6 Easy Tips for Writing a Travel Journal to Record Memories

Traveling is a time for self-development and discovering new experiences.  It is also an opportunity to explore the surrounding world and explore new cultures. If you go on a journey, you will definitely want to remember all your impressions for years to come. A travel diary will not only help preserve the memories, but it will make your trip more fun and enjoyable as well. Travel journaling will help improve your skills as an essay writer as well.

As you prepare for your trip, you can write a few notes before hitting the road.  This will help you develop the habit of keeping a travel journal and will let you record what you anticipate your journey to be like.  This will help you realize how your destination differed from your expectations after the trip has ended.  Describe the travel planning process or tell about old friends you are going to meet and sites you hope to see. Make a list of what you hope to do during the trip. Revise your notes when you return home, and see how the journey has met your expectations or differed from your preconceived expectations.

1. Prepare The Necessary Utensils

Plan to buy a lightweight but durable diary with a hardcover. As a rule, it is more convenient to write and sketch in a travel journal if it is freely opened and comfortable for writing under various conditions. At the same time, it should be quite compact so that you can safely carry it in your bag wherever you go.

Pack all your writing utensils such as pens, pencils, and markers in a bag or case to keep everything well organized on the road. You will need pens that are comfortable to write with, as well as pencils and markers for sketching the places you will see and decorating other materials that you will add to your diary. You may also need a glue stick and scissors to trim some cards or tickets for placing them in your journal.

You can find many amazing old-fashioned maps on the Internet. Choose the one that you like best, print it out, and glue it on the cover of your diary. You may need to shrink the map to make it fit, especially if you are going to visit several countries. In this way, you can highlight with a marker the places where you are heading.

 2. Take Notes As You Go

It is best to take notes all during the time you are traveling to ensure that your journal truly reflects the mood and tone of your trip. It can be challenging to remember all the key details afterward. However, your travel writing is not meant to describe in detail everything that you did on a particular day. Try to take notes several times a day and depict the activities, attractions, and experiences that come to your mind right away.

Do not forget to specify the date of every entry so that you could remember the chronology of your trip. You may also want to track the time for writing each note. For example, you can take notes during breakfast or before going to bed. If you travel to another location by plane, train, bus, or car, such a change of place will be a great time to work on your diary.

If you are in a hurry, jot down briefly what is happening on a piece of paper. Then, you can move these ideas in your journal when you have more time. This habit will bring you many benefits in the cases when you wonder: “How can I write my essay online?” If you do not take notes as you go, you will probably forget some essential details, so your drafts can come in handy.  Remember to jot down humorous events and items of surprise.

3. Decide Whom You Are Writing For

In most cases, a travel journal serves as a personal memoir of interesting and exciting life events. However, you may be planning to show it to family and friends to present a rough idea of places if they decide to visit them in the future. Having an idea about the target audience of your craft will help you choose the correct style and set the proper tone.

If you plan to share your recordings with other people, consider which details you would like to include and which ones you better to omit. You may decide that it makes no sense to write down the address of a restaurant you liked, but a friend of yours may find this information helpful. On the other hand, you might be reluctant to share some personal details of the trip with family and friends, so it is better to leave them out if you will be sharing your journal with others.

4. Come Up With Main Topics

It is often easier to keep a travel journal if you have a central idea or tone to focus on. Recall everything that you have seen and done on a particular day, and think about a common theme that will help you frame your notes and start creating travel writing blogs.

If you can’t decide which topic to follow, ask yourself a few basic questions. For instance, what made you smile, what surprised you the most, or what have you discovered today. Write down the answers to these and you’ll see how a common theme will start to emerge.

5. Engage Your Emotions

Do not simply mention what you see. In addition to your sight, you can also hear, taste, smell, and feel things. No detail is insignificant during the trip, as every little point will help you remember your journey many years later. You can describe the smell of flowers in the cafe where you had a diner or the breeze that you felt on your face while relaxing on the beach.

You will most likely meet a lot of interesting people along the way, so be sure to mention them in your diary. It does not matter if it was a fellow traveler with whom you spent the whole day or a taxi driver who gave you a ride. Think about how they looked, talked, and, most importantly, how they impressed you. Then, take notes about your feelings.

 6. Take Photos and Make Sketches

No trip can be complete without photographs. They will help you remember what you saw and did, and the diary will become a visual reminder of your voyage. Digital cameras make it easy to work with high-quality pictures because you can always delete what you do not like. Combine landscape photos with casual portraits of some people to diversify your travel writing.

You probably will not stop to print photos when traveling, so make sure to leave some space in your diary to paste in your photos when you get home. While photographs are perfect for capturing what you saw or did during your trip, drawing some landmarks or buildings will help you focus on particular details you might have missed. Collect some other souvenirs for your journal like an excursion or theater ticket, restaurant, pressed wildflower, or other remembrance.  Your drawings will help you remember significant points later.  You can always embellish your drawings once you are home and even add some color or turn them into a painting.

Conclusion

While journaling will help you appreciate even the smallest details of your trip, this occupation should not prevent you from enjoying every moment of the journey. For example, before photographing unique landscapes, take your time to enjoy their beauty first. Also, avoid merely listing objects and people you have seen around, as this can be boring. Instead, focus on how this trip impressed you and what discoveries you made for yourself. Who knows, maybe you will decide to offer writing services for other people later.

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About The Author: James Baxter is a professional writer and blogger, who loves sharing his experience and knowledge with readers. He is especially interested in marketing, blogging, and IT. James is always happy to visit different places and meet new people there.
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Images:  Pixabay.com