Travel Tips: The Art of Keeping a Travel Journal
When and why did you start keeping a journal?
Julie: I started writing in a travel journal on my first international trip in 1990. My husband, Alan, and I went to Ireland (with a group) and England (on our own) for almost two weeks and I knew I would never be able to remember everything we did and all of the fun people we traveled with without writing it down!
Carrie: I started doing journals after my first ‘real’ international trip. My previous domestic travels and a Caribbean cruise were more like, “yeah, vacation!” but my first international trip was to Ireland and Rome. That’s when I had my the world is huge, and complicated, and fantastic moment. And I purchased a blank journal at Dublin’s airport before my flight home.
What are the benefits of keeping a travel journal?
Julie: Writing everything down helps me reflect on the amazing experiences we have had. Each day that we are on a trip usually goes by so fast that stopping every other day or so to write in my journal helps me remember the adventures much more clearly. Now, having nearly 30 years of journals to look back on is invaluable to me!
Carrie: One reason I really like keeping a journal is for the little moments that happen on a trip that seem to get overshadowed by the trip itself. In Kyoto, we were walking past a group of school kids (maybe 8-10 years old), and they were staring at us. My husband was completely oblivious, but I made eye-contact with one of the kids and she got a huge smile on her face and said “hello”, I smiled back, waived, and told her “hi”. Then the group of kids covered their mouths, giggled, and ran away. I’d like to think these kids probably wanted to practice their English and it was a cute fleeting instant where I felt like I got to connect a little with the locals.
Do you write during your trip or afterwards? Do you keep notes in a book, computer, or an app?
Julie: 99% of the time, I write during our trip. For some of the shorter, 3 or 4 day trips, I will sometimes wait until the flight home to “catch up”. Every time I see a pretty journal, I start writing in it. Then I would pick grab an old journal for the next trip and write in there.
Carrie: I really try to write something any time I get home from a trip. I do really think it’s important, because even after my husband read what I wrote about Japan, he told me that he had already forgot about some of the trip-and we’re not that old to have our memories slip like that.
Do you use any techniques to organize your notes?
Julie: My journals are far from organized! I am trying to make time to transfer all of my journals to the computer to make something sensible out of them. For the last couple of trips, I have actually been writing on my iPad.
Carrie: Typically, I just get on the computer and do it when I get home, but handwriting notes along the way helps a lot. Before I start, I will also compile both the pictures from each of our phones and get the itinerary out. That way I know where we were at and when and have the pictures handy to jog my memory.
What is your best tip for keeping a travel journal?
Julie: For shorter, weekend trips, I have stopped keeping track of those. But for longer, more adventurous trips, I always write about those. Hopefully, my future grandchildren will enjoy hearing about all of the amazing places we have been! You now have me thinking…we just spent a fun two weeks in California seeing our kids, visiting extended family, playing a little golf, and doing a little sightseeing that I didn’t even think to write about. I think I’ll get out that journal now!
Carrie: My best tip is to write during the trip. This doesn’t mean sitting down at your hotel with your laptop. The best way I journal is to buy a postcard or two before dinner, and as your having your aperitif, jot down your thoughts on that day. Postcards are super easy to find and really inexpensive. At the end of your trip, you now have an easily packable stack of postcards that you can use to compose your journal, or just keep it as is. Personally, these postcards aren’t so much about what you saw, but how it made you feel.
Do you have a travel journal from a recent trip that you took through Brentwood Travel? We want to hear from you! We love to share the insights, stories, and images of our travelers and will add this to our
Blog page. It's a great way to inspire others to get out and write about their adventures. Contact
Rachel or
Amber from our Marketing Team to learn more!
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