Keep A Travel Journal

Over the years you’ve probably taken many great vacations. The trouble is although we remember how great the trip was we don’t remember the details as they tend to fade from our memories over time. So why not keep a travel journal?

Travel journals can come in a variety of forms from a simple notebook to a detailed scrapbook complete with photos and journal entries. How your cover your vacation is entirely up to you. What ever type of travel journal you keep the ability to reflect back on your trip is wonderful.

Keeping a travel journal doesn’t have to be complicated or complex. It can be a very simple task and it’s so rewarding when in the future you’re chatting with a friend about that vacation long ago and you can refer back to your journal.

You’ve got lots of time during your travels to make entries in your journal. While you waiting for a flight, just before you go to bed, or keep it handy and jog down notes throughout the day.

These days scrapbooking is very popular and you can combine your journal with a scrapbook. You can include photos or postcards and then add your journal notes. It’s like a picture diary.

And it doesn’t even have to cost you anymore than a pen and a scrapbook. Most locations have a tourism center and if you take the time to visit it not only can you find out about the great things the area has to offer you can collect free material that you can cut up and use in your scrapbook journal. You can also buy postcards for just a few pennies. Another neat entry is the bumper stickers you buy for your vehicle.

Digital cameras and digital photography has also changed the way we do our travel journals. You can type up your notes right on the computer and easily insert your digital pictures. You can then print out your journal put it in a three ring binder, or you can leave it on your computer and turn it into a presentation. Great fun and so easy to do!

Your writing doesn’t have to be complicated either. Don’t worry about grammar or punctuation just jot down your thoughts and what sticks in your mind. You can write in paragraphs, point form, or anyway you like. No ones going to grade your journal and since it’s your personal journal keep it however you like. If you are artistic or like to doodle you could also add some of your own sketches or art works.

The most important things to record are the location, the date, what you saw, and names of people you met along the way. If they’ve exchanged email addresses or phone numbers with you be sure to record these too. Writing them in your journal keeps them safe so you have them when you want them. There is nothing worse than writing an email address on a napkin and then accidentally throwing out the napkin.

Be sure to record who you were traveling with, the name of the hotel or accommodations you stayed at, where you ate, and the things you saw. And of course your memories are also important.

One popular trick is to carry along a small compact diary that you can take notes in throughout the day. Then in the evening you can turn these notes into fuller thoughts and add any pictures or souvenirs you want to. Things are still fresh in your mind and you can take your rough work into a nicer format.

Besides sharing your journal with your friends later, it’s also a great resource if you decide to return to the area or if someone you know is planning a trip there you can give them all kinds of helpful advice. You can share with them places that are worth visiting and you can also share any disappointments you had like an overpriced restaurant with high prices.

Your travels are an important part of your life and you should give them the attention they deserve. A travel journal will give you the opportunity to reflect and revisit some of the best times of your life keeping your memories fresh and alive.

Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.