How to keep a travel journal by tokyojupiter

"Remembering is harder than you'd think"

How I did it: My mom and I have just returned from our annual mother-daughter vacation, and I figured that it'd be nice to document the events of the week in a more substantial way than just collecting the receipts and looking at the digital pictures once again. 

I've been lucky that I've had a chance to travel pretty extensively in the past several years, between work trips and short vacations with either my mom or my boyfriend. By keeping an "official" travel journal, not only will I have my own retelling of the events of the trips, but it'll also make it a lot easier for me to pull up information on the hotels, restaurants, activities, and even transportation options to use for the next time I visit that location or to use as a starting point of advice for a friend who may want to visit that same locale.

As I mentioned in my entry related to this goal, I discovered the website Everlater, which I thought was perfect for my needs. It integrates with my Picasa account, which is where I already store all of my vacation pictures.  Plus, I like that there are various categories for the type of entry that you're writing about.  There are separate tabs for accommodation, restaurants, activities, and even tips. It made me truly enjoyable writing down the events of the vacation because the website had already organized a lot of it for me. To be honest, that's usually where I get bogged down; I'd rather write than organize.

Ideally, I could also have written my impressions on an old-fashioned paper notebook/journal, and I think for whatever next trip I'm on, I'll just write them there -- it's easier to transfer snippets than having to sit down and recall events that may have happened over a week ago.

If you're curious, my London trip journal's over here.

Lessons & tips:

  • Keep a small notebook or even an index card and a writing implement handy to write things down as they happen. Even in this electronic age, there's still a lot of value to be said for paper & pen.
  • If you can't write it down, use your digital camera or camera phone to photograph it! I've often photographed menus, signs, street addresses...
  • Download your photographs and start writing your stories as soon as you can, while they're still fresh in your memory.  
  • You don't have to write down every single detail. A quick note is just as helpful, though you don't want to be too vague just in case you can't remember what you were referring to when you re-read your journal later.  

Resources:

  • Everlater, my preferred travel journal tool.
  • Picasa, since Google already owns the majority of my digital existence, why not.


 

May 23, 2011, 12:59PM PDT | 0 comments | 6 cheers


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tokyojupiter has gotten 6 cheers on this entry.

 

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