drawings for travel

Keeping a Travel Sketchbook: Ideas for Artists

Keeping a travel sketchbook is a great way to document your travels and discoveries. Track the places you went, the people you met, the experiences you had. Travelling is one of the most creatively inspiring things you can do, with constant new visual and sensory input.

It can also be a creative outlet for exploring new ideas and techniques. Here are some tips for getting started with your own travel sketchbook.

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Travel sketchbook tips

Here are some tips on how to approach keeping a travel sketchbook and some tips on how to draw and paint when you’re out and about!

Choose the right sketchbook

Look for a sketchbook that is small enough to carry with you everywhere, but large enough to hold all your sketches. Hardcover notebooks are ideal for travel sketching because they offer more protection from the elements. Stillman & Birn sketchbooks are lightweight, yet high quality.

Stock up on supplies

Before you hit the road, make sure you have all the drawing supplies you need to document your trip. Pencils, pens, watercolours, and travel-sized journals are all essential for travel sketching. If you prefer painting to drawing, bring all the necessary supplies to clean up afterwards.

Try using different mediums

Is graphite pencil your usual go-to medium? Try using charcoal! You can get some fantastic charcoal supplies , like powder charcoal that you can brush on the page.

Another great medium to travel with is gouache paint . Gouache is a type of watercolour, but is more opaque, so you can build layers of colours and highlights. It’s a versatile medium that is lightweight and easy to clean—perfect for travelling.

Read more about how to travel with different paint mediums in our travel art supplies guide .

Get inspired

When you’re on the road, be on the lookout for interesting places, and things to sketch. Take photos to reference later, or jot down notes about what caught your eye.

Don’t be afraid to experiment

Travel sketching is the perfect opportunity to experiment with new mediums and styles . Don’t be afraid to try something new, you might be surprised at the results.

Take a reference photo

You don’t have to complete a whole painting or drawing on location. Take a photo when the light is right and complete it later. That way, you can capture the essence of the scene with a sketch and spend time on it when you have time.

Vary your subject matter

If you’re used to painting landscapes, why not try painting or drawing a cityscape, or a building in the landscape. You could also diversify the subjects of your artworks by drawing a busy scene, including some of the people you see passing by, to give the artwork a sense of liveliness.

Note the date and location of your sketch

A travel sketchbook is like a book of memories. In it, you can document your interpretation of a scene, including the weather, people, atmosphere and main details you noticed. Even if you come back to paint or draw the same place again, no two drawings will look the same! Therefore it’s important to note the date and specific location of your sketch. Afterall the whole point of keeping a travel sketchbook is keeping a log of where you been and what you’ve seen in each location.

Let go of perfectionism

A sketchbook is a place to record your first response to a scene, to experiment and even to improve upon your plein air painting skills.

Let go of creating a perfectly polished sketchbook and instead focus on representing your sensory responses. The sketchbook page should trigger memories of the location, which you can even choose to make a larger canvas painting out of at a later date.

Store your sketchbook

If you use water based paints in your travel sketches, consider putting your sketchbook in a waterproof bag to protect it. So if you take it backpacking and it gets wet, your drawings and paintings will be preserved.

Travel sketchbook ideas

You might naturally feel inspired to sketch whatever you feel most drawn to on your travels. However, sometimes it’s difficult to know what to focus on! Here are some ideas for your sketchbook, so you can mix it up, make a theme and record as much as possible.

Draw the flora and fauna

If you spend a lot of time hiking or out in nature when you’re on your travels, you’ll know that one of the best things about it is spotting new animals and plants. Dedicate pages in your sketchbook to documenting your sightings, whether that’s birds, flowers or larger animals!

Draw the architecture of a new city

New city, new buildings! Whenever you travel to a new place, one of the first things you’ll probably want to do is explore the streets and take in the architecture. Whether you sit and draw La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, or some random buildings you found off of a main street, architecture is an art form in itself. It’s detailed, complex and tells a story of a city’s history.

Documenting this in your travel sketchbook will give you a fantastic visual record of your trip. You could even write some facts about the buildings you go to see. This can enrich your experience of a city, as you find out more about how it was built.

Paint a crowded scene

One of the hardest things to do when painting or drawing is to show movement. This can be even harder when you’re trying to do it on location! But by taking a few minutes to sketch a busy scene, you can practice depicting moving subjects.

This might sound daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Focus on one thing at a time, such as the way a person is walking, or the way their clothes are billowing in the wind. By breaking it down into smaller chunks, you can create a sense of movement without getting overwhelmed.

Capturing the people and energy of a bustling city is just as interesting as drawing in nature!

As well as painting or drawing people, try to include some of the background too. This could be buildings, trees or even just the sky. All of these things add to the story of your travel sketchbook and make it more interesting to look back on.

Create a cover for each location

For each new place you visit, you could create a cover page, almost like a new chapter in a book. Add some lettering to the page to show where you are. You could even leave a page blank before your other sketches of the city, then come back to it once you have more inspiration of how to sum up the area you stayed.

Create a sensory piece

What can art do that photos can’t? Drawings and paintings can capture the atmosphere of a scene better, and therefore better elicit memories of your sensory responses at the time.

You could even include some of the local produce to colour your drawings. For example, you could crush up a flower petal into a paste to make pigment and paint it on the paper. Or do the same with the local coffee. If you create art with items you find where you travelled, it can strengthen the connection you have to the place.

Draw or paint a self portrait in each location

This travel sketchbook idea is less about the scene around you, and more about your reaction to it. What did this place make you feel? How has travel changed you?

A self portrait can be a way of representing these emotions. They don’t have to be literal portraits, they could be more abstract or even just a series of colours and shapes that you associate with your travel experience.

Whatever you choose to do, have fun and let your creativity flow!

Visit the national parks

If you’re touring the US, you could stop off in some of the national parks. Each park has its own distinct topography, flora and fauna. Capture the essence of this in your sketchbook.

Every country has their own national parks and areas of natural beauty. If you visit them, make sure to pack your sketchbook.

Paint a night scene

Cities can look totally different at night, it’s when most cities come alive!

Whether you’re painting your own rendition of Starry Night, or Cafe Terrace at Night, or painting something entirely different. Capture the glow of the street lamps over a cobbled, wine bar lined street in Italy, or the moon over the ocean in Hawaii.

Find the perfect viewpoint

This might take some trekking! Find a viewpoint that overlooks the city or area you’re staying it. Take some time to make your sketch, capturing the horizon. Equally, you could go and find the best viewpoint of a famous monument in the city. Find more sketchbook ideas in our guide.

Travel sketchbook kit

Now that you’ve got some ideas and know how to approach your travel sketchbook adventure, you need to make sure you have the right supplies!

The sketchbook you choose will depend upon your size requirements as well as the medium you use. If you like to work with water based media, such as watercolour or gouache, make sure to choose a sketchbook with thick pages.

The Stillman & Birn Gamma Archival sketchbook is a high quality book, with 150gsm thick pages that have a smooth vellum finish. Use this book with mixed media, such as pencil, ink, gouache or watercolour. The pages are stitched together, so you can make double page spreads. Stillman & Birn books come in a variety of paper types and sizes, so you can choose the best one for your needs.

If you want more sketchbook recommendations, check out our guide on the best sketchbooks for artists .

Drawing media

A couple of graphite pencils in different softness levels, an eraser and a sharpener is all you really need to start drawing. However, if you want to add colour to your piece, consider taking a set of gouache paints . You don’t need too many supplies for gouache painting , just a brush, a water cup and the paints.

Another way to add a splash of colour to your travel sketches is with coloured pencils . Watercolour pencils are a great option, as they remain dry until activated with water. So they’re easier to transport and less messy to paint with. You could also take oil pencils or pastel pencils to create coloured drawings.

If you do decide to take some paints with you, you’ll need some brushes too. Get a watercolour travel brush like this da Vinci Casaneo, which is a synthetic yet soft and absorbent brush that can render excellent details and create wonderful washes.

If you want to see our full review of travel art supplies , check the guide!

Painting en plein air

Painting on location, or en plein air as it’s also called is a big part of keeping a travel sketchbook. It’s the best way to capture a sense of place and the feeling of being there.

When you’re painting outdoors, you need to be quick because the light changes constantly. So it’s good to have a plan before you start painting. First, decide what composition you want to paint. Look for interesting shapes, colours and textures. Then, decide what colours you want to use. Once you have your plan, start painting!

If you want to learn more about painting en plein air, check out our guide here.

Have fun with it!

Your travel sketchbook should be a reflection of your own personal style. So have fun with it! Use bright colors, experiment with different mediums, or even add in photographs.

We hope you enjoyed this travel sketchbook guide and that it’s inspired you to get out there and start sketching!

What are you going to include in your travel sketchbook? Let us know in the comments.

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10 Artists to Inspire Your Travel Illustration Journal

• by @amy.mcgregor

Find out how to bring a destination to life through travel illustration and the top artists to inspire your work

Travel. There’s nothing quite like it. The chance to experience new sights, sounds, and smells, to wander off the beaten track and make new discoveries, or simply kick back and relax for a week on a sun-drenched beach.

When we imagine the far-flung places we’d like to visit, reminisce about past adventures, or indeed, advertise a location to others, we turn to photos as the most powerful medium to capture the essence of a place.

But there is another, equally effective and arguably more creative way to bring a destination to life: travel illustration.

Alex Green ( @algreen_1 ) has been an illustrator for over 25 years and specializes in the art of travel illustration . He has worked in many areas including design, fashion, editorial, murals, websites, and live events, with a varied and enviable list of clients including Airbnb, the BBC, Emirates Airlines, Pfizer, The Guardian , The Financial Times , and Oxfam.

In his Domestika course, he demonstrates how to create travel illustrations that have a sense of place and atmosphere from photographic references of a location, and explains how to apply personal experiences to your illustrations to create pieces with your own vision and interpretation.

What is travel illustration?

Travel illustration is simply the art of drawing a place instead of photographing it. You can use a photo as a reference point, draw inspirational settings in real time as you travel, or recall them from memory.

The aim is not necessarily to copy the location exactly as you see it, but to give it your own interpretation and tell a story by focusing on conveying a particular emotion, theme, or atmosphere.

What are the benefits of travel illustration?

Aside from being a great way to practice your creative skills, illustrating a place allows for more freedom of expression and interpretation, giving you the opportunity to explore the limits of your imagination for a truly unique and personalized result.

It may require more time and patience to complete, but illustration also allows you to really connect with a place, bringing it to life through your drawings and recapturing those precious moments you spent there.

10 Artists to Inspire Your Travel Illustration Pieces

Although using your own photos as a point of departure usually means you have a greater connection with your reference, there is no reason why you can’t choose other images of locations you would like to visit. They could be photographs taken by someone else, or something you have found on the internet, as long as they spark your imagination.

Of course, all artists look to other artists for inspiration and Alex is no different. In this Domestika blog, he shares with us the top 10 artists who inspire his work, providing an invaluable tool that can help you begin thinking about how to develop your style, techniques, and give you ideas for your illustrations.

Miroslav Sasek

@miroslavsasek

The Czech artist is both illustrator and author of the This is series of children’s travel books, which bring to life key destinations around the world including New York, Rome, London, and Paris.

Abstract and representational elements contrast in his illustrations, making for a beautifully original take on seemingly-familiar places.

Katsushika Hokusai

@katsushikahokusai

Katsushika Hokusai was a Japanese artist, printmaker, and painter who lived from 1760 to 1849. He is most recognized for his woodblock print series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji , made in response to a domestic travel boom in Japan.

From this collection, one piece in particular stood out among the rest. The Great Wave Off Kanagawa is arguably the most iconic piece of work in Japanese art, and went on to inspire many 19th-century European painters.

Evan Hecox is a multidisciplinary artist and designer based in Colorado, whose work often takes inspiration from travel.

He has a particular talent for capturing the mood and feeling of a place or moment in time, as well as giving new life and beauty to objects that are often overlooked or dismissed as mundane.

Tom Haugomat

@tomhaugomat

The Paris-based illustrator and director has had his work featured in Air France Magazine, Revue XXI, and Le Monde. His illustrations have a distinctly cinematic quality, perhaps as a result of his background making short films.

Perhaps the most interesting element of his work is that his characters have no facial features, although he is still able to convey depth and emotion through his use of color and negative space.

Josh Cochran

@joshcochran

This Grammy-nominated, Brooklyn-based illustrator has clients including Adidas, Apple, and The New Yorker , and he currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts in NYC.

He is known for his bold colors, humorous drawings, and urban murals.

Bruno Mangyoku

@brunomangyoku

Bruno Mangyoku has worked as an illustrator and animation director who is greatly influenced by American graphic novelists such as Daniel Clowes and Charles Burns.

He uses a limited, yet highly contrasting color palette, focusing primarily on character design and silhouettes.

Hokyoung Kim

@hokyoungkim_

The South-Korean artist and illustrator lists clients including The New Yorker , The Washington Post , Apple, and Disney.

She finds inspiration in the Japanese comics and animations she grew up watching, and her work focuses on transmitting a strong sense of mood and atmosphere.

STRAUTNIEKAS

@strautniekas

The freelance illustrator studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Vilnius, before working in advertisement, animation and graphic design, with clients including the Royal Mail, The Independent , Penguin Random House.

His retro style, with soft colors and lines, lend him his unique style.

Christoph Niemann

@abstractsunday

Christoph Niemann is an illustrator, graphic designer, and children’s book author most known for his Sunday Sketches , quirky and humorous illustrations that take everyday objects and turn them into something unexpected.

Jon McNaught

This London-based cartoonist, illustrator, and printmaker has clients including Penguin Books, Faber, The New York Times , and The Wall Street Journal .

His skill lies in taking the mundane and everyday and turning them into works of art, using simple shapes and a limited color palette.

If you enjoyed this references and want to know more about travel illustration, don't miss Alex Green's course Travel Illustration: Recreate your favorite place and learn digital illustration techniques with a splash of acrylic paint to create artwork inspired by a photograph of a place you love.

You may also like:

- What Is an Illustrated Life Journal and How to Start One? - Create a Travel Sketchbook Without Leaving Your House, with Powerpaola - What Is an Inspiration Board and How to Create One for Your Bullet Journal - Exploratory Sketchbook: Find Your Drawing Style , a course Sarah van Dongen - Lifestyle and Travel Photography , a course by Julia Nimke

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• How To Travel Sketch? Tips, Tricks, & Techniques For Beginners

Travel Sketching is not only relaxing and rewarding but also an awesome family activity during travels.

In this blog post learn about what to put in a travel sketch kit, awesome travel sketching techniques for beginners and tricks to encourage kids to begin their journey of travel sketching.

How to Create Your Own Travel Sketchbook

Pausing to see the delicate patterns of lichen on tree trunks in the Nilgiri mountains.

Becoming friends with a 5-year old Vietnamese boy in a village without a word exchanged between us!

Sitting inside a bamboo grove, silently.

Watching a tour guide’s face light up.

Getting authentic local food and travel tips.

Being zen while waiting in airports and stations.

I’ve had all these experiences and many more through travel sketching.

And, that’s why I love sharing it with others and getting them started on their own sketching journey. Here’s my take on how to get started with travel sketching.

I have included step-by-step photos from a sketching session I did in Sirsi, Karnataka.

Travel sketching is an awesome family activity. It gets children to observe and remember a travel destination. And of course, you’ll have a unique souvenir for every travel

Travel Sketching slows me down, brings everything into sharp focus, and I lose myself in the moment. Sketching has truly enriched my life. Seema Misra, www.lighttravelaction.com Tweet

Explore these awesome washi tapes on Amazon

If you love slow travel, try your hands at Travel Sketching, Painting, even Yoga. The following 3 posts will keep you creative in your Sojourn.

• Are You Embarrassed By Your Painting Skills? Here’re Easy Painting ideas & Tips!
• Are you bored? Looking for ideas to fill in your blank journal? Don’t’ get intimidated by blank papers staring back at you. I teamed up with the talented artist Malabika Saikia and here are 15 of our favorite notebook ideas! 15 Awesomely Creative Things To Do In Your Blank Notebook.
• How about keeping fit while you travel? Here is a curated list of 10 Yoga asanas or postures that are as good for the beginners as for the advanced practitioners.

Travel Sketchbook ideas

People often say “I can’t even draw a straight line. Forget about sketching.”

I tell them, “ That’s great. You don’t need to draw straight lines.” There’s no such thing as a born artist. It is all about practice, practice, and more practice. 

Look for inspirations around. If you find your zen moment of producing a sketch on the spot, go ahead sketch it out. If not, look for small collectibles like dry leaves, ticket stubs to paste in your travel sketch book for inspiration to strike you later.

In the above image, we had hiked up a hill and it was absolutely beautiful and surreal there. There were prayer flags strewn all around. I picked up a few and pasted them in my sketchbook.

Click on Images below to Buy on Amazon

Putting together a travel sketch kit

A travel sketching kit must be a collection of the basic tools required for making a sketch. Also, I have found having limited supplies encourages me to be creative. Such as, mixing two different mediums.

Here’s what you will need:

• Black pens with waterproof ink
• Colour pencils
• Pencil sharpener

Yes, I’ve deliberately left out the ruler and eraser😊

You could also keep a box of crayons, some watercolor pencils, and a glue stick. If you have smaller children, avoid carrying watercolors. For older children, a small watercolor pan and some water brushes are perfect. Keep it small, simple, and light.

A5 size sketchbooks with thicker paper are a good choice – they fit in everywhere and are not too small for landscapes.

Pro Tip: I like to keep all my art tools in a sling bag. This helps me access my art kit easily.

5 Awesome Tips for Travel Sketching for Beginners

Choosing a subject.

Start with a tiny step – don’t try to draw the entire forest or city around you. Choose a small window of a house, a dry leaf on the ground, or an interesting branch.

Long waits in airports can be used to draw the people, bags, food stalls or simply the announcement boards. You could even draw maps to show the places you visited.

This is a small town in Sirsi, Karnataka . The blue roofs amid all the browns and reds interested me and I decided to sketch the road.

Outlining in pencil

Draw an outline of the object using a pencil. It does not have to be perfect – if something looks off, draw over it.

Forget if the drawing “appears correct” – the idea is to capture the object in your own style and have fun while doing it.

Adding in the details using a black pen

Now that you have a basic frame done, add in the details using a pen. Encourage children to add some text to capture the place, date, the sounds around you, or any other details.

You could paste things around your sketch – a ticket stub, a leaf, restaurant bills, bits of pamphlets.

Ask a local to teach you how to write a few words in their dialect on your sketchbook.

There were some changes from the pencil outline. However, I didn’t erase anything.

Click here to read 11 Commonly Asked Questions by Painting Beginners and also get 5 DIY easy painting ideas for Beginners Step by Step.

Adding the final touches with colours

Use a mix of different colours to add life to the sketch. If you are in a hurry, colour in the most prominent bit – the red bricks, a green tree, or that yellow dress. This will save some time while capturing the essence of the place.

You’ll notice I’ve added some blue in the sky which is not there in the photograph. As an artist, you can take liberties while making a travel sketch 😊

Doing art at home or at school is different than working in a public area.

When I sketch during my travels, people often stop to see what I am drawing and want to talk about it. I remember, when I started travel sketching, I’d worry that my drawing is not good. I felt people passing by were judging me.

Eventually, I stopped worring about all those things. I’d simply draw. And that is when I enjoyed outdoor sketching the most!

So, I’d say be kind to yourself.

Don’t judge what you draw.

Just go with the flow.

Drawing on different types of paper, like newspapers, can be a lot of fun.

Often the joy is in making the art and not worrying how it turns out! There is no perfect bird … just the one you have drawn. Seema Misra, www.lighttravelaction.com Tweet

Travel Sketching – Capturing the Feel of a Place

Marco Bucci shows the Process and gives awesome ideas for sketching places from life. See the video for the art of composition, color, focal point, feel, etc.

Travel sketching for children

Encourage children to draw from their observation. Drawing from observation simply means drawing what you see. And, it is the essence of travel sketching.

Breaking the object into smaller shapes

For example, you are looking at a majestic British building and your daughter is stumped where to start drawing it. Ask, “What does the building look like? Do you see a rectangle with a triangle on top? Do the windows remind you of a shape?

Have fun with colors and collage. The above sketch always takes me back to the greenery of a tea estate.

Focus on the process not the outcome

Even if a child fails to colour inside the lines or draws a circle which is more of an oval, it is absolutely fine. Encourage the children to experiment with colours and shapes – give them the tools to draw but don’t tell them what to draw.

Making sketching fun during travel

Engage with your little story teller and ask her to describe the picture to you. Who knows she might have an interesting tale behind the picture and the colours used. 

Last but not least, don’t forget to complement the little Picasos. It would be great if you could mention specifics, like “Wow, I love the way you have drawn that leaf.”

Do you find the thought of “Travel Sketch Journal” inspiring? Don’t wait for the next vacation to start travel sketching! Visit a park or museum this weekend, carry some sandwiches and try out your art kit! 

Video on Travel Sketching Tips from Travel Sketchbook

In this video,  Liz Steel  shares lots of travel sketching strategies and tips while going through her sketchbook from her recent trip to New Zealand.

PIN NOW TRAVEL SKETCH LATER

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6 thoughts on “How To Travel Sketch? Tips, Tricks, & Techniques For Beginners”

This one’s a lovely tutorial. My daughter is creative unlike me…haha…and she loves to sketch, paint and play with colors. I’d make her read this. Thank you so much for sharing.

Happy Sketching and happy traveling 🙂

I love this overview of your travel sketching. It’s another creative way to document your travels. You’re so talented! Thanks for the inspiration to start sketching (or at least improve upon my scribbles first).

Wow you are really talented. Travel sketching sounds awesome, but not many have the skills to create such beautiful pieces!

Thanks Sinjanag, this is a blog post and the sketches have been done by Seema Misra 🙂

This is such a lovely idea! I’ve never considered myself good enough to sketch a scene but you’ve broken it down really nicely, thank you 🙂 https://mcadventureblog.com

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• Mastery Program
• Current Events

35+ Travel Sketching Ideas to Overcome Your Creative Blocks

Photo caption: Your travel sketching adventures can take you from Athens, Georgia to the streets of New York City. Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels.

Student sketchbooks may count as one of the most underrated tools that art students have at their disposal for overcoming creative blocks .

Within their pages, students attending any of the art schools in Georgia can try out their must-have drawing supplies for travel sketching and for developing ideas for school art and design projects.

However, students who aren’t used to keeping a sketchbook are sometimes heard lamenting: “I don’t know what to draw!”

At Milan Art Institute, we actually offer students a solution for overcoming creative blocks. As school founder and co-owner, Elli Milan, says: Always have something to paint (or draw).

More specifically, Elli recommends that art students at the Milan Art Institute have at least 20 sources ready to paint or draw at all times. 

Artists who take this advice never wonder what to paint or draw. They always have 20 pieces on the ready.

The MAI one-year professional certificate program, the Mastery Program , teaches students how to create all the painting and drawing sources they’ll need to work as professional artists.

That doesn’t mean, however, that art students who aren’t yet in the Mastery Program are out of luck. 

These aspiring art students can parlay their love of travel sketching into a sketchbook filled with an abundance of drawing and painting prompts. These prompts can inspire visions of amazing works of art that have the power to change them and to change the world.

Drawing Prompts for Your Travel Sketching

The good news is, you don’t even have to travel out of town to fill up your student sketchbooks. Places like Oconee Forest Park delight the senses in the fall. And they’re close by. 

These Athens, Georgia beauty spots are also filled with drawing prompts from the natural world. It’s the perfect place to practice some plein air painting and drawing.

Just a note to the students in our online art classes or who don’t attend a Georgia art school: These drawing prompts should help you fill your student sketchbooks, too, even if you don’t live in Athens. It just requires a bit of ingenuity and tenacity. 

There’s more on that later...

You can also do this exercise in more than one place. For example, start in a national forest or park and then continue the exercise in town or even at the local pumpkin patch. 

We do recommend that you draw anything that catches your eye while you’re out on your travel sketching adventure. The idea behind filling your sketchbooks with images from the natural world is to get you into the habit of really seeing the world around you. 

It’s also important for you to notice the images that tug at your heart strings. These represent the things you care about and are one of the key components to developing your artistic voice. 

If you do this, you’ll overcome your creative blocks and even have an overflow of ideas that you can turn into future art projects. 

However, to help you out in case you’re really stuck, we provide you with a list of prompts for your travel sketching. 

Traveling Sketching: Let’s Go on an Art Scavenger Hunt 

Let’s call this activity an art scavenger hunt to make it even more fun. Basically, we’ve created a list of items you’re likely to find in the fall of the year. 

The more of these items you find, the closer you are to fulfilling the requirements of the art scavenger hunt. 

When you find them, spend a few minutes drawing these items in your student sketchbook. If you want to create a special travel sketchbook or journal to capture the memories of your autumn scavenger hunt in Athens, Georgia, that’s great, too!

