Especially on extended trips, looking through a thoughtfully kept travel journal is one of my favourite things to look back on when I return home! Its a wonderful way to keep track of all your thoughts and little keepsakes, as well as to look back and remember how you felt at the beginning of a trip verses the end. I’m so glad I took the time each day while travelling to write in my travel journal. It’s also something I really enjoy and look forward to doing at the end of a long, exciting day!
For my two month trip to South Africa, I used a classic black Moleskine Journal, size extra large, soft cover, with lined pages. Recently on a two month trip to Israel, I ended up using two moleskine Journals (size large) so went to the bigger size in the hopes of completing the trip using only one journal. (I still packed two, just in case!)
I kept all of my baggage tags, plane tickets, etc, to add to the journal. For this trip I chose three washi tapes to use throughout the journal. I used the tape as a way to underline the headings for each day, as well as to seperate different activities on the same day and to hold in different papers.
For my headings, I wrote the date, the activity for the day, and the ‘day’ I was on in the trip (example, day 8 of 15). I also wrote the city and country I was in, since I visited Botswana, Zimbabwe, and many cities in South Africa.
I added business cards, currency, receipts, and postcards (to name a few things). On this particular day, we had seen Wild Dogs while out on safari so I got a postcard with a Wild dog. The card flips up to reveal some currency from Botswana, a receipt, and a little blurb on the back of the postcard about what we saw.
I used black pen throughout to write about the day to day, but would use purple pen for thoughts, feelings, and notes from church.
When using the washi tape to divide different activities, I would often cut it in half to save space and to differentiate it fro the daily headings. Also, I would put a small piece of the red washi on the side of the page when I attended church so I can look on the edges and easily see those pages.
I would add a strip of the floral washi tape when there was a distinct change in the trip, for example starting a specific tour or a volunteer project. for me, this trip had Tour #1, Tour #2, Volunteering in Cape Town, Week off in Cape Town, and Colour Coference.
I learned a lot from travelling, and then looking back at journals to see what I liked and what I wish I had done differently. I don’t add many (if any) photos into my journals because I always print a photo book when I get home from a trip. It is primarily a journal with bits and bobs added in! I’m very very happy with the way the South Africa Journal is turning out. I’m currently still in South Africa and have a few days left before it’s finished!
My supplies:
– Journal
– Black staedtler pen
– Purple staedtler pen
– Washi tape (I usually choose two or three specific to each country I’m visiting) for South Africa I had three.
– Glue stick
– Glue runner
– Scissors
Pamela Elizabeth 