Have you ever wanted to keep a travel journal, but you never succeeded? Do you want to have a unique travel journal, like the ones on Tumblr, but you don’t know exactly how to do that?
If your answer is ‘yes’ to either of those two questions, or if you just want to start a travel journal and you don’t know how, you’re in the right place!
I made a list with the things you should take into account if you want to create a great travel journal, and to have fun while you do it.
The looks are important
If you like how your notebook looks, then you’ll like to write in it. That applies in my case and, maybe, it’s true for many other people.
You can buy a plain notebook and decorate it, or you can just buy one you like very much (and even then you can add stickers or draw on it). The whole idea is that you like it.
I would recommend you to buy a medium sized notebook (A5 size) because it’s easier to carry in the bag and it’s lighter as well. It would be better to have a hardcover one, because you never know where you’re going to write.
Note everything
Note everything about your trip: the itinerary, best/worst moments, what you want to see, people you met, opinions, what you ate, thoughts, feelings, things you really want to remember (like that small bookshop near the city centre).
These are just a few ideas, you can write about whatever crosses your mind regarding your trip, or not. You should have fun while writing it!
Keep it simple
You should write like you speak. Don’t try to add big words because they just sound well. Write like you’ll talk about all those things. It would feel familiar, easy and enjoyable. After all, it’s your travel journal, so it should sound like you.
Scrapbook it
This is one of my favourite parts about any journal. I like to keep things from my travels: tickets, brochures, maps and pretty everything I find somewhere and I can keep it. For quite a long time, I used to keep them in boxes in my room, but then I came to the conclusion that they would look better sticked in a notebook. After all, what were the chances for me to look in those boxes again?
So the main idea is that you can scrapbook it. You can stick plane or attractions tickets, photos, maps. You can even draw in it if you feel like it! Unleash your imagination, you’re not at school where you need to write in a certain style. It’s your travel journal, so make it messy if you want to, make it personal.
Map your trip
Before beginning your trip, you can print a map of the city or region you’re going to visit and stick it in your journal. Then, you can mark the places you’ve visited or the routes you’ve taken.
And now I’m going to tell you the most important tip:
Have fun
This is one of the things that you should do if it’s fun. If you don’t like keeping a travel journal, then don’t. If it feels like an obligation, don’t continue with it.
Keep a travel journal only if you have fun creating it!
So this is all guys and I hope this post helped you or gave you some ideas about what you should include in your travel journal.
Don’t forget: have fun and get creative!
Really liking this idea. It might be time for my to give it a try
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What a great p[ost! I always plan to wrire a journal when we go away but never seem to get around to it! I think I will have to be more organised next time!
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Great points here. Never had a travel journal, want one for my next trip now.
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This is amazing I used to keep a travel journal when I journeyed to Madeira but sadly I don’t have a journal anymore.
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I kept a travel journal during my backpacking years and I did most of these ideas. When I was volunteering with lions in Africa, I was grooming one of the adult lions. When I cleaned the brush afterwards there were a few strands of mane left in the brush. I stuck them in my journal but got in trouble at customs for “trading in animal fur”. Luckily they were understanding.
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I always make sure my notebook are really pretty looking, if it is plain, then I like to cover it in fun stickers
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Oh I love this – I always keep a diary – and a sack full of leaflets, receipts, etc etc and that is as far as I get! Kaz x
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I always scrapbooked my travels when I was younger, I love looking back at them now.
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What a beautiful way to map your memories:-)
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I love having a travel journal to look back at all my memories. I loved looking at my mum’s when I was younger too.
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I don’t travel very often but this is a really good idea, something that my daughter especially would love to do. She loves making notes and doing things like this, great tips thank you
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Love this idea. I don’t travel very much but this definitely sparks my interest in keeping a journal
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I love this idea. Ive bever had a travel journal, want really to do one for my next trip x
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I love this – I once made a journal I wish I had kept (I did a journal swap with someone) the one I got back was rushed and incomplete and it put me off for some reason. x
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This is such a fab post! I did quite a lot of travelling before kids, but never journalled it – I do have loads of leaflets and tickets though! Then I stopped travelling for years, but now that we’re doing a bit more, I might get a travel journal
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I love this idea, especially the collecting of maps and souvenirs to stick into it. x
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This is amazing!!! I’m currently living abroad so I really need to start one of these. I just got a ‘My Life Story’ book so that might be a place to start. Yours is exactly what I’d want mine to look like but I’m not sure I’d be able to recreate it!
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