Journal and Bones

I keep a list of places i want to visit or eat at, with all the information on my ipad under the notes app. I pick up many suggestions here on the forum. I also have a paper journal in which i write everyday while traveling. I also highlight pages in Rick’s book.
As for the crypt in Rome, it is very interesting, doesn’t take too long to go through, and easy enough to get to. If you are really interested in crypts you should go on the SCAVI tour at the Vatican. All the information is on the Vatican’s official website. Tickets must be reserved in advance. We requested our 7 months in advance. If you put SCAVI in the search field above, you will get all the information you need.

I make short notes on our trips as we go but have never had the time/energy to keep a formal journal; I'm too pooped at the end of the day! Then again, others find journals a good way to remember where they've been and what they've seen/done.. It all depends on what works for you. :O)

We didn't do the Capuchin Crypt as there have been too many other things in Rome which were more interesting to us but I'm not sure I'd call it a "fun" thing. It's a burial place of carefully arranged memento mori that, while unusual and interesting, should be treated with the same respect as any other cemetery. Photography of the remains is forbidden, and appropriate "church" dress is required.

I used to write a journal but used an ordinary pad of paper, nothing fancy. I keep a file for each trip and used to put the journals in there. Now that I use TripIt I can look at any trip I have taken and notes. I also always keep business cards from all restaurants and hotels we go to.

I do keep a daily journal, writing in it several times a day so I don't have to write for long periods of time in the evening. As for notes, I take a separate, small Moleskin notebook for that. I find it very helpful for restaurant names, reservation times, church names, etc!

The Capuchin Crypt is definitely worth seeing. It's certainly unique and, as someone else said, doesn't take too much time and is easy to reach. We walked there easily from our hotel near the Spanish Steps, but the Barberini stop on the Metro line A is virtually next door to the crypt. The crypt itself is not large and photography is definitely forbidden. I noticed staff watching closely to make sure no one took pictures. But you can get postcards in the gift shop if you really want images. We bought a T-shirt and bracelet in the shop for a son and daughter-in-law who we knew would appreciate the unique souvenirs.

I have been to the Capuchin Crypts in Rome and Yes, they are worth seeing. It fits right in with your line of work and I think you'll find it fascinating.

Metro Line A, Piazza Barberini stop, Via Vittorio Veneto 27, Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, very near Piazza Barberini.

I use a small "pocket book size" watercolor tablet and ultra fine felt pens. For me it is great for making lists of places, people and experiences, but it allows me to draw or sketch an element or a scene that inspires me at that moment.

I always diarize / journal each day using a Word document. I pack along a small Netbook on each trip so it only takes a few minutes. I prefer that to a paper journal as I can type much faster than I can write, so that's the quickest method.

I've kept travel journals for many years. They now take up half a shelf in one of our bookcases.
I find them a great accompaniement to the massive number of travel photo folders in my computer.

They are all bound blank books that I've gotten at bookstores or stationary stores. I almost always buy one when I'm in Venice- gorgeously bound and covered, and of good quality paper. There's something very relaxing about sitting down in the evening with a glass of wine and recording my thoughts on what we've seen that day. Or catching up while sitting on a train.

Since the books are big enough to record multiple trips, I always put a note on the front page with the dates and locations inside the journal. That makes it much easier when I want to look back at a particular place. It's surprising how often I do that, especially when planning a trip to a place we've been before. Or someone will ask for recommendations about hotels or restaurants, etc.

Electronic records are fine for some. But give me a real paper journal and a pen any day.

I was very interested in seeing the Capuchin Crypts when I was in Rome this past October. Given that we only had 3 days and I wasn't sure of what times they allowed entry, we decided to save it for the next trip. Does anyone know exactly what times you can go in and walk around?

My travel "journal" is a series of daily entries on the spreadsheet I create when planning each trip. I will update the draft plan by crossing out the things we did not do, adding in things we did, detailing restaurants, etc. I also have an "Actuals" tab where I record expenditures (yes, nerdy) and also write a few lines about the day's activities, weather, or whatever strikes me as memorable. I use these notes for my blog and to reference on future trips or in helping people on the Forum.

Thank you for all the suggestions, directions and descriptions of how you journal! I'm definitely going to get one and will most definitely see the crypt....sounds so interesting and beautiful!

There's something very relaxing about sitting down in the evening with
a glass of wine and recording my thoughts on what we've seen that day.

Yep. That's the way I try to end each travel day. It's a great way to end the day, pulling it all together.

I am one of those dinosaurs who keeps a paper journal. The first time I did it was for financial reasons, so my first diary is mostly a dry record of expenditure with minimal details about the places I visited. That is still part of my motivation for keeping a journal. But more recent trips have much more detail about places I went, things I did, what I ate etc. I am happy to keep it offline. It depends on how much of the experience you want to share with other people. I am happy to keep mine private, so a paper journal is sufficient for me.

I have looked back at past journals, and have found them useful for planning later trips, especially if I want to revisit places. I find it often reminds of things I had forgotten.

I also have been to the Capuchin Crypt in Rome, and it is a very interesting place, though pretty bizarre.

I used to bring along hard-bound blank journals, but found them too "formal." Inevitably, somewhere along the trip I would stop writing in them and found myself trying to recreate the rest of my trip from memory once I got back home. Now I take smallish spiral notebooks. Less formal. Just quick notes about what we did each day, great restaurants, what we ate, etc. And I only write on one side of the page so if I forget something and want to add it later, I have space to make additional notes. Don't worry about the handwriting--nobody but you is ever going to read them. But I DO read them from time to time to bring back memories and they are useful if you're going back to a certain area and want to remember what you did there, where you ate that great bistecca, etc.

I keep going back to mine when someone on this Forum asks a question I can answer. Buses, hotels, restaurants... It makes me feel part of this community, and brings back wonderful memories.

The Crypt is worth it--no photos allowed ( a monk oversees the visits) but they sell a post card of the bones arrangement. We do keep a written journal (target has decent ones) and record expenses, hotels, inns & B&B reviews and of course meals--what we ate and spent. It is really helpful when we return to a place previously visited so we can avoid any mistakes or return to a restaurant we loved (so many of them!) Some unpleasant experiences occurred too over the years but a lesson is learned and we move on.

Used to keep a notebook journal, last trip, to Greece, I posted to my Facebook page with photos. Nice because I can bore my friends at a distance! I think if I do another major extended trip I will go back to my notebook (paper one that is) along with Facebook. A friend created a great blog of an extended stay in Rome using a travel blog site...unfortunately it no longer exists.

I have seen some Continuing Ed. Classes in travel writing that I think about taking.

Used to keep a notebook journal, last trip, to Greece, I posted to my Facebook page with photos. Nice because I can bore my friends at a distance! I think if I do another major extended trip I will go back to my notebook (paper one that is) along with Facebook. A friend created a great blog of an extended stay in Rome using a travel blog site...unfortunately it no longer exists.

I have seen some Continuing Ed. Classes in travel writing that I think about taking.