Attnymom

We had great intentions of keeping journals of our trip to Europe this summer, but quickly realized that at the end of the day we were just too tired to sit and write a recap. . .

Instead, our daughter (9 years old) made a blog (set up on my mac through my .mac account) that we would update every few days. It was a great way to pass time while on the train and it was fun to re-live where we had just been. I would then send the link to the blog to all our family and friends, and they could see where we had been and read the commentary. Our daughter loved reading the comments people left for her. The blog included pictures and text, so when we got home I could just print it all out and I had a ready-made scrapbook.

caroltis

My travel journals are treasures! I've never regretted taking the time to record my experiences at day's end. It helps me plan future trips, it brings to mind things that I have forgotten. Yes, we're tired after a day of sightseeing but that is for me a great opportunity to sit, prop up my feet and reflect on the day. It can be as detailed or as sketchy as I feel at the moment. But it's really an important part of my travel.

This October we're returning to France and adding Barcelona to our itinerary...I bought a small digital recorder the size of an ipod and plan to keep it easy to reach in my day bag and I'll record things throughout my day to help me remember details. I'm thinking that's going to make my journaling a lot easier. We'll see!

Born2Roam

On my trip to Europe I biugt a beautiful jurnal to record my experiences in.

Born2Roam

Sorry about that.....let's try again.

I bought a beautiful book. If you open it up today there is one paragraph written while I was on the plane wedged between two passengers. I never wrote in it again. My days were so busy and packed that I fell asleep the instant I got back to my room.

Now as I plan to return I wish I could remember that great restaurant or where I bought my watch. I'll try again this time.

Maggi

Once I journalled in a book I was reading at the time, "Cold Mountain". All the blank pages were filled with my trip report and it is a treasured memory now, as it was a very special trip to Germany. I used to journal in notebooks, but I have never read them again. Now, I take my laptop and at the end of every day I download my pictures and write about the day while it is still fresh in my mind and then post all of that to my blog. As a result, not only can our friends follow our travels during our trip, but I have a permanent record of our travels to enjoy in our old age.

suze

I don't journal per se when I travel. I'd rather live in the moment, not be taking photos or writing paragraphs.

I do keep a small 3x5" spiral notebook with me at all times that I'll jot down words, street addresses, short thoughts I want to remember.

cigalechanta

No I don't because I want to take in everything around me and enjoy friends but I do keep cards, menus, brochures of places we visited and dined, and on rainy days, they bring back memories.

azzure

I still have my first travel journal, written while on a cross country trip with my parents when I was 10. I've pretty much been writing them ever since. One doesn't have to sacrifice being "in the moment" to keep a journal. I write in mine while I'm a passenger in a car, train, plane or bus, or else I jot down a summary of the day before falling asleep each night. They are great fun to re-read years later.

Wanderfrau, I love the glue stick idea!

suze

That's true for me too.. I make little travel packets each trip. Into a sandwich-sized ziplock bag I tuck business cards, receipts, ticket stubs, postcards, maps, various fun little mementos I pick up along the way.

LaurenKahn1

I had to laugh about saving menus and ticket stubbs. I used to do that and then my suitcase would weigh like a ton of bricks when I returned home. The stuff would hang around in piles. Periodically I would sweep it all up and toss it. The bottom line is that I toss all that stuff now. I have been to Europe many times now and am approaching retirement. My house is full of stuff I should not have bought or saved. Please, no more.

From my recent trip to Australia and NZ, I brought back exactly ONE brochure. It was for toilets designed by Hundertwasser in Kawakawa, NZ, and is for a friend who is a Hundertwasser fan and went to Vienna with me in 2007. Hundertwasser designed an apartment building in Vienna and she went nuts over it. I brought home the brochure for her as a joke. Now, where did I put it? Yes, by the way, the Hundertwasser toilets are functional. Of course, I did not go to NZ especially just to "experience" them. It would have been a long way to go to, well, you know.

tod

I knew I was going to write a trip report about our recent May escapades and needed to make notes, but in past holidays found this becomes bothersome and I tend to skip a few days, eventually giving up. So, my DH bought me a small recorder the size of a slim cellphone but I never managed to master the ins & outs of the new mechanism in time to do it justice.
What saved my bacon was our digital photos - not only the visual aspect but also the time when each photo was taken. We took many photos of the road names or buildings besides the usual and found this helped tremendously when trying to place a particluar photo instance.

Viajero2

GOSH.. I have read each and every one of the posts and the information posted is amazing!!

-- Loved the "Cold Mountain" blank pages journaling.

-- journaling while in transit; car, bus, train.

-- what is a Moleskin City Notebook- Paris?

