choose any of these travel journal topic examples from below and expand upon it in detail, and before you know it, you’ll find yourself jotting down details of memories that would otherwise be lost to time.
As always, the point of travel writing prompts like this isn’t to limit what you write–it’s to provide a jumping-off point.
If you find yourself veering off in a different direction after a few sentences, just roll with it!
![tips for keeping travel journal woman writing a travel diary using travel journal prompts at a table with coffee and flowers](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/shutterstock_1716952144-1024x683.jpg)
What did you do today that you’ve never done before?
Make a list of everything you bought today, from food items to metro tickets.
Describe the most memorable person you interacted with today.
What was your favorite thing you ate today?
![tips for keeping travel journal Full Irish breakfast served in Dublin, one of the best things to try when looking for the best food in Ireland](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Ireland-46-1-1024x683.jpg)
What new thing did you learn today? How did you learn it?
Describe your morning routine in detail: what was different from home?
What was your most memorable form of transport today?
What animals did you see or interact with today?
![tips for keeping travel journal ranger storm sitting in a square in savannah georgia](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Georgia_Savannah-95-1024x683.jpg)
What was the weather like? How did it impact your day?
What were you wearing today? How did it impact your day?
Did you use any words in a language you don’t speak today? What were they?
What’s the big news where you are right now? Is it the same as at home?
![tips for keeping travel journal Jeremy Storm climbing a pyramid at the Becan Ruins in Mexico, wearing a black t shirt and pulling on a rope for support](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Mexico_Becan-88-1024x683.jpg)
What’s the funniest thing that happened today?
What’s the most memorable thing that you physically touched today?
What did you eat for breakfast?
Look up, and describe everything that you see in detail.
![tips for keeping travel journal kate storm standing in front of 3 blue domes on Santorini, Honeymoon in Santorini](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Santorini-473-683x1024.jpg)
If you took a tour: describe your tour guide, including their name!
What did you do today that you didn’t expect to do before your trip?
What’s an interesting story or legend from your destination?
Describe your route from where you’re staying to your first destination of the day.
![tips for keeping travel journal One Day in Paris: Metro Sign](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Paris-186.jpg)
What’s your favorite word to say in the language of your destination?
What was your least favorite moment of the day?
What was the most surprising thing you saw today?
What interesting conversation did you overhear today?
![tips for keeping travel journal cozy cafe with coffee and a leather chair in iceland, a great place to try out travel journal prompts and other travel journal ideas](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Iceland_RingRoad-14-683x1024.jpg)
None of these travel journal ideas or prompts speak to you?
Have something different in mind?
There’s no wrong way to keep a travel diary–whatever feels right when you’re on the road, that’s the best travel journal for you.
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About Kate Storm
![tips for keeping travel journal Image of the author, Kate Storm](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/France_Provence_Lacoste-57-300x208.jpg)
In May 2016, I left my suburban life in the USA and became a full-time traveler. Since then, I have visited 50+ countries on 5 continents and lived in Portugal, developing a special love of traveling in Europe (especially Italy) along the way. Today, along with my husband Jeremy and dog Ranger, I’m working toward my eventual goal of splitting my life between Europe and the USA.
1 thought on “33 Terrific Travel Journal Ideas, Tips + Prompts!”
Thanks for posting this up , this is a very informative article surely.
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40 Creative Travel Journal Ideas & Writing Prompts to Save Your Best Travel Memories
![tips for keeping travel journal 40 Creative Travel Journal Ideas & Writing Prompts to Save Your Best Travel Memories](https://www.shegoesthedistance.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_8473-1440x2160.jpg)
Last updated on January 17th, 2024 at 05:47 am
It’s so easy to let our travel photos get buried in our camera roll or to say “I’ll remember this night forever” and forget the details that made it so special just a few months later. That’s where keeping a travel journal becomes such an important part of your trip! These travel journal ideas & writing prompts will make you fall in love with trips all over again and keep your favorite memories alive.
Travel journaling is therapeutic, fun, and provokes self-reflection and creativity. While we travel, we can be pretty busy – exploring different places, sleeping on planes, meeting new people. But just because you’re busy during your trip doesn’t mean you can’t keep a travel journal!
Keeping a travel journal is even more rewarding when you can make it personal with mementos (and other travel journal ideas I’m sharing below!)
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://www.shegoesthedistance.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Copy-of-Copy-of-Untitled.png)
And if you’re just here for the prompts, you can jump to the bottom of the post or download the free ‘Where She Goes’ Travel Journal Prompts list from The Travel Library .
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Let’s get into everything there is to know about travel journaling and the creative ways you can go about your trip memory-keeping.
Some of these links are affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through that link, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read my full disclosure !
All About Travel Journaling: What It Is, How To Do It, & Should You Keep A Travel Journal?
Keeping a travel journal is simply about recording memories from a trip. You can even keep track of and plan future trips in a travel journal (which I, as someone in love with lists, do often!)
There’s no one way to journal about travels. You could write during or after your trip, keep a travel bullet journal, track you running bucket list, save travel tips for your next trip – the important thing is to be creative and reflective!
Travel journaling is an amazing tool to see how travel has influenced us to grow as a person, from conquering fears to gaining self-confidence.
It can be used to beat the lonely times of solo travel or try to escape the post-trip blues by reliving those memories just made.
While we travel, there are so many highs, lows, emotions, funny moments and more that we say we will never forget. But to really never forget them, we have to reflect on them and document them! That’s where keeping a travel journal comes in handy.
The Best Travel Journals
There are lots of different options for travel journals. You could use a plain basic notebook or write in a travel diary with printed prompts and exercises. So, how do you know which one to choose?
The truth is, you can go through a lot of travel journals. Maybe you’ll get the chance to experience multiple different kinds! If you are naturally more creative, choose a mostly blank travel journal to which you can add personal touches.
If you struggle with what to write about, opt for journals with prompts built into them (or scroll down to the prompts below and download the list!)
Two travel journals that are both cute and interactive are the Wander Always Journal and the Page A Day Journal . These have prompts and activities within them, so there’s a bit less room for creativity. But, it also makes the process easier and faster with these bonuses.
Another travel journal that is perfect for those wanting a more sleek and clean look is the WNDRD Trip Planning Journal . As it says in the name, you can use this notebook for journaling and for trip planning with the specially printed planner pages.
Travel journals can also be great sentimental gifts for friends and family (or for yourself – I won’t tell!)
Travel Journal Apps
Everything has an app these days, right? Travel journaling can even be done on your phone! Some apps for travel journaling include:
- Travel Diaries
There’s also a sweet app called Journi, where you can create photo albums with diary entries and track your trip on a map. Then you can print or share these mini albums! You can group your photos while traveling or after so that they are easy to find. This way won’t be lost in your camera roll!
Creative Travel Journal Ideas
If you want to do more than just write in your travel journal, then there are many ways to make it special and personalized!
These unique travel journal ideas are meant to get you thinking about how to make your love for travel or the travels themselves come alive.
Look for inspiration everywhere. Maybe you have a ton of extra coins lying around from your trip to Italy . Or you saved those flowers you picked near the coast of France and they are now dried. These can all be accessories used to bring your travel memories back to life in your journal!
Photo Pocket
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://www.shegoesthedistance.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_8498-1440x2160.jpg)
The first travel journal idea is to add a photo pocket to the back or front of your journal. This is a super simple way to create a little storage of your photos without having to spend time doing a complete album!
Simply take a piece of cardstock or stiff paper and cut it into a rectangle large enough to hold your photos. You can even create a scoop like mind so they peek out.
Then add adhesive to the bottom and sides and attach it to wherever there is a sturdy spot on your journal. Voila, you have a place to put all those photos instead of letting them get buried in your phone!
Scrapbook Layout
While the first idea to making your travel journal more creative was a simple way to include photos in your journal, this version takes a bit more time and creativity.
In your travel journal, you can either leave space on the pages as you write or write and layout photos at the same time to create a commemorative mini travel scrapbook.
You’ll need small adhesive, scissors, and some creative juices flowing to transform blank pages into something beautiful.
Decorating your travel journal is another way to give it more personality and bring out the fun of your trips.
You can opt for inexpensive sheets of stickers or find specific decals you fall in love with to tell the story of your trip!
Good places to buy unique stickers and decals are Etsy , Amazon , and Society6 .
Here are some of my favorites for an aesthetic travel journal cover and pages!
- Go Travel Decal
- Trip Planning Stickers
- Vintage Vinyl Stickers
- Gold & Black Aesthetic Travel Stickers
Add Your Own Art
Take the design of your travel journal to the next level by channeling your inner artist. Use paint to decorate the outside. Doodle your favorite places on the pages or the cover to bring you back to a place.
