The Importance of Travel Journals

Let’s be honest … I have a TERRIBLE memory. I’m talking like put on my seat belt and then try to put it on again bad. Yes, this has happened more times than I can count. I legitimately don’t remember much of what happened in high school or really anything before that. Because I would really enjoy remembering my life, I have slowly learned to adapt.

When I went to the Galapagos, it was part of a college course. One of the requirements was to journal every day, and the journal would be graded at the end of the trip. Of course, initially, I was a little bit annoyed by the idea of having to journal every day when I could be doing other things like … I don’t know … playing cards, sleeping, staring at the ceiling. But, I had no choice in the matter, so I went and found the cutest journal I could possibly find and sucked it up like the strong, independent woman I am.

Here is my journal with my favorite, Rite in the Rain writing pen and my favorite Paper Mate InkJoy Gel Pens for decorating!

 

I WILL NEVER NOT JOURNAL AGAIN! If you’ve been following me for a little bit now, you know I just finished my Galapagos series, where I recounted each day of the 10-day journey (if you haven’t read them, you can start them here). These posts would not have been even remotely possible if I hadn’t written in my journal every day. Honestly, I relied on my daily notes for everything, and for any holes I had, I relied on my photos and videos taken during the trip.

You can see the inside cover of my journal, including a faith sticker and a Wyoming sticker!

Luckily, even though my memory is crap, I can usually recall some stories if I see a photo that I, or someone else, took during the trip. However, without the notes, I can only make it so far before I start making stuff up.

I found my travel journal at Target for about $15 (you can find the same one here), and I absolutely love it! It has three different types of paper: Lined paper, blank brown card stock, and graph paper. Separating each of these, is a map of one part of the world and two folders for you to store paperwork, small souvenirs, etc. The journal comes packed with tons of stickers and several spots to put all of your papers, postcards, stickers, passport and other items!

You can see one of the maps and folders here. This was very useful in storing all of my papers!

While I loved this journal, there were a few things that I hated. It was made using a 2-ring design and the lined paper is really flimsy. Because of this, nearly every paper that I wrote on ripped during the trip. Luckily, one of my friends brought every type of tape imaginable, and I was able to tape them back up, and even make them a bit sturdier. Also, with the three different types of paper, the journal was very thick and hard to flip through, which also aided in ripped pages. I ended up just removing the graph paper, and it mostly fixed the problem.

Here, you can see a couple days of my writing and my quick-fix masking tape solution.

When I travel, I have found a love for purchasing stickers and postcards. This is probably because they are both sold practically everywhere and very cheap. I’m not the type of person to put stickers onto a water bottle or my laptop, so I’ve started just throwing them onto the brown card stock of the journal! I also include receipts, plane tickets, postcards, and anything else that will fit taped onto the card stock as well!

Here’s an idea of what my card stock pages look like … I’m not the most creative person in the world.

Here is a photo of me actually working on the journal, camera at the ready!

Even after this trip, I have used the pages for stickers and postcards from other places. It is a great way to keep them all together, and it just takes a quick date and caption to help me remember the memories forever.

What about you, my lovely readers? Do you journal while you travel? If not, would you consider it? Is there anything you collect from your travels?

PIN ME!