-- journaling with the group at the end of the day reminding each other of sights, etc...

-- blogging / emailing somebody with cc: yourself; great idea!!

-- drawings/watercolors; wish I had the talent!

-- buy a postcard of a sight; journal on the back-- priceless!!

Coquelicot

I used to use a tape recorder but after a while it ceased to work; meanwhile I went on blabbing into it, not knowing it was kaput and lost valuable thoughts that way! This happened with two tape recorders.

A diary only needs to be evocative; it doesn't need to be in complete sentences or paragraphs. Let's face it, who's going to read it but you and maybe your travel partner.

This last trip I printed out one page per day, with our plan for that day on one side only. I left the back blank, for a diary of sorts. Since we only knew where we'd be 4 of 16 nights, a day's plan would be pretty generic--ask about best local market, pay up at B&B, reserve that night's B&B, get gas on Saturday, etc. The back of each page was where I wrote my diary--beret sightings (the beret is not dead in France!), meals, expenses, what we saw and did. It's the world's worst handwriting as I did it in the car or while eating or in bed.

A quick note at the time is all you need; it doesn't interrupt your enjoyment and later you can expand on the note.

I have a travel journal for 398 days from 1969-1970 that I still enjoy looking at. We didn't have a camera at the time so the words had to convey the picture.

2010

I used to journal during my trip & then scrapbook all the photos, tickets, receipts, pamphlets & cards I collected into an album upon my return! Beautiful, but oh, so much work to put together!

In an effort to simplify my (travel) life, I now just journal: recording highlights of the day, impressions, feelings evoked, a wonderful meal. This I do usually at the end of the day. Sometimes, it's a full description of my day, but not always. It's lovely to return to these stories many years later.

With the digital camera, I am able to reduce the number of photos I print & then I save the rest to a cd. These photos I place into a small album --- I still like the tangible! With the companion journal, I am able to remember my experiences with greater clarity!

Chicago_Heather

I don't journal because (for me) it just detracts from actually enjoying the moments. What I do instead is - when sitting with a glass of wine or before going to bed - write myself a postcard with whatever event, sight, meal, person, etc. that really stuck with me that day. Then I mail it and have it waiting in the mailbox upon return.

Once, an artist on a train to Segovia wanted to draw me a sketch of Chano Lobato (who I saw the night before), so he drew it on a postcard and signed it and mailed it to me.

tower

Been journal-ing on all travels since 1946...read over selected journals from time to time..have shared them with grandchildren and children, friends and other family. I can tell you what I did, experienced, saw, missed, since then.

Any recommendatons I have written on these forum pages come from specific relevant journals. What was the weather like in Russia in October 1985? Yes. I recently consulted my October-November 1985 journal on USSR travel so we'll bascally know what to expect next month on a return visit. Among all of the words, one stands out...c-o-l-d.
This resource coupled with photos of the trip can give us a good handle on the weather.

It's fascinating fun to keep a journal, but you can't let it stand in the way of real-time enjoyment. I typically write in the journal at the end of the day, every day....then read it to wife later in the evening.

Now, in the digital age, it becomes much simpler to recall all of the days events in the journal. The nice thing about compact journals,(1/2" x 4" x 6&quot is that they don't take up significant shelf room on the bookcases. Thank goodness we don't use photo albums any longer.

stu

bdjtbenson

I like to journal as I travel. I've done so with varying success. Some of my prizes are complete journals with pictures, tickets, stamps, wine labels and spent phone cards pasted in. When I write I purposely leave every other page blank so I can insert pictures and momentos later.

The hard part is to get close to real time. I'm always having to work to catch up. It's easier to do when I'm traveling alone. I can sit in a pub with a pint and write like crazy. It's actually been a conversation starter on more than one occasion.

For future trips I'm strongly leaning toward a digital voice recorder (coupled with voice recognition software for my computer). I will be able to "write" as fast as I can talk. When I get home I can download the file with voice recognition into a word processing document then edit as needed and "paste" in my digital photos. My digital journal can then be shared with anyone who is interested.

bettyk

We bought one of those small digital handheld recorders for around $60. As we travel, I make recorded notes of where we are, what we've seen, etc. I try to transcribe the notes to our laptop every night or two but even if I don't the info is still there when we get home.

This helps me to do trip reports for Fodor's but my notes are usually more comprehensive than what I actually end up posting.

Viajero2

BettyK-- can you expand on the small digital handheld recorders?

gruezi

I don't take pictures or write in journals. I'm usually pretty on the go until I'm tired and ready to sleep. I have forced myself to write a few trip reports this year which helps me process my time away and it's nice to share with other travel enthusiasts.

gruezi