Whatever artistic addition you can make to your travel journal, the more personal to and reflective of you it will be.
Preserving Tickets, Passes, & Other Mundane Mementos
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://www.shegoesthedistance.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_8480-1440x960.jpg)
One of the best travel journal ideas is to preserve all of the extra bits from your trip – things like train tickets, museum passes, and local maps – to add to your writing entries.
They may seem useless after your trip, but these tokens of your travels are the real elements that bring your memories to life. Seeing a word can help you imagine a place, but physically touching your metro pass or gallery ticket takes you right back to the moment you used it.
Tape these small papers to page corners, stuff them in the photo pocket, or even use them as little bookmarks to organize your journal.
Choose Something to Collect
Make your travel journal completely unique by sticking with a theme. This idea for travel journals will take some time to execute throughout your travels, but it can be a special way to remember each place you’ve been to.
Whether it is stamps, postcards, or boarding passes, build up a consistent collection of them from wherever you travel.
Then when it comes time to assemble your journal, you have a cute consistent theme and a visually appealing diary to document every place you have been.
Travel Journal Prompts for Reflection & Memory-Keeping
Travel journal prompts are ways to combat writer’s block and inspire creativity. To make these prompts easier to reference, you can download the free printable of ‘Where She Goes’ Travel Journal Prompts from The Travel Library, where you’ll also have access to resources like my girl’s packing list and Lightroom photo presets.
The Journey
- What was the journey like to be here? What happened on the way to your destination?
- Did you learn anything new on the journey?
- Who did you meet while traveling to this place?
- What was your favorite part of the journey?
- Did you reach here by car, plane, train?
- Was it a long journey? How did you feel once you reached your destination?
- What songs did you listen to on the way that take you back to this trip?
The Destination
- Describe your current surroundings.
- How does this place make you feel?
- Why did you want to be here? Did you want to be here?
- What surprised you most about this place?
- Who are you traveling with?
- What have you learned about this place since arriving?
- What’s a funny story you would tell your friend about this trip?
- Where did you explore off-the-beaten-path?
- Did you try any unique foods?
- How would you describe this place to a friend or family member?
- Name one thing you never want to forget about this place.
- What is a memory you’ll cherish forever from this trip?
- Did you enjoy your trip? If not, why?
- What did you learn about yourself after visiting this place?
- What could have gone better?
- How do you feel after leaving? Would you return?
- Name three things you are grateful for from this trip.
- Describe your favorite photo from this trip.
General Memory-Keeping
- Write about the first travel memory that comes to mind.
- Doodle a monument or favorite place you have visited that made you want to pinch yourself.
- Describe your first travel experience. What were you feeling? Scared? Excited? Anxious?
- Make a list of all the people you’ve met while traveling.
- What’s one thing you would change about travel?
- What’s one thing you want to do better while traveling?
- Where’s your favorite place to travel with family? Describe it in vivid detail.
- Describe a place you’ve visited through using all five senses.
- If you could choose one place you’ve been to stay forever, which one would it be?
Final Tips for Travel Journaling
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://www.shegoesthedistance.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_8504-1440x960.jpg)
Hopefully with all these travel journal ideas and writing prompts, you feel more comfortable and excited to document your travels! Here are some extra tips to make travel journaling work for you:
- Keep your travel journal with you as you are on the go. This may seem obvious, but when you think about it, we don’t want to pause our day to go write about what’s happening that very second. Instead, have your journal with you to doodle your surroundings or write down specific feelings you have at the moment. You can elaborate later!
- Write down keywords to escape writer’s block. If you have trouble getting started, jot down a few words that come to mind when you are looking at a prompt. Often when writing, we get overwhelmed by what the finished product should look like that we can’t even start! Start as small as keywords and as your ideas come in the writing will flow.
- Use every sense for details. An easy way to get more creative and describe a moment well is to think about it from the perspective of all five senses you experienced with. What sounds did you hear, things do you see, flavors did you taste?
Let me know what you think of these travel journal ideas, prompts, & tips with a comment!
Save this guide to Pinterest for later reference!
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://www.shegoesthedistance.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/42.jpg)
The more memories we make, the more important it is to jot them down so we have them forever. Tell me if you’re excited about travel journaling like me!
Michela is a travel writer and photographer living in northern Italy. She is passionate about helping people make the most of their travels by sharing advice gained from her personal experiences, off-the-beaten-path destinations and memorable itineraries. Browse her top articles or have her help you plan your itinerary to your dream destination!
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9 Tips For Keeping A Memorable Travel Journal
![tips for keeping travel journal tips for keeping travel journal](https://www.travelawaits.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Louisa-Rogers-Louisa-Rogers.jpeg?resize=150%2C150)
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My sister gave me my first travel diary the year I turned 14, when my family took a trip to Italy. A small, yellow-lined notebook — I still have it in my box of childhood journals. I kept lists like “Souvenirs I Bought,” “Hotels We Stayed At,” “People I Met,” “Languages I Heard,” “Menus,” “Places Of Interest,” and “Anecdotes” (foreshadowing my future writer self!).
My 14-year-old self was onto something: Creating lists is a great way to capture the essence of a trip in your diary. Whether you’re going 10 miles away or to the other side of the world, a travel diary can enhance the journey and be a valuable keepsake. Here are suggestions for keeping a memorable one.
![tips for keeping travel journal Pen and journal on wooden desk.](https://i0.wp.com/travelawaits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/pen-and-journal-on-wooden-des11bf9d.jpg?resize=1024%2C667&ssl=1)
Alix Kreil / Shutterstock
1. Pick Your Pen And Paper
Although I recognize in the digital age that many people “write” on an iPad or phone, I’m a big believer in the benefit of noting thoughts down the old-fashioned way, on paper, because the mind-body connection is more immediate. First, be sure you like the pen you select! Black felt-tip PaperMates have been my pen of choice for decades, and I’m very territorial. I don’t even like lending them to my husband!
I’m equally particular about my notebook. The wrong size or shape will never do. My requirements are that it’s 5” by 7”, its pages lie flat, it’s lined and hardback. If you’re traveling abroad, you might find it fun to shop for a journal wherever you’re visiting, because you’ll find a different selection of notebooks than you find in your home country.
My husband is British, so whenever we’re visiting my in-laws, I love picking up A5 notebooks in stationery shops. An evocative article in The New York Times by novelist Mary Gordon describes her pleasure in buying notebooks in France, Ireland, and Italy.
2. Choose When And Where To Write
You can start your diary before you even begin the trip, describing your plans and hopes, and continue it when you’re back home. When you’re embarking on a trip, you can describe your hopes, intentions, and fears; as you’re returning home, your memories, feelings, and next steps.
Different times offer different benefits: I’m a fan of Julia Cameron’s “Morning Pages” concept from her bestselling classic The Artist’s Way, where you scribble your wayward thoughts just after waking up. But you could also write late in the day, reflecting on your day’s explorations. And it always helps to record your impressions soon after you experience them, while they’re fresh.
As for where, certainly in your hotel room or rental apartment works. But it’s also fun sitting in a cafe, watching people while jotting notes down in your journal. One of my favorite memories is writing in a Seattle restaurant, where I spent several hours waiting for a late-night bus, eavesdropping on conversations I heard at the next table and scribbling snippets into my journal, making up stories about the other diners.
I love writing on airplanes, where sitting at 35,000 feet and looking at the clouds and the changing landscape below gives me a big-picture, expansive feeling.
What about trains? On a train in India, a man sitting to my right peered over my shoulder, started reading my journal, and proceeded to tell his friends what I had written — which luckily was not about them! Rather than offended, I burst out laughing. It made me realize how radically different boundaries are in different cultures. I couldn’t imagine someone openly reading my journal in the U.S.
![tips for keeping travel journal One of the authors many travel journals.](https://i0.wp.com/travelawaits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Front-And-Back-Cover-Of-Travel-Diary-Louisa-Rogers.jpeg?resize=1024%2C765&ssl=1)
3. Include The Day, Date, And Location
Your future self will thank you! In my early journals, I thought it looked hip thinking I was transcending time by skipping the date. Now, it’s a pain trying to find an entry back in the annals of my history.
4. Develop Your Observation Skills
A journal offers the opportunity to notice everything from architecture to wildlife. Focus on all your senses, then describe what you experience. Hearing, for example: When I’ve visited Muslim countries, I’ve been deeply moved by the haunting tones of the call to worship. Texture? The feeling of cobblestones under my shoes. Or taste — whether you’re describing a gumbo in New Orleans or a risotto in Sicily, putting down your impressions of a dish you savored will help to keep the memory alive.
