3 Reasons to Keep a Travel Journal
I’ve been keeping one since I was 7 years old!
My love affair with travel began at a very young age. I was lucky enough to grow up in a family in which travelling was a huge part of my upbringing. The daughter of an airline worker, taking a family holiday was an annual, if not biannual affair. It was a privileged childhood and one I am very grateful for. As an adult, it’s probably no surprise that my wanderlust is still going strong.
As a way to offset any school time I missed while on these annual adventures, from age seven my parents had me keep a diary. Each night after the day’s explorations were over, I’d open up a notebook and write down what we’d done that day. The notebooks themselves were carefully covered in contact paper of varying colours and patterns. Each new holiday saw me create a new chapter in the notebook — complete with a title page on which I’d write down where we were going and draw a picture of what I imagined would reflect the holiday best. The pages were filled with my carefully formed childhood letters written in grey lead pencil, depicting such fascinating anecdotes as ‘Today we saw little, tiny fish and BIG fish’ or ‘Today we went to Salamanca Market, which was full of hand crafts, book stores, art galleries, toys and food stalls”. Throughout the trip, I’d collect postcards and brochures and glue them to the pages, evidence to support my words. But hidden in those basic sentences was a hint of wonderment — the beginning of a fascination with other places.
Like buying new athleisure wear in anticipation of joining the gym, as I got older part of my pre-holiday ritual was to shop for the perfect new journal to house my thoughts. Then I’d set aside an afternoon to decorate the cover and draw the title page, all in anticipation of a holiday. As the years went on, grey lead turned to pen, print changed to cursive. The descriptions became more detailed, vivid and personal. I started adding captions and little descriptions to the ephemera glued to the pages. You see, what started out as ‘homework’ became a holiday tradition; those notebooks became something I cherished. And 30 years later, I‘m still journalling. Now, the hand-drawn illustrations have made way for lengthier and lengthier entries describing the food, the way a place made me feel, funny anecdotes shared with my travel companions, reflections on life and cultural observations.
My collection of travel journals is very special to me. It’s sweet — and, to be honest, sometimes I little cringe-worthy — to read through the things I wrote as I grew up, the things I thought were important to record at the time and how the themes changed as I got older.
There are many reasons I advocate for keeping a travel journal — and it goes beyond being a regular diary.
1. A place to plan
Travel journals are a great place to plan itineraries, jot down important destination information and list must-see places — attractions, restaurants and the like — and write reminders so you don’t forget to buy your mum, grandpa and best friend a souvenir before you come home!
In my more recent journals, I’d maintain a list in the back of restaurants, cafes and stores that I really loved, with their address and sometimes a little map for the harder-to-find gems, so I could refer to it should I have the chance to return.
As the trip progresses, they’re a dedicated and organised spot to collect all those little ‘bits’ in one place: ticket stubs, airline tickets, stickers and so on. Pieces of your trip that, if you’re sentimental like me, cannot be thrown away.
2. A way to be a mindful and intentional traveller
There’s something about writing down a reflection on your day spent somewhere new that encourages a more mindful outlook on your day. For me, journalling has always been a way to wind down at night before going to sleep, but also a way to paint a picture with words, a way to capture what I saw, tasted, smelled and heard and how I felt.
When you know you’re going to write about it later, you’ll find yourself being more observant as you go about your day. You’ll take the time to really experience a place and explore more deeply. You’ll slow down and be more intentional. You’ll savour, you’ll take in the details and snapshot them in your mind to unpack later. A photo is great, but words are magic. And you’ll remember your trip and those special moments long after you return home and unpack your suitcase.
3. A diary and keepsake all in one
As I alluded to earlier, my travel journals are treasured mementoes that I’ve grown up with. They’re filled with happy memories spanning my life so far, and being able to flick through the pages, read the words, linger over the items glued to the pages instantly transports me back to that holiday — and it’s priceless. In some I’ve kept lists in the back of songs that remind me of certain moments from the trip, books I read while commuting, all to be able to capture that moment in my personal history. And I get so much more out of my reminiscence when leafing through the pages of my journal than I do scrolling through my Instagram or the photo album on my smartphone and wondering what exactly the photo is of!
While I’m a fan of putting old-school pen to paper, addicted to the euphoric feeling of writing on that very first, smooth page of a brand new journal, the truth is you can do this whatever way feels right for you. Perhaps you’re a digital nomad and prefer tapping keys on your laptop or whipping out your stylus and scribbling away on your tablet? Perhaps words aren’t your style at all and you’d rather a series of doodles or elaborate illustrations. Do one. Do both. Do all. You might record a simple and brief description or a longer collection of thoughts and reflections. It could be as simple as listing what you did on a particular day, where you went, what you ate and what you saw. It’s going to depend on the trip, the location, the length of time spent there, your motives, what you’re getting out of it, the purpose of the trip. It can be something to share or something private to look back on in years to come.
It’s never too late to start keeping a travel journal — why not consider it the next time you take a vacation? No matter whether you’re journeying to a far-flung country for a month, going on safari, flopping-and-dropping on a beach for a week, or simply going away for the weekend, give journalling a try.
Do you keep a travel journal? What’s your number one reason for doing it?
