wanderful

When do you start writing your travel journal? (I start when first flying, to keep my mind off the flying.) What do you focus on? People? Food? Art? What else? Anything eccentric? Is there anything you wish you wrote about but never seem to? Is it your journal alone or is a joint effort? Do you include memorabilia, such as restaurant bills and museum ticket stubs? When do you stop writing in it? How often do you go back to it?

111op

I started a blog at the end of last year and I'm really enjoying writing it. All my travelogues now go on the blog. I used to send out e-mails to friends, but I think that it's better to refer people to the blog -- it's less intrusive than periodic e-mails.

If I had more time I'd maintain a website, but at the moment, blogging suits me just fine. It allows me to indulge. Also I don't really take that many photos on trips these days, so a wordy blog suits me just fine.

I usually start writing my report after I've returned -- once I started it on the ride home because the flight was delayed for an hour or two and I needed something to do.

There's definitely stuff I wish I would blog about but that I could never do so because I want to maintain a certain anonymity and privacy (as do my friends and the people I've crossed paths with, I'm sure).

I don't think that my travelogues are mundane -- but I suppose that's in the eye of the beholder.

Leely

Very mundane. But you should see my diary!

Travel: I'm spotty about writing in it. In Europe I focus on food, mostly. Dabble in sights and musueum impressions, etc.

Tried to be very diligent while on safari in Tanzania because I wasn't sure I'd ever get back there, and culturally things were so beyond anything I'd imagined. But by the end of the trip I was sure I'd be returning, so I started slacking off. That one had nothing to do with restaurants, though.

Chele60

When do you start writing your travel journal? (I start when first flying, to keep my mind off the flying.)

To be honest....before I leave. Actually, my travel journal is my travel bible - it contains all the information I'll need: airline info, hotel addresses/phone numbers, restaurant tips, addresses of friends/family, and so on. I typically write in my journal only in the evening.

What do you focus on? People? Food? Art? What else?

All of the above, depending on what comes across my path. I have more of a tendency to describe what I saw and try to put into words my feelings about what I saw.

Anything eccentric?

Now, that is not a word I think I would use to describe my travel journals, but maybe?? LOL

Is there anything you wish you wrote about but never seem to?

I have a tendency to describe the food I've eaten, but forget to write the name of the restaurant for some odd reason. Other than that, I am very wordy, so I rarely leave anything out.

Is it your journal alone or is a joint effort?

It is mine, all mine! I don't let anyone read my travel journals! I don't loan them out, but I will look up information from them for others. When I write a trip report (have started keeping a blog for my Spain trip, outlining the prep as well as the trip), I edit out the stuff that others wouldn't find interesting or things that are considered private.

Do you include memorabilia, such as restaurant bills and museum ticket stubs?

Not in the journal itself, but I do keep these things. Normally I take along a gallon sized baggie and just place stuff in it at the end of the day. I do make a note of what I put in the baggie in the journal so I can figure out what goes with what.

When do you stop writing in it?

It varies. Sometimes on the plane coming home. Sometimes the afternoon/evening I arrive home. Sometimes a day or so after I get back. Usually the last day is only a travel day, so there really isn't anything all that exciting that I won't remember in a day or two. Besides, it takes me a couple of days to let the end of the trip sink in and allow me to really develop my overall opinion of it.

How often do you go back to it?

More often than I had ever thought I would when I first started journaling! I would say on average about once a year per journal, give or take.

dsm22

My travel journal is also my "art book" or altered book so to speak. I start writing in it in flight while on the way to my destination, minimally every evening and while travling by train or bus. I try not to worry if it looks messy or isn't complete enough. I am forever forgetting things so to me all the pictures that I take plus my journal are indespensible. I am always picking up little pamphletes, postcards, and ticket stubs, etc. and using them in my journal. I have thousands of rubber stamps which I use in my scrapbooks and in my journal. My style tends to be pretty eclectic, eccentric and random. I like the look of my journal. It is well traveled and looks like I have just sort of thrown it together and stuck in random bits of ephemera from here and there. Very collage looking. I am not a linear thinker and it probably shows there. I love the look of beautiful graphic lines but my mind doesn't work that way. My journal is filled with thoughts and observations, places we have eaten, (I have taken to taking a picture of the sign outside the restaurant because my memory is so awful) and I try to recap all the things we did during the day.

I will stop writing in it when it is completely full or when I croak whatever comes first.

I go back to it all the time. I have shared it with a select few, mostly people who are close to me, as this seems to be a little more personal than my scrapbooks. A closer picture of me.

I know one person that carries her journal everywhere she travels along with a glue stick and puts things in it as soon as she gets them.

I have also tucked in receipts for dinner or souvenirs. It's funny to look back after a few years to see how much things cost back then.

I am also a postcard-aholic. I don't even want to think about how many pounds I spent last trip to England and Scotland on them. I love them for two reasons. One, most of the time they are better photos than I can have access to. Two, I jot down what I did there and mail them back to myself (and family too) so I can remember what all that I have done. Then I get to tuck them in my journal.

And this may be a really stupid question but I do not use computers or the web and stuff much......what the heck is a "blog"? I am trying to figure out all kinds of acronyms and words on here, but that is the first I have seen that word.

Chele60

dsm22 ~ I had the same difficulty with "blog" that you are having now! Basically, it's an online journal. That's the simple definition. Depending on how creative you are, it can be as fancy or plain as you like. You can upload pictures and link to various websites. It is kinda fun.

The one I use is at www.blogger.com. I think it is operated by Google, but I wouldn't swear to that. It's free to use, but I don't know what the limit is on space or if there is one. I've decided, with so much more planning to do for this trip, that not only would I keep a journal on the trip, but also keep a blog of the time spent planning. I would like to eventually print this out and somehow incorporate it into my scrapbook, but we'll see. My blog keeps getting bigger and bigger!!

islandmom

Everyone should do this! After my grandfather had died I found notes of his trip to Hawaii which was very warming since we had moved there long after his death. It was like a connection. I wish it was more expressions and not just facts though.

Nutella

Ummm, let's just say that when they make a movie out of mine, when it finally makes it to network television they'll have to cut out LOTS of it LOL

mamc

My journal is impressionistic - lots of lists, recollections, quotes, favorite moments, food, sketches, etc.
I start writing well before we leave, making lists of places to shop for specific items and things I want to remember to do that are not major attractions. I usually include a list of words and phrases that I expect to use.
I sometimes include prices when I want to remember them but we never save restaurant or hotel bills or ticket stubs.
I carry the journal with me and write when we sit in cafes or on park benches (if I can keep my eyes off the passing scene). I usually write at night just before sleeping. I stop writing on the plane going home.
I wish I were more poetic and expressive but the journal always brings back memories and serves as a guide to future trips.

sallyjane3

It's ironic to me, but the only journal I've ever written was the one I began on the plane to NY's Ground Zero as a Red Cross volunteer. I have let only a small number of people read it and I still cry every time I pick it up. Every time I have traveled since those two very long weeks, I have taken a blank journal with me. It has been blank every time I've returned home...almost like I never want another journal to have that effect on me. I vow to write a happy one each time but either get too busy having a wonderful time...or unconsciously blame the journal for my pain.I suppose I should recommend a good shrink for myself. After all, I am one....