![tips for keeping travel journal Man with outstretched hand, mountain scene.](https://i0.wp.com/travelawaits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/man-with-outstretched-hand-mcd1d47.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1)
Twinsterphoto / Shutterstock
5. Write About The People You Meet And See
Did you learn something new from a stranger? Were the local people welcoming? In my 1976 travel journal, I describe Ellen, the young woman from Michigan who I met in an Amsterdam hostel. She always wore a pink sweater and told me hair-raising stories about hitchhiking across Europe. A few years later, on the island of Crete, I met Ty from Alberta, and my travel journal from that era describes our walks to monasteries on dirt tracks lined with olive trees, and how she listened to me as I poured out my grief about the loss of my mother a year earlier.
6. Track What You Want To Change
While travel is often seen as a way to indulge, I’ve often found it easier and more natural to let go of unwanted habits when I’m away from home. I’ve quit smoking and stopped eating Doritos (the mainstay of my daily diet before I taught myself to cook!), both when on the road. One strategy that helps is to keep track of what you want to change, whether it’s exercising more, eating differently, handling conflict more productively, or spending less. As the management consultant Peter Drucker said, “You can’t improve what you don’t measure.”
7. Describe Your Moods
Emotions for most of us are more intense when away from home because we can’t depend on our usual anchors. This can be great — and not so great. Describe your highs and lows. Journals are a safe place to rant — better there than with your travel companions.
![tips for keeping travel journal Louisa Rogers’s travel journals.](https://i0.wp.com/travelawaits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/louisa-rogerss-travel-journae60100.jpg?ssl=1)
Louisa Rogers
8. Use Your Journal To Boost Your Creativity
On trips away from home, I’m often inspired to try different writing forms, like rhymed verse, haiku, and limericks. Many people sketch. If you don’t want to draw, you can still collect ticket stubs, museum passes, bus tickets, currency, and other local memorabilia and then create collages in your journal. All you need is a small pair of scissors and a glue stick. I’m not great at watercolor, but I often paint a streak down the side of a journal page for a burst of color.
9. Brainstorm On The Written Page
Being in a different environment often brings a fresh perspective on our lives back home. On a trip to Britain in 1976, I described in my journal the many charms I observed in the British way of life. Towards the end of our visit, while writing in my journal one day, I had an epiphany: I’d try to write an article for American readers who were unfamiliar with the public footpath system or (then low-cost) bed and breakfasts. On the flight home, I highlighted relevant passages from my journal. And indeed, a few months later, I sold the article to an airline magazine — and thus was a writing career born.
I’m not alone! Elizabeth Gilbert became the author of the best-selling 2007 memoir Eat, Pray, Love after her year traveling abroad following a traumatic divorce. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, wrote a business plan on spare napkins while traveling across the U.S. And Howard Schultz, former chairman and CEO of Starbucks, hatched the idea of creating a coffee company while visiting Italy.
Travel diaries are just not about travel, they’re about life. As the classic American travel writer Paul Theroux said, “Travel is a state of mind. It has nothing to do with existence or the exotic. It is almost always an inner experience.”
No better way exists to discover and express that “inner experience” than through a travel diary. If you’re planning a trip, grab the moment and get started! Go find yourself the perfect notebook and pen for your taste, and start your journey.
Further Reading:
- How Writing About Travel Changed My Life And Can Change Yours
- 18 Great Summer Reads For Travel Lovers
![tips for keeping travel journal Image of Louisa Rogers](https://www.travelawaits.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Louisa-Rogers-Louisa-Rogers.jpeg?resize=150%2C150)
Louisa writes articles and essays about travel, expat life, physical and psychological health, spirituality, and food. In 2022, four of her articles were among Travel Awaits' 25 most-read pieces.
Travel Journal: Ideas, Tips, and How To Write a Travel Diary
- Travel Journal
Traveling has the potential to be wildly fulfilling. It exposes you to new cultures, different perspectives and unique experiences. The further you travel the more you are pushed out of your comfort zone. And the more you are pushed out of your comfort zone, the more you learn about yourself and the world around you.
One of the most popular types of journals is a travel journal. By having a travel diary, you can keep all these new experiences and knowledge in one place where you can reflect on them.
What is a travel journal?
Travel journals are a place where you can write about trips you have taken, what you learned during and the experiences you had. It is a collection of adventures, stories, memories and discovery. It doesn’t matter where you're going or who you’re traveling with, an online trip journal can come anywhere.
Why Write A Journal When Traveling?
There are many benefits of keeping a journal when traveling, but here are a few to start with:
Remember More
By writing down the things you want to do on your trip and the things you have done during it, you won’t forget the reasons you wanted to go and will remember more of your visit.
When traveling somewhere new, you will learn a lot about that place’s culture, customs and people. By having a place to write down your observations, you will absorb more of your surroundings.
Reflect More
A journal is a place to record new things you have discovered while exploring various places you visit. By having all these new findings in one place, you will be able to look back and reflect on what you have learned and apply it to other parts of your life.
How To Write Travel Journals: 5 Tips To Get The Most Out Of Your Journaling
You don’t need to be traveling to Timbuktu to write a travel diary. Your writing can start with a family vacation or a weekend getaway. All you need is a destination and your holiday journal can begin!
1. Use your journal to plan your trip
Your trip journal can begin before your trip has even started. Use your journal to start planning the things you want to do. It can be anything from a cool restaurant you want to eat at, a hike you want to go on or different sights you want to see. Write down whatever is on your trip check-list, so you don’t forget it.
Once you know what you want to do, do some research and figure out the best way to do it. If you want to go see a special monument, figure out the best way to get there and put it in your journal. If you want to do some cool activities, write down the contact information of the people, places or tours that facilitate them. Your journal is also a great place to keep the contact information of your accommodations and transportation.
2. Write about what you imagine it will be like
Sometimes when you travel, your destination is wildly different than what you expected. Maybe you expected the local food to be bad and it turned out to be delicious. Maybe you imagined the town to be smaller than it actually is. Maybe you thought you would be more comfortable with the language. Whatever it is, think about writing it down before you arrive. It will be interesting to compare these predictions to what you actually experienced.
3. Write during your trip
It is always easier to remember things when they are fresh in your brain, so try and write as much as you can while traveling; every day if you can. Your journal entries don’t have to be long, but let them highlight what you feel was most important or exciting. How did you feel during your visit to the local market? What did you smell, taste and hear? Did you learn something new from the person you spoke to at the bar? Were you surprised by the clothes people were wearing? What was the view from the top of the mountain like? Before you go to bed, try and recall what you did that day, what you thought and how you felt. This will serve as a great way to remember more from your trip, but will also help you reflect and grow from what you encountered.
4. Add pictures to your journal
Even though your journal is meant for writing, pictures are still worth a thousand words. Combining pictures with your first-hand accounts of what they represent, or what happened when they were taken, will make for an even more comprehensive narrative of your travels. Don’t worry about glueing or taping anything either. Penzu allows you to upload pictures straight into your online travel journal, so you can keep your pictures and words connected and organized.
5. Write about your trip after you leave
Since you write about your trip before you arrive, you should also write about it after you leave.
- What was it like?
- What did you learn?
- What surprised you?
- What disappointed you?
It is important to reflect on your travels, so you can retain new understandings and apply them to future adventures. This is also a great way to learn about yourself, other people you may have travelled with and how you can grow. Step back from all the things you did and try to see the big picture. It may surprise you.
10 Travel Journal Ideas To Inspire You
The blank pages of your travel journal may not be serving as great inspiration, but your new trip should! Here are 10 travel journal ideas to get those creative juices flowing, kick-start your writing and help you get the most out of your travels. We hope these journal prompts help!
1. Why are you going?
Not every trip needs an explanation and not every vacation needs a justification. People travel for all sorts of different reasons or for no reason at all, but if your travel has purpose, write about it. Even if you’re traveling for the sake of it, that is a reason worth talking about too.
2. Write about your expectations.
As we mentioned above, expectations can wildly differ from reality, especially when going somewhere you’ve never been or going with someone you have never travelled with before. Jot down what you think the trip will be like, or hope it will be like.
3. What are you going to do?
Write about the things you want to do, the sights you want to see, the music you want to dance to, the food you want to taste. Writing it all down will get you excited and help you not to forget.
4. Write about the people.
Did you meet anyone new? Did you make a new friend? Were the locals welcoming? Did you learn something new from a stranger? Did you learn something new from a friend? People can really make a trip. Whether you came with them, or met them there, write about how the people you encountered affected your experience.
