How To Keep the Perfect Travel Journal

Hello ♥

I am doing a Theatre Program in London, England and Edinburgh, Scotland for the month of August & then I am studying abroad in London (for the semester) from September to December. I have a lot to plan & figure out so for the next couple of months, I will do several travel related posts both giving advice & insight, as well as asking you for your advice! 

I have been to Europe & the last few times I went I kept a journal. I look back on my entries & feel very nostalgic. I really do value being able to read details about all my experiences. Below is my journal that I kept my last time in England & I still have about 4/5 of the journal free. I got this journal as a graduation gift from one of my favorite high school teachers & it means a lot to me. So, since I have lots of free pages, I have decided to bring this one with me & hopefully fill it by the time December rolls around. 

I recently read an article on how to keep the perfect travel journal & I thought I would do a condensed version of it! 

1) Ask yourself who the diary is for & then decide your content & the style you write in. 

2) You do not have to record every detail but details can paint the most vivid picture. 

3) Use dialogue - funny quotes, inside jokes, things you overheard, interesting conversations. 

4) Bring to life ALL your senses! Sensory memory is a powerful thing.

5) Tell a captivating story - avoid just listing your activities. 

6) Include illustrations :) ☃✈✡♝✌

7) Paste things in - tickets, bottle labels, snippets and receipts.

8) Write in the dates so you remember when things happened.

9) Get it down while it's fresh.

10) Having said that, it's okay to leave gaps to fill things in later. I would come back each night & frantically write down all my day's activities until my hand hurt. Sleep is pretty important, ya know? So just relax and write entries when you have some downtime. 

11) Ideas of what to include: people you meet, best bits of the day, food you eat, your feelings or reactions.
12) Enjoy it. If writing feels tedious, put the pen/pencil down & come back to it.

I know that I am going to apply these tips to my own journal. I am hoping to not only travel around England and Scotland, but to travel more of Europe. These hopes of traveling all depend on how much money I make working over the summer but if I make enough, I would love to go to Ireland to visit my family & a friend, Paris for a weekend trip, & Italy for ten days for my Fall break. 

Also, I have started a Pinterest board called I Dare You to Travel the World. I will probably be updating it quite often so if you have a Pinterest, feel free to follow the board if interested. 

So I hope you enjoyed this post! Look for more travel posts in the next few months. 

Share with me any stories you have of traveling, if you kept a journal or not! Also, do you find this journal keeping advice useful? Is there anything you would add from your experience (even if it is just a daily journal and not a travel one)?

xx