Ideally, this exercise will give you so many fall drawing prompt ideas that you eventually fill more than one travel sketch journal. If you do, you’ll never run out of ideas for your class or professional art projects again. 

Autumn Art Scavenger Hunt: Sketchbook Drawing Ideas List

Here’s a list of some suggested fall travel journal prompts for this exercise.

A List of Must-Have Art Supplies for Your Travel Sketching Adventure 

Anyone who attends an art school in Georgia - well, anywhere, really - should have the opportunity to try out a variety of art supplies. Every medium handles differently and produces a different effect. 

Anothing element that makes an artist’s voice unique is the art materials that a particular artist uses. The more you know about your supplies, the better chance you have at developing your voice.

We bring all of this up, because we’d like to recommend a must-have art supplies list for you to take on your adventures in travel sketching. Travel sketching gives you an opportunity to try new supplies in a fun, adventurous kind of way. 

We tapped one of our amazing art coaches and mentors, Esther Franchuk , to get a list of art supplies. Esther’s list includes sketchbook recommendations, as well as drawing materials suggestions. 

• Hand-book journal co. - WATERCOLOR SQUARE 8.25x8.25
• Talens Art Creation Sketchbook - Pocket size
• Paul Rubens Artist Watercolor Paints - Glitter Solid Colors
• Watercolor White Nights paint set, St.Petersburg, Russia
• Royal Talens C902 - ArtCreation Gouache set
• Refillable watercolor brush pens

If you can’t find brands above, just keep in mind that you might generally like to bring along:

• Pencils, erasers and other dry drawing media
• Watercolor pencils
• Colored pencils
• Watercolor paint brushes
• Sketchbooks made with watercolor paper
• Anything that’s easy to use in all kinds of weather
• Portable chair

One final note about your must-have travel sketching supplies: You may want to experiment with these materials in your student sketchbooks before you go out. 

It’s likely that you’ll gravitate toward some supplies more than others. Knowing what those are allows you to eliminate some of your art materials from your art travel pack. 

This keeps things light. It also reduces the number of supplies you’ll have to carry around with you when you’re out sketching on location. 

If you’re still not certain about what should go into your travel sketchbook or journal, this video that Elli and Dimitra Milan did about drawing and painting on location may help you. 

Photo caption: A trip to the museum fills your travel sketchbook and gives you a foundation in art history. Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.

Art Scavenger Hunt Ideas If You Get Rained Out…

Sometimes, our best efforts get rained or snowed out. That’s okay. The fall art scavenger hunt is adaptable. Some urban sketchers take their travel sketchbooks to coffee shops and sketch the streets outside the windows. 

Really, you can set up your portable art studio in any building that has big windows. You may have to move around a lot if you want to try to get everything on the list into your books. 

(Remember, we also encourage you to find your own sources from the drawing prompts that nature provides for you, so it’s okay to abandon the list above. As long as you’re putting ideas into your sketchbooks, you’re golden.)

Finally, there is a creative alternative that you’ll probably like. 

Art museums are known for their scavenger hunts in some cities. Museum scavenger hunts encourage people to look closely at art, because museum participants are given a list, like the one above. 

As art scavenger hunt players wander through the art museum, they are encouraged to find items on the list in the paintings. 

You as art students can take this one step further by drawing the work of art (or portions of it) you found your scavenger hunt item in. They don’t have to even be full-blown drawings. Small sketches are fine to get you started. 

This activity does a couple of things. First, it allows you to put powerful and inspiring images in your student sketchbooks that can inspire works of art down the road. 

Second, it allows you to get some art history lessons in. Exceptional artists understand their place in art history. The artists that were and are most notable in history are culture warriors and influencers. 

Looking at and sketching these works allows you to peer into their creative processes and adopt a new way of seeing. By immersing yourself in their virtuosity, you subconsciously develop your sense of taste and ultimately improve your art.  

Third, seeing great art elevates your taste levels, which in turn, motivates you to continue to create art that has the potential to change the world.

Many museums allow art students to come in and sketch. However, it’s always best to find out ahead of time if you can come in and sketch. Always be sure to ask permission to bring your art supplies into the museum with you before you set out on your travel sketching trip.

Urban Sketching: Another Variation of Travel Sketching

The general gist of this blog post has concentrated on filling your student sketchbooks with images from the natural world. That said, you are not limited to staying on the hiking trails as you go on your art scavenger hunt. 

Urban sketching, that is drawing on location, often in the city, has increased in popularity of late. 

Here’s what the urban sketchers’ website had to say about the characteristics of urban sketching:

• It’s done on location and its purpose is to draw from direct observation.
• Urban sketchers can draw inside or out.
• Through drawing, urban sketching strives to tell the story of the places people live, where they travel and even about their surroundings closer to home.
• Each urban sketch captures a moment in time and is a truthful visual account of the scenes that the sketcher witnesses.
• Artists interested in urban sketching can use any kind of media: Individual drawing styles are celebrated!
• They share their work online, with the purpose of showing the world, “one drawing at a time.”
• Urban sketchers draw together and support one another in these efforts. 
• While you can sketch alone, taking up urban sketching is a great way to sketch on location with other people. If you’re interested in finding a local chapter of urban sketchers, check out the urban sketchers’ chapter finder . Or check out their website to find out if there are any urban sketching workshops near you.

Final Words on Travel Sketching for Art Students

As an art school in Georgia that embraces traditional, as well as modern art techniques, we believe it’s important that art students learn to draw from life. 

One easy way to develop this habit is to fill their student sketchbooks with images from cities, forests and even their own backyard. This practice sharpens art students’ technical skills. 

But more than that, student or travel sketchbooks filled with visual prompts from the forest, the streets of Paris or even the local coffee shop can become stunning works of art down the road. 

These images are powerful ways to help you get motivated and to push your drawing skills to the next level. 

For More Drawing Tips, Check out the Articles and Courses Below:

If you want to learn to draw quickly, check out the Drawing Essentials class or the Beginner Art Program .

How To Draw a Self Portrait

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Why & How You Should Absolutely Keep a Travel Sketchbook

In this post, we will explore what travel sketching is, why it’s awesome and how you can get started documenting your travels too, whether it’s travelling around your local area, your own country or across the world. 

What if you put your fears and concerns aside, get a sketchbook and a pen and start documenting your travels?

Can you imagine having a library of sketchbooks build up for you to look back on? Can you imagine how great your sketching skills will become if you sketch continuously? Can you imagine showing your friends and family sketches of your travels? And how much better than photographs they are…!

By reading this post I hope it will encourage you to either get started with travel sketching and just trying without fixating on the result. Or if you have tried travel sketching before I hope this post encourages you to keep doing it and to share your sketches with the rest of the world too (if you want to).

There’s nothing like showing your sketch to someone and seeing their face light up with recognition and delight at a familiar scene through the medium of your pen, paint and mind. 

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed about taking up an activity such as travel sketching but we all have to start somewhere. I remember the first trip I truly committed to sketching every single day, everywhere I went.

No one ever said anything bad about my sketches or the fact I was sketching, in fact, over 3 months and 6 different countries meeting people from all walks of life I only ever had positive encounters.

I’m not saying no one is judging, we are human beings, everyone judges but its exceptionally rare someone will come and be rude or negative to your face.

Committing to travel sketching and filling my first book with an adventure was a real turning point in my life. It’s where my obsession with sketching, illustration and travel really took hold. Over the following years, I have sketched more and more. Other people began to notice. As such, I have been approached by many people to paint buildings or places close to their heart, I have been asked to illustrate books, fabric patterns and all manner of other things. All from just doing something I really wanted to do and getting over the fact that I was not going to be good at it at first.

I still wonder if I am any good now, I’m not sure any of us really get past that thought. But learning to acknowledge that thought is there and just doing it anyway because its fun and you love it…that’s the key.

What is a Travel Sketchbook?

A travel sketchbook is a place in which to record your adventures through the medium of drawing, painting or both. You can use one sketchbook for each of your trips or have one book for all travels until it’s full and then start another one.

A travel sketchbook is like a photo album (does anyone remember those)?? It used to be so exciting getting your roll of film processed after a trip, receiving the physical glossy photos and then arranging them inside a faux leather album that looks like an old book to put on the shelf and pull out to show people or just to look back on happy memories. Well,  a travel sketchbook is like that but 1000 times more fulfilling to make!

The type of sketchbook you will need depends on what medium you intend to use. If you want to use “dry media” such as pencil, colour pencils, ink etc then a standard sketchbook will be fine. If you want to use “wet media” such as watercolour pencils or watercolour paint, it is best to get a watercolour sketchbook.

I have a post here on my advice as to which watercolour sketchbooks to consider .

My first travel sketchbook was given to me by work colleagues, it was so beautiful I knew I wanted to use it for my trip even though it didn’t have watercolour paper in it and I wanted to use watercolour paint. Luckily, I was only using light washes of watercolour paint and the paper was thick drawing paper, so it worked out well enough. 

If you want to use alcohol markers, such as Copics or Promarkers for example, make sure you get a mixed media sketchbook with thick pages. Even then you will want to test whether the marker bleeds through the page. If so, make sure you have a scrap piece of paper to put between pages and be aware you will only be able to sketch on every other page on both sides of the paper.

If you want to use markers but don’t like the sound of only being able to use every other page or want to avoid the issue of the ink bleeding through the page, check out water-based markers such as the Faber-Castell Pitt pens .

Don Colley uses these pens to amazing effect and he points out that they don’t smell or bleed through the page as alcohol-based markers do.

Why Start a Travel Sketchbook?

Something to do….

I honestly believe travelling solo is one of the most liberating travel experiences you can have and is actually predominantly how I do travel. If I waited for someone else to be in a position to afford or even want to go to the same places as me, I don’t think I would have been many places.

When you do travel solo, there are many times spent alone either exploring, sitting at a cafe or simply just waiting at a bus terminal or airport. As much as I love reading a book there’s nothing like pulling out a sketchbook to draw the things around you, compose a sketchbook layout, write notes around things you want to remember.

Mindfulness 

Following on from the point above, sketching while travelling is a fantastic way of practising mindfulness, i.e. being present. When sketching from life, you are focussing on your surroundings so much more. You are more aware of the small little details that you may otherwise not have noticed. By focussing on the activity of sketching your mind remains in the present and not replaying the past or anxiously fixating on the future.

For more thoughts on sketching and mindfulness, check out my post here .

Journal/record of your travels

Keeping a travel sketchbook is a great way of actually recording your trip: where you went, who you met, what you did.

If you’re anything like me then you cannot remember place names easily, so having them written down next to a little sketch of the place is super useful!

Some people like to keep a written journal while travelling. You can combine this and include written thoughts in your sketchbook too. Remember, it’s your sketchbook and just like a private journal, you are under no obligation to show it to anybody.

Great way to meet people

I found when I was sketching, people were more inclined to come and speak to me. I suppose this is because there was something tangible to start a conversation about. Again, if you are travelling alone, this can be a useful method of making new friends!

I met an architecture student who was also sketching while travelling. After starting up a conversation we ended up travelling together for the next couple of weeks as we were heading along the same route through Mexico. Having a shared interest automatically helps break the ice. 

It is also a great way to make contact with local people living in the area. Even if you don’t speak the same language, seeing a smile cross someone’s face when they see your sketch is universally understood.

Basic Materials Needed For Travel Sketching

Mechanical pencils are useful for travelling as they don’t need sharpening. Some people just prefer the feel of a traditional wooden pencil though. Use whatever works for you.

I like these Rotring mechanical pencils which you can pick up affordably on Amazon.

Just like pencils, you can use any pen you want. You could just use a ballpoint pen, like a Bic. You could use fineliner pens, otherwise known as technical drawing pens. They come in a variety of different line thicknesses. They are great at producing extremely consistent line quality. Many travel sketchers use Microns , UniPins or Faber Castell pens.

The great thing about all of these fineliner pens is they have permanent waterproof ink in them, so if you want to paint over the top in watercolour, the ink won’t smudge.

If you want to get a bit fancier, you could even use a fountain pen.

For more information on sketching with fountain pens, check out my more detailed post here.

You can watch me receive some new fountain pens and show you how to fill them up with permanent waterproof ink in the video below:

As discussed your choice of sketchbook will depend on what media you want to use in it but if you want an affordable sketchbook that you could use for anything, including light watercolour, then consider using a mixed media sketchbook. You can get a hardback book, a softcover book or a wire-bound book. This is entirely up to your own preference.

I prefer a hardback book as its easier to sketch in on your lap and is a bit hardier for travelling. A softcover book can get damaged more easily in your bag and you will need to find a hard surface to lean on in order to sketch in it. Pages can slip around a lot in a wire-bound book, perhaps even being ripped out by accident. While it can fold in on itself easily to make it a bit more compact, it also removes the option of drawing across the fold of two pages which I am personally a big fan of when creating sketchbook spreads.

Also, consider the format of the book you want to use: landscape, portrait or square.

For more information on which sketchbooks are best for travel sketching, check out my post here .

One of my favourite brands of sketchbook is Stillman & Birn, I have a post here discussing the differences between each series of sketchbook the company makes.

If you are in the UK, I think one of the best and most affordable options are the beautiful handmade sketchbooks by The Pink Pig .

For quick reference, check out these sketchbooks:

Moleskine Watercolor Album

Seawhite of Brighton Travel Sketchbook

Stillman & Birn Alpha Sketchbook  

Hahnemuhle Sketchbook

If you want to add colour to your sketches you could use a range of materials. The key thing to consider is portability. You do not want to be lugging a huge box of markers around with you, especially if you are on a backpacking trip or trying to travel light. This is one of the primary reasons many travel sketchers use watercolours. You can get a set in a small tin and you only need a few colours in order to mix the rest.

Pair a small box of watercolours such as this St Petersburg White Nights set of 12 with a water brush like this Pentel Aquash water brush and you have a super small portable sketching set up.

For more detailed information on watercolour sets for travel sketching, check out my post here .

Check out my ebooks with hundreds of ink & watercolour travel sketches from all over the world. Get some inspiration for your next trip…

Miscellaneous

Washi tape is a great method of taping in ephemera such as tickets, postcards and leaflets. It can also be used to tape off your page to make a nice clean border. They come in a vast variety of super fun designs as well.

Pencil sharpener (unless you have a mechanical pencil)

What Do You Put In a Travel Sketchbook?

Well, this is obvious but needed to be said. Sketch the places you have been:

• Architecture: monuments, churches, museums, art galleries, castles, stadiums
• Nature: animals, plants, gardens, parks, beach, ocean, cliffs, sunrises,  sunsets
• People: your family, friends, strangers, people you meet, new friends
• Machines: cars, motorbikes, agricultural machines, vintage trucks, boats, public transport, trains, buses, taxis, trams, bicycles
• Food: local dishes, recipes, condiments, drinks
• Doodle: let your imagination run wild

Do you want to learn how to sketch your own adventures in ink & watercolour?

Get 50% off for a limited time only.

I will show you my  exact sketching process in ink and watercolour . I have travelled around the world in the last 3 years and this is my go-to system of creating beautiful yet quirky illustrations to capture the magic of my discoveries.

We will work through  3 projects, step by step (pictured below), all of which are real-life examples of things I have sketched along my travels. I provide the photo references you can work from. We will start by choosing a composition, laying in the initial pencil sketch, adding ink lines, layering watercolour and adding the final touches. This and much more are included in my course, Sketch Your Adventures , click the button under the image to find out more!

Ephemera are the bits and pieces you collect along the way on your travels. Ever wondered what to do with that random flyer, free sticker, or ticket stub? They can all be added to a relevant sketchbook spread, or all at the front, or at the back in the pocket (which some sketchbooks have) – wherever makes sense to you.

Ephemera includes the following types of things:

• drawings or messages from your travel companions or people you meet

Urban sketcher, Captain Tom, has a polaroid-type camera with him on his travels and sticks in his photos as he takes them to add to his sketchbook spreads:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tomas Pajdlhauser (@captain_tom)

Titles and notes about where you have been, quotes that seem fitting, jokes you hear on the road, words or phrases in a different language you want to remember. 

When I was visiting Iran, I asked whoever I could (who spoke English) if they would mind writing the place name of where I sketched in Farsi (the language spoken in Iran). Even though I can’t read it, its lovely have this beneath every place name in my sketchbook. (You can see an example in the picture below, just under where ‘Kashan’ is written).

I also asked people I met or travelled with to write a little note, message or joke (whatever they wanted) in my book so I could remember them. It also makes that person more involved in what you are doing, they can be a part of it too.

Need some inspiration on adding lettering to your sketches? Check out my FREE class!

How to Start a Travel Sketchbook?

Facing a brand new sketchbook with all those blank pages, especially that very first blank page is a daunting prospect.  However, there are many strategies to get rid of that first blank page and overcome the fear of getting started.

I have an entire post on how to start a travel sketchbook here but in summary:

• Draw a map of the country or area you are visiting – I did this when I visited Iran and South Sudan.

• Sketch your art supplies – a great way to remember what materials you used in your book
• Make a colour mixing chart – this is such a great reference tool, especially if you are using a small set of watercolours and need to regularly mix colours to get the shade you need. I have a post here and a video below on how go about making a watercolour mixing chart.

• Reserve the first page for ticket stubs , leaflets and other ephemera. I sometimes like to tape in my boarding pass if I’m flying somewhere and on the final page of the trip I will tape in my departing boarding pass (after I have used it of course)! More recently my tickets have all been electronic so I do this less and less.
• Sketch the mode of transport you first take to start your trip. A great way to get started travel sketching is when, for example, you are sat in an airport waiting for your flight. I like to get a seat near the window and sketch the plane while the airport staff are preparing it for the journey. If you can’t get a view of the plane, of you are taking a different method of transport which you cannot get a view of, sketch the people around you that are also waiting. Most of them will be looking at their phone, laptop, book or will be asleep so they won’t notice you sketching them, perfect models to practice on!

I have an entire guide on people sketching, you can check it out here.

How to Keep Going

Sometimes you’re not going to be happy with a sketch or a page you’ve done and it will demotivate you from carrying on but persistence is key. You will never get everything perfect, but that’s the beauty of a sketchbook or journal.

Sure, you can be super neat but how about letting go? Make it your own graffiti wall, fill every space, overlap things, write notes all over the place – let go! I personally think these types of pages can be the most beautiful as they are so free.

My First Travel Sketchbook

I remember creating my first travel sketchbook on a solo backpacking trip to Mexico and Central America. I mentioned my intention to a few of my colleagues at the job I was leaving in order to take the 3-month trip. On the day I left I was presented with a leaving gift – a handmade sketchbook with a map of Mexico and Central America on the cover. I was completely overwhelmed at the thought that went into that gift.

It was the book I used for the whole of my trip, sketching in it and sticking tickets and leaflets from everywhere I went. I adore that sketchbook and love leafing through it now and again as a reminder of my trip, the experiences I had and the people I met.

If you would like to see it, I did a flip-through of it, it was the very first video on the Urban Sketching World Youtube channel ! You can see it here:

My point is, that no matter how bad some of my sketches were, I look back on that book with such fond memories. Just like some of the photos in my photo album are badly exposed or not in focus, not all of your sketches will reach your personal standards. I’m not sure they ever will, as you will always be trying to improve.

I would hate for you to miss out on the opportunity of creating a travel sketchbook just because you’re worried it won’t be perfect. You will not care about that at all in 1, 2, 5 or 10 years time when you look back on it. Let’s just enjoy the process and not concern ourselves with the outcome.

Some of my favourite online classes

• Travel Illustration: Recreate Your Favourite Place – Alex Green
• Illustrated Diary: Fill Your Sketchbook with Experiences – David Morales
• Daily Sketching for Creative Inspiration – Sorie Kim
• Urban Sketching: Create Expressive Cityscapes – Eleanor Doughty

Final Thoughts

I hope this article has encouraged you to keep a travel sketchbook when you embark on your next adventure. 

If you are new to urban sketching then check out my beginners guide with practical advice on how to get started.

If you are wanting to improve your sketching skills I have numerous articles that may be able to help but this post on things you can do to improve immediately may be a good place to start.

Perhaps you want to loosen your sketching up? In that case, try this post .

Or if you would like to focus on a certain subject, I have a post about sketching architecture here , a post about sketching cars here and a whole guide on sketching people here .

To stay in touch with me and get some behind the scenes information on urban sketching projects I’m working on, pop your email in the box below! 

Keep in touch!

  34 Comments

Posted on October 7, 2019 by Jean Mackay / Drawn In

8 Tips for Travel Sketching

I’ve been wrapping up the sketches that I started while on my Great Western Road Trip — a 10 day drive from Boulder, Colorado, to Pasadena, California, via Arches, Canyonlands, and Bryce Canyon National Parks in Utah. This trip had a much tighter itinerary than previous vacations and it put me to the test in terms of sketching on the go. I thought I’d share a few tips gleaned from my experience in hopes that they help you on your next trip.

• Pare down to a few basic supplies . The more stuff you have the harder it will be to carry, set up, and break down quickly. I put my journal, pencil, pen, and paints into a large Ziploc bag that fits in my handbag or backpack.
• Seize the moment. Travel sketching requires a combination of seizing opportunities and making opportunities to fit art into your trip. It isn’t easy. This is especially true if you have a hectic itinerary or if you are traveling with non-sketchers, or both. Make the most of the time you have, whether five minutes while waiting for your traveling companions, a 30-minute airport layover, or an hour in your hotel at the end of the day.
• Create the moment. If you know in advance that you will be going somewhere you’d like to sketch, tell your traveling companions and let them know approximately how much time you need. This enables everyone to plan their time and spares you from feeling as if you are slowing the group.
• Start, even if you can’t finish. If you see something that strikes you, put down a line and take a photo for reference. Draw what you can in the time you have. You can always come back and finish later, but if you don’t start, you’ll lose the moment and the freshness of sketching live.
• Adjust your expectations and the size of your artwork. You’re not out to make a masterpiece; you’re out to record fun, interesting, and memorable parts of your trip. Work smaller if it helps.
• Mix it up. Sketch a variety of subjects, from landscapes to single objects to food. The more varied your pages, the more you will capture the essence of your trip.
• Incorporate artistic elements from the place. This may include colors, fonts, or designs drawn from the art or culture of the place you are visiting.
• Let enthusiasm fuel you. More than likely, there will be no ideal conditions for drawing or painting while traveling. You may not have great seating, weather, light, or time. Expect to be challenged and let your enthusiasm drive you. Your sketches may not be perfect, but they’ll convey a sense of fun, discovery, and excitement from your trip.

Workshop Opportunity: Travel Sketching in Watercolor Saturday, November 9, 2019; 9am – 1pm,  Art School of Columbia County, Ghent, NY Sure to be worth the trip, this workshop will focus on techniques and layout ideas for sketching on the go and capturing your travel experiences in watercolor. Register by emailing:  [email protected]

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 Category: Journal , nature      Tags: road trip , sketching tips , travel sketching , watercolor sketch

34 Comments on “ 8 Tips for Travel Sketching ”

as usual, inspiring, esp the long hikes and lovely sketches and GETTING SUPPLIES DOWN TO ONE ZIPLOCK!!!….pretty much impossible for me, just getting things to take to lifedrawing is huge, will you share what you actually got it down to?.. what splendid parents you are…lucky lad…thanks for all the tips..sandra

Sure- My 5.5×8.5 sketchbook, 2 Micron pens, one pencil, kneaded eraser, small set of paints, three Escota travel brushes (2,6,10; they fold into the handle), water brush, 2 paper towels, film-size container of water. And yes, we are all very lucky!

Thank you for your inspiring sketches and how you do them whilst traveling. I have similar experiences when I do my sketching. Very often I think my sketches are awful when looking at them on the spot. (You know, the 5minute ones when you partner is impatiently waiting). But later on (maybe a couple of weeks) they express a strange charme to me that a random digital photo can not. Sometimes I sketch whilst rock climbing (on a belay) or at a rest whilst mountain biking. Then I do mostly the outlines. So the lines are very shaky and very sketchy. Then I take a photo for reference and finish the sketch at home (mostly the coloring). I am glad that you also mention that. I used to think it as cheating, but have decided that I am doing this for my own pleasure and do not have to justify my method to anybody. I am keen follower of you blog and like your artwork a lot!

Regards James G. Skone Vienna, Austria

James- Sketching on belay takes it to a whole new level! You would be amazed at how wonky my initial pen sketches are. But, as you say, they are sort of charming and I can tighten up as I progress with color. As for cheating– I think of it this way: you’ve got a variety of tools in your toolbox, use them to your advantage. There’s no right and wrong way to do things. Make your own rules! Best, Jean

thanks for the item inventory, if you can get such magic out of so little, I’m there…

You bet! I’d go with a pen and my journal if I didn’t like color so much. Remember: the art is in you more than in the supplies.

Sounds like a wonderful trip! Wondering the logistics — did you rent a vehicle to drive out, then fly home? Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful art!

Greer Deneen 608.333.2101

Thanks! We flew to Boulder and drove my son’s car to Pasadena, then flew home. Believe me, it was not luxury driving.

