Do you journal while traveling?

I keep one and use a very small moleskine notebook with lines. I was just looking through two older ones and noted that I wrote over a hundred pages each on my two most recent 18 night trips. I was suprised how much I had forgotten. It was like reading about someone else's trip, except I was saying "Oh yeah" a lot. I like the idea of glue sticks etc..., but I have only ever written - at night in the room, on train rides etc... I don't know how to get anyone else excited about it. My eldest son basically refused to write, my daughter wrote some, and we'll see how youngest son does this summer. Maybe I'll bring a glue stick for him.

Either you are a journal person or you are not! I'm not. I wouldn't even think of taking time out of my European vacation to write something in a notebook. I have way better things to do!

Hello Rose. I decided : I must carry my journal book with me all the time, and write in it frequently. When I wrote on small paper in an airplane, while flying from Athens to a Greek island, intending to copy my writing to my journal book that evening, in a hotel room, that did not happen. In a hotel room in the evenings I have other tasks to do, and by the time I am ready to begin writing, the time is later than bed time. People travelling in Europe have unusual or interesting experiences. Each traveller can have a unique experience. If I do not write about it immediately, three minutes later I will forget what happened.
For my next trip to Europe, I recently purchased a journal book that is thin : its thickness is 1/4 of an inch. It is the "Green Journal", made of recycled paper, made in ITALY. Its size : Height = 8 and 1/4 inches, Width = 6 inches. I bought it at BARNES & NOBLE book store for a low price. It has 80 pages (counting both sides of each sheet of paper). Its cover looks like thin cardboard : a tan color. I can easily carry that journal book in my small shoulder bag, which I carry all the time when I am in Europe.
I also bring a small tape recorder, designed for dictation. Some times I have much to say, and I say it to my tape recorder, before I forget what it is that I wanted to say. After I return to my home, I transcribe from my talking in the recording, to paper, using my computer and printer (Microsoft Word). I do not want to bring my laptop computer with me to Europe. And I use the tape recorder for recording the sound of people talking in Europe, in their languages, and recording the other sounds in cities in Europe. I think recording the talking by many people in England could be interesting, because when I was there I counted 13 different accents in the talking by the people in England and Wales. That does not include talking by foreigners who migrated to England.

My husband and I each have our own journal that we try to keep up to date. He is a little better at keeping up than me. We also send home postcards from each new spot and write a little about each place. This helps us keep our photos in order too. We just re-read our journals yesterday from our yearly month long trips to Europe. It makes me excited for our next trip. Just what we do.

I keep a journal. I used to write it by hand in a spiral notebook, then I started keeping it in Word on my notebook computer. On my last trip, I even uploaded it to my website as I went (most places I stayed had Wifi) so my friends and family at home could keep track of my progress.

But, yes, it is difficult to keep it up to date. I do find, however, that there are snatches of time when I can write, such as while traveling on the train, waiting for meals, in my hotel before bed, at breakfast in the morning. You just have to keep at it.

I never enjoyed writing too much. But I do like to sketch. Most evenings and often while on the train, I use my chalk pencils and colored pencils to sketch. It may or may not be what we've seen and done. More accurate for our trips are my husbands awesome photos. He has a natural eye for getting just the right shot. And he takes LOTS of pictures! I also keep brochures, etc.

I do keep a journal and it has evolved over time. In addition to writing about the day, I include prices and time info (how long we spent somewhere, how long it took us to travel between stops, etc.) I did it for my own use and memories, but it has been very helpful to me when answering questions on this helpline or when friends call and ask questions. It is a great resource.

My wife and I are pathetic with cameras... I have more pictures of my thumb than the children and grankids... so Audrey and I bring two small reporter's notebooks and write separately- I usually do mine at dawn and she likes late night...We also have learned to pick up some souvenir books and pictures of some of the places we visit and write notes in them as we take the tour. Finally, I have learned to take 3X5 post-it-notes and keep ten or so in the back of my phrase book. I use these for eveything from note taking to addresses we are seeking or to make out our ticket info in the local language when we are preparing to buy train or bus tickets. Selective post card buying also makes up for these photo challenged dinosaurs. I usually pull together a summary article when we return. Good luck, George, Pittsburgh

Yes, I do keep a journal.I learned a trick from a fellow traveler who started the journal prior to leaving home. She keeps things in it like itinerary, hotels, flight info, tour info, cut and paste articles from websites, books, etc.She can then refer to it while she's traveling and everything is in one place. She then writes in her journal at night. The Moleskine journal works great because of envelopes to keep ticket stubs, postcards, etc you might keep. I prefer the 5x8 size and keep it in my Civita bag.

