Travel Journaling – Capturing a Place and Time

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends. The mind can never break off from the journey.”

– Pat Conroy

I write and speak a great deal about the importance of journaling – recording one’s experiences – and the many ways to go about it. To me, any chance I have to put words and/or sketches on paper to preserve important moments gives me not only the opportunity to reflect on what I see, hear, and feel, at the time, but also to remember those moments when I refer back to the journal days or years later.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure to lead a class on Travel Journaling for the Manassas, Virginia, Lifelong Learning Institute. Thirty adventurous souls joined me to explore the many possibilities of this fun and rewarding endeavor. I would like to share some of the ideas I presented to the group.

Travel journaling can take many forms, but mostly it is a way to preserve memories of an adventure. Those thoughts can be captured in words, photographs, sketches, mementos, or a combination of these. To me the objective of the travel journal is to capture the essence of a particular place and time.

Be aware. Observe everything you can. This will make your journey more memorable. Use your senses – sight, smell, touch, hearing, and when appropriate, taste. Write about your reactions to your new surroundings.   Focus on getting your thoughts down and don’t be overly concerned about grammar and punctuation. If you are on a bus or train (or camel), your handwriting may be jiggly, that’s okay. This gives your journal an “in the moment” feeling! Just remember: SHOW DON’T TELL.

Embrace your pencil! You can add interest to your journal pages by adding simple drawings of street signs, buildings, or landscape.              .

Your journal should be whatever YOU want it to be. That being said, it is fun to explore new ways to “remember” where you have been. Here are a few ideas to use as you travel:

Tape envelopes into your journal to store ticket stubs, postcards, bits of memorabilia

• Tape a coaster in your journal and write around it, describing the pub or restaurant where you got it.
• Leave a page or two blank every day or so to add things later.
• Add color by using various color pens or by using colored or watercolor pencils.
• Record your “favorites” – food, museum, historic site – for each town or country you visit.

You might also want to enhance your journal after you arrive home. Here are a few ways to do that:

• Add in “extras” by punching a hole and tying them into the spiral binding of your journal.
• Add in travel quotes.
• Add a color border to pages with colored pencils or markers.
• Use saved brochures and maps as backgrounds for other comments and narrative you may want to add.
• Use travel themed rubber stamps

Throughout history, people have been travel journaling – recording thoughts about and reactions to places new to them. Marco Polo, Lewis and Clark, and the pioneers in my book, Hope Amid Hardship, who wrote about their journeys from New England to Kansas Territory in beautiful and descriptive passages.

So gather your supplies now and be ready to have fun recording your next adventure!

Here are a few basic supplies (see photo) that I recommend:

6” x 9” journal – This is a good size. If you want to use watercolor pencils or add ephemera to your journal, be sure to get one with heavier paper. My favorite is the Strathmore Visual Journal with 140 pound watercolor paper, available from Utrecht art supplies. utrechtart.com

• Colored pencils or watercolor pencils (Available at craft stores like Michaels or Hobby Lobby)
• Pencil sharpener
• Pen – No ballpoint pens as they will smear.
• Small container for water if you plan to use watercolor pencils
• Eraser
• Small plastic ruler
• Drawing pencils, paintbrush (Store easily in a toothbrush holder)
• Sticky notes – Use these to hold a place for something you want to add later
• Envelopes to hold ticket stubs, misc.
• Scrapbooking tape – to add items to your journal as you travel (available at craft stores)

Here are some resources to check out:

• Art Journal magazine
• Pinterest
• Globejotting: How to Write Extraordinary Travel Journals by Dave Fox.
• www.globejotting.com

I hope this gets you excited about journaling, something I love to do.

I am off to Portugal on my next adventure and will post some of my travel journal pages very soon. Please email or message me to share your ideas and journal pages.

 “Our journey reverberates long after we return home.”