5. Write about the food.
Just because you call it your travel diary, doesn’t mean it can’t double as a food diary . If there are any foods you loved, dishes you hated or recipes you can’t live without, write them down to remember them all. Maybe some new fare you tried will influence your tastes when you return home.
6. The ups and the downs.
What did you like most about the trip? What did you like the least?
7. Write about yourself.
Reflect on the new experiences you had, what made you uncomfortable and what enticed you. Did you learn anything new about yourself on the trip? Did being somewhere else expose something you hadn’t seen in yourself before? Traveling can help people grow. Think about your journey and if it helped you grow in any way.
8. Write a travel guide.
If you knew friends were going to the same place, what would you tell them to do? Write down your recommendations and the stuff that should not be missed.
9. What would you have changed?
Is there anything about the trip you would have changed? Is there anything else you wish you did? Anything you wish you didn’t do? Write about your travels and how you can improve them for the next time you go away.
10. Where do you want to go next?
We all have a wish-list of places we want to go. Write yours down and try to start checking them off.
Using Penzu for Your Travel Journal
Penzu’s journal software allows you to access your journal from any computer, smartphone or tablet. Penzu will be your travel journal app ; all you need is your mobile phone or tablet and can write in in it, with or without wifi. You never have to miss an entry or forget a moment, as Penzu can come with you around the world. No internet necessary.
Now that you know what to write in a travel diary and how to write one, all you need to decide is where to go. Pick a place get start your online journal today!
There's no time like the present - start your free online journal today!
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Solo Traveler
Solo travel tips, destinations, stories... the source for those who travel alone.
Tips for Those Who Struggle to Keep a Travel Journal
![tips for keeping travel journal Janice Waugh](https://solotravelerworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Screen-Shot-2014-07-30-at-6.57.03-PM-100x100.png)
October 28, 2019 by Janice Waugh
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://solotravelerworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/writing-travel-journal.jpg)
A travel journal is the best travel souvenir ever.
I keep a travel journal
In my journal I ensure that I get the details down such as date, time, place, cost… When I have the time, I expand on these with my discoveries, feelings and learnings. And, of course, I expand further as I turn my journal entries into posts for Solo Traveler.
In your journal, you'll want the details of what you did and where, but at the end of a trip it's also nice to have a journal rich with the meaning of your travels.
There are many resources and ways to keep a travel journal. From the most traditional leather-bound journal using a fountain pen (that's my niece's preference). to going full-on technology with an app for your phone, here are your options.
More important than the technology you choose, below are also tips on how to write and get the most out of your journal.
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://solotravelerworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/solo-traveler-taking-photo.jpg)
Use your phone for your journal. I like the Diaro app. Take a picture, add it and others to your day's entry, a map will be added showing the location of the photos, enter a title and text and you're done. You can always go back and add more photos and text at a later time.
Table of Contents
Best App for Keeping a Travel Journal
I like Diaro. It's a free app (there's a pro version) you can get on Google Play and the App Store. You can have it accessible whenever your phone is unlocked or you can require a password specifically for your Diaro app.
Making an entry is easy.
- Upload a photo or many. A map will be automatically added to your entry based on the data in your photo.
- Add a title and text which can be a quick note or a long journal entry.
- Add a tag if you like.
If you want to go back in time to see the journal entries from a specific trip, you can search by date, tags, folder or even location. If you get the pro version you can sync your journal across all your devices including online using a Dropbox account. The pro version also let's you download your entries to a PDF document and gets rid of the tiny ad at the bottom of the app.
There are other apps as well. For comparison, check out Journo Travel Journal and Blog.
For more details on how to write a great travel journal, read the nine tips in the next section and the meaning of the W.R.I.T.E. acronym in the last section.
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://solotravelerworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/paper-journal-.jpg)
With an old school journal, you're able to save anything that will lie flat in your book, from flight boarding passes to flowers.
Go Old School with Your Travel Journal
![tips for keeping travel journal This is a fun and inspired travel journal.](https://solotravelerworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Screen-Shot-2013-10-27-at-6.01.42-PM.png)
This is a fun and inspiring travel journal.
I like a notebook and pen as the information will never be lost with a technology change and the journals look great on your shelf.
- Choose a sturdy journal. It could be the classic Moleskine Notebook or one that is a little more fun such as I Was Here .
- Document your itinerary. Rough out your itinerary in a few pages at the front of your journal. You can do this before you leave. Allow lots of space between points so you can keep track of how your itinerary changes as you travel.
- Every entry doesn't have to be brilliant . But every day should have an entry. Writing every day, even small details, will help you maintain your momentum. Miss a few days and sometimes the practice of writing a journal can be lost for the entire trip so try to make a notation daily, no matter how small.
- Aim for brilliance once in a while. When you can take the time to sit down and think back over the day, think about the places you went, the people you met, the food you ate, the scents you took notice of, your activities and the things you learned. As you do take note of what makes you smile. Your smile indicates an important moment. If you want you can even itemize these under a heading: What Made Me Smile Today.
- Find your theme: Consider all the things that made you smile. Is there a theme? As a whole, what did the day mean to you? What did you learn? How did you change? What surprised you? State one of these in one sentence or a series of three short sentences. This is the beginning of a great journal entry.
- Expand on the theme. Once you've completed your short introduction, expand. Explain what you learned. Provide details of the history or technology or your own potential – whatever it is that you learned. Describe what you thought before and after, why you changed your thinking, how it felt when it happened, what it means to you.
![tips for keeping travel journal 9 Tips on writing a travel journal](https://solotravelerworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Screen-Shot-2013-12-05-at-11.42.25-AM.png)
- Go multimedia. Don't be afraid to sketch what you saw. Have glue with you so that you can add theater tickets, postcards or part of a brochure to make you pages interesting.
- End with gratitude. You spent the day exploring a place other than home. We understand the world by contrasting one thing to another. Compare what you saw to what you live daily. Identify what you're grateful for in everyday life.
![tips for keeping travel journal](https://solotravelerworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/journal-doodle.jpg)
Journal doodling has become very popular. If you're not accustomed to doodling images, click here for lots of travel doodles that I'm sure you'll be able to draw.
The Basics for Writing a Good Journal Entry
![tips for keeping travel journal 9 Tips for writing a travel journal](https://solotravelerworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Screen-Shot-2013-12-05-at-11.40.26-AM.png)
- W – Share what actually happened. When, where and why it happened.
- R – Reflect on how all those Ws make you feel. Close your eyes to go deep into it.
- I – Now allow your writing of these events, feelings and thoughts to flow from your pen or keyboard. As you do, you'll investigate them more deeply. If you get stuck, close your eyes again or re-read what you’ve written. Then continue.
- T – Take the time to enjoy your reflecting and writing process.
- E – Embellish what you've written with photographs, ticket stubs, and other souvenirs.
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How to Keep a Travelers Notebook + Travel Journal Ideas
By: Author Laura Bronner
Posted on Last updated: January 18, 2021
![tips for keeping travel journal How to Keep a Travelers Notebook + Travel Journal Ideas](https://www.eternal-expat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/colton-sturgeon-N4fdQbMJ0nI-unsplash.jpg)
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I started my first traveler’s notebook while I was sitting at the airport waiting for my flight to Zurich. I was 20 years old and I was about to spend a semester studying abroad in a small town in the German-speaking side of Switzerland.
I didn’t even buy this traveler’s notebook for myself. I hadn’t thought that I might want to journal about my experiences. Instead, as a going-away present, my best friend gave it to me because she’d loved keeping one during her semester abroad.
This little gift changed everything. I wonder if Eternal Expat would even exist if I hadn’t started journaling way back in 2008.
I look back at that traveler’s notebook less and less often, but I still love paging through it every now and again. It was the rawest, most hilarious, and naive journaling I’ve ever done and I love peeking back into that part of my life.
Since 2008, I have kept countless other travel journals.
I have two from the year I lived in New Zealand. Three more from the two years I lived in and traveled around Australia. There’s the journal full of angst that I kept from the year I taught English in Korea.
Then I traveled around South East Asia for 6 months and wrote so much. In those short six months, I worked my way through two full notebooks. I thought one would be enough and I ended up buying another while I was on the road.
I was seeing new things every day and I wanted to document it all.
Those two notebooks are the most detailed travel journals that I’ve ever kept and I’m so glad I did because it was such a pivotal part of my 20s and it was an experience that brought me to where I am today.
But you don’t have to journal for any specific reason. You don’t have to have some end goal.
Keeping a traveler’s notebook should be for the joy of it all and while this post will help give you some guidance as to how to keep a fun traveler’s journal with some general travel journal ideas, there’s no right or wrong way to go about it.
It’s for your memories and to prove to your kids and grandkids one day that you were pretty cool back in your youth.