Beautiful sketches! I love how you chronicle your adventures. I especially like your choice of script. The style fits. That’s something that leaves me in a quandary when I’m done with a sketch. Love the numbers page. But I love them all, really.

I seem to have a couple of “go to” font styles and then I look for something to add from the place. There were a number of “Western” fonts on signs/billboards so I chose one for the map.

Great suggestion. Thank you.

Stunning work and thank you for sharing! Could you write a post on materials you use? I love the pairing down idea. Thank you, Michele Quigley

Thanks for the post idea! If I handed you a Ziploc bag and told you that’s all you could carry, what would you put in it?

Great tips Jean. The ziploc idea is genius. I always carry a separate sketch bag but this made me realize I need to get things down to an even smaller kit.

I sometimes carry a separate sketch bag, but the Ziploc ensures that my journal will stay dry in case of a water spill or rain. You can also just pull out the Ziploc and carry fewer supplies when heading into a museum or on a hike or whenever you have to lighten up even more.

Thank you very much. I read this from the viewpoint of a photographer and I found that, other than the equipment involved, everything else seems to apply. I love all of the sketches, but the spread on the page that begins with Bryce to Barstow especially speaks to me.

Glad you like that spread Michael. I had to keep it simple because I drew the outlines while driving and by the time we stopped by dinner the light had changed.

I like the simplicity. A lot.

Excellent tips for those of us who travel a lot. I always seem to take more stuff than I think I need or want on my trips. Or even weekend local urban sketchers meetups tend to be overkill on the equipment that I take with me. I have a fear of leaving an important item behind. Again thank you for your timely tips, I appreciate them.

You’re welcome Rene. I left bigger brushes at home on this trip and really missed them. It was hard to get a decent large wash with paint that dried as soon as I put it down. Still, I’d rather travel light and be nimble.

Thanks – is your sketchbook watercolour paper?

Yes. It’s 180 gsm. It’s not as high quality as many watercolor papers, but it holds up fairly well. It’s a Stillman and Birn sketchbook (Beta).

Thanks for that Jean

Jean, I always look forward to your posts and all that I am learning from you. Finding the time to sketch during a holiday is a huge challenge. Thanks so much for the tips. I will continue to try…I’m making progress.

Hi Judy- Thanks for your note. I’m glad you see progress! Putting pen or pencil to paper, over and over and over, is key.

Excellent tips (Michael’s right, of course)! I love that you quoted Terry Tempest Williams. And you saw a Dipper – cool! Your desert night sky is magical…it’s all making me long for the desert. I spent time around Torrey, which you almost went through (it’s south of Loa) about 17 years ago and I still long to return. Thanks for reminding me of the beauty.

Oh…you’ve got to go back. It had been MANY years for me and returning to that landscape was just so great. Yes on Terry Tempest Williams– a perfect choice for Utah, and Yes- the dipper was cool. Hadn’t seen one before.

My partner found a dipper on a trip some years ago and I gave him a very hard time about it – he’s not a long-time birder like I am, so it killed me that I’d wanted to see this bird for years that he hardly knew about. He tried to get my attention but I was busy taking pictures. So funny!) Seriously though, thanks for the encouragement to return. That would be good. 🙂

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Wow! These are really cool. I just found your blog, how did you get started with this hobby?

Hi Pam- I’ve been drawing since I was a child. I find that keeping an artist journal is a way for me to not only practice and grow my skills, but record my experiences, connections, and learning. I love having everything in one place in a book format, and I love having a format that is entirely portable.

Beautiful! I love these! Sounds like a real fun road trip too!

Thanks Jason! It was a fun trip and certainly challenged me in terms of sketching on the go.

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An old way to see new: How travel sketching can improve your trips

See the world anew through travel sketching.

When I used to see people out travel sketching or examples from history, I had two responses:

1) That is so cool! and 2) I could never do that.

I was half right.

Travel sketching is meaningful because you capture a very personal view of what you saw. More importantly, you actually perceive the world around you in a whole new way.

To my second response, let me paraphrase Chef Auguste Gusteau in the film Ratatouille :

Anyone can draw.

You did it as a kid. You can do it again. But you have to try and you have to practice. The good news is that with travel sketching, you get to practice in some pretty remarkable places.

You just have to take that first step

Awhile back, I completed a trip to China where I practiced travel sketching each day in a travel journal. What got me over the “I can’t draw” hurdle was seeing my son do it and reading Danny Gregory’s, The Illustrated Journey where he profiles various artists and their travel journals. Major inspiration. Plus, when I first picked up one of Gregory’s books, I thought, “Wait a second. His drawings aren’t perfect. And he doesn’t care.” Nope. And neither should you.

Your goal with travel sketching isn’t to render perfect replications of what you see. Your camera can do that. Your goal is to have more fun and experience your trip  in a new way. Here’s how travel sketching can help.

The benefits of travel sketching

• You see things better . Much better. You appreciate the details and understand how various elements relate. You discover small visual treasures you’d otherwise miss if you weren’t travel sketching.

• You slow down. Travel sketching forces you to stop. And look. And look again. You not only perceive your subject in a new way, you get to know the place better because you experience it over a longer period of time.

• You meet people easier . They approach you. Everyone loves to see what you’re drawing. No one cares if it doesn’t look exactly like the scene before you. At least you’re trying. They’re not. You both know it. And that can lead to wonderful conversations.

• You get to choose what you draw . I am a rank beginner when it comes to drawing or travel sketching. But it doesn’t matter. I journeyed through China with my son who is a graphic designer and artist. He’d be tackling some complex building or—gasp—a person, and I’d settle for drawing the trash can. It didn’t matter. I liked that trash can. And I knew it wouldn’t be as hard as what Leonardo there was sketching. We both walked away satisfied.

• You improve other creative areas. I’m a better photographer because of sketching since now I’m more intentional about what I shoot. Plus, I can draw during the bright mid-day hours when the light isn’t as great for photos. I think I write better too because I notice more details.

• You experience a place on a deeper level . I now see things I never would have before,  plus I look for things I never would have previously. Every place is now a visual scavenger hunt. I see a completely new dimension of a place as a result. It’s like the artist’s trick of drawing negative space: to draw the chair, for example, draw the empty spaces between the legs and back slats and you’ll actually draw the chair as a result. You begin to see the “negative spaces” of life that before were invisible. And in that is an entire world of wonder.

• You learn there is no wrong way. Stop the self-judging. There are no bad drawings. Everything is a chance to practice and learn. Sure, the kangaroo I drew from a photo in the in-flight magazine looks psychopathic. And yes, that large round flower pot I drew in the Suzhou garden looks like a fallen cake. But so what? As an art professor once told my son, “You’ve got 2,000 bad drawings in you that you need to get out.” 1998 to go…

Not yet convinced?

Here are some other tips, resources for inspiration, drawing ideas and suggestions for how to get started with your own travel sketching.

To get started, just start playing with different media. Here I didn’t even sketch the outline first in pencil. I just started painting. Is it great? No. Was it fun? Yes. And that’s what matters.

• Find a style you like . Maybe one out of ten books I’ve read on drawing work for me. And I can tell by looking at a few pages. Most are too complex or photo-realistic. Others are too fussy. Still others are too messy. You’ve got to be like Goldilocks and find learning resources — books, online courses, websites or even classes — that work for you. Otherwise, I guarantee you want stick with it or likely, even get started.

I saw a pin of this image on Pinterest and re-created it. It would be blatant copying except that I am only using it to practice.

More recreations, this time from a Matthew Rice book using pencil with watercolor. It’s good to simply enjoy making the sketch and not worry if it is perfect. But it’s also helpful to learn from each one. For example, with the top castle, I really like the building on the right but the one on the left got a little wonky.

I’ve recently started using ink instead of watercolor since I still can’t make watercolor sketches quite the way I want. Ink reduces the learning to only dealing with shades, not colors

Here’s a very different style using pen and ink instead of pencil and ink. I think I like pencil better, but I still have a lot of practice ahead of me before I figure out my preferred style. So why not try both?

• Find resources that fit your needs . Just like finding a style you like, finding the right learning resources is a matter of evaluating a lot and choosing a very few. Start online with courses or tutorials. Or go to the library and look through all the options there. But you’ll know you’ve found the right one when it inspires you to want to try. If it doesn’t, keep looking. Here are some that have worked for me:

This is typical of the majority of my travel sketches where I make it quickly in ink alone, not worrying about so-called mistakes. As one artist put it, they aren’t mistakes. They are evidence of your personal style!

Sketches don’t have to be big to be enjoyable. I re-created these little people from a book on watercolors but now, I can make similar ones from real people because I understand the technique.

• Art Before Breakfast – While focused on being more creative, the emphasis here is on getting started doing daily drawing by providing drawing ideas and other creative activities you try so you form the habit sketching or doing something creative every day.
• The Creative License which teaches you how to be more creative in anything.

One thing I learned from Danny Gregory is that you’re never without subjects. A trip around the block will reveal all kinds of things to sketch.

• Keys to Drawing — It’s over two decades old but still one of the best for providing drawing ideas, getting started and progressing.
• Drawing with the Imagination —This is great if you want to learn to draw on your own without a subject before you. I’d start with Keys to Drawing first and then progress to this book. But check this one out just for the inspiration.

Anything can be a source of a practice drawing, even a photo of Betty Edwards on the back of her book. This is one of the few times I took more time to draw something more detailed in pencil.

• Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
• Explorers’ Sketchbooks 
• The Sea Journal: Seafarers’ Sketchbooks  

If you’re making your travel sketchbook just for you, you can fill in blank (or smudged) areas even after a trip with, I don’t know, maybe Baby Yoda? As long as you date each entry, it doesn’t really matter the order of them.

You can see other examples and resources in my article on travel journals .

Sometimes you sketch things over and over just to understand what you’re doing. After that, your practice is both more fun and productive.

And in case you’re wondering about the sketches shown above, the older ones up to the “Not yet convinced?” section come either from the Smithsonian’s recent release of over 2.8 million images to the public domain or the New York Public Library’s digital collection which is also in the public domain. Both are great resources for old images. The newer ones are all mine just to show that anyone can do this.

Need more inspiration?

Here are some wonderful examples I’ve come across of different styles and approaches for your inspiration.

Why sketch a city you see when you can just make up your own ?

You can draw whatever you love. Especially food.

This will expand your perspective on using the medium of pastel.

Here’s a good overview of some specific sketchbook tips.

Finally, here’s a wealth of various travel sketchbook examples on a few different Pinterest boards. With Pinterest, it helps to search by boards because then you can get a sense of people who have similar taste to you. Or you can just search on pins and see a wider variety. These are four boards I enjoy (click on the image to go to the board), but your taste may differ, so go hunt down some boards that inspire you:

Wow! Fascinating read, and actually quite encouraging to those of us who are artistically-challenged to give it a whirl!

Thanks, Rick. I’m glad it is encouraging. I was going to say I expect to see some masterpieces from you. But that would defeat the point of this post. So how about this: I expect to see some great efforts soon.

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9 Best Travel Sketchbooks in 2020

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you buy something, we might get a small commission at no extra cost to you ( read disclosure )

It’s hard to underestimate the importance of a good travel sketchbook. It doesn’t matter what you use it for – sketching and doodling, full-on drawing away from home, or just taking notes (journaling or travel diaries) . The quality and convenience of your sketchbook will influence the overall flow of your working process.

The choice of the perfect sketchbook will depend on your own preferences. It’s up to you, what would you use it for, how big do you want it, and which binding you like. But there are some general tips that you might like to follow if you’re new in choosing sketchbooks and don’t know what you like yet.

What Size Should You Get?

Size is probably the most important matter. It influences the weight of the sketchbook, space you’ll have for your creative ideas, and also space it’ll consume in the bag you carry it in. An A5 size sketchbook is the most versatile and popular option, but if you like even smaller formats, choose an A6.

If you need something bigger, you can choose among the A5 sketchbooks with the binding that allows you to lay them flat. This means that you’ll have A4-sized spreads.

If you still want something bigger and your luggage allows it, the hardcover or at least the underlay made of thick cardboard is a must. This will protect the sheets inside and help you draw on the go without needing a desk. A spiral-bound sketchbook can have a softcover because it can be folded over for extra hardness.

Paper Weight and Quantity

The thickness of the sketchbook depends on the number of pages and on the weight of the paper. The thicker the paper, the fewer sheets would fit into a single sketchbook without making it too thick and heavy to carry. So if your trip is going to be a long one, consider either taking more than one sketchbook or looking for the thinner paper (that would still be usable for your preferred media though).

Usually thicker paper is meant to absorb more water , so choose thicker one (from 120 gsm and more) for liquid mediums (except markers: they’ll dry too quickly on heavy paper). If the sketchbook is going to become a mixed media journal with glued-in tickets and photographs, the thicker paper would endure it much better. If you’re using your sketchbook simply for doodles, pencil sketches, or writing, then the regular thin printer paper would work well.

The color of the paper and the sketchbook orientation are purely the choices of your preference – whatever suits best for your drawing style. And when it comes to the price – don’t think that the cheaper ones are worse! We’ve made you a list of nice high-quality travel sketchbooks of all kinds that are very affordable and would make great travel companions for any artist.

Moleskine Art Sketchbook

• MOLESKINE ART COLLECTION: From sketchbooks and sketchpads to watercolor notebooks with heavy paper, to music notebooks with plain and pentagram pages, to storyboard layout notebooks, Moleskine's art collection of notebooks offer the quality you need.

Moleskine is well-known for its stylish and high-quality sketchbooks and notebooks. This journal is hardcover with a rubber closure, that ensures the safety of your drawings. It also has a cute sewn-in ribbon bookmark.

A pocket in the back of the sketchbook can be really useful for travelers for storing tickets, postcards, tea labels, receipts, and any other valuables. You might glue them in later or just leave them in the pocket as a reminder about your trip. The 165 gsm paper would work well with glue.

• Weight: about 5 oz (142 g)
• Perfect for: pencils and other dry mediums, pens, markers, glue.

Pentalic Traveler Pocket Journal

• DURABLE COVER - Flexible, water-resistant cover with an heavy-duty sewn binding.
• ACID FREE - Our paper is made by using alkaline paper making technology which prevents papers from fading or discoloring. Acid-free paper addresses the problem of preserving documents or artwork!

This sketchbook has a flexible cover , but it doesn’t make it less durable at all. The rubber closure will prevent it from opening and damaging the paper, and the back page pocket will be perfect for storing anything you’ll want to add to your journal. It also features a ribbon bookmark.

The amount and size of high-quality 120 gsm pages would be enough for a long time. The paper is acid-free and bright white for perfect interaction with any color you might use. If you want, you can also choose the paper to be ruled or grid for any kind of notes.

• Weight: about 13.4 oz (380 g)
• Perfect for: pencil sketches and drawings, inks, pens.

ARTEZA Sketchbook, Pack of 2

• More Art Paper, More Possibilities: You get 2 thick, large 100-sheet art books for drawing – 200 sheets in all – so you can draw, sketch, doodle and color to your heart's content.

If you want a lot, you want it all now, and for a reasonable price, this pack of two ARTEZA a4 sketchbooks is for you. They are thick, spiral-bound, with a hard back cover, which makes them convenient for drawing and sketching anywhere. They may take up some space in your bag, but they’ll be absolutely worth it.

The high-quality acid-free 100 gsm paper will endure your notes, sketches, dry media drawings, and even markers. It will also be easy to remove the pages if you want because they’re micro-perforated, but they can stay together as a bound sketchbook without any problems.

• Pages: 2 x 100
• Weight: about 4 pounds (1800 g) for both
• Perfect for: pencils, pens, pastels, markers.

MALEDEN Leather Writing Journal Notebook

• Blank Paper: No lined feature, you can draw mind maps, sketch ideas or write notes freely on the page.Perfectly work as writing journal, drawing pad, scetch book, travelers notebook, diary planner, coupon organizer, photo album and so on.

This a6 -sized notebook isn’t just a really aesthetic travel journal; it would also make a great gift. The cover is made of high-quality PU leather with embossing and retro pendants . A leather string will help you keep the journal closed.

Its binding allows the journal to be refillable , so you can just take an extra pack of paper with you on the road, which doesn’t consume too much space. You’ll also be able to remove the page neatly if you mess it up and replace it with a clean one. You can buy white or toned paper and create an exquisite diary of your travels.

• Pages: 80 (refillable)
• Weight: about 7 oz (200 g)
• Perfect for: writing with pens and inks, pencil sketches, stickers, and collages.

Unruled/Blank/Plain/Unlined Notebook by Lemome

• DURABLE HARDCOVER JOURNAL & PEN HOLDER -This blank notebook touched comfortably, cleanable, sturdy hard cover, protects your art for years. The elastic pen loop is always available for your pen and kept well.

This hardcover journal with blank sheets is everything you could dream of. It’s durable, safely closed with a rubber band, and contains the premium quality paper that goes well with pens, inks, and pencils. So, if you want a good sketchbook for taking notes and sketching on the go – this is for you.

It has a minimalistic, yet very stylish cover design. It also offers you a safe pen holder on its spine so that you won’t lose your pen inside your traveling bag.

• Weight: about 15 oz (425 g)
• Perfect for: taking notes with pens and inks, pencil sketching.

Soft Cover Spiral Notebook Journal, Pack of 2 by DSTELIN

• Perfect size: 19cm x 13cm/ 7.5 "x 5.1", perfect size for handbag, schoolbag or backpack, easy Blank take pages for running.

These small minimalistic sketchbooks can easily accompany you on a trip with the limited luggage space. Even though the cover is blank, you can easily decorate it however you like, since it’s made of cardboard.

The paper inside of the notebooks is cream white , adding a lovely warm hue to your drawings and making your writing look more aesthetic. It’s also acid-free, so don’t worry about your inks fading over time. The pages aren’t perforated, but it’s okay if you’re planning to leave the sketchbook completed.

• Pages: 2 x 50
• Weight: about 8.8 oz (250 g) for both
• Perfect for: pencil sketches and doodles, pens, markers.

Travelogue Square Drawing Book by Speedball

• PREMIUM HEAVYWEIGHT 130GSM PAPER - This sketchbook is made with a high quality buff colored drawing paper that allows for easy erasure. The subtle tooth makes it ideal for a variety of dry media!

Sketchbooks like this are available in different shapes, but this particular one is remarkable because it’s square . This format is dearly loved by illustrators and travel journal keepers, and it’s good for a change even if you’re used to classic rectangle format.

The sketchbook itself is hardcover with a secure rubber closure and looks really lovely with its rounded edges. The paper is 130 gsm thick, which makes it good for both wet and dry mediums, and you can also use glue in it. A bookmark is added for your convenience, and the inside pocket makes it an even more perfect travel journal.

• Weight: about 8 oz (227 g)
• Perfect for: light watercolor washes, gouache, and acrylic paint, markers, inks, pens, pencils and other dry mediums, glue.

Field Artist Rectangle Watercolor Journal

This beautiful in its simplicity sketchbook has a hardcover bound in thermo-PU leather . It also features such cool things as elastic closure, a ribbon bookmark, and a 4-panel panorama fold-out sheet in its back cover.

The paper inside of it is simply amazing, 200 gsm thick and textured , so it would be a wonderful watercolor journal. However, you don’t have to limit yourself to this, and it can easily be used with other mediums as well. The format is ideal for plein-air landscape paintings.

• Weight: about 6.4 oz (180 g)
• Perfect for: watercolors, acrylics, and gouache, dry mediums, inks, pens and pencils, glue.

Field Artist Masters Series Square Watercolor Journal

If you need a watercolor sketchbook with heavyweight paper for your travels, this one is for you. The paper inside is 300 gsm and will survive watercolor washes and wet mediums. The texture of the paper will also make it good for soft dry mediums, but consider taking spray fixative on your trip in that case.

The sketchbook also features a bookmark, a rubber band for closing it, and a fold-out panorama sheet . Its size is ideal for traveling or urban sketching.

• Perfect for: watercolors and other wet mediums (except markers), pastels, soft pencils.

Now that you’ve scrolled through all of these options, you might know better which travel sketchbook is best for you! Big or small, with heavyweight or thin paper – they all have their own perks for different purposes, so you have to define your purpose first. After that, making a choice would become so much easier.

And remember: no matter where you go and what kind of art (or journal) you create, don’t forget to take your inspiration with you! 😉

Looking for other sketchbook ideas?

• 12 Best Sketchbooks for Markers that don’t bleed!
• 8 Awesome Watercolor Sketchbooks
• 6 Dark Sketchbooks With Black Pages
• 10 Sketchbooks Perfect For Mixed Media Art
• Pen And Ink Drawing Sketchbooks
• 5 Sick Personalized Leather Sketchbooks

Related Posts:

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What is Space in Art? 2 Types, Art Examples

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• Published: February 1, 2020
• Updated: December 15, 2023
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Free resources for artists, travel sketching basic supplies and techniques for beginners.

Travel sketching is a very enjoyable activity. I don’t consider myself an advanced sketcher, but I am really enjoying recording places and people while on vacation. I think sketches have a way to bring back vivid memories at least as well as a picture would, and they are more unique.

You might also be interested in:  watercolor and pen figure drawing

We traveled to Thailand for Spring break and here is what I brought with me. With these basic supplies you will be able to sketch while travelling:

You can make a small portable watercolor set from a box of Barklays or similar candy and chewing gum packaging.

Here are the colors I used for my travelling watercolor box:

Paynes grey, sap green, Winsor green, ultramarine blue, Turquoise blue, permanent red, Alazarin crimson, cadmium yellow, burnt sienna, yellow ocher.

I am a Blick Art Materials affiliate and I receive a small compensation for sales. That does not effect in any way the cost of the purchaser’s order but it helps me keeping the content of this blog free.

We traveled with a group and a local guide and the rhythm was quite intense so most of the opportunities I had to draw and paint were during our travelling times or waiting in hotel lobbies. I will have to use my reference pictures to make more drawings of the places we visited.

Travel Sketching techniques

For drawing, I recommend you use a fine liner or fountain pen to make contour drawings. I like it better than using graphite as it will forces you to draw with assurance, knowing you won’t have the possibility to erase.

Don’t try to make your drawings perfect, little inaccuracies in perspective or lines that are not straight are part of the charm of sketching. Try to not use a ruler as it will make your drawings look very starch and unnatural.

Adding watercolor to your sketches

For adding color, the watercolor travel box will be very convenient. You can also use the watercolor pencils with the water-brush.

Here is a selection of my drawings and some of my daughter that she made from imagination while travelling:

You might also be interested in:

Sandrine Pelissier

Watercolor and pen figure drawing, shooting art videos for your blog, website or social media, comments (6).

Excellent sketches Sandrine. Looks like your daughter is following in your footsteps hers are brilliant also.

Thanks Sonia, she will be very happy to read your comment 🙂

Endlessly creative! Some of the products are new to me but I promise myself a trip to Dick Blick in the very near future – so am adding to my shopping list already. The sketches are fun, Charlotte’s animals look great. I actually have sketch books almost unused – now I really must pack them when travelling, or even in the car. Thank you Sandrine.

Excellent! Thanks Eddi. I am sure you will enjoy sketching on your next trip 🙂

Sandrine you are a genius. I love the way you think. A gum box. 😀

Thanks Tracie 🙂 Maureen from our life drawing class gave me the idea.

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A Voyaging Artist's Guide to Travel Sketching

The best way to learn about the world is to explore it. And the best way to explore the world is to slow down and appreciate your surroundings. One way to do this is by travel sketching.

Sure, taking photos and videos is quicker. But a travel sketchbook turns your experiences into tangible, lasting memories. 

When you start to sketch your environment, you appreciate the little things. Things you would’ve missed if you just snapped a pic and moved on. 

Keeping a travel journal may seem daunting for a beginner or casual artist. But it’s about the process, not perfection. 

Next time you plan a trip, don’t forget to bring a pen and paper . With enough practice, your art and worldview will evolve. Here are some tips and ideas to get into travel sketching!

What is travel sketching?

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Olga Ivanova (@adventures_illustrated)

Simply put, travel sketching is the art of capturing a place through pen and paper. It’s a form of urban or nature sketching since it involves drawing on location. You can sketch anything you find on your trip: interesting buildings, verdant landscapes, lively crowds. 

Through travel sketching, you hone your observation skills and see things from a new perspective. A travel sketch isn’t meant to be accurate. Just live in the moment and interpret what you see.

This type of sketching isn’t new. Many artists like Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keefe, Gustav Klimt, and Vincent Van Gogh were also travelers who used art to document places they’ve visited.

Upon the invention of the camera and the rise of social media, however, the travel sketchbook became a bit of a relic. Still, there are journal-keepers today who keep the art of travel sketching alive. 

What do I need to start travel sketching?

Pro-tip: Travel light. Only carry what you can. Be practical. Keep your art supplies relevant, multipurpose, and travel-friendly. 

Don’t take your whole studio on a four-day trip. Bring what you can easily stash away in your bag.

