Travel Journaling

Everyone will tell you to take a journal with you when you travel, but you can never seem to find the time while you’re away. You’re too busy running off to the next museum or dinner or beach. The idea of journaling may seem a little contrived to you, or you may be intimidated by the thought. Regardless of your preconceived notions, they are, actually, a great idea, and a tool to help you remember all that you’ve done. Think of a travel journal as a word photo album.

What do I write about? Absolutely anything. You can use as few words or as many as you’d like. Just make sure you write enough to help you trigger memories years down the road when you’re trying to recall that sweet little bistro in Marais. Engage your senses. Vision will be taken care of by the photos, but what about the rest?

Taste. For any meal that you find amazing, write down what you had – the taste, the texture, the ingredients, and then take a picture of the food. I like to take the photo of the food later on and paste it under my description. You should also take wine notes. Again, you’ll never remember what the name of that red you had was, and it is always great to refer back to when you’re in the real world aching for a bit of adventure.

Sites. Your pictures will tell you what the place looked like, so be sure to write about how it made you feel. Did you end up going the wrong way for several miles before you discovered your mistake? Did you meet the nicest couple while trying to find your way back? Pictures will tell about 500 words in reality. The other 500 are up to you.

Touch. The most enveloping of the senses, it’s hard to capture exactly the feeling of touch. But I bet you can remember the feeling of the powder sand on the beach of Lani Kai under your toes. How did that first step into the ocean feel? Remember that dreamlike feeling of weightlessness as you floated in the Pacific Ocean, letting the ways pick you up gently and settle you back down.

Sounds. For you people that are stimulated through music and sounds, you may not be able to make a direct correlation in writing. Someone once said something like, “writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” You’re not going to be able to capture the sound again, so focus on the feeling.

Journaling, no matter how you do it, will help you keep fuller memories and give you a place to retreat to when the real world becomes too much. I’ve written from the top of Macchu Picchu and on the beaches of Thailand. Some of my writing has nothing to do with the location, but I know when I read those passages back that I was transformed by my surrounding. I know that I am cared for by these memories of warmth in the dead of winter and the coolness in the heat of summer.