![tips for keeping travel journal travelers journals can be picked up at any book store or stationery store](https://www.eternal-expat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/sandra-wattad-ESHa5_JzKQM-unsplash.jpg)
Travel Journal Ideas
All of these travel journal ideas and prompts are great whether you’re moving abroad, taking a two-week trip, or going on a huge round the world adventure.
Most of these things will require some tape or a glue stick.
If I’m on the road and the hostel, hotel, or guest house where I’m staying doesn’t have tape or glue.
Then I’ll put it on the page where I eventually want it to be and just stick it in there once I’m back home or when I can find some elsewhere further down the road.
1. Write about stories, events, and people that you want to remember
The number one thing that a travel journal is for me is a place to look back on moments and memories.
I am, above all else, a writer (at least in my own head). I love nothing more than to spend hours writing in my journal about all the things that have happened in the last 24 hours.
I love recounting conversations with strangers, what the food from that random street stall tasted like, and how it all made me feel or what it reminded me of or made me think of that is familiar to me.
I think the thing that makes a traveler’s journal the most exciting is when you can recount specifics. If you are sitting in a little cafe or hostel on an island in Thailand, what do you see, what to do you hear, who is around you?
What about those funny German guys you met or that intelligent French woman who spoke three different languages and inspired you to keep practicing your Spanish.
Or perhaps there were random acts of kindness that you witnessed or beautiful sunsets that you think you’ll never forget (you will forget them until reminded by a photo or words in your notebook).
The most important thing is to think about what you’ll want to remember about your trip. What can’t be captured in a photograph? What will make you smile 10 years from now when you reread these journals over a few too many beers on a quiet Friday night?
![tips for keeping travel journal travel journal ideas will come to you as you sit in a cafe with your travelers notebook](https://www.eternal-expat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/toa-heftiba-QnUywvDdI1o-unsplash.jpg)
2. Keep ticket stubs for your traveler’s notebook
Like I mentioned above, I love adding things to my notebooks that remind me of moments.
If I go to a local show or a museum, I usually keep the tickets. I used to keep them all in a sort of memory box and only use my notebook for writing, but my parents went to Italy and turned their traveler’s notebook into a scrapbook and I was totally inspired.
Now I always put the ticket stubs in my notebook and then write about my experience.
It makes the notebook more visually appealing and it is also a nice memento, especially if it was something in a foreign language or that has beautiful images on it (like my ticket from the golden temple in Kyoto, Japan).
3. Write phrases in a new language
Traveling to South America and want to make sure you know how to ask for water, the bathroom, or if there is a room available at this hostel?
Or perhaps you’re visiting South Korea and you want to learn the alphabet so you can read the menu and figure out if you’re eating bulgogi (beef) or samgyeopsal (pork belly).
If I’m going to make notes about a new language, I always start at the back of the notebook.
If you just write things down on the next available page like you would a journal entry, it’s going to take a while to find that page every time you want it.
Starting from the back also means that if you want to write a few more phrases down that you learn, then you can continue to put them all in the same place.
Most of my notebooks from my travels around South East Asia have words in the back like cảm ơn (thank you in Vietnamese) or Sawasdee (hello in Thai).
![tips for keeping travel journal writing in my travelers notebook](https://www.eternal-expat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/hannah-olinger-8eSrC43qdro-unsplash.jpg)
4. Add drawings (even if you can’t draw)
I am not the best artist in the world. All of my art teachers in school told me I should probably consider taking a different elective once taking art was no longer required in high school (that still annoys me, to be honest!).
But sometimes you need a visual or sometimes you just want to doodle.
Sometimes when I’m traveling by myself, I will take my notebook out while I’m having a meal or in the evenings and I’ll just draw some pretty rudimentary sketches of different things that I loved about that day.
That could be a fruit that I ate that I’d never seen before or perhaps I’ll try to replicate what a plate of food looked like that I’ve never seen before traveling there.
Sometimes I just draw hearts or random lines because it’s entertaining and it adds more visual to my notebook.
If you enjoy doodling or drawing at all, your traveler’s notebook is a great place to create visuals of your travels.
![tips for keeping travel journal choosing postcards for my travelers notebook](https://www.eternal-expat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/christopher-flynn-TEX3MKBZwLA-unsplash.jpg)
5. Buy postcards
This used to be such a popular thing to do when I first started traveling back in 2008. I used to send postcards to everyone, especially my parents, when I was backpacking around Europe during college.
My mom saved all of the postcards and when I returned home, I added them to my notebook.
I know some people who send themselves postcards.
There’s something that feels a little bit more special about the postcard having traveled nearly as much as you have in order to get home. However, you can simply buy a postcard, write on the back of it (or not) and then add it to as a unique travel journal idea.
6. Add polaroid or other instant photos to your traveler’s Notebook
I know those little Polaroid cameras aren’t as popular as they used to be, but there are lots of places, especially around Europe, where photomats are still very popular.
All over France and in a lot of places around Germany, I stumbled upon photo machines. I think it’s so fun to take photos with the people that I’m traveling with.
It’s a great way to capture moments and actually have them physically printed.
I don’t know about you, but I always say I’m going to print my photos from my phone or camera after a trip and I never do. So these are a nice way to make sure you have physical evidence of your youth, of your travels, of those moments with strangers or people that you love traveling with.
![tips for keeping travel journal my travelers notebooks covered in stickers](https://www.eternal-expat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_0112-e1582064278485.jpg)
Some of my travelers notebooks covered in beer labels and stickers from my favorite restaurants
7. Beer or wine labels of your favorite drinks
This is my number one favorite thing to put inside my traveler’s notebooks. I am a big fan of trying different beers or wines when I travel and I usually try to peel the labels off of ones I’ve never tried before, especially if I really like it.
The great thing about these labels is that they’re usually still sticky when you take them off, so you can stick them straight on or into your notebook without needing glue or tape. If I’m by myself, I’ll take the time while I’m drinking the beer to write a little bit about the flavor.
If I’m out with other people I’ll simply save the label and write about it later.
8. Cut out maps of your favorite neighborhoods and add your favorite stops
This is perhaps my second favorite way to decorate my traveler’s notebook.
This started way back when I was studying abroad in Switzerland and backpacking around Europe. I fell in love with little streets or neighborhoods in Milan, Paris , Munich, and Brussels.
I wanted to remember those little places and why I loved them. So I would always grab the free local maps (is this still a thing in 2020?) and I would cut out the area that I fell in love with.
I put a little mark for the great falafel spot or the park where I spent hours reading a book. I mark the little things that I loved in that area on the map and I glue it into my journal and write more about that city and what I loved about it.
![tips for keeping travel journal business cards that I keep from my favorite shops](https://www.eternal-expat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_0118.jpg)
A business card that a man actually stamped for me after I bought a bracelet from his shop
9. Keep business cards from cool shops
This is something I started doing more recently since I started my blog.
I like to keep business cards from cute shops where I got souvenirs or from the best hotels I stayed in.
I usually do this so I can write about it later in complete detail on my blog, but I also love doing this so that I remember the name.
10. Record how a place makes you feel
It’s easy to write about what a place looked like or what you did for the day, but in 20 or 30 years from now, will you remember how those places made you feel?
Will you remember how the sight of Angkor Wat gave you goosebumps or how you felt when you were sick with Delhi Belly and afraid you may need to go to the hospital in a foreign country.
Writing about my feelings seems to come naturally, more so than writing descriptive narratives of what I saw for the day and sometimes I actually have to make sure I don’t just write about how I feel but also what I see.
But I’m always happiest to relive the emotions as well as the visuals when I go back over my travel journals.
![tips for keeping travel journal keeping track of how you feel when you write in your travel journal](https://www.eternal-expat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ana-tavares-VDwINWBdX0Y-unsplash.jpg)
11. Use it to keep track of recommendations from other travelers
Back in 2008 and 2009 and most of 2010 and 2011, I traveled without a phone, nevermind without a smartphone.
I don’t think I got an iPhone until around 2016, so before that, I used my travel journal to keep track of everything. Including when someone would recommend a place to stay or a restaurant.
For the most part, I usually just look up the location on Google maps and put a pin in it with a note these days. But once I’ve been and if I really liked it, I’ll add it to my notebook.
However, if you’re traveling somewhere where you won’t have access to data or the internet or you simply don’t want to travel with an expensive smartphone, there’s no better place to keep track of recommendations than in your traveler’s notebook.
12. Don’t forget to decorate the outside of your traveler’s notebook
You don’t have to cover it with stickers or beer labels like I do, but there’s I do think decorating the outside of the notebook is just as fun as filling the inside.
