8 Tips to Create the Perfect Travel Journal
One of the best parts of traveling is being able to go back and re-live the experience. Have you ever gone back and been able to immerse yourself in a memory? Creating a Travel Journal is a great way to be able to remember your travel experiences! Travel journals are a great keepsake to cherish. Pictures on your phone are great, but they do not give you the same nostalgic and warm feelings as reading your own words about a lived experience. Your travel journal can be your own souvenir, so you may create it in whichever way you wish. Here are our top eight tips to create the perfect travel journal that can be a keepsake for all of your favorite travel adventures!
- Personalize your travel journal.
Prior to your trip, think about the details of your journal. What do you want to walk away with after your trip? Perhaps you will write a journal entry each day, or perhaps you will organize it for each activity you do. Then, think about what type of journal you would like to purchase. We know plenty of bloom girls who have used our patterned Notebooks to create their perfect journal! Remember that this is your keepsake, so it is important to do what works best for you!
Our new Mini Lined Notebooks are the perfect size to travel with!
- Use your journal to plan.
You can start using your journal before you even start your trip! Plan out excursions you would like to go on, restaurants you would like to eat at, museums or monuments you would like to visit, or other sights you would like to see. This can act as your “Trip Checklist” to ensure that you are experiencing it all! Additionally, you can write down a loose itinerary for each day. Having a schedule and a checklist going into your trip will help you feel much more organized and ready to adventure!
Make sure you check out our Free Packing List Printable, here!
- Write about your expectations prior to your trip.
It is natural to have expectations before a big adventure! Sometimes, you will find that your expectations beforehand can be very different from the reality of your trip. This can be a good or bad thing! You may uncover a new hidden gem or surprise yourself at some new information you learned. Writing about your expectations before and during a trip is also a good way to check in on your emotions and feelings. There are a lot of emotions that can happen before traveling; such as feeling anxious about the unknown and there are a lot of emotions that happen during a trip when exploring a new place. Writing can help you express how you are feeling and how to approach these new emotions!
- Let yourself create without restraint!
Free your mind of any judgments of yourself or people around you. Again, this is your journal! Whether you are traveling alone or with others, creating your travel journal can be a fantastic way to reflect on your journey. Reflect on how each experience made you feel, add some doodles if you wish, and let yourself make a piece of art that you can save for years.
- Be observant.
It is important to absorb your surroundings when traveling and journaling. Take in the sights, the smells, the sounds, and the tastes. What is different? How do the people around you act? What do you hear? Is there music? What is the weather like? What did you eat and how does it differ from your normal diet? Each place you visit is going to be unique, so the best way to remember it is by documenting how it sparked your senses!
- Let others join in.
Creating a travel journal, especially if traveling with others, can be most fun when you involve the people around you. Whether it is the local people or people you are traveling with, feel free to interview people, or write down quotes from others that you want to remember. Feel free to strike up a conversation with others by asking them about their experiences! Maybe you can even inspire others to design their own travel journals!
- Add photos!
If you take photographs during your trip, add them to your journal to supplement your writing! It is important to live in the moment and not be glued to your electronics, but it is also important to capture what you see and what you are writing about. You will appreciate being able to come back to a moment through a picture. Capture the people, the art, nature, the architecture. Pictures are always worth a thousand words! If you don’t want to wait until after your trip to have your photos developed, try a Fujifilm Instax Mini 9 Instant Camera! You can get your own on Amazon for less than $60!
- Write a final reflection!
One of the most rewarding parts of travel is how it makes you feel. Try and see the “big picture.” Write about your journey: what you have experienced, what you have felt, what you have learned, what surprised you, and whatever else crosses your mind. When we reflect, we are able to process and understand. Reflecting allows us to not only grow personally but to absorb our experiences so we can apply what we have learned in the future!
As Dr. Seuss says, “Oh, the places you’ll go!” Now you have all of the tools to make the perfect travel journal for all of your future adventures, #bloomgirl. All that you need is a little creativity, a pen, and paper, and you can get to journaling!
xoxo,
the bloom team
Leave a comment