Note Taking or "Journaling" Advice?

My idea is that if you have to write stuff down, you're concentrating on what you're writing and miss almost everything else.

For example, we travel about six months out of the year. There is no way I could name more than a dozen hotels and restaurants we were in this year alone -- and probably none from last year. However, I could find every one of them on an aerial photograph.

I sometimes travel with a friend that journalizes. What he does (other than jot down a placename from time to time) is write everything up at the end of the day as he mulls it over.

Try to get shots of the signage for the place you're visiting (e.g., the entrance sign to the museum). This works for still cameras also, just delete later when you're cleaning up photos. I also take pictures of the location maps at visitor centers (very helpful when you know where you were but not what the building was!)

Personally, I keep a small spiral notebook in my day bag and jot down where I've been that day and anything I want to remember to journal. If I took a picture of something in particular that might not be memorable later on, I make note of it (e.g., "pix of blue butterfly for Grandma"). At the end of the day, I use my notes to write in a journal about the day. I also try every day to delete the obviously bad pictures off the camera and write down where/what about each picture (I do this in the same spiral notebook, flipping it over to start at the opposite end of the notebook). Using this method, only a handful of my 600+ photos from Ireland came back as unidentifiable.

Ever consider a digital voice recorder?

"My idea is that if you have to write stuff down, you're concentrating on what you're writing and miss almost everything else."

That is not the point of a travel journal. It isn't a laundry list of hotels and eats, it is about the experience and perceptions. Also, it doesn't have to happen WHILE you are doing the traveling.

If I am sitting in a cafe and the mood strikes me, I may journal about that day, a prior day or even prior week. Lots of times it is about cultural observations and contrasts or lightbulb moments I might have had.

When the trip is over, I will assemble a trip log by day. I will only mention a specific hotel or eatery if there was something unique -- otherwise it is more about observations, learnings, dissapointments, surprises, people I've met, etc....

I journaled my first 3 trips to Europe and really love reading my notes and observations from over a decade ago. I have changed; the world has changed; so it is sweet to retreat to those wonderful memories.

I have used CL's method of a small spiral notebook for quick, on the run notes. The photo suggestion is great, too. You think you will never forget so many wonderful experiences but, often, it is hard to remember names of places and which day you did what. We like to take a picture of everywhere we eat or purchase food, too.

My favorite journals are 6" x 8" spiral books with heavy cardboard covers - like little albums or scrapbooks - I bought at Michaels. They have either black or tan pages. I would buy a postcard or 2 each day and stick them in the book with photo corners that I brought along, writing my impressions of the day whenever I had the chance or felt inspired. Sometimes I used long transportation connections to catch up my journaling. I also stuck tickets, reciepts, and other items of interest in the journals with the photo corners. By the end of the trip I had a wonderful souvenir.

I do the same small notebook with quickly jotted notes, then write it out at the end of the day (or long bus rides, waiting for planes, etc.). The last time I was at Heathrow, I was using my wait time to catch up on the journal when I woman asked me if I was getting it all down. We then had the nicest conversation about where they had been and where I had been. She said she always knew that people who journal have stories to tell.

I think journaling is an important part of traveling. In 2004, I took my three teenage daughters to Europe and I bought each of us a journal to record our thoughts and memories of each day. Before bed, I made the girls journal...didn't happen every night...sometimes we'd catch up on long train rides. I must admit that they did get annoyed at me for nagging at them, but now those memories are priceless. One thing I really love is having four perspectives of the same day.

I really like the idea of the digital voice recorder. In August, I'm taking my husband and teenage son to Europe. Hubby isn't much of a writer, so this may be the compromise I've been looking for.

My best journals have come from sitting down for an hour or so each day and writing out what I did, saw, liked, didn't like, where I went, how I got there, etc. I write on every other page so I can paste pictures and other paper memorabilia between the writing. I keep that stuff in a ziplock bag until I paste it in with a gluestick. The more committed I am to my journal, the better the end product.

Sometimes when I'm sipping a pint in a pub and feverishly scrawling down the days entry, people will ask me if I'm a writer - which starts off a nice conversation.

I'm leaning toward getting a digital voice recorder and coupling it with voice recognition software that creates an editable document. The recorder is smaller and weighs less than a journal, so that's a plus. It will save wear and tear on my wrist. Since my pictures are digital now, it will also save printing pictures simply to paste them into a book. Other momento can be scanned when I get back and pasted electronically into the file.