If you are using a notebook for a single trip or round the world adventure or for that year you lived in Japan teaching English, then I recommend covering the outside with things that are specific to that country or trip.
Most of my traveler’s notebooks from Asia have stickers from cute shops I went to or labels from Angkor beer and Chiang Beer. My notebooks from Mexico have Modelo labels and a sticker from my favorite chilaquiles restaurant.
![tips for keeping travel journal decorating your travelers notebook](https://www.eternal-expat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/colton-sturgeon-N4fdQbMJ0nI-unsplash.jpg)
13. Don’t let too many days pass before you write things down
My final bit of advice for these travel journal ideas is to try to find the time to write regularly in your travel notebook, especially if you are visiting new places every few days.
If you let four or five days go by and each of those days was packed with sites and museums and restaurants and tours then you’ll end up feeling so overwhelmed when you finally sit down to write about your experiences.
You’ll be so much more likely to remember things if you try to write even just a few paragraphs at the end of every day or at the start of every day about the day before.
The Best Travelers Notebook to Buy
This is totally personal.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become less interested in what the notebook looks like and more interested in whether or not it’s going to fit in my purse so I can take it with me everywhere.
I’m interested in what the lines look like, are they too wide so I can’t write very much on a single page? I definitely don’t want a notebook with blank pages, but for others who love to draw what they see more than writing or who want more space to make it like a scrapbook, that might be ideal.
I love putting stickers and beer labels on my notebooks, so I don’t care very much about what color it is or what it looks like on the outside.
However, if you feel happier with a pretty notebook, then you’ll want to check out cute stationery stores like Paperchase or Kikki K or order something unique off of Etsy .
![tips for keeping travel journal writing in my travel journal](https://www.eternal-expat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/fotografierende-jw3xbuelpKM-unsplash.jpg)
Figure out what works best for you and don’t let anyone make you feel bad about it. This traveler’s notebook is going to be home to your deepest thoughts and happiest memories. Buy what you want.
These are just a few notebooks that I’ve loved in the past and have bought on several occasions.
- Bullet Journals : These notebooks don’t have lines, they have dots, which I have recently started loving. They are perfect for those that want to combine writing with drawing as well as pasting stickers and postcards inside their notebook. They’re colorful and super affordable at 3 notebooks for less than $8. Grab a set of bullet journals on Amazon here .
- Moleskin Notebooks : Moleskin hardcover notebooks used to be all I used. I still love them for journaling or as my to-do list notebook for work. They come in plain black and I used to cover them in loads of different stickers and beer labels. I love how many pages there are and how narrow the lines are so you can fit a ton of writing on one page. Plus, they are super durable so you can get them sandy at the beach, they can get a bit too hot in your backpack in Thailand, or they can get a little bit damp and they’re still fine. Get a hardcover moleskin here . They also have softcover moleskins which are equally great if you want something lighter. Grab a softcover moleskin here .
- Kraft Notebooks : A friend bought me this pack of notebooks a few years ago and I absolutely love them. They are perfect for shorter trips because they don’t have a ton of pages in them. I always like to start a new notebook for each trip, so these smaller ones meant I wasn’t leaving loads of pages empty in notebooks that were too big. They are small enough to fit into a purse or the front of a backpack and because they are still relatively plain on the cover I don’t feel bad about covering them in stickers. Get a pack of Kraft notebooks on Amazon here .
- Buy them as you travel. Some of my favorite traveler’s journals are ones that I’ve bought in book shops or stationery stores on my travels. I have one from Australia with a picture of the Sydney Opera House on it, one from New Zealand with a picture of a Kiwi bird on it, and the ones that I buy in Mexico all have Spanish on the covers, which makes me smile and will one day remind me I lived immersively in Spanish.
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Tips on Keeping a Travel Journal
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Travel Journal Ideas: Tips on Writing Down Your Travels
By Kelly Westhoff
Remember that old Travel journal prompt. the poetry trick from elementary school?
Some times your doodles can be a way to get your travel journal going. The one where you print a person’s name in block letters down the edge of a page and then write a sentence or one word starting with that letter to describe the person?
Haul it out and use it for the city or country in which you’re traveling. Sure it’s retro, but it’s kinda fun, and a perfect travel journal prompt to get it flowing for you on the road.
Buy a postcard and mail it to yourself. On the back, describe one thing in your immediate view. Do this more than once. These tiny missives in my mailbox make the act of coming home more bearable.
Copy yourself on any email you send out about your trip. I’ve found my emails usually contain stories that never make it to my journal. It’s tiresome to write the same thing twice. If I type it up, I rarely write it down. When I get home, I print all the emails and paste them in my journal.
Instead of transcribing your day in rambling paragraphs, open your journal in the midst of random activities, note the time and in one or two sentences, what you are doing. This brings your journal a tone of immediacy as your words are “right now” as opposed to a recollection at the end of a long day.
Put away your camera and draw a picture instead. The act of drawing forces you to narrow your focus and really see something. I’m hardly an artist, but I love my lopsided travel sketches. If you just can’t squelch your snap-happy ways, draw something first and then take a picture. You can laugh at your poor attempt once home.
Draw a map of a neighborhood or city block you’ve come to know. Plot your hotel, the kiosk where you buy bottles of water, the café where you discovered a killer cappuccino, the shop where you bought a postcard, the street vendor mixing pungent dishes you don’t have the guts to try.
You’ve got five senses and five fingers. Trace your hand on a page in your journal and fill each finger with quick description of what you can see, hear, taste, touch and smell.
Write a haiku. Remember the rules? Three lines of counted syllables: 5,7,5. Traditionally, a haiku is supposed to be about nature, but I’ve use the format throughout my travel diaries. Here’s a haiku from my Roam journal:
At home, I have daily routines. I get up at a set time. I buy coffee from the same place. I drive the same roads to work. When I travel, those routines get broken, but I’ve found I often create new ones. What new routines have you created for yourself on the road?
In a book titled Sold, author Patricia McCormick traces a Nepali girl’s journey from a simple mountain village to a big city brothel. When the girl enters a city for the first time, she is overwhelmed by the sheer number of people doing different activities right next to each other. Here is an excerpt:
“I crane my neck this way, then that, looking at a man scooping hot popcorn into a paper cone, next to a barber lathering an old man’s face, next to a boy plucking the feathers from a lifeless chicken, next to an ear cleaner, his customer grunting with satisfaction, next to a woman whose arms are draped with a hundred necklaces, next to a man with a flute coaxing a snake out of a basket, next to a tailor pumping the treadles of his sewing machine, next to…”
The list takes up an entire page. Try this idea in your journal.
![Tips on Keeping a Travel Journal 2 Postcards from the Czech Republic I penned to myself. On the back of one I wrote: 'Sitting in garden of Italian restaurant and flying ants keep falling on me. I just found a wing on my shoulder. There’s an ant on my paper. They’re beginning to fall with more frequency. I’m getting the check. I’m wearing red shoes.'](https://www.gonomad.com/images/traveldesk/0712/journal-images/postcard.jpg)
Keep a daily list of the 5 best things that happen to you. This sounds like an easy task, but travelers too often dwell on the negative, like a gross bathroom, a taxi driver that ripped you off or getting lost on the subway.
But if you know you have to make a list of “good” things that happen every day, your perception will start to shift and you’ll notice and appreciate the tiny bright spots, like the sweetest pineapple you ever tasted, the store clerk that forgave your incorrect change, or the man working the Internet café who gave you a discount because you’d been there three out of the last four days.
Write about a person you encountered on the road. Describe his or her hair, skin, eyes, teeth, jewelry. Did you simply watch this person or did you actually exchange words? When I’ve taken this on, it’s turned into a daily, competitive, personal assignment.
After two or three days of sitting in a café and describing a customer nearby, I get bored. Pretty soon, I’m no longer content just to describe the first person I see. Soon, I’m on the lookout for someone “different” and I go out of my way to talk to strangers so that I’ve got an interesting person to write about.
Want to start a travel blog?
Here’s a list of Web sites that provide free blogs for travelers. Each boasts its own layout, photo posting and map services, so click on a few examples to find the one that you like best.
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Capture Priceless Memories with this Kids Travel Journal Printable (Free PDF Template)
Keeping a kids travel journal is not just a great way for your kids to remember the details of their trip, but it also captures those precious memories that may later be swept away in the fog of time.
Your kid’s travel journal will become an heirloom more precious than any other souvenirs you can bring back from your trip. Plus, a journal is an excellent way to keep the kiddos entertained during road trips, long plane rides, and other inevitable travel downtime!
While any old notebook or journal works, if you want to encourage kids to keep track of their experiences, you need to provide some travel journal ideas.