Absolutely! I keep at it the whole trip, as I really enjoy rereading it after the trip.

Before the trip, I write down the intended itinerary--not specific, just dates and location where we will stay. My husband and I will then make a list of "must sees" which also go into the journal. I also research markets, restaurants, etc. that we would like to visit or a special store or item I woud like to purchase.

Every night when we return to our quarters, I sit down and write. I try really hard to include as much detail as possible about sights we visit, food we ate, recipes I found, etc. I also collect things like the label from the Bresse chicken I cooked last year or wine labels, etc. If I find a really great little shop, I pick up a card and include that also.

The journal does several things: it helps me identify what we enjoy and what we don't, which makes future trips more enjoyable. And, I love to reread them to get the feel of the trip again. Also, if you ever need to get a security clearance, the journals are a great way to record what countries you have visisted and when--has helped both my husband and son a lot.

I've never kept a journal and am sorry that I didn't. I've travelled a lot and don't remember half of it!
So from now on, I'll be keeping a diary. I've just bought a netbook for that purpose (I could write it by hand, but honestly, I'd never be able to read it later, my writing is so bad). Also, I can use the netbook to store photos, I take lots of those.

Rose:

I think we had this topic recently in the "To the Boot" section - you might look there for more comments.

My travel journals are an absolute treasure to me. Over the various journeys my methods have evolved and here is my basic pattern for keeping a travel journal:

1. I do it everyday. Travel is so hectic that if I skip a day I will leave out something meaningful. I am an early riser and so I am able to write in the journal in the early morning hours before we get on with our day. I find that I am too tired (or full of wine!) to write in the evenings. Just find a quiet few minutes each day that work for you. I'd estimate that I spend around 15 minutes each morning.

2. I always have a mental log of where I spent money the previous day and that helps clear any writer's block.

3. I love to eat - in fact I take a separate journal just for the food and wine.

4. I do not write a blow-by-blow or step-by-step detail of the day's events. Just interesting tidbits and amusing incidents (you know - the near accident in the rental car, how we got lost, amusing miscommunications with the locals, etc.)

5. Little bits of paper - the ephemera of travel - receipts, postcards, ticket stubs, subway cards, phone cards, wine labels, snack wrappers, etc - all look great in your journal. I take a small glue stick with me and stick these little bits and pieces into my journal as I write.

6. Remember - this isn't work - make it fun. I have the best time on a rainy winter day - opening a nice bottle of wine and looking at my journals and I am happily transported back to sunny Tuscany or bustling Paris.

Have fun.

I keep a journal as well. When I get back home, I put it online with my pictures (for family and myself). In the paper journal I include the business card of my B&B and any comments I had about the place, cost, etc. And I do try to keep up every day. It can often be a conversation starter if I'm writing while waiting at an airport, etc. Last time I was at Heathrow, a woman watched me writing and when I put the pen away she said, "Get all caught up?" That led to a conversation about our respective trips (we were both homeward bound).

Hi rose:

I keep a journal too. My fellow traveler Cindy showed me her way and it is great. I use a small spiral bound journal. It has a plastic cover and a pouch in the back to store postcards and tickets etc.

At the end of each day, I write what I did but I also include postcards of where we visited, cards or printed guides from places where I ate or shopped or visited. Museum tickets, train tickets etc.

When I write where we went and what we did I paste in the tickets, post cards etc on those pages. I take a glue stick or two with me. It really works great in that you have a written and visual reminder of where you went.

When people ask me what did you do, I hand them the journal and they can read what I wrote and see as well. I also take a lot of pictures.

I have always tried to do this--and failed to keep it up. Until I learned this practice.

I write a picture-postcard-a-day worth of "journal." Sometimes a little about what's on the card, but mostly about the events of the day and how I'm feeling about being there.

On my last trip I wrote every day, including the first day while on the TGV on a postcard I'd grabbed at Gare Lyon, and the last day on the flight home.

I now have a really great souvenir of that trip.

I take lots of photo's and kind of do a scrapbook. But great idea about putting journal notes into that as well! On my upcoming trip to France/Spain I have purchased journals and sketchbooks for each of us incl. my kids, ages 7 & 11. I think their etchings and journal remarks will be really nice keepsakes of our trip!

I think the idea of sketching sounds like a great way to both relax & at the same time really take in your surroundings.

I'm the designated journal-er between my husband and I, a task I don't necessarily relish. I used to carry a journal and try to keep up every few days, but I found myself getting frustrated because there was so much my mind wanted to write but only so much my hand actually would write before getting tired from scribbling (seriously, how did my hand manage before computer keyboards? Seems like a lifetime ago).

But we tried something new on our last trip, and it worked well. Every couple days we'll stop at an internet cafe or use the computer at our hotel (if they have one) where my husband will monkey around on the internet and I will focus on emailing myself journal pages. This way I can type a lot more than I could have written by hand and I can be a lot more detailed. I do it in email format, send it to myself, then when I get home I can copy it all into Word. It's less romantic than having a hand-written journal, but I keep telling myself one of these days I'll have it hard-bound into a journal by using Blurb.com, where I can also add pictures and make it into a book.

A book only my husband and I would ever care to read, but nonetheless...

I've kept a travel journal since my first trip to the UK in 1989. I love re-reading them, they even bring back the memory of smells. They have also jogged my memory of something I did not write down, but which I then add, of course. I wish I was more artistic but I can't draw flies on a hot day. I like the idea of a larger notebook and a glue stick for my next trip. I also take with me some small envelopes into which I put feathers or flowers I might collect. I usually press these into a book at night and write on the envelope the date and place I collected my specimen.

A lot of great responses. I'm going to commit to keeping one this trip. I like the idea of buying postcards each day. Also, I'm going to check Barnes & Noble to see if I can find the journal Ron mentioned since it sounds lightweight. I don't like to carry much. Gluestick is a good idea (small & light) & maybe a few watercolor pencils. I bring a camera but generally don't take a lot of pictures. I'm taking a tour this fall. Most of all, I need to find a time that works most days in which to write so I get in the habit of doing it. Thanks all.

Rose, you can bring your journal but buy the glue stick, etc when you get overseas. In Barcelona we found the BEST restaurant by asking the stationary clerk to recommend a place.

When I leave the states I bring 1 sharpie, pen and highlighter. The rest I pick up as I need it.

During my trip, I don't "Journal" as what I did, etc, but I do stick business cards, brochurs, and receipts from places we ate. That way I can remember how much I spent, and if the place we ate was good enough to recommend to friends, or to warn.

In the back of my journal I keep a list of my souvenirs, so when its time to declare items, I know the cost and the description.

I know I know, I also feel like I 'should' keep a journal. But honestly, as much as I love writing I simply can't write journals. Not at home, nor while travelling.

Instead I take pictures while travelling and do take them in a way that they tell a story, the story of my travels. That means not just simply adding one site to the next on those photos (I hate taking pictures in museums) but also taking shots that show how we experience the travle, e.g. taking a shot of my family sitting on the street waiting for a bus. And once home, I put them in propper order, photoshop them and add titles - et voila, I have a journal!

Hello Rose, yes I do journal. I buy one of this little 3by5 spiral binders. And start scribbling once I am sitting in the airplane. When I get home I put it on the computer and print the pages. I have a folder callled diary and it really helps to remember the little human encounters. But I start our travels with an Itinerary. Date/Transp/comments/Hotel/Prices. And this changes as I go along with our planning. When all is done and we are back home Itineraty and Diary go in a folder and that is it. You are surprised how much of the little human encounters you have forgotten.Happy travels. Karin

On every journey I've kept a journal. Once in Africa I did something similar to what Adam does--I chose a friend from home and each day wrote her a "postcard" in my journal. I still write "postcards" in my journals but no longer to a specific friend. Like Linda, I use a pocket-fitting Mileskine journal (available from Barnes & Noble); I like its size and the elastic closure around it. I try to write each day. But sometimes I miss a day or two and have to backtrack. My journals are among my most precious possessions--up there with my thousands of photos.

I've kept a travel journal ever since I can remember. I enjoy reading and refreshing my memory about my travels, but the actual writing every day grew tedious especially since I left it to the evening. Now, I take my journal with me during the day, and jot down things as they are happening whenever I get the chance (in the car/bus/plane/restaurant/museum/park). I find that my journal no longer resembles a blow by blow account of what I saw/did/ate and is easier to keep up each day.

Rose, along with my 5x9 Moleskine journal, I take a qt size ziplock bag with a Sharpie, pens, post-it notes, glue stick, clips (a miniature desk drawer). I place it and the Moleskin journal in a gallon size ziplock bag and place in my Civita bag. I also send postcards to myself from my travels. It is nice to come home to travel mail! I use the postcards in my scrapbook with photos.

we write our rough draft during dinner. I write the final draft after we return and then assemble a loose leaf binder with our photos, postcards, other souvenirs, the itinerary, and the journal. If you don't keep a record of the trip, the details fade from memory.

We keep a travel blog (travelingsauters.blogspot.com) that we update pretty much every evening we are in the hotel room. As well, we update Facebook a lot as it helps keep the family up to date on what we are doing and it is a good place to easily upload photos.

When not traveling we use Twitter A LOT. I think we might try to incorporate that next trip, but it's format isn't as conducive to large updates.

I jot down every evening (sometimes every 2nd if I'm tired) what I've been doing, and my thoughts about things. I enjoy going back thru and reading old journals, it helps bring back the trip and reminds me why I took various photos. For example if I have a photo of a street in the CT, my journal reminds me how hot I had gotten hiking on the trail and how the ice cream shop I have in my photo had what seemed like the best ice cream I'd every had!

I started doing this after my 1st trip to Europe (in France). Everything was so vivid that for weeks afterward I felt I could recall every detail and baguette, conversations my friends and I had, etc. But time went by and when I looked at my photos I found I had forgotten so much. Lesson learned.

What I do now is jot down summaries & broken sentences, just enough to remind me of where I was, what I was doing, events, thoughts, etc. When I return home things are fresh enough to allow me to type up my journal and fill in more details that I didn't want to take the time to write out by hand. I also feel like I'm reliving the trip once again! And by having the info on my computer I feel safe against the trip records accidentally being lost in a move or thrown out (I back up my computer on Mozy).

My journals include not only what I did but also what I thought or felt. It's interesting to look back and discover those things I had forgotten about.

I use a 3x5 notebook that I keep in my pocket.I make notes on things we do,where we stay and where we eat.I use this information to advise others.I only take a small amount of information and for me that is sufficient.

I try to...
this time I am taking my laptop and I will find that much easier to be honest....
so yes.

I'm a techie guy, but haven't found the right travel laptop yet. So I use an iPod touch and write a daily digest email with my thoughts for the day. Personally I find the Touch very easy to type on so I peck away for a few minutes every day and it adds up to a great journal at the end of the trip.

It also makes it easy to share with friends and family or transfer to a blog.

Pete

I've collected a lot of great ideas from this thread & from another posted on 'to the boot' which was recommended by Jon from Portland. That thread, started by Lucibell included a site by Dave Fox
traveljournaling.com/10tips.htm which has tips for the actual writing. Here's the tip that resonated the most with me: "Pre-journaling is writing about your trip before you go. Journeys don't begin when we step off the airplane". How true. I'm not leaving until Sept but I've been thinking about the trip almost daily. Mostly because I may not take many more trips & this one is a RS tour which is a big change as I usually travel by myself. I bought a journal yesterday & using the ideas received here will start some pre-journaling. It'll be interesting later to see how my expectations match the reality of the trip.

I find that keeping a daily journal is the only way I can get home and still "remember" all the bits and pieces that make up the whole trip. It's pretty easy to remember the highlights, but many times it's the small things that make an impression. This year it was the light mist and overcast element that made Delphi much more "mystical" than had the sun been shining. I want to remember that experience, and my journal enables me to have that memory.
Bought this netbook computer to take this year, planning to do my journal online, but my husband said he prefers to read it out of a bound journal in my handwriting....so that's how I did it.

At the end of each trip, after we return home, I add a section called, "What we learned on this trip" for helpful tips that will be needed again.