I use a Moleskine journal (two sizes). The small one is for quick notes. At the end of the day usually in bed I write my summary in my trip journal. I often pick up business cards/brochures to trigger my memory and rely on my travel partner. I don't want to carry more electronic equipment but I did see someone using a tiny digital recorder which might be ideal. She held it up when a guide was speaking to capture his spiel.

Like Brad, I, too, keep my museum & transportation tickets, receipts from restaurants or a grocery store, pictures cut out of a brochure I picked up, etc. (anything to prompt my memory). I try to journal each night as a way to recall the day and my wonderful memories. Then I paste my small collected items on the page opposite of my writing. It's amazing how many times I've been glad I remembered a restaurant receipt that reminds me the name of the restaurant, what I ate and how much it cost. Having those bits and pieces in the journal has made journaling easier and more fun to look back on later.

I try to journal in the evening when we get back to the hotel. It is a nice way to unwind and record those memories that stood out during the day.

I too journaled my trips to Italy. Like many others, I would write in the hotel room before bed or on the train (or plane).

Now, in John's case when he's talking about using a camcorder, if you're taking video why not just "mark" the place at the beginning of the recording with enough info to jog your memory? For example, start recording and say "Tower of London" to remind yourself of where you're at.

I used a digital camera and like someone else posted, I would take pictures of the descriptor signs so that I could remember what something was. When I got home, I'd caption the actual photo using the info in the photo of the sign, and then delete the second one.

John - While I haven't been to Europe yet, I have traveled extensively in the states and am an avid scrapbooker so journaling is important to me.

What I do before we leave is print up our itinerary with some extra space by each day. This itinerary will include places we plan to visit, places we'd like to eat, pictures I'd like to remember to take as well as all the usual pertinent info like flights/hotels/car etc. Then each night before I go to sleep I write down relevant notes on that itinerary. Maybe putting stars next to our favorite, or remembering something funny my kids said.

Despite my best efforts, I was always really bad at keeping up a journal on a trip. It just got put aside. However, I did much better on my last trip and here were my simple rules. I journaled every morning at breakfast about the day before. I hit 4 main topics even if it was a quick one sentence note.

1) Visited:

2) Culinary:

3) Liked:

4) Didn't Like:

It worked really well for me and is now a journal I can look back on and go "OH YEAH, I forgot about that!"

I started journalling on our 1st trip to Europe, and my husband and I still pull them out periodically when we're trying to remember specifics of some aspects of the trip. I usually write in my journal every night or while on the train or plane. At the end of the trip I always add a page entitled: Things we learned on this trip....usually related to travel tips that would have been helpful to know before the trip, but sometimes just funny things. I take a netbook with us and thought I would use that for my journal, but my husband prefers to read the handwritten version.

Thanks Everyone! I was a little reluctant to ask my question because I figured it could be viewed as a dumb one but I was also pretty sure I would get some good practical advice to kickstart my brain into action and I have.I love these pages!
Thanks Again, John

john,

You might pick up some great journalling tips by having a look at the website of Rick's associate and Tour Guide, Dave Fox. Have a look at His website for details (click on the "Travel Journaling" link).

I'm hoping to attend one of his "How To Write Extraordinary Travel Journals" classes at some point in the future.

Cheers!

im really good about saving things like tickets receipts brochures of places visited. i also jot down at the end of the day what we saw and did. but am not good at compiling and scrapbooking after i get home. do it quickly or you will forget little details. also i wish i had recorded little things like interactions with locals and thoughts/feelings about certain sites visited. the memorabilia brings that back but not as vividly as if recorded in the moment. we have pretty much given up on the video cam. you can do vid clips on most stills now and the camera operator misses out on seeing thing "for real".

Michael, you hit the nail on the head; journaling is a way to remember the funny/new/interesting things thta occured during a day (week sometimes because I get behind). It's fun to go back and re-read entries for a particular location and recall the great meal or the super B&B host or.............

ditto on taking a pic of the signs before entering a site; I also save brochures, ticket stubs etc to add a little more interest to a photo album

I've mentioned it before on other threads, but I laminate a small map of the US w/ my home town marked w/ a red dot and tape the map into my journal. I'm often journaling on the train or at a meal and this is a quick way to show where we live.

I agree with Ken. Dave Fox's website has lots of information not just on how to journal but exercises to make you a better journal writer.

And you too can get emails from Dave about his upcoming classes. Just sign up at his website.

Thanks for the dave fox website info - I've just spent abotu an hour reading - he's got some great insights!