![tips for keeping travel journal Kid travel journal writing](https://we3travel.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/kids-travel-journal-writing.jpg)
Kids Travel Journal Printables
One thing I’ve learned from my daughter is that writing is easier for kids if they are given a writing prompt. To design these travel journal pages, I talked to my girl about what things she likes to remember from her travels and what types of prompts might make journaling easier.
With her input I put together the following kid travel journal printable pages–including a cover, pre-trip overview page, daily travel journal templates, and a trip recap page. So if you are looking for a DIY travel journal for your kids, look no further!
With this free printable travel journal cover, your child can personalize their journal with their name, indicate where on the map they are going, and record the dates of the trip.
![tips for keeping travel journal Kids travel journal printable cover](https://we3travel.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Kids-Travel-Journal-Printable-791x1024.jpg)
Just click here to download the free PDF of the kid travel journal printable cover .
I’ve also put together a page that your kiddo can fill out before you leave for the trip or on the plane or in the car en route to your destination.
![tips for keeping travel journal Kids travel journal PDF pre-trip page](https://we3travel.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Kids-Travel-Journal-Printable-2-791x1024.jpg)
Click here to download the PDF
There are also pages that can be copied for each day of your trip. This page lets your child record the date, location, weather, and how they felt that day. There are also sections for recording what they did that day, the best thing they ate, something they learned, and a word to capture the essence of the day.
![tips for keeping travel journal Kids travel journal printable PDF daily trip page](https://we3travel.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Kids-Travel-Journal-Printable-3-791x1024.jpg)
Download daily trip report pages.
Lastly, there is a trip recap page to capture the high points of the trip and their overall feelings and rating about the trip.
![tips for keeping travel journal Kids travel journal printable trip recap page](https://we3travel.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Kids-Travel-Journal-Printable-4-791x1024.jpg)
Download trip recap page PDF.
Before you leave just print out the number of pages you need and staple it, bind it, or put it in a pocket folder with room to save ticket stubs, programs, and more.
If you prefer, you can also download all the pages as one downloadable, printable PDF kids travel journal file here.
When on the road, don’t wait until the meltdown at bedtime to think about writing in journals. Stick it in your day bag along with some crayons and pencils and use it as a way to keep kids entertained while waiting to be served at restaurants or other downtime throughout the day.
By the way, if you really want to get your kids involved in the travel planning as well as the travel journaling, use these vacation planner worksheets for kids !
PIN THIS FOR LATER
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Tamara Gruber is the Founder and Publisher of We3Travel. A former marketing executive and travel advisor, Tamara is an award-winning travel writer and recognized expert in family travel. Tamara is a member of SATW and the Adventure Travel Trade Association, and serves on the Board of the Family Travel Association. She is also the publisher of YourTimetoFly.com and the co-host of the Vacation Mavens travel podcast.
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Publish Date: August 21, 2024
51 thoughts on “Capture Priceless Memories with this Kids Travel Journal Printable (Free PDF Template)”
Many thanks! Sincerely appreciate the free downloads. Your time & talent is appreciated.
These look fab, I’ve pinned to print off in the pre-holiday panic
Thank you for creating theses pages We3Travel, they are beautiful! I’m just seeing this while on a trip in Spain without printing facilities, but will be using thes on our next trips!
I’m so glad you like them! Have a great trip. We loved visiting Spain a few years ago.
My Daughters School (Palm Valley Elem) shared this for as a summer activity! I am so glad they did!! this is exactly what I was looking for for my 8 year old! she needs the writing prompts! I am going to add them to a journal and add a few “pockets” for her to add ticket stubs etc
That’s great!! I made this a few years ago and I feel like I should update it but glad it still works for others!
Love your travel pages, but they would not print for me. Am taking my 10 yr old grand and parents to the Jersey Shore in July and making a list of crafty and fun activities to do with her. Since your pages won’t print, they have still given me an idea of making a simple journal with her and use your ideas as prompts for her to write and sketch. Thanks for the cool ideas.
I’m so sorry to hear they wouldn’t print for you. Were you able to download them or did you have trouble accessing them?
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What To Keep in Your Dopp Kit: Vital Tools and Accessories
Updated on August 21, 2024 by TMM Staff · Accessories
Have you ever wondered what to keep in your dopp kit? Don’t fret anymore, just read this guide to get the solution you need.
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Dopp kits are nifty inventions that let you bring your most important self-care products in one portable bag. They make your travel life more convenient while you look good and feel great wherever you go.
And while they are convenient bags to carry around, you can’t fit everything in there. Most of them have the size of a pencil case, and larger options take up too a lot of space.
So, the question that needs answering is, “What to keep in your dopp kit?” Out of all the important self-care items and reliable tools, which deserve a place by your side?
This guide will take you through all the necessary items. It will also give you tips on how to keep them organized to maximize storage space.
Table of Contents
Choosing the Right Dopp Kit
Before you think about packing items in your dopp kit, find the right bag , first. There are tons of choices available, and they differ in size, material, and construction.
Depending on your preference, you can find one that will not only keep your items safe but look good, too. For example, leather dopp kits offer timeless elegance and class that date back to its inception.
Some have large capacities that can carry even store hair trimmers, while others are compact and lightweight. They also vary in compartments and organization, with a few having more pockets than others.
The choices are nearly limitless, and they cater to certain individual demands. A good rule of thumb, however, is to go for water-resistant dopp kits.
You will almost certainly carry bottles of liquids with you. In the event of accidental spillage or leaks, you can clean the bag easily without the fear of damage.
Practical Dopp Kit Travel Contents for Men
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There are things that men can live without, and it’s a blessing if you can bring them all with you. The reality is, however, you can’t.
To save you from the headache of figuring things out, here are some practical dopp kit contents fit for travel.
Hair and Skin Care Products
![Stirling Soap Company Review Stirling Soap Company Review](https://www.themodestman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Stirling-Soap-Company-Review.jpg)
You can’t skip on your skincare routine , so grab the basics whenever you’re out. A small bottle of face wash and moisturizer should do the trick.
Traveling can cause damage to your skin, especially if you find yourself under the sun a lot. Protecting your complexion from face to toe allows you to look great wherever you go.
Don’t forget about your hair, too. Chances are a hotel will only have cheap shampoos and conditioners, so you might as well bring your staples.
A good pomade lets you quickly style your coif. Just remember to bring ones that come in small packages.
Body and Dental Care Items
Apart from keeping your skin healthy, you need to take care of your body, too. If you can find travel-size soap bars, then bring them with you.
Deodorants will control your odor if you spend hours outdoors and you start smelling funky. Balms will prevent dry lips from occurring, so they are handy to have around.
Your teeth are also important, so it’s only natural to include dental care in your dopp bag. Just place small tubes of toothpaste and a compact floss along with a collapsible toothbrush, and you’re good to go.
If you have room for small vials of mouthwash, then add those, too. If not, then breath mints can keep your breath fresh all day.
Grooming Tools
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Nail cutters and safety razors can keep you clean and neat anytime, anywhere. When you have to attend a corporate event and look your best, a grooming kit will save your life.
A shave oil in your dopp bag will provide you with a close shave and prevent your beard from becoming scruffy. They are also easier to store than canned shaving cream.
Small, battery-operated manscaping trimmers will help you eliminate unsightly body hair and keep your prized jewels neat. It also allows you to prepare for an intimate night with someone, should the opportunity arise.
Cool Extras To Include in a Dopp Kit
Aside from the important pieces, you can have cool extras to include in a dopp kit. They can range from reliable instruments to get you out of emergencies to relieving medicines and first-aid.
If you think your toiletry bag has a few more spaces for additional accessories, then feel free to fill them in. Here are some suggestions.
Pocket Knives
Pocket knives might not get you through airport security, but if you spend time in the wilderness, this is a must-have. They are great for cutting strings, tags, or even tightly-sealed food packaging.
If your personal hygiene kit has a large capacity, then you can switch the blade with a multi-tool . It has more options you can use that lets you make quick fixes along the way.
When you pack sharp objects in your ditty bag, make sure that the bag has slash resistance. The last thing you want is to have holes in your kit leaking all the items out.
First Aid Essentials
You will never know when you might get into an accident when you’re out traveling. Bringing small quantities of first aid can help you during emergencies.
Alcohol wipes and bandages will do wonders for minor wounds. Pain relievers can help you deal with headaches, and vitamin supplements ensure you have the energy for the day.
A little bit of preparedness and protection can go a long way. You can’t stay productive if you’re suffering from body aches or dealing with festering wounds.
