The memories created while traveling the world are unlike any other. Experiences you gain overseas or on the road offer unique perspectives and first-hand knowledge. Naturally, you’ll want to reflect on these memories at a later date. Whether you want to share your travel experiences publically or keep them private, starting a travel journal is a great way to do just that. The following 5 tips will help you get started on creating a travel journal.
- Plan Your Trip & Record the Process
Travel journaling can begin before you head out on a trip. Use it to start planning your journey by jotting down a packing list, what you want to do, inspiration from other travelers, and helpful information you’ve found from researching your destination. At this step, use your travel journal as a vision board for your upcoming adventure. Trip Advisor is a great resource for finding popular attractions for specific destinations, as well as discovering great travel tips and tricks you may not know yet. Simply type in your destination to start planning!
- Write Down Your Travel Aspirations
Avid travelers realize that most trips never go exactly as planned. Knowing this, it’s okay to still envision what you expect to experience on your journey. Maybe you imagine the food will taste a certain way or perhaps you feel overwhelmed about taking public transportation in a foreign country. Journaling these thoughts before you arrive at your destination will help you create content later when comparing your expectations to reality. Many people still prefer using a physical pen and notepad, but more and more people are making the move to apps for taking notes for a variety of legitimate reasons. Apps don’t weigh anything or take up any space in your bag (every little thing counts!), they go everywhere your phone goes, and they are simple to use. Most phones have a pre-installed app for notes but if you really want to stay organized take a look at ColoNote which is a great tool for keeping tabs of your travel aspirations in a single place.
- Document the Trip With a Travel Journal App
Journaling from memory doesn’t typically yield the same detailed results as journaling from notes you took on your trip as you were experiencing things. Utilize your camera, and write some quick notes about what you were experiencing and how you were feeling in each moment as it happens using a travel journal app. Utilizing a travel journal app has tons of really cool benefits. You can share your travel journal or any specific moment on all of your social networks instantly, you can automatically geo-tag each journal entry and have it pinned on a map (showing a visual display of your entire trip with each of your entries), and you can help other travelers discover new places and things to do before they head to any of your previous destinations.
- Make Sure you Add Media
Although traditionally travel journals usually contain mostly text, it’s a new age of technology and social media. Even the most affordable mobile phones now have relatively exceptional cameras and adding media in the form of pictures and video is a great way to mix up your content and document a trip. When you post a picture or video, include a written description of what was captured. This will help you create a thorough narrative of your journey and will be fun to revisit for years to come.
- Reflect After the Trip is Over
In addition to journaling before a trip, it’s important to create content afterward. Reflect on the places you visited, what you felt, which aspects you would have changed, and how your experiences differed from your expectations. You’ll be able to take these new perspectives and apply them to planning your next trip.