Reasons to Keep a Travel Journal (Even If You’re Stuck at Home)
Exploring the world around us is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and if you have the time, money, energy, ability and privilege to do it, then what are you waiting for? Like, seriously…are you still even reading this? Go on, get out of here.
Are they gone? Good. This is for the rest of us.
If Pinterest-perfect travel photos of lean, happy, suntanned beachgoers are flooding your feed and drowning your spirits in the process, take heart — the general principles of travel journaling can be applied, small-scale, to the world around you on a daily basis, leading to a more fulfilling experience right in your own backyard.
Through at-home travel journaling, you can…
…learn to appreciate your surroundings
Learning about the things with which you interact is an important tool in engaging with the world around you. Think about the prep you’d do before visiting a historical monument, a famous museum or a culturally charged city. Treat your neighborhood, your office or your daily commute like an unfamiliar place.
Do your research, learn its history, take notes. Even tiny towns have their oddities — seek them out. Collect leaves in your journal and learn what kind of plants they come from. Take note of local wildlife (even pigeons spend their days doing something). Simply put: By learning about what exists beneath the surface of what you usually overlook, you appreciate it more.
…discover the unexpected
How often does the minutiae of our daily routines dictate our experience? Moving from home to work, errands and back again can become a tedious, hypnotic slog, but with a little planning, you can slide in extra minutes here and there for mini adventures that take you to places you might not have expected.
Instead of escaping to the break room, duck out for a five-minute stroll around the block. Visit a coffee shop, restaurant, park or even an alleyway that you’ve never explored before. Look at your surroundings with visitors’ eyes, and most importantly, take a few minutes to jot down what you see and do.
…reflect on daily life
Mindfulness is the buzzword of the 2010s, despite our perpetual lack of it. With constant opportunities for distraction, building a reflective relationship with the world around you can be a therapeutic act that helps you stay in, and appreciate, the moment. Taking a few seconds to simply stop and notice what’s happening around you can be a powerful tool in calming a busy modern mind. And by reflecting on your experiences in a journal, you can begin a habit of practicing mindfulness in other areas of your life.
…document your personal geography
If social media has taught us anything, it’s that you don’t have to take award-winning photos in order to enjoy capturing the moment. You might primarily use your phone’s camera to take filtered selfies or food tableaus, but also be sure to take (and print!) pictures of the places you take most for granted — your office, your gas station, your grocery store. Years down the line, when you’re telling your life’s story to future generations, you’ll be thankful you took the time to record the visual background music (so to speak) of your life.
…strengthen your writing
Now more than ever before in human history is writing an important skill to master. With the prevalence of email, texting apps and social media, it’s become a writer’s world out there. By practicing writing on a regular basis, you stimulate your own creativity and develop a communicative voice. Writing can also help you explore your thoughts with precision and accuracy, and since you don’t lose your ideas once they’re written down, this can help you begin to develop a valuable lifelong personal dialogue. And once you begin writing, who knows — you may even find out you like it.