Favorite Fragrances
![Royall Bay Rhum cologne Royall Bay Rhum cologne](https://www.themodestman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Royall-Bay-Rhum-cologne.jpg)
Who says it’s all work and no play when you’re on the road? Partying is part of life, and if you want to spend time in nightclubs abroad, you have to smell good.
Slip in a sampler size of your favorite cologne and give yourself a charming scent. Who knows? You might even get lucky.
You can dab a few while you’re out on a casual date, too. Nothing turns a woman on than someone with dashing good looks and the aroma to spice things up.
So, if you have the space for it, then don’t shy away from including a perfume or two. Just keep them tucked and safe.
What To Keep in Your Dopp Kit: Reliable Organization Tips
Since you have a full grasp of the different pieces for your dopp kit, it’s time to organize. Stuffing them all in the bag recklessly will just make it bulky and might damage some of your things.
To save you from the hassle, try applying these reliable organization tips:
- First off, buy anything you can in travel-friendly sizes — the smaller, the better. Chances are, you won’t stay a whole month away from home, and if you do, just buy local.
- Build your first aid kit out of an Altoids tin box so you can easily grab them during emergencies. On the same note, carrying your medicines in a daily pill box will do wonders, too.
- Pre-pack liquids in a zip lock bag so you can pull them up for security screening. They also keep other essentials safe in case of leaks and spillage.
Finally, build your dopp kit independent from your home products. Only use anything inside the bags strictly for travel.
This way, you can just grab them and go, minus the fear of coming up short.
Benefitting From a Proper Dopp Kit
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A dopp kit will make your travel life easier. You have appropriate storage for all your items, no matter the situation, whether you’re on vacation or business trips.
It’s a groundbreaking invention that completely transforms how guys can take care of themselves away from home.
The best part is that these reliable bags are compact enough to store in luggage, backpacks, and duffels.
If you have trouble figuring out what to keep in your dopp kit , then refer back to this article.
What do you keep in your dopp kit? Let me know in the comments!
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COMMENTS
A travel journal is your diary of a trip, or multiple trips. It's where you can write about your experiences and how you felt about them. It's the place for you to collect your stories and memories of your trip. Your travel journal is yours. It's personal and it can include anything that you want to jot down about your trip or during your ...
13 Tips for Keeping a Travel Journal. Keeping a travel journal can be a great way to document your experiences and memories from your travels. Here are some tips to help you get started: 1. Find a travel journal that suits your needs. When choosing a travel journal, consider not only the size and weight but also the durability of the journal.
Half article, half list, the "listicle" is a top format for new sites, and it's a format that works great for travel journals. A photo or doodle, paired with a brief description is a good way to organize a travel journal without spending too much precious travel time writing. This style of journal works well with a bullet journal style ...
This post about travel journaling was created in collaboration with Snappy Snaps and I'd like to share some tips to help you create a beautiful and thoughtful travel journal. I've got some tips to get started and also tips to keep travel journaling, even on the days you aren't in the mood!
THAT is why it's SO important to keep a journal while on your trip: to remember the best days of your life — those days spent abroad exploring new places, meeting new people, experiencing new cultures. ... 4 Writing Tips To Fill Your Travel Journal With Ease WHILE Vacationing. 1. Start with today. With limited time, and being pretty beat ...
Final Thoughts on Travel Journal Ideas, Tips and 75 Brilliant Prompts. If these lists seem overwhelming, just pick one idea and start there. That's what makes keeping a travel journal so ridiculously easy. Pick what works the best for you! The time you take to make a record of your travels or your life in a meaningful way will make an impact.
Travel journaling: How do you write a travel journal entry? When you start recording your first travel journal entry, my first piece of advice is simply to start writing. It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't even have to make sense to anyone but you. If you work better with an outline, the following prompts should get you started. 1.
15. Boosts your creativity. A travel journal is a great tool to fuel and inspire your creativity. Include sketches, collages or descriptive writing in your journal to get your creativity flowing. 16. Creates a souvenir. Re-reading your travel journal makes you experience your trip all over again. 17.
Tip #1: Journal when you feel most creative. For instance, you might choose some mindful ways to start your day and have completing daily journal prompts be one of your morning rituals. However, if you find you feel more creative in the afternoon or evening, plan your writing for then. Tip #2: Don't edit as you write.
Digital Detox and Mindfulness: A study by the Pew Research Center found that 85% of adults in the United States use the internet. Keeping a physical travel journal offers a break from screens, fostering mindfulness and a deeper connection with your surroundings. Little details can bring about a big sense of calm.
Keeping a travel journal is the perfect way to capture the essence of your adventures. You have a lot of options when it comes to what to include - especially if you're detailed oriented. ... To safeguard your travel journal, consider the following tips: - Use a sturdy cover: Opt for a durable journal, like a hardcover or leather-bound ...
Please see our disclosure policy for more detail. This guide to travel journal ideas and prompts covers everything from the physical kind of travel diary to use, to tips on journaling effectively, to travel journaling prompts to help you get your writing started. Remember, though, that the #1 rule of travel journaling is that there are no rules ...
You could write during or after your trip, keep a travel bullet journal, track you running bucket list, save travel tips for your next trip - the important thing is to be creative and reflective! Travel journaling is an amazing tool to see how travel has influenced us to grow as a person, from conquering fears to gaining self-confidence.
Here are suggestions for keeping a memorable one. 1. Pick Your Pen And Paper. Although I recognize in the digital age that many people "write" on an iPad or phone, I'm a big believer in the benefit of noting thoughts down the old-fashioned way, on paper, because the mind-body connection is more immediate.
Your Expectations - Reflecting on your expectations and preconceived notions is a great way to put down some interesting observations Your Feelings - Keep track of how YOU are doing. Tired, happy, sad, or maybe you are missing someone. Write it down. Have Fun - This journal is for you and you only.
5. Write about the food. Just because you call it your travel diary, doesn't mean it can't double as a food diary. If there are any foods you loved, dishes you hated or recipes you can't live without, write them down to remember them all. Maybe some new fare you tried will influence your tastes when you return home.
Document your itinerary. Rough out your itinerary in a few pages at the front of your journal. You can do this before you leave. Allow lots of space between points so you can keep track of how your itinerary changes as you travel. Every entry doesn't have to be brilliant. But every day should have an entry.
Imagine the incredible feeling of keeping a Travel Journal that captures your adventures and also nurtures your creative spirit! I specialize in helping travelers discover the art of creating Journals that hold deep meaning in their lives and that become cherished memories for generations to come. ... Travel Journal Hacks-Tips-Tricks. This ...
The journal doesn't have to just be about your day. You can keep lists and notes too! For example, you can have contact lists of all the new people you have encountered, a "best of" list, a list of foods you want to try and cook at home and some travel tips. Don't be afraid to really make the journal your own and to enjoy your time ...
So these are a nice way to make sure you have physical evidence of your youth, of your travels, of those moments with strangers or people that you love traveling with. Some of my travelers notebooks covered in beer labels and stickers from my favorite restaurants. 7. Beer or wine labels of your favorite drinks.
Haul it out and use it for the city or country in which you're traveling. Sure it's retro, but it's kinda fun, and a perfect travel journal prompt to get it flowing for you on the road. Buy a postcard and mail it to yourself. On the back, describe one thing in your immediate view. Do this more than once.
Tips for keeping a travel journal. Get planning, stay present and preserve memories on paper. Every vacation you take is filled with unforgettable moments. A travel journal can act as a keepsake of your adventures, filled with the wonderful things you discovered about yourself and the world around you. As you turn the pages of your journal, you ...
The hard part is sticking to it. The lifespan of many travel journals is quite short—there are long, descriptive entries from the first few days of the trip, but the journal quickly becomes neglected as it finds its permanent home buried at the bottom of a suitcase. Keeping a travel journal requires a little effort, but it is absolutely worth it.
Keeping a kids travel journal is not just a great way for your kids to remember the details of their trip, but it also captures those precious memories that may later be swept away in the fog of time. Your kid's travel journal will become an heirloom more precious than any other souvenirs you can bring back from your trip. Plus, a journal is ...
Tips for Consistent Diary Keeping. Writing regularly is key to getting accurate and useful information. Here are some tips to help you maintain a good writing streak: Fill It Out at the Same Time Each Day. Choose a specific time to complete your sleep diary entries and stick to it.
Ask any person about plans for retirement, and the word "travel" will most likely be high on the list. That was the case some years ago when I decided to step back from a full-time career. But ...
What To Keep in Your Dopp Kit: Reliable Organization Tips. Since you have a full grasp of the different pieces for your dopp kit, it's time to organize. Stuffing them all in the bag recklessly will just make it bulky and might damage some of your things. To save you from the hassle, try applying these reliable organization tips: