Heading on vacation soon? Don’t forget to pack your journal, your trustiest travel companion. Everyone has a different style of journaling while on the road, but these ideas will help you create a more vivid, interesting account of your trip.
Tips to Improve Your Travel Journal
- Pick a theme.
Sometimes a trip can cause sensory overload – you are processing so much that you don’t know where to begin to write. Keep it simple by choosing a specific theme every time you sit down to write. Some ideas: people-watching, transportation, nature, weather, fashion, food, communication, accommodations.
- Add flavor to your descriptions.
Don’t wear yourself out by writing down an hour-by-hour account of your day or describing every detail of the places you visit. Instead, pick out the most interesting observations and add them to your travel journal. Record amusing quotes, new foreign language words, songs playing on the radio, unusual foods at a restaurant or names of people you’ve met.
- Make it visual.
Sometimes it’s best to show and not tell. Draw sketches of places you want to remember. Jot down a rough map of where you went hiking. Paste in postcards and other travel mementos.
- Try a different point of view.
Stretch your travel journaling style for a new perspective. If you normally write first-person narratives, experiment with writing a third-person journalistic account, an embellished tall tale or a short poem.
- Sum it all up.
At the end of your trip, give yourself time to write about your overall experience in your travel journal. Record your favorite memories, your biggest challenges and anything else you don’t want to forget.
What travel journaling techniques do you swear by? Share your personal tips in the comments.
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