If you’re flying, don’t bother bringing oil paints and aerosols. Liquid paints should remain at home, or in your check-in baggage if in small tubes. But trust me, you’re better off with markers and watercolors. Less mess. 

Here’s what I usually carry in my travel sketching kit .

Mechanical pencil and eraser

You can’t start a sketch without a pencil and pen. To keep things light and to avoid the mess of sharpening them, I opt for mechanical, retractable pencils. 

I also like retractable erasers as they’re easy to carry and harder to lose than a regular or kneaded eraser. Still, you do you.

Drawing pens

I bring a few archival ink drawing pens for outlining my sketches and writing in my travel journals. You can also use a brush pen for lettering.

Usually, I bring drawing pens in sizes 0.5, 0.3, and 0.1. 

Bring pens that are waterproof and fade-resistant. They don’t smudge or bleed when you start coloring in your sketches.

Travel brushes

To keep things neat and practical, get a set of brushes made for traveling. Grab a water brush—featured in our Sereno, Allegro, and Prezioso palettes—which stores water in the handle. Or you get our set of four expandable watercolor brushes, which come in a handy leather case. 

An artist’s sketchbook 

Some traveling artists like to draw on large surfaces. Others prefer small sketchbooks. You do you, just make sure everything fits in your bag!

Recently I’ve found that a B6 sketchbook is my perfect size. It’s smaller than the A5 sketchbooks I’m used to but not as restrictive as an A6. We have a B6-sized sketchbook here on Zen Art Supplies that I never leave home without. You never know when inspiration will strike.

Designed for art-making on the go, this high-quality journal lays 180° flat. Its acid-free 120gsm pages can withstand ink and watercolor. The recycled leather cover is water-resistant and scratch-proof, with an elastic band to protect your drawings against the elements. 

Travel-friendly watercolor palettes

Palettes with dry pans of watercolor are part of my travel essentials. It’s the most practical art medium to take on trips, besides colored pencils and water-based brush pens. You only need the primary colors since it’s easy to mix and blend. 

Here are suggestions from our shop for watercolor palettes to pack on your next trip!

Espresso Palette : Watercolor that fits in your pocket

No luggage room for an extensive set? The Zen Art Espresso palette is the way to go. This essential palette was curated for travel, with 12 vibrant hues of primary colors. You can even use the tin cover as a mixing space.

Allegro Palette : Warm-toned watercolor travel set

Though larger than a travel-sized palette, our warm-toned Allegro palette packs a serious punch. It’s a watercolor studio on the go! With 24 premixed half-pans, you’ve got a full range of colors for outdoor scenery. The palette side has a sponge for better water control. The cover side has ample space for mixing. It also comes with a water brush and flat brush.

Virtuoso Palette : Curated professional watercolor sets

Our Virtuoso watercolor palettes are professional-grade and non-toxic. The full range features 48 colors in movable half pans so you can mix and match according to your needs. We recommend the Moderno or Classico for your primary shades. Add the Vista set so you can paint evergreen landscapes and azure seascapes.

Essential journaling accessories

These miscellaneous art accessories always come in handy for me:

A mini ruler . Mine’s made of thin aluminum, easy to store in the inside pocket of your travel journal .

Mini scissors and glue tape . For sticking mementos and paraphernalia like tickets, postcards, and polaroids. Small scissors, no more than 4 inches long, will get through airport security.

Binder clip . I hate when I’m sketching and the wind blows my pages around. So I started bringing a binder clip, attached to the cover of my travel sketchbook. 

Spray bottle or collapsible water cup . For watercolor on the go. I prefer spray bottles, stashed in my bag organizer. Easier to reactivate my paints when there’s no bathroom nearby.

How do you make a travel sketch?

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sara Boccaccini Meadows (@boccaccinimeadows)

Drawing on location is the most authentic way to travel sketch. All you need to do to begin is find a subject, any moment or landmark that catches your eye! 

Pick a spot and observe your environment

Start your sketch by very well getting lost. Walk and look around. Search for ideas in an unfamiliar environment. 

Get a sense of your surroundings. What can you see, hear, smell, feel, or taste? What’s happening that interests you? Notice the little details. The people, their expressions, the colors of food, the curves and angles of a structure.

Frame your view. Find a good vantage point. And make sure you’re allowed to sit and sketch there. 

Start sketching in pencil—focus on expression over perfection!

One of the techniques you learn while sketching is how to see . We tend to draw based on how we think our subject should look. That’s where frustration arises. Instead, train your brain to break things down into lines and basic shapes instead of images. 

Figure out your perspective, point of action, and items of interest. Build up your sketches in layers: background, middle ground, and foreground. Then add detail.

Trust the process and don’t worry about making mistakes. Leave the photorealism to picture-taking. Just have fun and do things in your style.

You may also create thumbnail sketches before your actual drawing.

Start detailing with a waterproof pen

I like to refine my pencil drawings before finalizing the sketch with my archival ink pens. If you’re working with watercolors , use a pen with waterproof ink. 

You might even decide at this point to omit some objects or details. That’s okay! You don’t have to capture everything . 

Color it in

Coloring your travel sketch brings it alive. Your sketch begins to develop into a full image.

I usually do this back in the comfort of my hotel room. But a little plein air painting never hurts to exercise your creative muscles. The most practical medium for travel sketching, as I suggested, is watercolor . It’s easy to carry around and activate. 

Pay attention to shadows and lighting. In a hurry? Just take reference images or note down the colors so you can go back in later. Here’s where brush pens come in handy, too.

Tips for travel sketching

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Juan Carlos Figuera (@jc_figuera)

Create a routine out of travel sketching when you go overseas or out of town. Free up your mornings or late afternoons to draw during the golden hour. And take your time. Unless you’ve got company, then take reference photos. 

Here are some tips to make the most of your journey!

Respect the culture and rules

Art may be about breaking the rules, but that doesn’t mean you should on a trip abroad. Be mindful. Ask permission. Don’t upset the locals by disrespecting their culture and spaces.

For example, some areas like museums and landmarks don’t allow you to bring permanent writing or mark-making instruments due to the risk of vandalism. Sometimes you’ll want to sketch a curious-looking fellow, but they may not be comfortable. Keep a respectful distance from rituals and ceremonies. Some practices are so sacred that you’re not even allowed to document them. 

Add art-making to your itinerary

Skip the tour guides who rush through tourist spots. Go on a self-guided tour. Or sketch during your waiting time. Take your travel sketchbook on a lunch or coffee date!

If you’re planning an itinerary, leave a whole day free. No planned trips or reservations. I relish free days because they encourage spontaneity. Free days are for getting lost or sitting somewhere to people-watch.

Save your maps and tickets as mementos

View this post on Instagram A post shared by 🌙 belle 🌙 (@bellemaps)

This is what completes your travel journal. Plaster your journal pages with postcards, travel tickets, cutouts from museum guides, labels, postcards, and polaroids—tangible records and memories of your trip. Traveling builds experience and sentiment. One day, you’ll look back on your journals with joy.

Write about it!

Some travel experiences can’t be captured in sketches and line drawings. Sometimes you need to write things down. The dialogue you found interesting. A snippet from history. Fun facts you learned from your tour guide.

How did your visit to a different country change your perspective? What does it feel like to see a wonder of the world? Is there a local artist, architect, or cultural figure whose life you’d like to read up on?

Don’t use fountain pens on a flight

Once, I brought out a fountain pen to journal while in-flight. The air pressure caused the fluid ink to start bleeding out the nib. This also happens with certain markers. 

Since then, I learned my lesson. It’s fine to keep a fountain pen in your carry-on, just don’t use it when up in the air.

Practice, practice, practice!

As with any skill, you can’t get any better if you’re not doing anything. Travel sketches needn’t only happen on a trip abroad. Sketch a scene on your commute or the next time you take a walk in the park!

I’ve seen an artist so inspired by the moment, he used whatever was nearby and sketched on paper napkins. That’s why I never leave home without a pen and my journal. 

Where will your wanderlust take you next?

This is your sign to hop on the next flight and take your inner artist on a trip somewhere! 

Now we’d like to know: Where’s your dream destination? What art materials do you like to bring on your travels? Have you already started a travel sketching habit? Let us know in the comments below!

For more resources and help with art techniques, don’t forget to check out the Toolkit section in our blog!

- MEET THE AUTHOR-

Belle O. Mapa is a writer and artist based in Manila, Philippines. She believes that everyone is born with an inner creative spirit—we just need to nurture and discover it on the blank page. Currently, she lives out her passion: writing stories, hosting journaling workshops, and advocating for mental health awareness.

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On Keeping a Travel Art Journal: Tips for Artists

We all hope to be back to traveling safely and without worry in the coming months. That said, it’s not too soon to start planning your travel art journal, or even start using one for your local areas. In this excerpt from Ivan Chow’s  “ Travel Sketching: Drawing Insights from Istanbul ,” the artist shares his approach to a practice that is both satisfying and memorable.

BY IVAN CHOW

While not necessarily a new genre or form of expression, the travel art journal has become for me a fresh approach to sharing experiences in an otherwise digitally saturated world. A travel art journal has the potential to transform travel sketching into a unique mode of expression, combining drawing with handwriting and composition to create a new “voice.”

My forays into developing art journal sequences have been thoroughly rewarding, as I can combine my drawing skills with an interest in writing to communicate much more than either discipline can on its own. That’s probably why comic books and graphic novels have such appeal and why skillful cartooning can be so influential.

Formatting Your Travel Art Journal

A travel art journal can be formatted in as many ways as there are personalities. My favorite format is an A5 size journal (about 5.5” x 8.5”), either in landscape or portrait mode, with sufficiently thick paper to stand up to waterproof ink lines and light washes (80 lb. minimum, 140 lb. preferred).

As with sketchbooks, an elastic closure strap and inside back cover pocket can be helpful.

In addition to the usual array of tools I might have on hand for travel sketching, I would add a few choice writing instruments, such as a chisel-nib calligraphy pen or fountain pen.

As the name implies, a journal is a regular log of activities and events that occur roughly in chronological order. A travel journal might memorialize the daily travel schedule, places visited, people met, cuisine enjoyed, and souvenirs acquired. A travel art journal adds the element of artwork in the form of sketches, doodles, graphic illustrations, even glued-on collages using torn excerpts from brochures, tickets, receipts, and labels. I have found this last exercise quite a satisfying way of closing out a busy day of touring.

On Composition

Travel art journal entries are unique compositional challenges. In its simplest form, each page might contain a few sketch vignettes describing the activities of the day. Arranging the sketches on the page may require some foresight, consideration of the size, scope, and subject of each vignette and how they might tell the story of the day. Each entry becomes a graphic design exercise involving the layout of sketches, diagrams, titles, and text.

On Writing and Writing Utensils

The addition of handwritten text to a composition of sketches is both an enriching enhancement and a potentially stressful endeavor. It is enriching because it adds information, flavor, and specificity to a sketch. It is potentially stressful because, unlike the editability afforded by computer software programs, each phrase or caption needs to be somewhat thought through and composed before being physically written within the space available.

I love to write by hand and am constantly experimenting with different writing instruments with different tips, nibs, and inks. It’s almost an obsession with me, and I am easily disappointed when my writing falters. Having said that, I highly enjoy narrow, flat-nosed calligraphy pens for travel art journaling, especially used in a generally cursive lettering style.

However, most fountain pen type writing instruments with reservoirs have no tolerance for waterproof ink, which tends to clog the fins and feed tubes. This often leaves me with little choice but to use the waterproof ink felt-tipped pens I used to sketch with for lettering as well. A real calligraphic treat is to use Speedball dip nibs with bottled India ink, although both have proven not to travel well.

There are so many interesting ways to express yourself once in the groove of travel art journaling. The inclusion of people with speech and thought bubbles is a great way of adding interest and conveying sentiment. Self-portraits can show how you feel, sometimes better than words can describe. Self-portraits with thought bubbles offer an even better way to communicate your feelings. Often, I find my sketch vignettes growing and expanding on to the adjacent page, sometimes even falling off the page. Entries are frequently mood-driven, sometimes showing frustration or impatience by the haphazardness of the ink work or sloppiness of coloring. Other times, the lettering is deliberate, and the sketches are precise, reflecting pensiveness or thoughtfulness.

Do you keep a travel art journal? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:   Ivan Chow  is an architect, author and award-winning artist. He was born in England, grew up in Southeast Asia, and has worked in the United States and around the world as an architect, educator and artist for almost four decades. He has practiced in design firms of various sizes; managed a private real estate company; worked in academia as a department chair and dean; and served as artist-in-residence at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater. He has degrees in architecture from Harvard and Berkeley and a degree in theological studies from Gordon Conwell.

Facebook:  @ivanchowsketches Instagram  @qkkdraw

Related Article > Travel Sketching: Tips for Keeping an Art Journal

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Loved reading your article and your drawings are incredible!

Thanks, Linda! Even though these experiences occurred three years ago, they are as fresh to me as if I was back in Turkey last week. So good.

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13 Best Travel Sketchbooks for 2023: Perfect Gifts for Artists and Travelers

July 20, 2023 May 18, 2022 | Dee

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Last Updated on July 20, 2023 by Dee

Do you love to travel and sketch? If so, you’re going to want to check out this list of the 13 best travel sketchbooks for 2023!

These sketchbooks are perfect for artists and travelers alike, and they make great gifts for anyone who loves to explore the world.

Whether you’re a seasoned traveler or just getting started, these sketchbooks will help you capture your memories and experiences in beautiful detail.

Table of Contents

What is a travel sketchbook, you ask, best pocket travel sketchbook for pencil and ink, best vegan-friendly travel sketchbook, best travel sketchbook for colored pencils, best travel sketchbook for mixed media, best travel sketchbook for markers, best refillable travel sketchbook, best kids travel sketchbook, best vintage keepsake travel sketchbook, best mini travel sketchbook, best travel sketchbook for urban sketching, best travel sketchbook for graphite pencil or charcoal drawing, best travel sketchbook for watercolor painting, best pocket field travel sketchbook, paper weight, cold-pressed or hot-pressed, amount of pages, how do you make a travel sketchbook, keep your sketchbook close by, keep essential art supplies close by, release the desire to draw or make perfect art, commit to drawing/ making one page a day on your travels, annotate your drawings, 10 travel sketchbook prompts.

• [Best Watercolor Set for Beginners][Best Drawing Kit for Creative People][The Top Black Paper Sketchbooks][Gifts for Artists who Paint][Gifts for Artists who Draw][Art Journal Supplies]

A travel sketchbook is essentially a pocket-sized or easy-to-carry visual diary, usually composed of good quality blank paper, on which you can draw, sketch, doodle, paint, and make art during your travels.

Whether you are traveling for work, waiting in a queue at the bank, or sitting on a bench in your local park, having a travel sketchbook is a valuable asset to creative living. It provides an immediate outlet for creative inspiration and ideas.

**This page may contain affiliate links to products I have used or recommend. If you purchase something from this page, I may receive a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you.**

Below is a list of the best travel sketchbooks for 2023.

13 Best Travel Sketchbooks for 2023

Pentalic pocket sketchbook traveler journal.

Size: 6” x 8”

Paper Weight: 120gsm

Suitable for: sketching with pencil and ink on the go!

The Pentalic Sketchbook Traveler Journal was made from recycled, acid-free paper for professionals, students, and artists to sketch journals or draw art and their surroundings.

It is an everyday sketchbook! It includes an expandable pocket, an elastic band to close it, and a ribbon to mark your page.

Ricco Bello Art Sketchbook

Size: 5.5” x 5.5”

Paper Weight: 180gsm

Suitable for: Dry mediums – pencil, pen, markers, pastels, and light washes

Is the Ricco Bello Art Sketchbook worth it? Yes! The Ricco Bello Sketchbook is a high-quality, vegan-friendly sketchbook with a vegan leather cover, and it is perfectly square in shape.

These are the ideal dimensions for sharing on social media. It is also important to note that this sketchbook is a lay-flat sketchbook, making it easy to work on a two-page spread. It also has an elastic enclosure and a ribbon to mark your page.

Arteza 5.1” x 8.3” Sketch Book

Size: 5.1” x 8.3”

Paper Weight: 175gsm

Suitable for: colored pencils, pencil, pen, ink, markers, and pastel.

The Arteza sketchbook is high quality and good for use with most media and in fact is at the top of my list for the best sketchbook for pencil and ink. It includes a ribbon to mark your page and also an expandable inner pocket to hold your visual references, notes, and ephemera.

This travel sketchbook comes in a pack of 3 notebooks and is very easy to travel with. It also has a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you aren’t happy with it, you can simply ask for a refund.

[Related article: Aesthetic Things to Draw]

Tumuarta Square Watercolor Journal

Paper Weight: 300gsm

Suitable for: Watercolor, acrylics, pen, pencil, markers, pastel, and more. It also tolerates firm pressure from using an eraser.

The Tumuarta square watercolor journal is composed of 25% cotton 300gsm heavyweight watercolor paper. It is cold-pressed and easily holds mixed media studies – great for wet media!

The paper is acid-free and stays vibrant over time without turning yellow or fading. Another great aspect of this journal is that the sheets are microperforated so that they can be easily turned or removed if you want to.

The paper tears easily along the micro-perforations, and you can remove a page in order to frame an artwork you created during your travels.

This is a lay-flat sketchbook which means you can work on a two-page spread at once. This sketchbook has a sturdy cover with round corners to protect you from accidental paper cuts, and it also includes a handy back pocket to store your reference images , photos, ephemera , and small items you have found along your journey.

Arteza 3.5” x 5.5” Watercolor Book

Size: 3.5” x 5.5”

Paper Weight: 230gsm

Suitable for: Watercolor washes, pen, pencil, pastel, ink.

The Arteza Watercolor Book is a wonderfully portable option for a travel sketchbook. It is pocket-sized and has the perfect amount of tooth for watercolor painting and mixed media studies.

This sketchbook comes in a set of three It is a dual-sided sketchbook and is perfect for beginners and more advanced artists to explore their creativity.

The pages are acid-free and are natural linen-bound. It includes an inner pocket to store reference images, photos, and small items, and it also has an elastic strap to prevent it from opening and getting damaged.

[Related Article: How to Start Drawing]

Leather Writing Journal Notebook

Size: 7.3” x 5.0”

Paper Weight: 80gsm

Suitable for: Pencil and pen.

This classic spiral refillable travel sketchbook has a nautical, vintage aesthetic to it. It comes with 160 pages which are mostly suitable for sketching and writing.

The sketchbook cover is made from durable man-made leather, and it’s a handy sketchbook to have if you want to add or remove pages easily.

Travel Journal Kids Prompts Sketchbook

Size: 6” x 9”

Paper Type: Crisp white paper

Suitable for: Pencil and pen

The travel journal kids sketchbook is a great place for kids to record their experiences while traveling.

It provides prompts to stimulate their writing, drawing and art-making. It includes activities, gratitude prompts, and sketchbook pages to draw and log each day.

Kids are prompted to log the weather, what they saw, what they ate, who they met, and what they learned about during the day. They are also prompted to draw or sketch any interesting sites they would like to include.

This journal is durable and lightweight to carry around. It also makes for a great birthday or pre-travel gift and can be used during pit stops, waiting at terminals, or on the airplane, bus, or train.

Leather Journal Tree of Life

Paper Weight: 125gsm

Pages : 120

Suitable for: Pencil, pen, markers, and colored pencils.

This traveling sketchbook is a beautifully crafted Coptic leather-bound and embossed journal with a vintage tree design on the cover. It is handmade from 100% genuine leather, and no two journals are exactly the same. Because of this, it becomes a special keepsake for your sketching, thoughts, and ideas.

The paper used is hand-crafted, recycled, tree-free and environmentally friendly. It is acid-free, and because of the thickness and the fiber of the paper, there is no bleed-through from pen ink.

This makes it great for wet media and also a beautiful and creative birthday gift or travel gift for a loved one. In the unlikely event you don’t absolutely love your sketchbook; you have up to a year to ask for a full refund or free replacement.

Your purchase will also be helping children in Zambia in Africa, as a percentage of the profits go to Tehila, a Non-Profit organization that promotes the prevention of child cruelty.

Arteza 3.5 x 5.5” Mini Sketch Book

Size : 3.5” x 5.5”

Suitable for: Pencil, pen, markers, charcoal, and colored pencils.

Arteza is known for its high-quality paper and sketchbooks that are built to last. This is a great travel-sized sketchbook with thick paper and is perfect for all dry media and light watercolor washes.

This traveling sketchbook includes an inner pocket to store your art reference images, photographs, ephemera, and small embellishments. It also has an elastic strap to hold the sketchbook closed and a ribbon as a page marker.

Arteza has a 100% satisfaction guarantee – if you are not happy with the product, you can request a refund or replacement.

Field Artist 4” x 4” Square Watercolor Journal

Size: 4” x 4”

Paper Weight: 200gsm

Suitable for: Watercolor or ink washes, acrylic paint, pencil, pen, charcoal, and markers

The Field Artist Travel Sketchbook comes in a square format, the perfect format for Instagram artwork posts.  

This traveling sketchbook contains high-quality, 200gsm thick paper and cold-pressed paper, ideal for watercolor or ink washes, sketching, and mixed media art. It is a perfect travel-sized sketchbook for artists who want to work en Plein air or carry it around urban scenery.

This sketchbook is durable and is hardbound in soft, gray thermo-PU leather. It has a panorama fold-out in the back cover for an elongated drawing surface as a cool extra.

[Related article: How to use graphite paper for drawing]

Moleskin Art Sketch Album

Suitable for: Pencil and pen drawing.

A very popular choice of a sketchbook, this Moleskin Sketchbook is pocket-sized and high-quality.

This is the best pocket sketchbook on my list because it is durable and is suitable for use with a wide variety of dry media. It’s is a pity that it doesn’t have thicker paper because then it could be used for wet media too.

[Wondering How to Find Your Art Style? Read this blog post!]

Strathmore 483-5 Softcover Watercolor Art Journal

Size: 8” x 5.5”

Suitable for: Watercolor, ink, pen, pencil, mixed media, and most other media.

Strathmore paper is high-quality with natural white color and is perfect for mastering ink and watercolor washes. Because the 300gsm paper has a good tooth, it is also ideal for mixed media artwork. This is a great sketchbook to travel with and has a velvety softcover.

Leda Art Supply Pocket Stitched Sketchbook or Field Journal

Paper Weight: 216gsm

Suitable for: Pencil, ink, pen, pastel, charcoal, and light washes.

Leda Pocket Stitched Sketchbook or Field is ideal for light color washes and most dry media. It fits easily into your pocket for easy traveling and sketching anywhere. It has 160 pages, so it won’t be used up too quickly and is bound in durable leather, which means it is ideal for the outdoors.

It has been tested by wilderness guides who take the Pocket Leda on backpack trips in the Rocky Mountains! It is the perfect field journal and a great gift for outdoors lovers!

How do I choose a sketchbook?

There are various factors to consider when you are choosing a travel sketchbook to buy.

What is the best-sized sketchbook?

It is important to reflect on your own artistic processes and artmaking. What size are you comfortable working on, and what size do you usually work on?

If you choose a travel sketchbook that is too large, it can be difficult to carry around with you on your travels. You really want a sketchbook that is easy to take out and do a quick sketch in.

On the other hand, if you choose a sketchbook that is too small, then you might feel frustrated by the limited space available for your artmaking.

However, this all depends on your style of art-making and what size you usually work on.

 It is good to test out some quick impromptu sketching or art-making on different-sized plain sheets of paper to get a sense of what would better suit your needs.

Spend an hour sketching someone at a café on a sheet of A6 paper, or sit on your balcony and draw a stationary bicycle on an A4 page.

Generally speaking, a travel sketchbook is a smaller and more compact than a regular sketchbook because it must be travel-friendly and easy to slip in and out of a pocket or bag.

A5 size or approx. 5” x 8” is my ideal travel-size sketchbook. It doesn’t quite fit into your pocket, but it is small enough to fit into a handbag easily.

I also find that working on an A5 page size means that I have a good amount of space to quickly sketch down something I see on my travels in pen, pencil, charcoal, or watercolor.

This is a really important factor because you want to make sure you have selected a strong sketchbook to weather the elements!

Your travel sketchbook is going to be slipped in and out of your bag or pocket often, it’s going to be placed on strange surfaces (like rocks, a grassy mound, or the sidewalk!), it’s going to be drizzled on, and possibly have coffee (or wine) spilled on it!

The best travel sketchbook must be well bound and have a waterproof protective cover to prevent the book from buckling and the pages from getting damaged.

It also really helps to have an elastic band or tie of sorts to hold your books closed. This will prevent your book from opening in your luggage and getting damaged.

Make sure to choose a travel sketchbook that has good quality paper-heavy paper.

A good quality sketchbook will have a cotton paper that is at least 120gsm. This is perfect for sketching and using dry media on paper. It will also tolerate you using an eraser firmly on the surface without tearing it.

If you want to work with markers or fountain pens, it is recommended to go for a heavier paperweight, – 200gsm or more. This means the paper is denser and won’t have ink bleed through it.

