Keeping a Travel Journal

 By Bruce Shawkey

Found this interesting book in the Internet archive about keeping a travel journal, which I have done for a number of years. It's always fun for me to read about past travels, whether to the next town over, or the next continent.

In her introduction, author Lavinia Spalding writes:

"Keeping a travel journal is a time-honored art form steeped with tradition and romance, a practice with countless iterations and formulas. Some people approach it like a religious discipline, sitting each afternoon with pen and notebook to dutifully chronicle the events of their day. "

I would add to that everything I ate (being a foodie), the hotels and motels I stayed at, and the shenanigans of my two cats, who were often my semi-reluctant travel companions when traveling by car to Florida, where I spent many winters.

 Here's a look at her table of contents:

1 — Let the Wild Writing Begin Choosing a journal and beginning your journey   

2 — It's the Intention that Matters Finding and following your journaling purpose 

3 — Write Two Pages and Call Me in the Morning Tackling discipline, routine, structure, and momentum  

4 — Travel Is Stranger than Fiction Infusing your entries with elements of creative writing  

5 — Distance Makes the Art Grow Stronger Behind the scenes: the making of an artistic journal 

6 — Journal to the Center Traveling inward and exploring each moment

7 — And Now for Something Completely Different How to keep the love affair alive

8 — Don't You Forget About Me Teaching yourself to observe and remember in advance  

9 — The Sum of Our Misadventures Embracing the mishaps to enrich your experience   

10 — Free Your Mind and the Words Will Follow Tips, tricks, and how travel makes writers of us all  

11 — Tell Me the Truth Finding the courage to write what's really real   

12 — Having a Great Time, Wish I Were Here Technology and the journaling traveler   

13 — Bring It on Home The journey ends and begins anew   

I think more than anything, my mom instilled in me the love of travel. As a family, we traveled quite often. And then when my dad passed away, Mom traveled even more. Sister Dawn and I frequently joked that Mom stayed home just long enough to do her laundry, and then she was off again.

I'm trying to hone my journaling in preparation for my trip to Seattle via airplane and back via train through Glacier National Park. There will be much to write about and much picture taking.

Updated September 2026

Ordered the full book, thought it was good but the female author writes in a style that is a little too "cutesy" for me. So I tried this experiment. I instructed ChatGTP to rewrite the first chapter in a more journalistic style, eliminating the frilly adjectives. Here's the finished product, reduced by 71%:

Buying a blank notebook is the first step in keeping a travel journal. If you plan to document a trip, choose a notebook before you begin making arrangements. Travel involves more than the time spent on the road. Researching destinations, planning routes, estimating expenses, and preparing for departure are also part of the experience.

Edward Streeter, a novelist and journalist, once said that travel is ninety percent anticipation and ten percent recollection. Whatever the accuracy of those figures, planning and anticipation are significant parts of a trip and worth recording.

A notebook can be purchased at a bookstore, stationery shop, drugstore, or discount store. An existing notebook will work, too. The important consideration is whether it suits your needs and encourages you to write.

A travel journal should withstand regular use. It will be carried in luggage, backpacks, and vehicles, and may be exposed to rough handling and weather. Choose a notebook with a durable cover and binding that can hold up throughout the trip.

I prefer unlined paper because it accommodates both writing and other forms of recordkeeping. You can sketch a map, draw a building, attach tickets, or paste in brochures and receipts. Ruled paper is equally suitable if it helps you write more comfortably. The choice depends on personal preference.

The notebook should also lie flat when open. A book that continually closes while you write makes the task more difficult.

Avoid journals filled with preprinted quotations, advice, and fill-in-the-blank questions unless you find those features useful. A travel journal should reflect your experiences and interests rather than follow a prescribed format. If you need writing prompts, develop your own.

Paper quality deserves attention. Thick paper reduces ink bleed-through, while heavily coated paper can cause smearing. Rough, handmade paper may also make writing difficult. Test the paper with your preferred pen if possible.

Notebook options include spiral-bound books, binders, sketchbooks, commercial journals, and handmade books. A yellow legal pad is another option. Consider size, weight, durability, and paper quality, but avoid spending so much time choosing a notebook that you never begin writing.

My preferred car is a 1974 red Volkswagen Beetle convertible with fewer than 50,000 miles. It lacks air-conditioning and modern navigation equipment, but those features are not essential to me. Other drivers would make different choices.

The same principle applies to travel journals. There is no single design that suits everyone. Choose a notebook that meets your requirements and is practical to carry.

Starting Your Journal

Begin writing before departure. Keep the notebook somewhere accessible, such as a desk or bedside table, and use it to record information related to the trip.

Start with practical details:

- Packing lists and travel arrangements.

- Itineraries and estimated expenses.

- Useful information about destinations.

- Questions, expectations, and travel goals.

Record what you hope to see, do, and learn. Note any concerns or assumptions you have about the trip.

These entries provide a basis for comparison when you return. You can examine what happened, which expectations proved accurate, and how your views changed. The journal then becomes more than a record of destinations and activities; it documents your thinking before, during, and after the journey.

Establish a writing routine before leaving. For three weeks, try writing at least one sentence each day. The entry can describe the weather, an event, or something you observed. The purpose is to make writing a regular activity that will continue while you travel.

Starting at home also allows you to record the planning process, which is often overlooked in accounts focused exclusively on the trip itself.

A travel journal should document the entire experience, from the initial plans to the return home.

612 words, versus 2,084 words, 1472 fewer words, for a 71% reduction.