How to Write a Travel Journal: Tips and Ideas to Save Your Travel Memories

What Is a Travel Journal?

In their most traditional form, travel journals, or travel diaries, are a space for you to reflect on all the adventures and vacations you take. From the sights you see to the delicious foods you eat, a travel journal is a great place to capture these memories alongside the feelings you had at the time.

Keep in mind, however, that there’s certainly no set formula for creating a travel journal: The beauty of keeping one is that it can ultimately be whatever you make of it. Beyond being a diary to add written entries to that summarize an excursion’s events, a travel journal can also serve as:

• An organizer: Save important information like addresses, directions, and passport
  numbers that you might need to reference during your trip.
• A daily planner: Plan out the perfect itinerary ahead of time in your travel
  journal, and you’ll also have a record of all that you did.
• A sketchbook: Travelers who like to sketch, draw, or use watercolors can include
  hand-crafted images of the places they visit within their journals.
• A scrapbook: Keeping a travel diary can also give you a spot to stash photos and
  other mementos from your journeys.

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How to Write a Travel Journal

Whether you opt for a physical or digital travel journal, you’ll find plenty of options to choose from.

Those who prefer the tactile experience of handwriting their journal entries, or who wish to include artwork and physical mementos, can select from pocket-sized notebooks as well as large, folio-sized journals that accommodate activities like watercolor painting.

Meanwhile, your digital devices offer a range of suitable travel journal options. Dedicated journaling apps like Penzu or Journey offer unique settings and formatting for a variety of journal types, along with features like daily prompts and custom reminders. A word processing app like Microsoft Word offers a simple and familiar journaling experience that syncs across your devices. With Word, a pre-made travel journal template can make it easy to keep your thoughts and plans organized.¹ Plus, when you use one of these digital options, you won’t have to worry about losing your journal while you’re on the road, since your entries can be backed up to the cloud.

Ideas for Your Travel Journal Entries

Once you’ve selected the right place keep your travel diary, all that’s left is to hit the road and get started with your writing. And while there’s no end to the ways that you can express yourself or capture your memories within a travel journey, here are some simple ideas to get you started.

• Savor the Local Flavors: For foodies always keen on sampling their destinations’ unique
  cuisines, each meal provides the perfect fodder for your travel journal. Keep a log of your
  favorites and you’ll have plenty of cooking inspiration when you return home to your own kitchen.
• Catalogue Activities: One of the simplest ideas for a travel journal entry is keeping a
  daily list of the things you do and the sights you see while on each trip. Every time you make a
  stop, simply update your log, and by the end of your trip you’ll wind up with a complete inventory
  of all that you experienced.
• Add Captions to Your Memories: If you choose to store photos of your trip within your
  travel journal, they will provide easy topics to write about. Create captions that provide context
  to the images you save.
• Reflect Back: At the end of each day or at the very end of your trip, you might get
  creative and reflect on the various thoughts and feelings conjured by your travel experience.
  Whether you met someone new or were awed by an incredible view, there’s no element of your travels
  that isn’t excellent material for reflection and exploration within your journal.

If you’re looking to engage a little more closely with the places you’re visiting, it’s worth spending some time considering how to respectfully journal about your travels in a culturally responsible way.