300gsm cotton paper is ideal for painting with watercolor and ink washes. You should also choose a travel sketchbook with 300gsm paper if you are looking for a sketchbook in which to work on mixed media art. This paper will easily hold various liquid glue and gel mediums without buckling or tearing.

A travel sketchbook can have either cold-pressed or hot-pressed paper. The cold-pressed paper has more texture to it and has a more pronounced tooth, whereas hot-pressed paper is smoother with almost no tooth.

The bumps and texture of the cold-pressed paper allow it to better hold and absorb liquid without buckling. This makes cold-press paper ideal for watercolor painting, ink washes, and mixed media art.

The hot-pressed paper doesn’t hold liquid very well and tends to buckle when washes are applied on its surface. For this reason, hot-pressed paper is better suited for dry media like graphite pencil, charcoal, pen, and colored pencil.

It is important to note that markers will work on heavier gsm hot-pressed paper, but bleed through will occur on thinner paper.

Choose a sketchbook that is lightweight and easy to carry. A sketchbook with too many pages can make it more difficult to carry around. Aim for a balance between a good amount of pages (at least 70) and something that isn’t too heavy.

One of the most important factors to consider when looking at the best travel sketchbooks is layout. It is good to get a lay-flat travel sketchbook if you would like to work on a two-page spread at once. This means that the sketchbook will open up and lie flat so both pages can be worked on at the same time. Essentially, you can create artwork that extends over both pages.

It is very useful to have a spiral bound lay-flat travel sketchbook if you are painting botanicals or detailed illustrations where you don’t want to be holding the sketchbook open all the time.

That being said, having a sketchbook that you can hold with one hand, and sketch in with the other is absolutely fine! In fact, that’s how most artists work!

You can make your own travel sketchbook from scratch by arranging sheets of paper into collections called signatures. You can then sew the signatures into a cover to bind the book. For more details on how to make your own sketchbook from scratch, you can read my article on Junk Journal 101 for tips on how to do this.

You can also make your own sketchbook by using a readymade old textbook, encyclopedia, novel, or another book with a firm cover.

You can remove and add pages and paper to the book and repurpose the book as an art journal or travel sketchbook. This is called an altered sketchbook or art journal.

[Related Post: Let’s Explore Pen Ink and Watercolor in our Travel Journals]

How do you sketch when traveling?

[Related Post: A List of the Best Junk Journal Supplies]

Here are some tips for sketching while traveling:

Have your travel sketchbook available in your handbag, backpack, or pocket for those moments when you are suddenly inspired by something you see on your travels. You really don’t want to be wasting precious time and energy rummaging around in your luggage for your sketchbook!

It’s a good idea to have a small pencil bag that can hold your essential supplies – pencils, pens, eraser, watercolor pans, glue stick, scissors, and markers. You can also get a travel-sized watercolor pan that is easy to whip out when the moment strikes!

Perfectionism kills creativity. Remind yourself that making art is much more about the process than the end result, and beauty is found in imperfection.

In order to reap the fruits of your artistic labor, it is important that you work consistently in your travel sketchbook. Just think about how great it will be at the end of your journey when you can look back over all the creative explorations and memories of your travel.

Consistently working on your travel sketchbook will also get your creativity flowing, and new sketchbook ideas and thoughts will emerge. You will also find your art-making skills will improve with this regular practice.

[Want to sketch better? Read my top tips on How to Improve Your Drawing]

Just because it’s a travel sketchbook doesn’t mean you can’t write in it too! It’s a great idea to write down notes about what you see and experience on your journey. Write about what you are drawing and what inspires your artmaking.

Here is some excellent travel sketchbook art prompts to start you on your travel sketchbook!

• Morning light
• Something New
• A Beautiful Stone
• An Interesting Stranger
• Music or Song Lyrics
• A quote from a book I am reading
• Landscape/ Cityscape
• Café/bar/restaurant scene

Other Art Supplies You Might Need …

[best watercolor set for beginners] [best drawing kit for creative people] [the top black paper sketchbooks] [gifts for artists who paint] [gifts for artists who draw] [art journal supplies].

If you are an artist who loves to travel or a traveler who loves to sketch, we hope that this list has helped you choose the best travel sketchbook for you and has given you some ideas for your next artistic adventure 😉

In the comments below, we would love to hear about your favorite sketchbooks and art supplies for traveling. Happy sketching!

Other articles you may enjoy…

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21 Procreate Coloring Pages to Help You De-stress and Relax

15 Best Pencil Cases for Artists & How you Should Choose One

[Looking For a Mixed Media Sketchbook? 16 Best Mixed Media Sketchbooks for Wet & Dry Media]

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101 Travel Journal Ideas: Page Examples, Inspiration & Prompts

Use these 101 travel journal ideas as prompts and inspiration to fill your travel journal no matter where your next adventure might be.

These 101 Travel Journal ideas will help you fill up a notebook of all sorts of adventures – whether it’s an exotic voyage or the everyday journey in life. 

And of course, please, please, please DO NOT feel like you have to do every single thing I put on this list – especially all in one journal. {That would be one awfully big, heavy book to lug around!} 

Whether you’re off to a grand exotic adventure, dreaming of places you want to go or maybe just enjoying a stay-cation and local points of interest, I hope you will find this post of travel journal ideas inspiring to document your next creative adventure.

101 Travel Journal Ideas: What to Put in a Traveler’s Notebook

1. start with a map.

Maps are always great in a journal. You can paste or tape them in or even make pockets and envelopes with them. Drawing maps can be a lot of fun also.

There are also a lot of ways to get maps:

• Google Maps: You could even print out a satellite/street view version or the directions.
• Maps Category on Wikimedia Commons : Lots of great free maps you can download and print out.
• Old Books & Atlases: If you have an old set of encyclopedias that’s way outdated and not of collector value, there are likely a lot of great maps to use in your journals. I love finding an old atlas at the thrift store or book sales.
• Marketing Maps: Many welcome centers, tourist agencies and travel rest stops have all sorts of maps available in marketing brochures. 

Staying local? Why not make a map of where you live? It could be your neighborhood, the backyard or even your kitchen. Doodles and sketches are perfectly 100% awesome here.

Another idea is to cut out shapes from old outdated maps you have. I sometimes buy old atlases and books with maps just for this purpose! These hearts shown below were cut out using a heart shaped punch similar to this one on Amazon .

I love scrapbook punches for so many different things in my art journals – you don’t even need that many of them and you can get perfect cut-outs anytime. These are great to make in advance before you travel somewhere – and you can get all sorts of different shapes! Circles, tags, you name it.

2. Can’t Decide Where to Go? Make a Mind Map

As creative people, making plans and staying organized is sometimes a challenge. I know when I go anywhere it sometimes feels overwhelming to keep track of all the details or even just decide what I want to do. Sometimes I don’t even know where I want to go or what I want to do. 

Mind Maps are great for easily mapping out ideas, dreams, plans, thoughts – especially if you’re not sure how to really organize them. You can draw them out on paper or even use mindmap software to create one you like and then print out and decorate.

Sometimes just making a mind map of an ordinary place can be fun – this mindmap of things to do in Ohio actually makes me excited to go there this summer. {Living next door in PA sometimes causes me to take all the neat things to explore in Ohio for granted.}

Even if you’re only going as far as your imagination, a mind map is a great way to explore all sorts of different ideas and concepts.

3. Packing List & Trip Prep

If you are using your travel journal as part planner, part journal, making a packing list and a to-do list before leaving is a great idea.

This is not only practical, as it will hopefully help you remember everything, but it can also help document some of the excitement and anticipation for the trip before you even arrive at your destination.

4. What’s In Your Bag?

While similar to a packing list, it can sometimes be fun to either snap a quick photo or sketch and doodle a picture of your suitcase and bags.

This can also be a fun way to document different day trips – it’s always interesting to see what sorts of things you consider essential to carry with you – especially if you find yourself looking back 5 – 10 years later. I am still in awe that fanny packs are coming back in style . 

5. Make a Bucket List

A bucket list is a list of all the things you want to do. Maybe this is a list for while you are at a specific location for a period of time – or this could even be a list of all the different places you want to visit during your lifetime.

Some of the examples of things you could create for a bucket list:

• Places you want to go
• Region Specific Foods you want to try
• Things you want to do
• People you hope to see 

6. Found Things: Collecting Ephemera & Other Treasures

Lately I’ve been keeping my eyes on the ground whenever we go places. I’ve found all sorts of very interesting things by keeping my eyes and my head open to finding stuff at random.

I’ve found old coins and pennies, tokens, dropped business cards – all sorts of interesting stuff. A lot of times people may think this stuff is just trash, but if it’s flat enough it can fit into a journal and a great way to document things you’ve encountered while out exploring the world. You never know what you might find on a sidewalk.

7. Save Those Receipts

Receipts are a great way to keep track of different things you do and need during your trip. Maybe you need a special airline approved travel bag you buy before the trip, or it’s the receipt for lunch at that adorable sea-side cafe you stumbled across.

Usually these sorts of things also have geographic information printed on them, so it can make even the national/international chains a little more interesting.

I always joke that doesn’t matter where we go or how well I plan I usually end up at a Wal-mart buying supplies we forgot – but hey, at least it’s fun to see your Wal-mart receipt has a different city and state printed on it. 

8. Attach an Envelope or Pocket for Collecting & Storing Supplies 

Speaking of ephemera and found things, another great idea for things to include in your journal is an envelope you can use as storage. The pocket for collage supplies is one of my favorite things about Dylusions Art Journals – so handy for holding stuff!

Since most of my journals are either 7×10″ or 6×9″,  I like to use the 6×9″ mailing envelopes and glue them or tape them into my notebooks and journals to use as a pocket for holding stuff. They are great for fitting all sorts of paper scraps and other things you might find on the trip!

If you are like me and realize what a deal it is to buy 100 clasp envelopes on Amazon , you can use the envelopes to make many, many more junk journals and art journals in the future! 

Beyond just envelopes, there are also a lot of other ways to display and store things inside of a journal, and one of the great things to use for this are the pocket page protectors often used in pocket scrapbooks.

If you are trying to keep things small and simple while traveling, Simple Stories is one brand with a wide variety of differently configured 6×8″ Pocket Page Protectors that can be a great way to hold and display items you might find in your adventures. Bonus : No glue stick needed. 

9. Keep a Record/Log of Daily Events

I know sometimes when I actually DO go on a real vacation, I don’t always have time to keep track of everything we do. One good way to get around this, without necessarily having to write a whole lot or spend the day drawing and gluing things in the book is to keep a very simple log each day. 

This doesn’t have to be elaborate. Keep it simple – use the actual date or the day of the week and challenge yourself to j ust write one word for each day . This will help you remember details of the trip long after it happens. 

• Monday – Beach
• Tuesday – Friends
• Wednesday – Museum

Keeping a log helps you remember things so that you can continue to fill the book up with memories and ephemera from the trip long after you return.

10. Method of Travel: Document Your Transportation

There are plenty of ways to get from one place to another. You can ride a bus, take a train, or fly up high in a fancy jet plane! 

Once you arrive at your destination, there can also be a lot of additional things to note about getting around town, especially if you are traveling somewhere that drives on opposite sides of the street or relies primarily on bicycles or scooters for transportation. 

All of these things make for great ideas for stuff to doodle, sketch, and write about!

11. Accommodations – Where Are You Sleeping?

Whether you’re staying in a hotel, airBNB, fancy resort or maybe your RV, there are plenty of things to document about where you are staying during the trip. 

Some ideas for ephemera might be brochures, print-outs of your reservation confirmation, map directions to the location. You can also always do a sketch of your room or view out the window. 

12. How’s the Weather?

Weather is one of those things that might be considered “small talk” but it’s also something I know can really influence what types of activities we do when we are on a trip.

We do a lot of camping – so if it’s warm and sunny, you’ll find us hiking, kayaking, and fishing. If it’s rainy, you might find us playing card games, visiting shops, or checking out area museums.

Sometimes bad weather can even make a trip more fun than expected – you might check out something new you ordinarily would have skipped, or maybe you will come home with a funny story of events.

You can record different weather events bullet journal style in your notebook or just draw different weather related symbols whenever you jot down any notes.

13. First Impressions – Any surprises?

Once you arrive at your destination, take a note of some of the things you notice right away or any different thoughts you might have about the trip there so far. This is especially a good idea if you are going somewhere completely new that is not like anything you have done before.

You might also want to take note of what expectations you had prior to leaving the trip – Is there anything that surprised you once you got there? Did you over estimate or under estimate what it might be like? Sometimes the anticipation before a trip can be much different than the actual reality once you get there!

14. Paint Backgrounds in Advance to Pack Less Art Supplies

Something I like to do in art journals when I’m traveling is to paint the pages before I go with acrylic paints I like to use. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate – maybe some simple stripes for writing on, or you can even use by block-by-block art journal technique to prep different page sections in advance.

This gives your pages a nice background and start for any type of journaling or doodles – and you don’t have the hassle of having to pack or carry around a whole lot of supplies. All you need from there is a couple of favorite pens and maybe a glue stick.

15. Try Watercolors for Compact & Portable Art Supplies

If you do want to paint while you are on your trip, a set of travel watercolors is a great option because they are generally very compact and easy to clean up and carry around – some pocket field sets could literally fit in your pocket and are smaller than most cell phones!

Watercolors are a great fun way to give your pages a little hint of color – and of course you can always use the opportunity to try out some new and different watercolor painting techniques !

16. Portrait Sketches

Meeting new people, or sometimes just seeing new people can be very inspiring to practice sketching different portrait drawing techniques. 

Portraits of new faces and people can be a great way to practice and hone in on your skills in drawing and painting faces – it can also serve as a springboard for additional art to make even when you return from the trip.

If the idea of sketching or painting a portrait makes you nervous, do not worry – there are lots of great resources to help you out here, like Mixed Media Portraits With Pam Carriker – Jane Davenport also has lots of great books such as this one which can be a wonderful resource to start with.

17. Draw & Sketch Landmarks

No matter where you go, there are sure to be landmarks. These can be great sources of inspiration for stories and drawing practice. 

Some landmarks are famous {such as The Statue of Liberty in NYC or The Sistine Chapel in Vatican City} – other landmarks are more of directional markers or might have personal significance to you. One example is a water tower we always look for when we drive past it on the highway.

18. Architecture

Wherever you find yourself, take some time to notice different architectural details such as windows, doors, gates, fences and roofs. Make a page inspired by the different things you see! This can be a detailed sketch or simply a whimsical doodle like the photo shown above.

19. Make a Cityscape

After you pay some attention to the different architectural details, it can be fun to incorporate this into cityscape art.

It can be a very fun challenge to recreate a drawing or doodle of the places you visit in your journals, and of course you can always combine these with other drawings or collage and ephemera.

Many of the Watercolor Doodle Cities here and other city-inspired paintings I make start from inspiration from real-life cities and towns I’ve visited.

20. Capture the Landscape

Sketching or painting the landscape can be a wonderful way to document all the beautiful views in nature. You can also photograph these scenes to inspire you to make more art when you get back home.

Maybe it’s an early morning sunrise or a field you drive past on the highway, the waves at the beach or even the way the mountains look in the distance.

21. Use Whatever You Can Find for Art Supplies  

I like to pack light when I’m traveling, and so that usually means sadly most of my art supplies have to stay at home. The good news is the lack of supplies can push you to try using everyday materials in creative ways.

For example, say you go out for tea – you can use the tea in your cup or a used tea bag to create tea stains on your papers. {Just be careful not to smear any ink from pens unless that is your desired effect!}

Over the years I’ve used all sorts of things to create with in my journal beyond traditional materials. A dandelion can often be used to get yellow coloring on paper – you could even use makeup like lipstick or eye shadow and blush on your pages.

22. Pay Attention to Special Events & Holidays

While you don’t need a special event or holiday as an excuse to explore the world, often times we do go places depending on the season and traditions we like to celebrate. 

If your journaling happens to fall around a certain holiday or you attend a special event in your adventures, there can be all sorts of seasonal things you can add onto your pages – hearts for Valentine’s Day, Flowers in the Spring, Pumpkins for Halloween, Christmas Decorations, etc.

23. Everybody Eats: Food is Never Ending Inspiration

There are some places I would visit again just with the sole purpose of eating amazing food. Food also makes for an endless source of things to put in your journal. You might not need to record every single meal or snack, but if you enjoy something good – make a note of it or use it as inspiration for art.

Another thing you can do, especially if you visit different countries is save food wrappers. Different languages, different wrappers – all these things can easily be added into your journal and will even help you remember what foods and restaurants you like if you should visit that place again.

24. Street Signs & Names

As someone who loves all things words, letters and numbers, I can’t help but feel gravitated towards interesting signs we see in different places. These can be great starting points for drawings, sketches or even things to photograph and add to your pages at a later time.

25. Read any good books?

Sometimes the books we read can inspire our travels – or a book can help us pass the time on a long bus ride or flight. Vacation is also a good time to catch up on books you’ve been wanting to read.

I love books so some of my favorite places to visit while traveling are small bookstores and libraries – I always find some nice treasures that way!

26. Foreign Language

If you’re traveling to a country where English is not the native language, it can be very fun and interesting to find different things that have the country’s language in your journal.

Whenever I’m shopping at used book sales, I often find a lot of foreign language dictionaries. These make for excellent paper backgrounds to use in junk journals, or you can always have fun copying the words to practice your foreign language skills.

Staying local in your own hometown? Have some fun visiting regular mundane places by learning or practicing a different language. 

¡Vamos a cocinar papas en la estufa!

Even a place as mundane your kitchen can be more fun if you learn fun ways to explore it as a traveler. This can also be a great way to help your kids practice their foreign language skills. 

27. Everyday Life

What do the people who call the place you are visiting home everyday? Take some notes, sketches or photos of a day in the life of a local.

Another thing that can be fun to do is to imagine for a moment if this place was your home, and not just a place you were visiting. What might you like or dislike about staying in that one place long-term?

28. What are other tourists doing?

Every time we’ve visited tourist-destination types of places it is always fascinating to watch the other travelers and what they are doing. Maybe you see hundreds of people with cameras, or you see people waiting in line to get their picture taken next to a certain attraction.

29. Trees & Flowers

I spend most of my vacations immersed in nature and I love drawing and painting trees and flowers. You might also want to keep some wax paper in your notebook – this can be a great way to preserve flowers or leaves.

30. Birds of a Feather

When we visit cities I always notice pigeons, and I always see seagulls at the beach. I love photographing ducks! Sometimes places we go have aviaries to visit. When we go camping, we love looking for woodpeckers, cardinals, and other birds.

You can fill your journal with bird related images or just make a list or doodles of the different birds you might encounter.

31. Animals

If you love animals, this is another great source of inspiration while you are traveling. Maybe you go to a nearby zoo, or maybe friends you are staying with have a friendly cat. 

Some places you visit may even have animals you don’t typically see that often. I remember when I visited Toronto in Canada I saw so many moose statues everywhere we went!

32. Notes From History

Most places have historical centers – even small towns often have an interesting past. If you enjoy historical points of interest, there all sorts of ways to incorporate this on your pages.

Use cut outs from brochures or old books, record facts, or even attempt to recreate a scene from history in your journal. This is a great way to use up some of your favorite vintage ephemera also!

33. Famous People / Persons of Interest Who Lived there

Almost every place has people who are famous or played an important role in the history of the area. It can be very interesting to research before you go some different people who have lived in that place – and maybe even tour some of the different things that would have been part of their daily life.

One example of this is when a friend of mine in high school was slightly obsessed with all things Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. She had learned he grew up in boring old Mercer, PA {not so far from the same boring town we lived in} – so we decided to go up one day to check it out.

It was very neat to think hey, here’s this little town in Pennsylvania just like our little town in Pennsylvania, he was a band dork, we were band dorks. It is always neat to see these sorts of places, especially if it someone who is inspiring to you, because in a way you can see the kind of environment that inspired them to become the creative person they are.

34. Music Playlist

Speaking of Trent Reznor – let’s talk about another favorite aspect of traveling for me – plenty of opportunity to listen to music!

I can’t think of a better way to enjoy a long ride than to come prepared with a good music playlist.  If you’re riding passenger on long trips, a good music playlist and a sketchbook is a great way to help pass the time.

I also like to listen to different music that is popular in different areas. It’s way more fun to listen to Blue Grass music if you are in the Mountains of Virgina or a little country music on the city streets of Nashville.

There are so many different types of music around the world, and all of it can be very inspiring to listen to while writing or creating.

Need more ideas for how to incorporate music into your journals? Our list of creative music inspired art prompts can help inspire you!

35. Textures

Make a page about different textures you might encounter on your trip. Maybe it’s the sand between your toes, the concrete on the sidewalks or the familiar softness of your favorite shirt in a place where everything is different. 

You can even optionally include some of these textures into your journal, especially if you encounter things like fabric swatches or handwoven items.

Another idea is to use different textures from objects around you as unique stencils and stamps. You can do all sorts of mark making with different textures in your book!

While I suppose this could fall under “food” – coffee for me is more than just a tasty caffeinated beverage. Draw a Picture of Coffee with the different backdrop of the place you visit. Save ephemera like napkins, coffee stirrer or receipts from shops you visit.

Pay attention to ways coffee is prepared and served. If you are visiting a place that grows and produces coffee, this too can be very fascinating to learn about and try different flavors native to the area. 

37. Souvenirs

Do you collect anything? Some people collect pennies, spoons, key chains, salt shakers – you name it! Collecting is a fun low-stress hobby and traveling can be a great way to find new things.

If you are a collector of something, it can be fun to make a page about different sorts of things you like to collect. If you don’t have a collection yet – what is one you might you be inclined to start or find interesting? 

Many different places you might visit often also have souvenir shops with all sorts of interesting things for the area. Even if you’re not a collector, you may enjoy sketching or making a list of the sort of things you notice. 

 38. Pick Up a Newspaper – Local, National & Global News

It’s always interesting to read the news somewhere you aren’t. It gives you a greater understanding of what types of things the residents who live in a place might experience on a regular day to day basis and what is important to them.

Another bonus is often times when you visit a new area the newspaper may syndicate different feature columns than your papers back home. This could mean new recipes, different horoscopes, puzzles, comments, and opinion pieces.

Newspapers are also great to use in collage and art you might be inspired to create, especially if you have very limited access to art supplies.

What does the place you’re visiting smell like? Maybe you can smell freshly baked bread drifting across the plaza, or it’s the smell of the ocean next to you, or even just the smell of pine trees in the woods. 

Paying attention to how all of your different senses experience the place can help you remember the adventure all that much more.

40. Include Conversations With the People You Talk To

One thing I enjoy doing when traveling is meeting and talking to new people and listening in on what people might be saying at the different places we visit. 

It’s funny, but some of the conversations I remember are not exactly quotable, but totally memorable enough to document in a journal. One time when we were at a beach an old man was talking to us and told us we needed to visit a place that was about 6 hours away.

“They have the most unbelievable peaches! Miles and miles of orchards…” he said. Well, after talking to him we decided to go that way the next day and yes, they did have peaches, but we were mostly awed by the unbelievable beautiful beaches!

Had we not talked to that stranger on the beach that day we never would have discovered one of our favorite beaches in the U.S.

41. The Local Dialect

I live in the Pittsburgh area and we are sorta famous for our unique dialect. Many local shops sell Yinzer stickers and other Pittsburghese types of things that are always popular with tourists and would make great journal fodder.

If you happen to be somewhere, pay attention to different words and phrases people use for things. You might be surprised how many sayings and words you pick up that aren’t in any foreign language dictionary!

42. Quotes About the Area and/or General Traveling

There are all sorts of great quotes that can be a great way to add to the journal. You can include general travel quotes in your journal while you are getting ready for the trip – or of course you can always add these once you are back. 

43. Interview The People Traveling With You

It’s always interesting how two different people can have two different options and memories about a trip! Traveling with kids? Ask them their thoughts – and of course don’t forget to encourage them to create their own travel journals!

44. Hidden in Plain View – Important or Sensitive Information 

It’s always a good idea to have a paper copy of important info while you are in a different place – especially if WiFi access or phone reception might be hard to come by. 

While I don’t recommend keeping sensitive info in plain sight in a journal, sometimes you can give yourself cryptic ways only you would know to have a reference for things like addresses or bank account info.

Some ways you can do this is by drawing the numbers in a certain specific pattern, or you could even make up your own secret code. 

45. Reference Lists & Safety Info

I’m sorta neurotic about safety, so I like to include helpful safety info in my notebooks, especially because we spend so much time outdoors. This might be something as simple as a mini first aid guide or a list of emergency numbers for the area. If you are traveling in a foreign place, you may even want to list some emergency contacts in the notebook.

I also like to print out this type of information to keep in planner binders. For the planner I keep in our camper, I included printed information for dog medications and first aid, since our dog has a habit of finding bees nests, eating fishing rods and getting into all sorts of trouble.

46. Currency From Different Countries

Many foreign countries have different types of currency that can be very interesting to keep in a journal. If you have a few smaller value notes leftover from a trip they can be a great thing to put in a journal or slip into a clear pocket you attach to the pages.

