Are you going away this summer? If so, why not take the opportunity to treasure those memories by collecting them all in a travel journal.
From the anticipatory excitement ahead of a trip to capturing each moment made while travelling, putting it all down on paper ensures you’ll be able to look back and reflect on your new experience.
When thinking about how you’d like to formulate your journal, it’s helpful to think of it in three parts: pre-trip, during the trip and post-trip.
This way, you can lean into the full experience of travel!
Organize Your Thoughts
Your travel journal can be an excellent organizational tool. It can be a great space to make notes on packing lists, itineraries, dates or times and people you’d like to see.
The notes you make now will come in handy as a convenient reference while you are in the midst of your trip to confirm the nitty-gritty details.
Set the Scene
Your travel journal can be a place to build excitement for your destination, too. Why not jot down specific areas you’d like to visit, books to read and films to watch that are set in your destination city or country, or food you’d like to experiment with before you try the real thing.
Write at the Same Time
When you’re on your trip, it can be difficult to know when you will have the time or inclination to journal. So, take some time to write down just a few lines about what you did each day before you go to bed. Great starting places could be places you visited, foods you ate, smells you experienced, locals you met, where you stayed and unexpected events along the way.
As your time will most likely be limited, this can serve as a daily log of sorts that documents the highlights. Not only does this help you process the day, but it also helps cultivate gratitude for the wonderful memories you’re creating!
Journal Instead of Scrolling
Travel can involve a lot of waiting around, too. Your journal can serve as a great pastime for when you’re waiting on flights, riding on trains or waiting on friends. It’s a great opportunity to get writing or sketching. Whether it’s letting your thoughts flow from the day or planning for what’s up next on your itinerary, you’ll pass the time you might otherwise waste scrolling on your devices.
Get Creative
There can be so much happening while you’re on your trip that oftentimes it’s only when you’re back that you have the space to really absorb all those sights and sounds.
Now that you’re back on home ground, you can spend a bit more time getting creative with your pages and really diving into the curation of your travel journal. This can include pasting in the items and mementos you collected along the way, organizing photos you took or reflecting on your favourite moments of the trip.
And the best part is that now you can re-read your travel journal whenever you like, to experience your trip all over again! Plus, it makes a great reference tool if you plan to visit the same destination in the future or when friends ask you for recommendations.
Will you try travel journalling on your next trip?
