how to write better travel journals

A tip I learned from this site I believe-take glue and post in tickets from museums, business cards from restaurants, etc....the interesting little bits and pieces you collect during the trip. They add both a visual and a record of that little restaurant you can never remember what it was!
On your style of journal question-I think that is a matter of personal choice. I prefer a blank, lined page so I can make it all my own. My sister has used a separate list of questions to get her started. Finally, it is the discipline to actually write in it that is the most important. Try to write more than once during the day, rather than trying to remember everything at one sitting, but try NOT to skip a day.

Thanks for the site, I to am trying to improve my journaling skills. I write mine down in a little notebook, because I rewrite them in my journaling boxes in my scrapbook. My little notebook fits in my day bag so I can use the suggestions from the site you provided and journal while I am waiting for a meal or in line instead of at night, like I normally do.

Lucibell:

As others have pointed out - use the glue sticks for the ephemera of travel - postcards, receipts, wrappers,etc.

My travel journals are a treasure to me. Here are some more things that I believe would help guide your efforts:

1. Do it everyday. I am an early riser - I get moving right away - get my coffee and do my journaling before everyone wakes up. It is now routine on our travels. Some days there is not a lot to write about but I make the effort nevertheless.

2. One of my keys for remembering notable things is tracking the money I spent the previous day - that usually clears any writer's block (or was that a hangover?) I might be experiencing. I am not nuts about it I just mentally go through my spending and the words start pouring out.

3. One of my prime motivators for European travel is the food. One of my journal techniques is to meticulously describe the previous day's meals. I also photograph each course - I can look a little goofy shooting pictures of my caprese in Tuscany but like the man said "first, we eat with our eyes".

4. Since I am a messy writer I need a ruled book. The very first one I had was specifically a travel journal - softcover. It had prompts like "Most Interesting Thing I Saw Today" etc. As I have become more experienced I do not require the prompts anymore.

5. Don't make it "work". Remember the whole idea is to have a good time while you are there - make some notes about it - and later on (back home) you get the joy of reliving some great experiences.

Have fun.

I've posted on this topic before because my journals become treasures. I use basic composition books because the pages are stitched together. I take tape for all of the tickets, etc., previously mentioned plus cards from my hotels, maps from city TIs and always tape in a postcard from each town. I try to write every day - usually with a glass of wine at the end of the afternoon. By the end of my trip, my journal is bulging.

Many of the answers I've given on this site come from returning to my journals to verify names and addresses for recommended hotels and restaurants.

My techniques:

I get books with blank lined pages. I buy something more sturdy than a spiral notebook and more attractive than a blue book.

Writing on every other page leaves room for ticket stubs, photos, wine labels etc. I use a glue stick to put them in (keep them in a ziplock bag until you put them in the book).

Write often. I get up early, relax in the late afternoon or sit down before bed and write. Riding a train is another good time to write.

For my kids who couldn't think of anything to write, I started them off with five or six pat questions for each day: favorite thing they ate that day, favorite thing they saw, new word they learned, new thing they ate, something they had never done before, etc.

My handwriting is atrocious. So bad, at times I can't read it.

What I do is take notes of what I did, and then, when I get home, form them into prose on the computer. Print it out and put it in photo album--along with all the keepsakes one gets: ticket stubs, receipts, and printed out photos.

I too use a ruled, blank journal. I usually write in it in the evening during cocktail time - or in the afternoon during cocktail time...

I find that if I miss a day - it is hard to get going again. DO write in it every day!!!

I prefer a soft-bound, unruled, smaller sized (5 or 6 by 8 or 9") book. From my technical background, I only write on the right hand page, leaving the left hand page for random notes, to paste in a ticket, receipt, or a wine label, or a note on money spent. Then, going from back to front, I usually have several pages to record expenses or other information that is sort of a running tally of items or lists during the trip that I may not want scattered among the day's musing. (on my first trip, I had a running list of quirky observations on the difference between US and Europe culture, and on another a "Beer List" of the different types I consumed) You must set aside time each day, I too usually write as I sit with a beer or glass of wine, and I can attest (or my journals can) that it gets harder and harder each day, so stick with it.

lucibell,

In addition to Journalling, you might enjoy having a look at the 2008 winners of Rick's Scrapbook contest. There are some fantastic entries! Check This for the details.

The link you provided was interesting. Who better to provide journalling advice than one of Rick's Guides!

Cheers!

For my personal journal, I used one of those Moleskin journals. They are light and thin, but still have a lot of pages. I would recommend having a a glue stick and colored pencils/pens.

You should also consider keeping a travel blog. Last fall, my family and I traveled through a lot of Europe. We kept a family travel blog (we had a laptop with us) through travellerspoint.com. We were able to map our adventures and upload photos. And, it's still out there in cyberspace whenever we want to re-live our experiences. It was a great way for family and friends to find out about what we were up to. You don't need to have a computer with you, although it does make things easier. When we returned home, we printed the blog off, put it in a spiral notebook and now it's displayed on our coffee table.

FANTASTIC tips and ideas. So happy that I asked.

Thanks

When I was in Italy by myself I would email home and tell everyone what had happened during the day. I included my own email address. When I came home I had all my emails, recording my fabulous time.

I've seen the many great suggestions you've received, and use some of them myself--especially those that suggest, perhaps, writing on the right hand page while reserving the left for memorabilia like wine bottle labels, train tickets, receipts, etc. Last May, in Arles, France, I threw into the pages a sprig of rosemary and some odd seasonings I took from an especially good meal I had at one of Rick's admired little restaurants (I think the pages still hold the aroma...but even if they don't, the textures bring me back!) My own tweak, since I like to draw, is to use a blank-paged book...maybe a sketchbook like artists would use (to add to the memory, I'll often seek out a local shop on my travels that has a variety of these books I'd not find at home). Then, as I sit and observe, I'll make brief sketches of what I see. It's been my experience that, even though I'm not a good artist, I see things better if I have to look at them closely enough to draw/sketch them! I have little pencil sketches I made many years ago of seagulls sitting on a roof outside a hotel dining room window in Cornwall, England. It all comes back when I look at them! The most wonderful journal I've ever seen that uses this technique is "Sara Midda's South of France." It's far, far beyond my own artistic reach! But it offers an alternate to word-bound journalling that I often find so hard to do. Good luck and happy travels! Judith

Here's a tip from a cousin of mine, who claims he can't string the words together properly to make it "come alive" for him. He prints out an itinerary for each day, highlighting the places he's seen and the experiences he's had (even if it's just walking through a lovely park), then follows with captioned photos, restaurant advertising cards, tickets for various events....even pressed flowers and the like....anything that's connected to the events he's listed in his itinerary. That way, the memories are jogged by all the items he puts in his journal, rather than risking losing the "ambience" by what he feels are his inadequate writing skills. Personally, I think he writes well....but this gives him a better trip down memory lane. He usually uses larger-format books....not scrapbook size, but maybe something closer to 8 1/2 x 14...probably closer to the larger drawing books that Judith mentions. A nice photo properly mounted on the front, and he's got a coffee-table book ready to display!

Something that I liked doing on a long trip through Europe was blogging every day. At the end of each day I'd sit at my laptop and literally go through my day - with time stamps. Friends and family back home felt like they were taking the trip with me because it was so detailed and specific. I didn't appreciate it so much at the time, but now almost 2 years removed, I can go back and read exactly what I did on any particular day - from what time I woke up, to what I ate for breakfast, to how much I paid to get into this museum or that one. It helps that I type really fast, so it didn't take me that long to get down at the end of the day, but I am sooooo glad I have this "memoir" of my trip. Sometimes I re-read pages of it, just to "pinch" myself and remind myself that I was actually in all these wonderfully magical places.

As Brad and Mike mentioned previously save ALL your receipts, ticket stubs, business cards from restaurants, hotels, trains, and such. They provide invaluable information and are the source of some of our best memories. I also store them in a ziplock during the trip. Display them in your photo albums in conjunction with any appropriate photos. Never again will you have to say..."what was the name of that restaurant" where we ate in .....? Have a fun trip.