47. Track Your Budget

Budgeting might not seem exciting, especially while supposedly on a vacation! Still, it is definitely an inevitable part of life that doesn’t go away just because you are somewhere different! 

Fortunately, it can be way more fun to do when you find a way to express your creativity in your journal or planner. Keep records of expenses while you are traveling and think about different ways you can save money.

If you haven’t left for your destination yet, there are lots of great ways to plan a trip without spending a lot. Make a page about how you will save for an upcoming trip or make a list of ways to you can see the world without going into debt.

48. Random Fun Facts

Do you enjoy games like trivial pursuit? Something that can be fun to do before you leave is read up on different fun facts about an area, or you can even just jot down these things as you experience them in the place you visit.

Random Fun Fact Example: We can thank computer scientist Scott Fahlman at CMU in Pittsburgh for the widespread use of the smiley face symbol . 🙂 Pittsburgh is also home to another famous smiley face – the Eat ‘N Park Smiley ! 

49. Local Business & Industry

Do you ever need to travel for work? Business travel can sometimes create all sorts of new interesting opportunities to see sights and document parts of a place that don’t exactly make it to the city guides!

Many cities are also famous for different things related to businesses and industries. Factory Tours can be super fascinating and educational – they also make for a great activity during rainy day travels.

50. Movies, Plays & Film

Many places you wouldn’t expect have been featured in movies – other times there may be films or movies that take place in the very same places you visit.

One example is the time we visited Savannah, Georgia. My husband loves the movie Forest Gump so naturally this meant we had to visit Chippewa Square and the famous park bench at the Savannah History Museum when we explored the city.

51. The Clothes We Wear

Just like food and money, most of the time we typically need to also wear clothes. You don’t have to be a fashionista to appreciate unique clothing styles in different places you visit.

Depending where you travel to, the culture and weather can be very different from where you live and so the style of clothes and things people wear and do can be fascinating. 

Don’t forget to also pay attention to the clothes you are wearing. Maybe it’s a raincoat because it’s raining or you bought something special to wear for the trip.

52. Travel Shoes

Going places usually means lots of walking and standing – which means the pair of shoes you wear can make all the difference! Sketch a pair of your shoes and take note of whether they have reliably served you well in your travels, or if they’ve caused you pain, agony and misery. 

53. Hobbies & Interests

When I visited NYC my top must-see destination was the Sketchbook museum at the Brooklyn Art Library of course!

One of the ways I documented that visit was to put a safety pin in one of my pages once I got home because I noticed one of the journals there was completely bound with safety pins and I thought that was pretty unique and I didn’t want to forget it! 

Your different hobbies and interests can always overlap in travel – and sometimes in the most of unexpected ways. If you have a specific hobby or interest you enjoy, take some time to research different clubs and organizations in the area. You can find groups and points of interest for almost anything!

54. What’s Trending Now

Do you notice any interesting trends about the place you visit? Maybe there is an activity that is popular or something you notice everyone is doing.

This could be something like a TV show everyone is watching, something seasonally related or it could even be many of the homes decorated with certain pieces or in a certain style.

55. Funny Stuff

One thing you should always bring along any adventure is a good sense of humor. I love this one picture we snapped while we traveled through VA – antique tables made daily!

There are also lots of great travel-themed jokes you could use in your journal.

What travels around the world but stays in one corner? A stamp.

{Sorry, I couldn’t resist, I love punny bad jokes!} Speaking of stamps…

56. Postage Stamps: Send Yourself Some Mail Back Home

Postcards and foreign stamps can make for an excellent addition to any type of travel journal. You can mail yourself a letter or post card, or even pick up some post cards where you are visiting to add to your pages.

Shown above: A photo of some of the vintage postcards I have in my ephemera collection. If you have friends and family members who travel a lot, be sure to offer to pay for postage and ask them to mail you things!

57. Color Combos

Do you love color? Different places can be great inspiration for unique color combinations or even noticing things you may ordinarily ignore. Take a look at your surroundings and try to create a color palette based on what you see around you.

58. Rainbow Page

Another fun travel journal idea is to try to make a page that includes something of every color of the rainbow you see while you are on a trip. This could be done with ephemera or even just making notes and drawing in your sketchbook to add in photos later.

59. Inspiration is Everywhere

What do you see that inspires you to create while you are traveling? Maybe you notice an interesting pattern on textiles being sold at a shop or you like the way the vase on your table looks at a restaurant.

Take note of these little details that inspire you and sketch or jot them down. These can be great sources of inspiration for those days you need a little kickstart to create.

60. Bottle Caps, Drink Labels and Coasters

Many bottled beverages have labels and unique bottle caps that can make for great things to include in a journal. You may also notice several restaurants have coasters that are nice to save after your meal.

Bottle labels and coasters are two types of things that are normally thrown away but can make for great ephemera to include in your journal and help document the trip.

61. All the Different Shapes

Another idea for different places you visit is to create pages based on different shapes. For example, you could have a page for things that are round, such as wheels, windows, or stones.

You could also easily do this for things that are square, rectangles, triangles, etc.

62. Define Some Travel Words

What does adventure mean to you? What do you consider to be a journey?

There are lots of different travel-themed words and they often mean different things to different people. Write your own definition for words, or you could even find these words in a dictionary and cut them and paste them to the page in your book.

Here’s a couple more words you could use on the page or define:

63. Why do you love travel?

People travel for different reasons, and of course the reasons we enjoy it are also usually unique to us. What do you like the most? Is it meeting new people? Seeing something different? Learning new things?

Write or illustrate your favorite things and the reasons you enjoy discovering new places.

64. Stickers

Stickers can be found anywhere, whether it’s a price sticker on something you buy or even a marketing sticker they give away at a promotional event. Some places you visit may even have shops that sell unique stickers for the area.

65. Technology & Apps

There are many apps and websites that can make traveling a lot easier, and it can be something fun to document in your journal. These apps can help you find new places or even possibly read reviews and get special coupons and deals. 

Another thing to think about is how the place you are visiting uses technology. Do they seem advanced or are they behind compared to where you currently live?

66. Trip Stats

Another fun thing to record in your journal are trip stats. Your might record your odometer reading, number of miles you traveled, or if you have a fitbit you could make a note of how many steps you walked that day.

67. Try Zentangle

Zentangle is a super portable form of art and very relaxing so perfect if you’re going on vacation to unwind. All you need is some paper and your favorite Micron 01 pen.

You can start with basic shapes or just tangle freely on the pages of your journal. Who knows – some places you visit may even be home of certified Zentangle instructors and classes may be available during your trip!

68. Practice Creative Lettering

There are so many great ideas and ways to have fun with creative lettering in your journal. You can try different styles of letters, mix up big and small writing. 

Hate your handwriting? Our post on creative lettering ideas can give you lots of inspiration for ways to add unique text without necessarily mastering calligraphy.

69. Stencil It

Stencils are flat and portable – so very easy to bring with you along your travels and keep right inside your notebook. There are TONS of inexpensive stencil sets on Amazon or you could even try making your own journal stencil templates.

A couple of stencils can definitely can help you with making shapes, layouts, and different designs in  your journal – no fine art skills required!

70. Bodies of Water

Water is always a source for inspiration, relaxing, and feeling refreshed – and where there is life, you are sure to find water! As the author of How to Read Water points out, you can learn just as much about water from a puddle as you can from the sea. 

Create a page in your journal based on what you like to do in the water – whether you go fishing, swim laps in the pool on a cruise ship or just admire the sailboats out on the bay.

71. Make a List of Things to Research

While you are on your trip, you might find yourself curious to learn more about stuff you encounter. Make a list or note of this in your journal so you can read up on it when you come back home.

Before you go somewhere new it’s also a very good idea to research different laws, customs and practices. This to-research-list can be a great thing to add in your journal before you leave to remind you to actually learn about these things before you get there!

72. Visiting a Sports Town?

Sports teams around the world have some very loyal fans and this can be another thing worth documenting if you are in a place that takes their sports seriously. In some areas it’d be impossible not to take note of arenas and stadiums!

Even if you’re not a sports fan, you may notice where you are visiting what important sports games are happening and what teams people proudly wear on their t-shirts, jerseys and hats. If you do visit an event, don’t forget to save your ticket stubs and program with the team roster!

73. Stick to the Grid

Grid lined pages can be nice to have when you are writing or drawing, because they also make it super easy to try to draw things when you want to be mindful of things like ratio and perspective relationships.

You can also have fun just arranging different elements in a grid-like fashion – draw your own freehand grid and fill each box with different memories or images you cut and tear out of a local magazine or newspaper.

74. What Are You Really Good At When Traveling?

Do your planning skills shine as you come up with the perfect trip itinerary? Have you mastered the fine art of packing a suitcase with all the right things? Have a knack for strumming up conversation with the locals? Or, maybe you’re just really good at getting lost! 

Whatever your strengths and skills are when it comes to travel, these should be celebrated and certainly worthy of being documented in your travel journal! Draw yourself an award, make a list of your best strengths, and celebrate all the hard work that goes into exploring.

75. Gratitude

You can never go wrong keeping track of things you are thankful for. See our list of gratitude journal prompts for even more ideas of ways to incorporate thankfulness in your journal pages.

76. No Place Like Home

Sometimes distance makes us all the more appreciative of home. What things do you miss the most while you are away from home? Draw pictures, doodle, paint, or make a list! 

77. Wish You Were Here

Sometimes when we go someplace new we can’t help but think of family or friends back home. Is there anything specific where you are that reminds you of someone? Write about it or tuck those little pieces of ephemera you find on a page.

78. What Went Wrong

It’s tempting to only document the good parts of a trip but sometimes the mishaps of travel become great funny stories after a few years…like my husbands famous melt down over a lack of parking or that time we went camping and got flooded out. 

These sorts of things aren’t exactly fun in the midst of the trouble, but years later we can look back and at least say the trips were memorable!

79. What Did You Learn?

Every trip is an opportunity and discovery is synonymous for learning. What did you learn during your trip?

Maybe you learned something new about the cultures, customs and history of the place. Or, if staying local… maybe you learned to always bring sunscreen or bug spray or how to avoid rush hour traffic.

80. Document Digitally

While I will forever be a pen and paper kind of girl, I know I also enjoy the convenience of digital art journaling – especially when it’s not always easy to pack lots of supplies! This is especially true for trips that aren’t necessarily for fun or I know I’ll be spending a lot of time indoors.

You can edit and arrange photos in a photo editing app or software program, or you can even enjoy the creative fun of painting digitally. I love using my laptop and Wacom Intous tablet to paint with Photoshop. You can also have a lot of fun creating designs with an iPad and Apple pencil. 

81. Draw a Clock

Clocks are fun and easy enough to draw – all you need is a circle! It can be fun to compare clock times all around the world, especially if you have ventured to a different time zone.

Another idea is to doodle clocks for when you want to make note of times on your itinerary and schedule.

82. Make a Chart

Charts are a creative visual way to display information and a great idea for adding some art to your travel journal. You could create a table of train and bus times, a pie chart for how you spent your time on the trip, or a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting your first trip somewhere to the second trip there.

For those who are particularly dorky like me, you might even consider making a histogram or scatter plot in your journal!

83. Healthy Matters

If you are into all things health, wellness and fitness in everyday life, it would only make sense for this to overflow into your journals while traveling.

Whether you note healthy foods you eat, exercise, changes in your mood, how much you sleep, number of glasses of water you drink each day, or have a list of medications to take daily, noting these things in your journal can help you stay on track with all the excitement and routine disruptions from traveling.

84. Design Your Own Travel Symbols & Icons

There are many common symbols and icons used for travel – an airplane, a map, a suitcase, a backpack, a compass, cars, directional arrows, trains, etc. 

All of these things are a great starting point to give you some ideas for things to doodle in a travel journal. You can make them flat, line-art style, or even make them 3-D complete with shading. 

85. Travel Role Models

Do you know someone who is a great inspiration for your travel aspirations? This could be a person who inspired you to be more courageous and explore new foreign places, or could just be someone you know who has real-world experience in traveling the globe and taught you a lot of things. 

86. Favorite Travel Blogs

Speaking of people who inspire us to travel – I know many of the places I find inspiration are various travel blogs I like to follow! Seeing their pictures is always great motivation and inspiration to go to new places I may not have considered on my own.

Whenever I am not sure of where I might like to go or what to do when visiting an area, I also love to read different blogger’s guides on attractions to visit and travel tips to make it a smooth trip.

87. The Road Not Taken – Add Some Poetry to Your Pages

There are lots of great travel inspired poems you can include in your journal, or you can even try your hand at writing your own poems.

Not a natural wordsmith? Prefer to stick to something more visual? Check out our post on found poetry in your journal pages.

88. Challenge Yourself 

Sometimes a little bit of a challenge can make even the most mundane of places a bit more exciting. You could challenge yourself to take a photo every day, or challenge yourself to visit a different neighborhood or part of town each day you are in the city.

You could also challenge yourself to commit to a certain type of art each day – a doodle a day, or a watercolor a day, or a pencil sketch a day.

Challenges should be fun – so if the idea of this sounds like a chore or one more thing to add to already a jam packed schedule, skip it or save it for the next adventure.

89. Paper Clips & Binder Clips Are Your Friends

Paper clips, binder clips and other page fasteners are wonderful and practical things to include in your journal. They are super handy when you are on the go to attach all sorts of papers and notes – no glue stick required!

Also, they make TONS of travel themed paper clips. I mean, I don’t know if you would really need 40 of them, but how adorable are these airplane shaped paper clips ? They also make ones that come in assorted animal shapes ! 

So many different styles of paper clips, I actually made an Amazon Idea List with some of my handpicked favorites – I couldn’t believe I found over 40! See all my favorites on my list: All the Pretty Paper Clips . 

90. Pins, Patches & Badges

I love collecting small novelty pins, patches and badges – but I don’t always have a great way to display or wear them. One way around this is to add them to your journal pages!

You can decide to either pin or sew the item directly onto the page, or you can attach it to a small piece of fabric that you attach into the page. You can often find these at gift shops or even while you are at different places that give them away for free as promotional materials.

91. Have a Stamping Good Time

There are LOTS of ways to use rubber stamps and ink pads in a journal. But… I also like to keep my supplies very minimal, especially when on the road. Something I like to do to prep my journal pages is stamp things in advance. 

You can use simple ink dabbers to create patterns or add a distressed effect to your empty pages – and of course if you already have travel themed stamps this is a great opportunity to put them to good use, whether before or after the trip!

In the page above I tried to use some of my rubber stamps and realized one of my very well-loved ink pads was finally starting to dry out after years of use.

I used the ink pad itself to stamp the page with the remaining ink on the edges to create journaling block areas. I also used the edge of the ink pad to make the lines – perfect for impromptu lists or quick daily notes.

92. Travel Tags

There are all sorts of tags that can be useful while traveling. Luggage and suitcase tags are also a great way to add some interesting stuff to your favorite journal pages. 

You can also opt to use paper tags – I love to start with small round tags like these ones and use them for doodles or quotes. Standard shipping tags like these are also like mini blank canvases waiting for your creative touch! 

93. Travel Bingo: Inspired by My Favorite Road Trip Game as a Kid

A long time ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth without technology, we played a game called Auto Bingo in the car. If you drove past something like a railroad crossing or a cow, you would slide the little marker over the picture when you spotted it and try to get them all before the end of the trip. 

This gave me a great idea to make a list of different things to look for while I’m at a certain place and then check it off if I saw that thing. It’s a like a scavenger hunt game – can you find these things in your surroundings?

94. A Boost of Encouragement

We tend to glamorize travel a lot – but sometimes it can be hectic, chaotic, stressful and even a little bit scary.

As much as I love traveling, I don’t always like the packing & preparing, and I also admittedly have no sense of direction – I still get lost on roads less than 10 minutes away from my house!

If this sounds like you, adding some encouraging words and positive affirmations can be a wonderfully uplifting thing to see if you are in unfamiliar territory or stressed out.

95. Spiritual Sense

If you are a spiritual person, or maybe just someone curious to learning about the different spiritual practices of different cultures, there are many ways this can be reflected in your journal.

You could include prayers and blessings for travelers, visit spiritual places of interest, or even just spend a few moments in quiet meditation. It can also be interesting to explore and document the various practices and traditions in the culture you are visiting. 

96. Which Way Up? Arrows & Directional Signs

I love the treasure-map style dashed and dotted lines with arrows. They really grab a person’s attention when they look through your completed journal. It makes one ask: now where does this lead?

Arrows can be used in so many different ways for a lot of different travel journal page ideas. Call attention to a specific phrase or photo, or add them to continue a story on another page. In some ways, you could make your journal a sort of “Choose Your Own Adventure Book” where the reader {or even yourself} – can explore a place in a different kind of way.

97. Attention Please! Highlights

If you are the sort of person who might fill an entire page with a LOT of words while journaling your thoughts and experiences, highlights are a fun way to call attention to things that are important or most notable.

You can choose to highlight things like dates, or just pick words and phrases you like. If you don’t have or want to use highlighter markers, you could also accent different things by using colored pencils and pens or simply by circling and underlining different things. 

This can also be a very fun thing to do with newspapers or other printed ephemera style things you might find in your travels.

98. If You Had to Do It Again…

Would you go on this trip again? Do you want to go back? What would you want to do differently? What would you want to do the same? These are all great questions to think about while you reflect on the trip on the return back home.

99. Return to Reality

What did you have it do when you got back from your vacation? Sometimes remembering responsibilities and “real life” can make us all the more appreciative and nostalgic for the time spent away!

100. Actually Print Out Your Vacation Photos

I’m totally guilty of taking a bazillion pictures…and then never printing them. They go on my external hard drive/cloud storage to never be seen by another human being again…that’s not good!

One of the things I’m making a more concentrated effort to do is actually print out photos we take. You can choose to print them from home on your own home printer, or upload them to your favorite photo print website.

101. Where to Next?

Did this trip make you want to visit any other new places you hadn’t considered before? Where do you want to go next? Or, perhaps, after all these adventures, maybe you are content to stay-cation for awhile?

I know this is a super long list, and if you made it this far, I hope you found these ideas inspiring and encouraging! Travel journals are a ton of fun to make and I’d love to see what you create!!

And of course, if you have ideas for things to include that aren’t on this list – I’d love to hear your creative ideas in the comments below!

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AWESOME post!

Thanks Andi, glad you enjoyed it!

What an absolutely FANTASTIC list! I do a lot of journaling when I travel and already do several of the things on this list, but there are tons I’d never even thought of. I’m particularly in awe of the color palette idea. Brava!

Thank you Naomi, glad it inspired you!

This is the BEST post – thank you sooooo very much! Although it is overhwhelming how much there is because I am a newbie when it comes to this kind of art form, it has given me so many awesome ideas and inspiration and I will try to do some but not all LOL! Thank you again!

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Personalized Travel Art: Your Guide to Capturing Memorable Journeys

T raveling is an enriching experience, isn’t it? As you jet-set across the globe or road trip through your home country, each destination leaves a unique imprint on your heart. But wouldn’t it be great if you could capture these memories in more than just photographs? That’s where personalized travel art comes into play.

Think about this: instead of only relying on digital albums or social media posts to recall those special moments , you’re creating tangible pieces of art that encapsulate your travels. Personalized travel art serves as a beautiful and creative reminder of all the places you’ve been and experiences you’ve had.

In this article, we’ll dive deep into personalized travel art – what it is, why it’s becoming increasingly popular among globetrotters and how to create your own. Whether you’re an avid traveler or simply someone who appreciates unique décor elements, there’s something captivating about owning a piece of art that narrates your journey. So buckle up; let’s explore the world of personalized travel art together!

Personalized Travel Art

Ever feel like your wanderlust isn’t just a passion, but part of who you are? That’s where personalized travel art comes in. It’s not just any piece of decor; it’s a unique and creative way to express your love for exploring the world.

You’ve probably seen those generic cityscape paintings or vintage map posters. While they’re cool, they don’t really capture your journey, do they? Personalized travel art lets you immortalize your favorite destinations in a style that suits you best. Whether it’s an intricate watercolor painting of your favorite Parisian cafe or a minimalist sketch of that breathtaking cliffside view from Santorini – the possibilities are as boundless as your adventures!

Did you know there's quite an interesting range when it comes to personalizing these pieces? Here's what some folks choose:

• Specific locations: A special place that holds fond memories.
• Travel quotes: Words that encapsulate their feelings towards traveling.
• Dates and names: Marking significant milestones on their journey.

And let's not forget about styles! From classic oil paintings to modern digital prints – everyone can find something to match their taste and home decor .

In 2019, according to Statista , around 46% of US adults declared being interested in buying personalized products – proving there's indeed a market for such unique items. Plus with more artists jumping on this trend, options have skyrocketed making finding “the one” (piece) easier than ever!

So next time you're back from an epic trip and looking for ways to keep those memories alive – consider adding personalized travel art into the mix! It’ll be sure to make reminiscing even sweeter.

Why Personalized Travel Art is a Trending Choice

It’s no secret that personalized travel art is gaining popularity. But why? Let’s delve into this trend and understand its charm.

Unique and Meaningful Souvenirs

When you’re on the hunt for souvenirs, it’s easy to get lost in a sea of mass-produced items. You’ve probably found yourself sifting through piles of generic mugs, keychains, or fridge magnets only to feel underwhelmed by their lack of uniqueness. That’s where personalized travel art steps in.

Custom-made artwork captures the essence of your travels in a way nothing else can. Whether it's a watercolor rendition of your favorite cityscape or an intricate illustration of the quaint café where you had breakfast every morning, these pieces are truly one-of-a-kind.

Some examples include:

• Sketches or paintings based on your personal photos
• Custom maps featuring places you've visited
• Illustrations incorporating elements unique to your trip (like specific landmarks)

These aren’t just objects; they’re memories immortalized in ink and color!

Tailored to Your Travel Experiences

Personalized travel art isn't just about uniqueness – it's also about being tailored specifically for you! This level of customization goes beyond what any generic souvenir can offer.

For instance:

• A family trip might be commemorated with an artwork including everyone's names.
• A couple celebrating their anniversary could have an illustration made featuring the romantic spot where they renewed their vows.
• Solo travelers may choose depictions highlighting individual experiences like hiking trails conquered or cities explored solo.

This bespoke approach makes each piece resonate with personal significance – turning them into treasured keepsakes rather than mere decor items!

In short, personalized travel art lets you take home more than just memories – but tangible tokens that mirror those unforgettable moments from your journey around the globe!

How to Create Personalized Travel Art

Choose your travel photos.

Embarking on the journey of creating personalized travel art? You’ll need to start by selecting your favorite travel photos. This is a crucial step in the process, as these images will serve as the foundation for your artwork. Let’s break down how you can go about it:

• First off, sift through your collection and pick out those snaps that really capture the essence of your trip.
• Keep an eye out for pictures with vibrant colors or unique perspectives – they’re likely to translate well into striking pieces of art.
• Remember, it’s not just about scenic vistas and iconic landmarks. Pictures that encapsulate personal moments can add a heartwarming touch to your travel art.

Remember: The goal is not simply to choose good photos but rather ones that truly resonate with you and evoke fond memories.

Select the Right Artistic Style

Once you’ve got your photos ready, it’s time to decide on an artistic style for transforming them into art pieces. There are myriad styles available so this decision depends largely on personal preference:

• If simplicity appeals to you, consider minimalist line drawings or monochromatic sketches.
• For a more colorful and lively outcome, try pop-art inspired techniques or watercolor renderings.
• Those who favor realism might opt for detailed pencil sketches or hyper-realistic digital paintings.

Consider experimenting with different styles until you find one that fits perfectly with your vision.

Turn Your Photo Into a Painting

Now comes arguably the most exciting part – turning those chosen snapshots into beautiful paintings! Here are some ways how:

• Use painting software: Digital tools like Adobe Photoshop have features allowing users to convert photographs into painted renditions.
• Hire an artist: If manual painting is more up-your-alley but lack expertise yourself, consider commissioning an artist who specializes in custom work. Services like Instapainting are an easy way to find the right artist to paint your photo.
• DIY Paint-by-numbers kits: These kits allow you to paint your own masterpiece by following a numbered guide, perfect for beginners.

No matter which method you choose, seeing your travel memories transformed into beautiful artwork is bound to be a rewarding experience. So get started on creating your personalized travel art today!

Popular Types of Personalized Travel Art

Art has a way of capturing moments, emotions, and memories like nothing else. When it comes to travel, personalized art pieces can be the perfect way to remember your adventures and experiences. Let’s explore some popular types of personalized travel art that you might want to consider.

Custom Travel Maps

You’ve probably seen these before: beautifully crafted maps with pins or markers highlighting places you’ve been or dream destinations. They’re not just aesthetically pleasing – they tell YOUR unique travel story.

Whether it’s a map charting your cross-country road trip or one marking all the countries you’ve visited, custom travel maps make for stunning wall decor that constantly reminds you of your travels. You could even go one step further and opt for 3D versions that add an extra dimension to your globe-trotting exploits!