We never thought of keeping a journal till we had grandkids and decided that we could involve them in our trips by maintaining a website. My wife takes pictures and I write the narrative. We try and post it every other day or so. When other friends and relatives discovered what we were doing, many asked to be included in the postings. Now it is an open website and they can access it easily.

It has settled many arguments as we recall our travels!

check out this website: www.journalsunlimited.com A nice selection of different type journals. I have their smallest Traveler's Journal & because of its layout it keeps me on track. I just couldn't remember things if I didn't jot down a few memorable events.

I take a small empty photo album (2 photos per page). I found a leather bound one at a discount store and I have used it for 6 trips. On the bottom of each page, I insert a lined index card. Each night before bed, I write the highlights of the day on one side of the index card. Then at the top, I include a postcard (or two) of the places we visited that day, tickets, brochurses, etc. When I return home, I transfer all of this to the back of my photo album. That way, I have my photos, my journal and my scrapbook all in one place. It's amazing how just a few lines of text can bring back the magic moments and remind you of your wonderful days.

I bring my laptop with me and update my Facebook almost daily with pictures and a quick blurb about my day. If I have more time, I write a longer "journal entry" in my online journal. I don't look back at my journals much, but I do look back at my pictures frequently. I do like the postcard idea, though. I may try that on my next trip.

My problem was finding time to write. Now I carry a small notebook with me, and whenever I want to take a short rest, I use that time to write a bit. If I'm not "doing something" I get impatient and want to get going, even though I really need the break.

What a great discussion you've started here, Rose.

I started journaling 3 trips ago and wished I had begun many years earlier. I don't journal at home, so it wasn't a habit I was used to. On holiday I write every morning prior to breakfast. I'm usually up early, so it's easy to find 10-15 minutes before the day starts. It took some vigilance to remember to do this, but I'm really glad I made the effort. I put thoughts down, names of people we've met, locations visited, costs, etc. Every so often I reread my adventures, and it takes me back to where-ever we've been.

I like some of the ideas I've read from other posters. It's given me some thoughts for my next trip.

I recently found my journal from my first trip to Europe in 1972. It was interesting to read what I thought about when I was 23. I've not been good about writing lately. I guess I'm lazy. I have bought a netbook for this summer's trip. We'll see if typing rather than writing makes me write more often.

In addition to logging notes on pictures we've taken - we purchase one post card that best represents our day's travels - write a brief note to ourselves and drop them in the mail. We hang them on the refrigerator with magnets as a reminder of our experiences. Great conversation pieces when entertaining also.

I used to keep a journal but it got tough doing it late at night after a few glasses of wine or what ever so i solved the problem and bought a small hand held tape recorder. Every day when we had time we would record our thoughts and impressions. I actually found I got a lot more done this way. My husband died a couple of years ago and I am eternally grateful that I have his voice alive on the tapes for me and for the grandkids. Now I'm in the process of transcribing all the tapes and it is amazing how things come back that you don't even remember.

Yes, I write. But I have lots of time when I travel on my own. I often sit in a cafe and write for an hour or two, every couple of days. Or sitting in the hostel at night, because I'm not a party animal, I'll write about my day. I also keep a blog, so writing in a notebook as well keeps my focus when I write in the blog.

But a more important reason why I write in a journal, is because I'm gone for 60-70 days each summer. And I take thousands of photos. I need the written notes to help me remember where and when the photos are from.

Sometimes I find myself writing elegant prose and some really insightful commentary, or times my writing is bland and short. But I always make the effort. It's interesting to re-read these several years after the trip, with other trips in between.

I always pack a nice enough journal that I would display in my library. I write in any quiet time and glue in ticket stubs, wine labels, phone cards or other momentos of the trip.

I'm leaning toward getting a digital voice recorder. By coupling it with voice recognition software, I can create an electronic journal that I can edit, insert photos or scanned copies of ticket stubs, wine labels, etc. I can then email or upload my journal rather than having to photocopy or loan someone my journal.

I won't bring a laptop, it's just too much to add for packing light.

Here is another different idea.

We take a video camera and before we leave a location we discuss on camera all the interesting, exciting things we encountered. It is nice because it is a family reaction and all our own opinions. And then previous to that discussion we have the video of that area.

Otherwise, I keep a spending log and a folder with directions, trains we plan to take, places and phone numbers. I use a report folder and fill it with paper and clear style report covers that I use as envelopes to hold things.