Traveling and journaling have always come hand in hand together. Journaling is a great tool to record your travels and yourself, and everything in between. People journal to record their thoughts and their feelings during their travels. Different people needed to record what have they accomplished during their travel. Some need to record their expenses. But what is a journal for yourself as someone who travels?
Getting to know a travel journal
A travel journal lets you keep track of the things that transpire during the duration of your travel. It is one of the most useful things to have during a trip. A travel journal is very versatile and it holds endless possibilities. It is also a place to solidify your thoughts about a place you’re traveling to and what you feel about them.
If you travel for the so-called self-discovery, then don’t skip on journaling
These days people travel to both find and lose themselves. The cravings for novelty and the sense of urgency to find something. Something along those lines. If this is a similar drive that gets you into traveling, then it is all the more reason for you to keep a travel journal. Without a record of sorts, what can you look back to? What can you use as a means of reflection towards your whole journey so far?
Journal for yourself, first and foremost. While blogging is in a way, also a form of a journal, there are distinct differences that separate the two. If you’re already blogging for some years, then blogging may be an immediate ‘replacement’ for journaling. And this is definitely a viable option if your goal is to voice your thoughts and get it out there for people to discover. For many of us, travel journaling is a form of self-reflection.
Starting tip: start your travel journal before you even begin
An excellent way to do this is by using your travel journal for your travel planning. This can be something as simple and as obvious as your expenses. Your travel journaling can start from tracking your expenses starting from your plane tickets. It could also be the expense record of the petrol you bought for your vehicle if you’re going on a road trip.
The medium of your journal
Personally, I prefer the traditional pen on papers. But this may not be a viable option for everyone. For starters, I didn’t even start journaling using pen and papers at all. It was all digital for me. Buying a dedicated journal for me to write on would give me unnecessary pressure when I just started. So instead, I simply journaled on my phone. With any note-taking app, I could start. So I chose the lightest (the one that takes the least space on my phone) to type down things that come to mind.
This way, I could start any time, any day, and at virtually any circumstances whenever I feel like it. It could be during the time I had an idea for my trip, or when I remembered that I needed to buy something for my travel. It could literally be at any time. If you’re just starting out, choose the medium of journaling that is the easiest for you to access. The most important key is to start.