Some favorite picks in this category include:

• Push Pin World Maps
• Scratch Off Maps
• Personalized Star Maps (for those memorable nights under foreign skies)

Travel Photo Collages

What better way to relive those amazing trips than through photos? With travel photo collages, you get to showcase multiple snapshots from different locations in one frame – it’s like having a visual diary on display.

Travel photo collages come in various forms: framed prints featuring several photos; canvas prints where multiple images are printed on high-quality canvas; or even digital versions which can be used as wallpapers on devices.

Here are some creative ways people have put together their photo collages:

• Sorting photos by color palette for an artistic touch.
• Arranging pictures chronologically based on when each trip took place.
• Grouping photos by theme (beaches, mountains, cities etc).

Illustrated City Prints

When photographs don’t do justice to the breathtaking beauty of a cityscape viewed at dusk or dawn – illustrated city prints come into play! These stylized, artistic renditions of cityscapes, landmarks or favorite spots from your travels can be the perfect personalized travel art for any globetrotter.

Typically done in watercolor or digital formats, these prints capture the essence of a place through an artist’s eyes and make for stunning conversation pieces. They’re ideal if you want to showcase your love for a particular destination without resorting to generic postcard images.

Some popular options include:

• Skyline illustrations
• Landmark-focused artwork
• Personalized illustrations where you can add details like names or dates

In conclusion, personalized travel art is all about capturing memories and experiences in unique ways. Whether it’s maps that trace your journeys across continents, photo collages that bring together snippets of various trips, or illustrated prints that depict beloved cities – there are countless ways to keep your wanderlust alive through art!

Displaying and Enjoying Your Personalized Travel Art

Once you’ve acquired your personalized travel art, the next step is figuring out how to showcase it. You’ll want to display your pieces in a way that not only accentuates their beauty but also reminds you of the wonderful travels they represent.

One popular method for displaying travel art is creating a gallery wall. This allows you to mix different sizes, shapes, and types of artwork together for an eclectic yet cohesive look. Here’s how:

• Start by selecting a wall in your home that’s visible and gets plenty of light.
• Plan your layout before hanging anything up – this can be done by tracing each piece onto craft paper and arranging these templates on the wall with tape.
• Once you’re happy with the arrangement, replace each template with its corresponding piece of art.

Besides walls, think outside-the-box when it comes to showcasing your artwork:

• Floating shelves or bookcases can provide more depth than traditional frames.
• Consider using easels for larger pieces or those that are particularly special.

Now let’s talk about enjoying your travel art collection. It’s not just about looking at them passively; these artworks serve as tangible reminders of memorable trips and adventures you’ve had around the world! Take time every now and then to really study each piece – perhaps reminiscing over a cup of coffee on a lazy Sunday morning or sharing stories associated with them when friends come over.

A well-curated collection can also serve as inspiration for future travels; seeing depictions from far-flung locales might inspire wanderlust within you! That Moroccan marketplace painting could nudge you towards planning an exciting trip there!

So remember, personalized travel art isn’t just decor; it's an ongoing testament to your journey through life – one filled with adventure, exploration, growth…and plenty of beautiful sights along the way!

Affordable Options for Personalized Travel Art

Looking for a unique way to commemorate your travels? Personalized travel art is an incredible option, but you might be thinking it’s out of your budget. Well, guess what? There are affordable options available that won’t break the bank. Let’s explore some of these cost-effective ways to capture your travel memories in art.

Art prints are one great option. Websites like Etsy or Redbubble host thousands of artists who can create personalized pieces based on your favorite travel photos or destinations. You’ll find a wide range of prices, but there are definitely affordable pieces if you take the time to look around.

• Etsy: The average price for a custom piece can range from $20 – $50.
• Redbubble: Prices start as low as $15 depending on the size and artist.

Next up, consider digital downloads. These are designs that artists create and sell online for you to download and print yourself. This cuts down on shipping costs and allows you more flexibility in choosing how large you want the final piece to be.

• Digital Downloads: Artists often charge between $5 – $10 per design.
• Printing Costs: Depending on where you print (a local shop vs an online service), this could add another $5 – 20 per piece.

Finally, think about DIY projects! If you’re crafty or willing to try something new, creating your own personalized travel art can be both fun and budget-friendly.

• Paint or draw directly onto maps.
• Create collages with ticket stubs and other mementos from your travels.

By considering these options above, it’s clear that personalized travel art doesn’t have to come with a hefty price tag! It's all about finding creative solutions within your budget while still capturing those special moments from your journeys across the globe.

Final Thoughts

So, you’ve journeyed with us through the wonderful world of personalized travel art. It’s clear that this unique form of expression has a profound impact on how we remember and cherish our adventures.

Why is it so captivating? Well, let’s break it down:

• Personalization: Your travel experiences are deeply personal. They’re your stories, your memories. When these experiences are translated into art, they become tangible pieces of your personal narrative.
• Creativity: Travel inspires creativity like nothing else. Whether it’s the vibrant colors of a bustling marketplace or the serene beauty of a mountain landscape, these visuals spark artistic interpretation.
• Connection: Personalized travel art connects you to your past journeys in a visceral way. Each piece serves as an emotional bookmark, allowing you to revisit cherished moments anytime you wish.

There’s no denying the power and allure of personalized travel art. It bridges the gap between experience and memory in an aesthetically pleasing manner that photographs alone simply can’t achieve.

The next time you find yourself wandering through a foreign city or hiking up picturesque trails, think about how those moments could be immortalized through personalized travel art. You might just discover that this unique blend of self-expression and remembrance becomes an essential part of your travels moving forward.

In short, personalized travel art isn’t just about capturing places; it’s about capturing you in those places - what you felt there, what moved you there - making each piece as individual as fingerprints on pottery clay.

Remember to explore different styles and artists when considering commissioning your own piece; diversity can only enrich your collection! And above all else… happy travels!

The post Personalized Travel Art: Your Guide to Capturing Memorable Journeys appeared first on VIVA GLAM MAGAZINE™ .

• Packing Tips

How to Pack Art Supplies for Travel

Published September 4, 2021

Written by:

Shawn Forno

If you want to learn about budget travel, minimalist carry on packing, or how to travel (and even live and...

Jenn Sutherland-Miller

Jenn raised 4 children while traveling full-time for more than a decade– it’s called worldschooling and it’s awesome. Jenn has...

The Tortuga Promise

At Tortuga, our mission is to make travel easier. Our advice and recommendations are based on years of travel experience. We only recommend products that we use on our own travels.

The art you make while you travel is the best art in the world. Yeah, I said it. Of course figuring out how to pack art supplies is the challenge. In a technical sense, of course, it’s nice to work in a studio with all your paint, equipment, and tools instead of on a park bench with a pencil you stole from a miniature golf course—but in terms of impact, passion, and capturing the spirit of a place or a moment, art in transit is unparalleled.

The Art of Travel

Old Moleskine journals are stacked on a shelf in my room, each packed with sketches, doodles, thoughts, and impromptu English/French hybrid poetry. While I hope those poems never see the light of day, and my many sketches of Notre Dame probably belong at the bottom of a lake, that stack of journals would be right at the top of the list of things I’d rescue in a fire. Every page is a creative time capsule that immediately transports me back to the exact time and place I created them. Travel is a special time of flux, transition, and inspiration; if you can capture that feeling with something you physically create, you’ll never forget it. Seriously. You are a different version of yourself on the road, and that time and place is worth capturing in more than an Instagram selfie. But traveling with art supplies is hard. So here’s a list of carry on packing tips , tricks, and hacks from some great traveling artists to get you back on the road to creativity. See what I did there? That’s art, baby.

How to Pack Art Supplies: Carry On Only

It goes without saying that this is a carry on only artist packing list , but I’ll say it anyway— Don’t check a bag full of art supplies . Trust me, you don’t want your fragile brushes, sketch pads, and watercolors chucked around as they’re shoved under a plane.

3-1-1 Rule: Art Without Liquid

TSA’s 3-1-1 Rule  is about more than just tiny shampoo bottles. It applies to all liquids—which includes your oil and acrylic paints. Since 3.4 oz isn’t enough to paint with—especially for color mixing—and since you probably already filled your one clear plastic bag with actual shampoo already, let’s assume that you can’t pack any liquid paints. It’s a bummer, I know, but great art is about exceeding your limitations with what’s at hand. Man, I feel inspired already. So, if paints are out, what are your travel art supply options?

Pencils, Watercolor, & Moleskine

Moleskine: the travel artist’s work horse.

Moleskine journals are practically synonymous with travel. You can’t walk into a cafe in Spain without hearing the snap of that iconic elastic band and the  skrtich  of a pencil furiously sketching a stranger that isn’t aware they’re a subject. For a lot of artists,  a moleskine and a pencil, or pen, is all you need to create amazing art work on these little canvas pages .

The name in the travel journal game for the last 20 years, Moleskine’s extensive line of sketchbook options includes:

• Moleskine Sketchbook Pocket  (3.5” x 5.5”) — $13.95
• Moleskine Sketchbook Large  (5” x 8.25”) — $19.95
• A4 Sketchbook (8.25” x 11.69”  – this one is metric) — $29.95
• A3 Sketchbook (11.69” x 16.5”)  — $39.95

Each journal is made with the same high-quality paper, thread binding, bookmark, inner pocket, and iconic cover and elastic clasp that have become the icon of artists, travelers, and doodlers for decades. However, the age of  the traditional sketchbook as a travel journal might be over . Even Moleskine is embracing the move to digital media with their  Evernote Sketchbook  partnership. This journal features all the analog you can handle, but comes with a 3-month Evernote trial account. What’s more, the page layout is designed with Evernote in mind, so you can just snap a picture of what you’ve sketched with the Evernote app and it’s instantly digitally available to save, search, or share with your fans. If 3-Months of Evernote isn’t enough, click this link for  one more free month.

Travel Watercolor Kits: Make a Splash on Instagram

If you’re not familiar, watercolor is super hard…but, damn, it’s pretty. And for the traveling artist, watercolor might be your best option for creating vibrant art on the move.

Watercolor paint isn’t a liquid (you’ve got to wet it first) so it’s carry on compatible. Bonus: you can wet the paint multiple times without ruining it (unlike leaving the cap off your acrylic paint for five minutes) and the amount of paint you need is tiny in comparison to oil paintings. Plus,  watercolor brushes are adorably itsy bitsy . The best part about watercolor though, has to be the ease of cleaning and use. Unlike other paints, you don’t have to clean a watercolor brush right after using it—like at the cafe. Just run the brush under water when you get a chance, and boom, all better. If you do have a brush fetish, and the smaller watercolor brushes that come with most kits aren’t enough for you, upgrade to a small flat brush. However, a flat brush is really only necessary if you want to paint with  gouache paint , like James Gurney.  Sidenote:  James Gurney is awesome  and you should totally experiment with gouache paint. Artist  Hali Karla  recommends this setup for traveling with watercolor:

• Moleskine Watercolor Notebook  ($18) — The heavy duty 200gsm paper is designed to withstand watercolor
• Koi 24-Color Watercolor Field Kit with Brush ($20)
• 4ml Koi Watercolor Brush ($8)
• Pilot Point Ultra Fine Black Pen ($11)  (for those sweet outlines)
• (1) small bottle of white acrylic paint (for corrections)
• (1) Winsor & Newton’s Payne’s Grey watercolor paint  ($11)
• (1) quart sized bag with  Gouache paint  (basically “opaque” watercolor)

National Geographic artist and contributor,  Candace Rose Rardon  recommends:

• (2) Winsor & Newton watercolor brushes (size 2 and 4)
• Winsor & Newton watercolor compact
• (1) Mimik synthetic squirrel hair brush (round, size 6) — only $3!
• Canson Montval watercolor pads (various sizes)
• Faber-Castell’s PITT Artist pens ($3 each)

Like Candace, I’m a big fan of the  Winsor & Newton Watercolor Compact set ($68) . It’s got room for 14 colors, a brush, and it seals shut in a tidy container you can take anywhere with confidence. If you’re looking to go smaller than the Winsor & Newton case, I’d recommend a pair of binder clips work can help organize and contain your travel-sized palette, especially outside or on the go. Just clip the watercolor palette to your moleskine, and you’re all set to make some great art.

Pencils, Charcoal, & Graphite: Sketch of a Travel Artist

For the rest of us who can’t grapple with the subtle complexities of watercolor (it’s seriously super hard) colored pencils, graphite, and pens are solid travel art supply options. There are even watercolor pencils as a hybrid option. Megan Van Groll, from  Travel, Paint, Repeat  says that her secret for making art on the go is a mix of pencils and preparation:

“About 10% of my portfolio consists of hyperrealistic colored pencil drawings. So when I do choose to make art on the road, it’s usually small works on paper with graphite or color pencil. I’ll sketch the outline of my piece before leaving, secure the paper with archival artist tape to a piece of masonite or very hard cardboard, cover it with another protective piece of board or cardboard, and lay it flat in my hard-sided carry on luggage . Pencils are very easy to transport so there are no flammable materials or liquids to worry about there!”

Colored Pencils & Graphite

Three of the biggest names in colored pencils are Prismacolor, Faber-Castell, and Derwent. They each make great color pencils, but what you want depends on how you draw.

• Prismacolor’s Soft Core Pencils ($74)  are perfect for blending, but they’re expensive, and break easily
• Faber-Castell’s Polychromous Set ($40)  is smooth as butter, but doesn’t keep a sharp point
• Derwent Studio Color Pencils ($45)  feature a hexagonal grip, if that matters to you

It’s really up to how you sketch. Regardless of which pencils you choose, remember that you don’t always need the full set to make great work. Pick and choose a few of your favorite hues from the 72-pack and see what happens. Also, a pencil nub is kind of perfect for traveling, so don’t be afraid to take along some old stubby pencils from around your workspace. Here are some other non-traditional pencil options (and an erasure eraser, because we’re not all perfect).

• Derwent Charcoal pencils ($11)  come in a handy 6-pack that includes a case and a pencil sharpener
• White Stabilo marking pencils (1 x $4)  are perfect for sketching on damn near any surface. Water soluble, and very erasable, this pencil is perfect for sketching and removing.
• White Pearl Erasures (3 x $3)  are great…even though you never make mistakes.

Digital Art Alternatives

Before I finish, I’d be remiss if I didn’t include some of the fascinating new digital tools available to today’s traveling artists. Styluses and digital canvases have finally upgraded to the standards that working artists demand, while being intuitive enough (and affordable) for your average backpacker with a vision in their heart and some time to kill before their next flight.

53 Paper App  (FREE)

Art is messy and in today’s digital sharing economy the incentive for artists and travelers to share their work immediately from the road is pushing a lot of creators to move away from the traditional sketchpad and pencil. Fifty-Three is leading this digital art charge with their  Paper drawing app . Combined with their surprisingly intuitive  “Pencil” digital stylus , 53 is literally taking creativity to the cloud. The app features a host of color options, palette blending, sketch tools, digital watercolor, markers, and pens, not too mention handy list and note features. The recent software upgrade now lets you upload your own photos or pictures to the app where you can edit, sketch, and doodle on top of them. It’s a brave new world.

“Pencil” Digital Stylus  ($59)

The actual stylus is kind of fantastic. I own one, and I’ve taken it on several trips with great results. The battery life is great—I get weeks of sketching out of a single charge—and it’s USB rechargable, so I just plug it in when I have down time to make sure it’s topped up. But, the real treat is the functionality. The stylus tip is pressure sensitive and responsive—it actually draws what I want—which is saying something. I’m also a massive fan of the digital eraser on the top of the stylus. It works just like a real pencil, simply flip it over, erase, and flip back to continue. I forget it’s not graphite sometimes.

Organization is Key

Forget brush sizes, fancy paint, and 300 gsm quality paper. TSA regulations,  packing cubes , and ziploc bags are the real tools of the traveling artist’s trade. Before you sketch a single line, you have to know how you’re going to carry your tools safely, cleanly, and effectively. Now that you know what to pack, how do keep your supplies organized and your t-shirts unsoiled?

Alvin Double Pocket Mesh Bags  ($17 each)

Alvin is a trusted name in the art supply game with a lot of different options for storing your art supplies on the move. I like the double-pocket mesh bags because I don’t store a lot of particularly messy items, and the extra pocket helps keep everything together. If you’re really fancy, the  Alvin Prestige Deluxe Mesh Bags  ($17-$42) feature clear reinforced vinyl with a zipper for keeping all your messier supplies—like brushes and watercolors—far from your clothes.

Art is messy, but so is travel. I can’t imagine leaving home for my next adventure without a camera and a sketchpad to capture my experience. Photos are great at capturing the harsh reality of your travels—the people, places, and things—but sketches, drawings, collages, and paintings capture something so much more vivid and memorable than even the best DSLR in the world. Art makes the best souvenir.

• Moleskines come in dozens of customizable sizes—find yours
• Watercolor is hard but worth it
• Gouache; look it up
• The 53 Pencil Stylus is the real deal
• Colored Pencils are TSA approved, and all the tool you need

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If you want to learn about budget travel, minimalist carry on packing, or how to travel (and even live and work) in dozens of countries all over the world, Shawn is your guy. Shawn is not a New York Times bestselling travel author, but he is a full-time freelance blogger, copywriter, and content manager and is also a published photographer. He likes to rock climb, trek, surf, ride his bike, and read a bunch of sci-fi books.

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Travel: Prehistoric drawings can be seen in Ohio at Leo Petroglyphs

Humans have always been eager to leave a creative mark on the world, tangible evidence of an artist’s thoughts or actions that might educate, entertain – or perhaps bewilder – current and future generations.

Humans hadn’t even made it to the Americas when the earliest-known cave paintings were created more than 40,000 years ago in what is now Indonesia.

But, millennia later, prehistoric Americans did make their mark. Ohio has several sites where early artists or scribes left enduring evidence of their creativity.

Spring getaways: State Park lodges make perfect destinations for families, couples

The state’s most well-known group of petroglyphs – prehistoric stone carvings – is probably Leo Petroglyphs and Nature Preserve in Jackson County, about 75 miles southeast of Columbus. (The site gets its name from the nearby village of Leo, not from one of the prehistoric artists.)

A large slab of relatively soft sandstone served as a canvas for the artists, who probably belonged to the Fort Ancient culture, a people who also may have created Ohio’s Serpent Mound (not to mention the earthworks for whom the culture is named).

Among the carvings are figures that seem to represent people, human footprints, birds and other animals, and a few enigmatic symbols.

Whether or not the carvings were meant to represent specific ideas, instructions or just the creative musings of the carvers is still a matter of speculation.

Erosion of the carvings dates their creation to around 1,000 years ago. Today, the carvings are protected by a modern shelter house that also provides a roof for visiting picnickers.

The nature preserve at Leo Petroglyphs protects about 20 acres, including a gorge where stone outcroppings contain other stone carvings.

A ½-mile trail makes a loop around the gorge, beginning and ending at the shelter house.

The wooded hike takes about 30 minutes and provides a glimpse of the kind of landscape that might have inspired those early artists along their way to and from the petroglyph stone.

Another well-known and easily visited example of early Ohio petroglyphs is at Inscription Rock on Kelleys Island in Lake Erie.

The rock, on the south shore of the island near the Kelleys Island Ferry landing, was partially buried when discovered by early settlers in 1833.

More: 7 small Ohio towns and villages perfect for your next day trip

The site is probably not as old as the Leo Petroglyphs, dating from perhaps 800 years ago.

Although Inscription Rock is also protected by a modern shelter, the rock has been so eroded that it’s hard to clearly see the carvings today. But an informational display at the site includes a depiction of the stone from a drawing made in 1850, showing more strange and enigmatic figures, animals and symbols that should provide a satisfying puzzle for any aspiring amateur archeological cryptographers.

Visitors to Kelleys Island should also be sure to visit Glacial Grooves Geological Preserve , an example of Mother Nature’s own artistry, carved by massive boulders dragged by glaciers during the last Ice Age.

Travelers who find themselves fascinated by ancient rock carvings should consider a trip to the American West, where several large sites display a vast array of petroglyphs covering a vast span of history.

One of the most popular and accessible destinations is Petroglyphs National Monument , just a few miles outside downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico, where visitors can see one of the largest petroglyph sites in North America.

Short trails lead visitors past designs, both strange and familiar, carved into volcanic rocks strewn about like cyclopian Legos.

The carvings at the national monument are probably a bit younger than the Ohio sites and are credited to both Native Americans and early Spanish settlers from between 400 to 700 years ago.

Steve Stephens is a freelance travel writer and photographer. Email him at  [email protected] .

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A guide to São Paulo, the Brazilian city defined by its creative subcultures

In Brazil’s largest city — an ever-evolving metropolis of intertwined cultures — diasporas from across the globe use music, art and dance to make their mark.

I’m still two blocks away when I hear the samba beat, subverted by a deep, assertive bass. At the far end of a pedestrian lane paved in white tiles, a Beaux Arts villa called Casa de Francisca glows red and purple from within. Its tall second-storey windows are flung open to reveal hundreds of party-goers. Behind the villa, there’s São Paulo’s historic centre, the silhouetted at night.

Once home to a musical instrument shop, then a radio broadcaster, before becoming an empty shell, the building now has more people inside than it’s ever hosted before. When I enter, it feels as though they’re testing the structural integrity of its Corinthian pillars. A fusion of black, white, mixed, Indigenous, macho and gender-fluid people, the crowd bounce and shout out lyrics, white shirts billowing, trilbies toppling. Their eyes are on the DJ booth where Angola-born writer-musician Kalaf Epalanga is spinning kizomba — a sweeping genre embracing Afrobeats, Portuguese pop, fervent hip-hop and plaintive soul. When Kalaf eases into a slower tempo, couples pair off in sweaty synchronicity, or make out under the tiered chandelier. Two tall mirrors on the stage reflect the scene back to me.

Emerging from Angolan clubs in southwestern Africa during the war-torn 1980s, kizomba culture has rippled through the Afro-Portuguese diaspora like waves across the Atlantic. It’s difficult to define because it’s considered an attitude — a matrix of Latin rhythms, new wave synthesisers and early techno, but also fashion bravado and survival spirit that’s found a footing in São Paulo. The Afro-pop Cape Verdean crooner Djodje is kizomba; so, too, is the Rio-based Afrobeats DJ Joss Dee. The literal meaning of kizomba in the Kimbundu language, one of several spoken in Angola, is ‘party’.

In this city of around 12 million — the world’s largest Portuguese-speaking centre and Brazil’s most populated city by a country mile — Kalaf has a huge fanbase. And this celebration of kizomba, held in partnership with Kalaf’s fellow artist, friend and countryman Nástio Mosquito, is their way of testing the waters for a permanent Kizomba Design Museum in the city, with Casa de Francisca one possible home for it. The pair are clearly on to something.

After his set, we sit down together and Kalaf puts it to me like this: “The African diaspora in the Western world take whatever jobs are available from the bottom of the pyramid,” he drawls. “They’re immigrants, invisible all week long. No one knows their story. But come Friday they’ll get their best outfits from the dry cleaner, call the barber, take pride in their presentation. That’s why we call it kizomba design.” Nástio, his afro wilder than Kalaf’s and prematurely grey, says it’s quite the opposite to fado, a Portuguese music genre of melancholic songs and rhythms that originated in the 19th century. “Fado was all longing and pain. Kizomba celebrates. It shows there’s a different way to live under stress. It says: ‘We have today, so let’s dance, let’s drink, let’s f**k.’”

The following morning I see them both about 20 minutes away at Megafauna, a sunlit bookshop where they’re hosting a standing-room-only kizomba symposium. The books stacked to the ceiling represent a diverse range of authors that reflect São Paulo’s true mosaic. From the 16th century until 1888 — horrifyingly late for abolition — Brazil took in more enslaved people from Africa than any New World country. And, since the postwar industrial boom, many of their descendants have ended up in São Paulo. More than half of all Brazilians are Black or mixed race. Yet, they still largely live on the margins. “A lot of Brazilians are disconnected to their roots,” Nástio tells me, “but they’re gaining agency.”  

Megafauna sits on the ground floor of the rambling Edificio Copan, a 38-storey S-shaped tower built in striking ribbed concrete by the late, great Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in the 1960s. There’s an art gallery upstairs, a cafe next door chiselled out of a raw concrete shell, a vintage boutique and 1,160 apartments in the floors above. The artists have chosen this landmark to lure their audience from the four corners of town. “It’s important that our culture can access places like this,” says Nástio.  

This quarter of the historic centre has suffered its share of neglect. Though São Paulo’s crime rate is lower than that of more touristy Rio de Janeiro, Kalaf admits “this is not a city to play with”. He tells me to be vigilant, and to hide my phone in the streets from thieves on bikes. Still, he loves the kizomba vibe around Edificio Copan. “São Paulo doesn’t have the beautiful nature of Rio. It’s rough around the edges, so people only have each other and the culture to embrace.” Kalaf isn’t just referring to Africans like himself but the whole spectrum of people taking over the pavement outside Edificio Copan. “The immigrant influence defines the fabric of the city. It quickly gives you a glimpse of what Brazil represents,” he says. “I have the same feeling in New York — this big Babylon with people from all over the world.”

