YOUR DIARIES
 

I am amazed at the amount of detail people collect during their holidays in Europe. Details like the time tables for trains buses etc./what is on the menu/all costs into places/distances/ferries from a to b and so on and so on. I did keep a diary, but it would appear not to the extent others do,At what point in the day do you sit down and write it up. Do you find you spend time doing this you could otherwise use for touring? Does it become an obession? Do you keep butts/timetables etc? I came back with so much paper from our trip, I could hardly get all the ceramics in! Mind you, all this has helped so many people I congratulate you all. Next trip I will take an extra case for all my records. Denise

I do take a journal to write in. It has pages to enter information for hotels, restaurants, shopping, postcard list, film journal, and lots of pages for the story of my travels. <BR> <BR>I usually write in it before going to bed (10 minutes) or at a cafe for lunch or late afternoon drink. I never let it take up my valuable time, but just enough to jot down the important information. <BR> <BR>It's not an obsession for me, but I do like to look back later and read about what I did on my trip. My photos add to my memories. <BR> <BR>Since I really enjoy this web site and many ask about times/prices/hotels/restaurants, I do keep information on all of that. It also helps me for my own future trips. <BR> <BR>And yes, I also come back with lots of papers. I take a large zip lock bag to fill it up and pack it in my side luggage pocket. It's a little bulky, but not to the extent where I would need another bag! <BR> <BR>

I do take a journal to write in. It has pages to enter information for hotels, restaurants, shopping, postcard list, film journal, and lots of pages for the story of my travels. <BR> <BR>I usually write in it before going to bed (10 minutes) or at a cafe for lunch or late afternoon drink. I never let it take up my valuable time, but just enough to jot down the important information. <BR> <BR>It's not an obsession for me, but I do like to look back later and read about what I did on my trip. My photos add to my memories. <BR> <BR>Since I really enjoy this web site and many ask about times/prices/hotels/restaurants, I do keep information on all of that. It also helps me for my own future trips. <BR> <BR>And yes, I also come back with lots of papers. I take a large zip lock bag to fill it up and pack it in my side luggage pocket. It's a little bulky, but not to the extent where I would need another bag! <BR> <BR>

Same here. I always carry a small spiral notebook and pen. Handy for jotting down notes and phone numbers during the day (phone number of restaurant not yet open, bring pocket compass next time, etc.) I also make notes while waiting for lunch, sitting in cafes, and spend a few minutes jotting down things before going to bed. Like Monica, I collect brochures and schedules for future reference. I fill in the rest when I get home on my Daily Journal software. One advantage of writing down where you went every day is that it helps when organizing the photos after they're developed.

Hi Denise - <BR> <BR>My writing is terrible so I take a small micro-cassette recorder, 2 or 3 tapes, and a spare set of batteries. I keep it in my pocket (in lock mode so it can't record) or in my bag if I'm carrying one. <BR> <BR>I'm sure I look strange to some people but if I want to remember something, I just pull out my recorder and say it. I can talk a whole lot faster than I can write. Just ask my husband! <BR> <BR>Good luck on your travels. :-)

Dear Denise, <BR> <BR>I just returned from a trip to Amsterdam and Germany with a friend who is an avid travel journal writer. I envied her discipline, as I was usually too tired to want to write at the end of the day. She was an earlier riser than me, so she frequently wrote in her journal while she was waiting for me to get ready. Even just noting the days events were enough to bring back memories. Her mother keeps a travel journal and only records expenses. Having that record, she can reconstruct the trip! (What day they stayed where, where they ate, the museums--all recorded!) This seems doable to me, though much less poetic! I would love to have a record of the trips I've taken, so I vow to begin this tradition. I am a collector of paper that I bring home with the idea that I'll have the info for later, but the truth is, I can never find it when I want it. <BR> <BR>

I have always kept a travel diary, a good habit I picked up from my mother who travelled in the late 1950s. I write it every night before bed and bring along a glue stick to stick in postcards, dockets, leaflets and any other interesting paper things I pick up during the day. I forced myself to write it every night while my companion was in the bathroom. She wrote hers up the first day and that was it! I'm so glad I kept mine as I can look back on trips over 15 years ago and there are always things I had forgotten and have won a few arguments over what happened on trips with the diary to back me up.

I too keep a journal of my travels (I've only been to Europe three times)and enjoy re-reading them. My daughter learned from me, I guess, and last summer backpacked in Europe for nearly 9 weeks writing in her journal every 2 or 3 days. It's been great reading her journal - even though by the last week in Paris, she wrote such things as "went out for pizza, came back to room, started to go back to Eiffel Tower and Arc, decided not to...when I get home, I'm burning everything in my backpack!" She was a bit travel-worn... <BR>

I REALLY try to keep a journal, honest, but I get distracted (or, which is usually the case, I fall asleep). I do keep every dang piece of paper (receipts, business cards from restaurants, ticket stubs, train schedules, handwritten inx from hotel clerks, maps, brochures, etc.) then put all of it in the photo album. I try to label my photos with sidebars like "this is where the dog pooped on Heather's shoes" to bring back fond memories. <BR>Since I plan trips for the Travelling Loons (and help out friends and family with their trip planning), every scrap of paper is a reference.

I take notes all along the way, write the itinerary under each day, name of restaurant etc. and then fill in on the long and boring daytime plane ride back to California. I have journals from most of our trips and value them so much. It's inevitable that you will forget the details, so write them down as soon as possible. You'll not regret it.