Topical & tropical

I see what he means over lunch at Z Deli, a leather-booth diner in a mid-century building near Edificio Copan. Z is run by one of the 20,000 Jewish families who sought asylum in São Paulo over the 20th century. A 10-minute walk away is the Jewish Museum, a former Byzantine-style synagogue opened in 2021 to exhibit Brazilian-Jewish artefacts. Similiarly, Z’s menu showcases a distinct hybrid flavour that straddles continents. I order what I think is a pastrami sandwich. What I get is shredded meat and spring onions on a bed of fries with a dollop of mayo, a jar of hot sauce and a local Guaraná-brand ginger soda. Brazilian and Jewish cultures would seem to have little in common besides fate.

And yet, simmering in São Paulo, they come together with fascinating synergy. Just east of downtown, past an awkwardly placed motorway, is Liberdade, spiritual home to hundreds of thousands of Japanese Paulistanos — the largest community off Japanese soil. I head there with Fernando Filet, a tall, tanned tour guide who leads me beneath red lampposts shaped like paper lanterns. Liberdade’s tight knot of streets can’t contain the crush of pedestrians buying Hello Kitty-themed pasteles (dumplings) and Amazonian-fish yakitori, so vendors spill out onto a viaduct.  

Looking down at the traffic below, Fernando shares a description from the late Anthony Bourdain, who visited while filming his shows No Reservations and The Layover. “He said, ‘São Paulo feels like LA threw up on New York’.” Fernando quotes this to all his clients because Bourdain — who loved the city — had a point. You don’t tend to hear bossa nova paeans about the criss-crossing highways and graffiti-scrawled streets sprawling out from Liberdade. They’re functional but fun, smelling of Italian trattorias and Lebanese falafel huts. Then, as we approach broad, busy Avenida Paulista, they smarten up. Flanked by audaciously designed brutalist towers, Avenida Paulista has a retro character and unconventional beauty that appeals to me. Fernando points out a cool 1970s building by starchitect Paulo Mendes de la Rocha, which flares out over the pavement like a bellbottom.  

But I prefer the street’s São Paulo Museum of Art, or MASP, a giant glass box hoisted in the air by stout concrete legs painted a shouty shade of red. When its architect Lina Bo Bardi immigrated to Brazil from Italy in the late 1940s, she imported Italian modernism and the notion of public gathering spaces. “She was a woman of the people,” says Fernando. On the piazza, framed by MASP’s red legs, the community spirit is palpable, filled with skateboarders toting boom boxes and families on promenade. Fernando urges me up to the vast glass gallery overhead, where paintings by globally renowned artists such as Modigliani and Picasso sit alongside emerging Brazilian ones, their works encased in glass and planted in concrete foundations. From here we can peer out of the glass walls and watch the late-afternoon sun meet the skyline.  

I could spend a week basking in grand-gesture museums like MASP, but I’ve promised my new kizomba mates I’d check out the scene in Barra Funda, north of downtown. On a sunny morning I meander among its charming painted stucco terraces. There’s an antique shop under a deep awning and a bakery festooned with azulejo tiles selling Portuguese custard tarts. An electric-green maritaca parrot wolf-whistles from the shoulder of an old man as I duck into HOA Galeria.  

Brazil’s first Black-owned art gallery, HOA is hell-bent on shifting the narrative of Latin American art from the colonial to the personal, experiential and revolutionary. Inside, it’s somehow brighter than outside, all blazing brushstrokes and thrumming video. The same goes for Mendes Wood around the corner — a gallery where endless vaulted rooms grab you and keep you rapt with installations exploring Blackness and otherness, by brilliant artists finally getting a platform. In fact, there’s a gallery every 500 metres — and judging by the cocktail of languages I overhear, visitors have come from everywhere to appreciate them.  

Covid had an unexpected positive impact on this neighbourhood, once known for Korean immigrants and industry. Home life pivoted to the pavements and when the city opened up again, restaurants, bars and galleries moved into the area’s once-empty warehouses. People took notice. Just off Rua Barra Funda, I watch the young, beautiful and tattooed file into Mescla, a cafe with communal tables and a Bolivian chef experimenting with Cuban, Andean and Mediterranean cooking. In an area spoiled for wine bars, everyone lines their stomachs here.  

That evening it’s back to Casa de Francisca to watch rapper Dino D’Santiago, a Portuguese artist of Cape Verdean descent, fire up the crowd into absolute, arm-swinging rapture. I can’t help but get up out of my vintage cinema seat. “We’re rocking the place,” Nástio says, when I can hear again. The crowd snaps into perfect sync for the Electric Slide line dance. They know every move, every word. Kalaf says that’s not surprising. “All these people have the same cultural touchstones, and they don’t experience their stars playing in town.”

I ask him about those two big mirrors flanking the stage. He tells me that self reflection is part of the design emblematic of kizomba. “This culture is fragile,” he says. “Our traditions are ephemeral, oral. Our story is nowhere, but when we look at ourselves and we look at each other, we can see it.”  

Related Topics

• PEOPLE AND CULTURE
• FOOD CULTURE
• CULTURAL TOURISM
• CITY GUIDES
• ARCHITECTURE

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Want to travel with style? These 7 items got you covered

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Miu Miu canvas and leather bucket bag, $2,050

Miu Miu is one of the buzziest brands in fashion right now, and for spring and summer, the Prada Group label has delivered bags that are perfect for a jaunt to Malibu, Newport Beach or Manhattan Beach. This canvas and leather bucket bag has a front leather lettering logo, adjustable leather handle, a linen lining, gold-tone hardware and leather drawstring closure — all adding to the bag’s charm.

Purchase 👉🏽 here .

Celine sunglasses, $440

Animal prints are everything right now, and the message you’ll send wearing these women’s squarish-frame sunnies from Celine is that you’re fashionable with a slight wild side. Along with Leopard Havana, the sunglasses also come in three subdued color options: light pink, black and white. All come with a crossbody pouch.

Palm Angels PA 4 sneakers, $620

For Italian fashion brand Palm Angels’ spring and summer collection (pieces generally range from $300 to $4,500), the vibe is once again all about the City of Angels — and for good reason, right? Just check out the new styles of the brand’s PA 4 kicks that feature palm trees stitched on the sides.

Cult Gaia Celia one-piece swimsuit, $328

Cult Gaia’s Celia one-piece swimsuit should be tucked into your luggage for a trip to Palm Springs or St. Barts. The swimsuit, which comes in black and a matcha-looking color called tea, has a high-thigh cut, low back and wired neckline. Sizes range from XXS to XL.

Tumi Extended Trip Expandable 4 Wheeled Packing Case, $950

Unless you’re flying private, you know how it goes at the luggage pickup: Figuring out which black bag on the conveyor belt is yours. Stand out with this lightweight Tumi suitcase in halogen blue that has a recycled polycarbonate shell, an integrated TSA lock and a dual-compartment zip pocket. You can monogram it as well as buy it in other colors: hunter green, black, navy and red.

Saint Laurent Rive Droite mini speaker, $80

Instead of earbuds, play the new Beyoncé album poolside, with this portable speaker from French brands Saint Laurent Rive Droite and Lexon. The Mino mini speaker works via Bluetooth and is compact, rechargeable and comes in a bright colors: mustard, Majorelle blue, bright red, fuchsia violet and aqua.

Orlebar Brown Bulldog swim shorts, $395

How do you tell everyone you’re from SoCal without saying it? Get your hands on these Bulldog swim shorts from Orlebar Brown that feature a 1957 Slim Aarons photo of cars parked outside the Beverly Hills Hotel on Sunset Boulevard. The mid-length swim shorts are made from printed recycled polyester and have adjustable side fasteners.

Prices and availability of items in Coveted are subject to change.

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Marques Harper is a deputy features editor at the Los Angeles Times. He previously covered fashion for the Austin American-Statesman and media and culture for the Roanoke Times. A native of New Jersey, he has a B.A. in English from Rutgers University and an M.S. in digital media management from the University of Southern California.

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• International

April 11, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

By Heather Chen , Antoinette Radford, Tori B. Powell , Aditi Sangal and Elise Hammond , CNN

Our live coverage of Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza has moved  here .

UN committee fails to reach consensus on full Palestinian membership, Security Council president says

From CNN’s Richard Roth and Michael Rios

A specialized UN committee failed to reach a consensus Thursday on Palestinian membership in the United Nations, according to the president of the UN Security Council.

Two-thirds of the committee members were in favor of moving on with membership, with many countries arguing that “Palestine fulfills all the criteria that are required” to be granted full state member status, Malta's Ambassador and Security Council President Vanessa Frazier said. 

She added that no one explicitly objected to the membership qualifications.

Frazier also said she would circulate a draft report on the deliberations as soon as Friday. If the committee doesn’t agree on the report, it could hold another meeting to iron out any differences.

Asked whether the process of deliberating Palestinian membership in the committee is now over, Frazier said, “Unless the next step of agreeing (to) the report of the committee warrants another meeting to iron out the differences, it’s not foreseen that there would be any further committee action.”

But she noted that any UN Security Council member can still table a resolution to vote on Palestinian membership at any time, regardless of the committee's report.

The US and Middle East brace for a possible Iran attack that could escalate the conflict. Here's the latest

From CNN staff

Concerns about a possible Iranian attack against Israel has prompted many diplomatic conversations around the globe.

Here are some developments on diplomacy around the threat of an attack:

• Iran's statement: The imperative for Tehran to "punish" Israel for the deadly strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus last week might have been avoided if the attack had been condemned at the United Nations, Iran’s Mission to the UN said Thursday.
• US and UK diplomacy: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with the foreign ministers of Turkey, China and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday night and Thursday morning to tell them that countries should be urging Iran not to escalate the conflict in the Middle East after  threats made by Tehran against Israel,  according to a State Department spokesperson. The top US general for the Middle East is also in Israel . Additionally, Britain's foreign secretary warned his Iranian counterpart on Thursday that Tehran “must not draw” the Middle East into a wider conflict .
• Israel receives US support: Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke with Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The US officials expressed the country's support for Israel against Iranian threats. Gallant warned that such an attack could lead to a regional escalation.
• Travel restrictions: The US State Department restricted the travel of US government personnel in Israel in the wake of public threats against Israel by Iran. “The security environment remains complex and can change quickly depending on the political situation and recent events,” the alert noted. US officials  are on high alert  for a potential retaliatory strike by Iran or its proxies against Israel.

Meanwhile, here's some other updates:

• Hamas on hostages: A member of Hamas' political bureau said   a prisoner-hostage exchange is being discussed as part of larger ceasefire negotiations. "Part of negotiations is to reach a ceasefire agreement to have enough time and safety to collect final and more precise data" on the hostages held in Gaza, Basem Naim said in a statement on Thursday. "Because they (hostages) are in different palaces, (being held) by different groups, some of them are under the rubble killed with our own people, and we negotiate to get heavy equipment for this purpose."
• Updates on aid to Gaza: It is clear that Israel is working to ramp up humanitarian aid to Gaza, but it has not yet implemented all of the measures it has announced, a top United Nations humanitarian official said. Aid coming in trucks from Israel has to be "segregated from water, from food, from medical items" before it goes into Gaza, said Jamie McGoldrick, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Jerusalem. “Getting 400 trucks from Kerem Shalom doesn't mean 400 trucks go into Gaza,” he said, adding that the logistical complications are numerous, and take time to resolve. He also said Israel’s restrictions on movement inside the strip complicate matters.

Anera charity resumes work in Gaza after pausing when Israeli strike killed 7 World Central Kitchen staff

From CNN's Tala Alrajjal and Mohammed Tawfeeq

American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) has resumed Gaza operations "after a temporary pause" following an airstrike that killed seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers on April 1.

"As you know, the decision to temporarily pause our operations was not an easy one. We followed the direction of our staff in Gaza, who've faced death, loss, and destruction since the start of the war," Sean Carroll, the president and CEO of Anera, said in a statement on Thursday. "After the killing of Anera staff member Mousa Shawwa , followed by the attack that killed seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen, we made the difficult but necessary decision to pause aid operations on April 2," Carroll added in the statement.

Carroll said Israeli authorities informed him during a meeting Thursday that "certain measures would be taken to protect humanitarian aid workers in Gaza – including Anera's staff."

"With the full support of our Gaza team, we have determined that the circumstances have changed sufficiently to resume our vital humanitarian work in Gaza," Carroll said. 

Anera on Thursday resumed "full operations in Gaza to deliver meals, food parcels, hygiene kits, tents, medical treatments, and more to families in dire need," according to the statement.

Iran says its imperative to punish Israel could have been avoided had UN Security Council condemned attack

From CNN’s Natalie Barr and Adam Pourahmadi

The imperative for Tehran to "punish" Israel for the deadly strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus last week might have been avoided if the attack had been condemned at the United Nations, Iran’s Mission to the UN said Thursday.

“Had the UN Security Council condemned the Zionist regime’s reprehensible act of aggression on our diplomatic premises in Damascus and subsequently brought to justice its perpetrators, the imperative for Iran to punish this rogue regime might have been obviated," the  mission said on X.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the attack on April 1, according to a statement from the UN spokesperson Stephan Dujarric. A Security Council discussion was held on April 2 to discuss the attack, but differences among members prevented any formal action or condemnation from taking place.

The United States is on high alert and actively preparing for a “significant” attack by Iran targeting Israeli or American assets in the region  in response to the strike in Damascus  that killed top Iranian commanders.

UK foreign secretary warns Iran not to draw Middle East into wider conflict

From CNN's Natalie Barr

Britain's foreign secretary warned his Iranian counterpart on Thursday that Tehran “must not draw” the Middle East into a wider conflict following a series of escalating threats made by Iran toward Israel.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron told Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian that the United Kingdom was "deeply concerned about the potential for miscalculation leading to further violence. Iran should instead work to de-escalate and prevent further attacks," according to a post on X .

Iran's state-aligned Tasnim news agency on Thursday reported that Amir-Abdollahian had told Cameron that the silence from the UK and the United States following Israel’s attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus last week only served to encourage Israel to continue waging war in Gaza and expand its conflict in the region.

US and Israeli defense leaders discuss fears of Iranian attack

From CNN’s Michael Conte in Washington, DC, Tamar Michaelis in Jerusalem and Larry Register in Atlanta

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant today to “reaffirm the US ironclad commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and its proxies,” according to a Pentagon spokesperson.

The call comes a day after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel " must be punished and it will be" following a strike on an Iranian embassy compound in Syria that killed seven Iranian officials.

Israel “will not tolerate an Iranian attack on its territory,” the statement read, adding that the two defense leaders also discussed detailed preparations “for an Iranian attack against the State of Israel.”

Gallant said an Iranian attack on Israel could lead to a regional escalation.

It is the second discussion held between Gallant and Austin over the past week, according to the statement. Gallant expressed his appreciation for Austin’s personal commitment to the security of the State of Israel and for the deepening cooperation between the defense establishments of both countries, as well as between the Israel Defense Forces and US CENTCOM.

State Department restricts personnel travel in Israel amid concerns over Iranian threats

From CNN's Jennifer Hansler

The US State Department has restricted the travel of US government personnel in Israel in the wake of public threats against Israel by Iran.

“Out of an abundance of caution, U.S. government employees and their family members are restricted from personal travel outside the greater Tel Aviv (including Herzliya, Netanya, and Even Yehuda), Jerusalem, and Be’er Sheva areas until further notice,” a  security alert  posted by the US Embassy Thursday said. “U.S. government personnel are authorized to transit between these three areas for personal travel.” “The security environment remains complex and can change quickly depending on the political situation and recent events,” the alert noted.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said he would not “speak to the specific assessments that led to us to restrict our employees and family members’ personal travel, but clearly we are monitoring the threat environment in the Middle East and specifically in Israel.”

“We have seen Iran making public threats against Israel in the past few days,” Miller said. “Israel is in a very tough neighborhood and we have been monitoring the security situation. You saw us slightly adjust for travel warnings at the beginning of this conflict and we conduct ongoing assessments all the time about the situation on the ground.”

US officials are on high alert for a potential retaliatory strike by Iran or its proxies against Israel.

Hamas says ceasefire with Israel is essential to collect data on hostages held in Gaza by different groups

From CNN's Abeer Salman and Mohammed Tawfeeq

A member of Hamas' political bureau said   a prisoner-hostage exchange is being discussed as part of larger ceasefire negotiations.

"Part of negotiations is to reach a ceasefire agreement to have enough time and safety to collect final and more precise data" on the hostages held in Gaza Basem Naim said in a statement on Thursday. "Because they (hostages) are in different palaces, (being held) by different groups, some of them are under the rubble killed with our own people, and we negotiate to get heavy equipment for this purpose," he added.

Naim's statement was in response to questions from media outlets about whether Hamas has been rejecting the latest proposal, which was made in Cairo over the weekend, because it can not release 40 hostages in the first phase of a three-stage ceasefire deal.

According to an Israeli official and a source familiar with the discussions, Hamas indicated it is currently unable to identify and track down those 40 Israeli hostages, raising fears that more hostages may be dead than are publicly known. 

CNN's record of the conditions of the hostages also suggests there are fewer than 40 living hostages who meet the proposed criteria.

Please enable JavaScript for a better experience.

What is the difference between a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse?

It almost time! Millions of Americans across the country Monday are preparing to witness the once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse as it passes over portions of Mexico, the United States and Canada.

It's a sight to behold and people have now long been eagerly awaiting what will be their only chance until 2044 to witness totality, whereby the moon will completely block the sun's disc, ushering in uncharacteristic darkness.

That being said, many are curious on what makes the solar eclipse special and how is it different from a lunar eclipse.

The total solar eclipse is today: Get the latest forecast and everything you need to know

What is an eclipse?

An eclipse occurs when any celestial object like a moon or a planet passes between two other bodies, obscuring the view of objects like the sun, according to NASA .

What is a solar eclipse?

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon comes in between the Earth and the sun, blocking its light from reaching our planet, leading to a period of darkness lasting several minutes. The resulting "totality," whereby observers can see the outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere, known as the corona, presents a spectacular sight for viewers and confuses animals – causing nocturnal creatures to stir and bird and insects to fall silent.

Partial eclipses, when some part of the sun remains visible, are the most common, making total eclipses a rare sight.

What is a lunar eclipse?

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon and the sun are on exact opposite sides of Earth. When this happens, Earth blocks the sunlight that normally reaches the moon. Instead of that sunlight hitting the moon’s surface, Earth's shadow falls on it.

Lunar eclipses are often also referred to the "blood moon" because when the Earth's shadow covers the moon, it often produces a red color. The coloration happens because a bit of reddish sunlight still reaches the moon's surface, even though it's in Earth's shadow.

Difference between lunar eclipse and solar eclipse

The major difference between the two eclipses is in the positioning of the sun, the moon and the Earth and the longevity of the phenomenon, according to NASA.

A lunar eclipse can last for a few hours, while a solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes. Solar eclipses also rarely occur, while lunar eclipses are comparatively more frequent. While at least two partial lunar eclipses happen every year, total lunar eclipses are still rare, says NASA.

Another major difference between the two is that for lunar eclipses, no special glasses or gizmos are needed to view the spectacle and one can directly stare at the moon. However, for solar eclipses, it is pertinent to wear proper viewing glasses and take the necessary safety precautions because the powerful rays of the sun can burn and damage your retinas.

Contributing: Eric Lagatta, Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

Homecoming Travel: Traveloka Shares Pre-Eid Travel Trends for 2024

Jakarta - April 3, 2024 —

As Eid al-Fitr 1445 H festivities draw closer, Indonesians are again immersed in preparations for the Eid homecoming journey, known as " mudik ."The Ministry of Transportation ( Kemenhub ) of the Republic of Indonesia projects that the potential movement of people during the 2024 Eid season could reach 71.7% of Indonesia's population, or approximately 193.6 million people. With the mudik season and holidays drawing near, Traveloka, the leading travel platform in Southeast Asia, shares the trends for the 2024 Eid season.

Iko Putera, CEO of Transport at Traveloka , notes, "As the Eid holiday approaches, consumers began planning their trips as early as February. It's not just transportation; accommodation bookings are also on the rise, signaling the enduring popularity of staycations. Moreover, many consumers are taking advantage of the Eid period to visit various tourist attractions."

As part of its Eid holiday preparations, Traveloka is bolstering its infrastructure to ensure safe and comfortable travels for consumers. Iko explains, "Aligned with our commitment to excellent service, Traveloka collaborates closely with partners to ensure inventory availability across our comprehensive product range, including transportation (Flights, Trains, Bus & Travel), Accommodations, and Xperience. Our customer service team is also specially equipped to handle diverse needs and inquiries efficiently."

Traveloka's Eid Homecoming and Holiday Trends

Ground transportation options like Trains, Buses, and Travel (door-to-door shuttles) remain popular, especially for inter-island travel within Java. Searches for Bus & Travel during Eid have increased nearly twelvefold, while Train searches have risen over thirtyfold compared to the previous month. Top domestic destinations for ground travel include Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Semarang, Malang, Bandar Lampung, and Padang. To address the heightened demand during the homecoming season, Traveloka has collaborated with Cititrans to introduce new bus routes such as Jakarta - Semarang - Solo - Yogyakarta and Jakarta - Surabaya - Malang, accessible through the Traveloka website or app.

Internal data from Traveloka indicates varying peak periods for both the homecoming and return journeys, based on ticket purchases. For Flights, peak departures will be on April 5-6, 2024, with returns peaking on April 14-15, 2024. Trains will see its peak departure period from April 5-8, 2024, and returns beginning on April 13-15, 2024. Similarly, Bus & Travel surge in departures will be between April 3-8, 2024, with returns peaking on April 13-15, 2024.

Following the increase in transportation searches, there was a surge of over 50% in accommodation searches during the Eid holiday, compared to the previous month. Four-star hotels were particularly popular, whether for city staycations or out-of-town getaways. Key destinations for accommodation searches during the Eid homecoming and holiday period in 2024 included Bandung, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Semarang, and Malang. Traveloka also noted a nearly 50% rise in interest in international accommodations during the Eid holiday week compared to the preceding week. Asian countries such as Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Hong Kong emerged as top destinations for the 2024 Eid holiday period.

During the Eid holiday, many individuals explore various tourist attractions, as evidenced by the doubling of searches for amusement parks and recreational areas. While residents of Jakarta typically venture outside the city or even abroad during Eid vacations, the city becomes a sought-after destination for those residing elsewhere, drawn by the relatively affordable transportation costs. This trend results in an increase in tourists from beyond Jakarta visiting popular spots such as Dufan - Ancol, Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, and Kidzania, along with other attractions like the Kecak Dance at Pura Uluwatu in Bali and Jatim Park in Malang. Moreover, there has been a twofold increase in demand for tour packages, with destinations like Labuan Bajo, Kintamani, the Thousand Islands, Ubud, and Borobudur (Punthuk Setumbu) emerging as top choices.

Easy travel with Traveloka

To accommodate the surge in traffic during the homecoming and Lebaran holidays, Traveloka has partnered with Kopi Kenangan along with well-known shuttle services, Jackal Holidays and Areon. This collaboration offers consumers a selection of convenient pick-up and drop-off locations, enhancing accessibility and convenience. Consumers can choose to depart from the Virtual Point at Kopi Kenangan Shell Kesambi (Cirebon) with Jackal Holidays, heading to Jackal Holidays' Bandung pool (Dipati Ukur & Pasteur), or departing from Kopi Kenangan Antapani (Bandung) with Areon, bound for the Areon pool in Jakarta (Setiabudi & Kuningan area).

The journey will be even more delightful with fresh drinks from Kopi Kenangan. Customers can enjoy their favorite beverages while waiting for shuttle pickup at strategic locations in cities such as Bandung and Cirebon, two top destinations for land transportation, especially shuttle services.

Ananditha Mayasari, AVP, Head of Marketing, Kopi Kenangan, said, "We're delighted to join forces with Traveloka to aid travelers during the Lebaran 2024 homecoming season. This partnership also aligns with Kopi Kenangan's commitment to offering outlets at key points along the homecoming route, such as rest areas along the Java Island toll road, providing travelers with a comforting break during their long journey."

Traveloka goes beyond providing travel solutions by offering innovative products, features, and attractive deals to meet consumer needs such as the Promo Rama dan Kenyamanan the Rama and Comfort Promo program. The program offers discounts of up to 50% on various travel products, including Flights, Accommodations, Buses, Trains, and Xperience, available on the Traveloka app and website until April 21, 2024.

Recognizing the heightened interest in international travel and the associated risks, including visa issues, Traveloka introduces the Visa Protection feature. Travelers can rest assured that if their visa is rejected, Traveloka will refund 100% of the travel costs, subject to terms and conditions. For more details on the Visa Protection feature, visit the Traveloka website.

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