TravelTravel Tips

Beginner’s Guide To Travel Journaling – Tips And More!

So you’ve decided to start a travel journal—awesome! 

It’s actually a fun and creative way to chronicle your travels and store some bits and pieces of your adventures. However, if you’re a newbie to the whole travel journaling thing, you may be feeling lost, and that’s totally fine! We’re here to help you begin your pages for the most precious keepsake you can have as a traveler.

Read up on our top travel journaling tips here:

 

 

Choose a high-quality travel notebook.

Travel Journal for travelling
via Kathryn Wanders on Shutterstock

While any notebook will do for a beginner, you’d surely want a notebook that’s of quality and won’t easily tear or wear out, especially since you’ll be taking it with you wherever you go. A good choice is the Midori Traveler’s Notebook, which comes in different sizes and colors. It is also refillable, in case you run out of pages to write on. The cover itself is made of leather and the paper is bleed-resistant and fountain pen-friendly. 

 

 

Invest in a good pen.

Ink Pen
via Triff on Shutterstock

Just like how you chose a nice notebook to call your travel journal, it’s only right for you to invest in a good pen for all your writing needs. Those who keep a travel journal tend to prefer using fountain pens, as they make writing feel more fluid.

 

 

Don’t be afraid to write in your journal any time you feel like it.

sketching in journal
via Rawpixel.com on Shutterstock

Whether you’re lounging on a beach in Thailand, taking a road trip to someplace new, or admiring the beauty of the northern lights in Norway, if you feel like capturing the moment in words or in a quick sketch, then, by all means, do so! After all, there’s nothing quite like making a personal account of your experiences in real-time. 

 

 

You can also work on your travel journal at home.

via Rawpixel.com on Shutterstock

Okay, maybe, you’re not comfortable with writing or drawing outdoors as you explore a new place. That’s fine, too! You can work on your journal at home, where you can take all the time you need to build your spreads. 

 

 

Feel free to try out different styles!

via Julia Fellers on Shutterstock

Mix and match handwriting styles, doodle, fill elements with color—go crazy working on your spreads! If you need a little inspiration, follow Instagram accounts of travel journal enthusiasts. Looking up the hashtag #traveljournal is a good place to start. 

 

 

Stock up on stationery.

travel stationery
via Little Hand Creations on Shutterstock

Decorative paper, stickers, washi tape…all kinds of stationery will certainly add a burst of color and bring character to your travel journal. While they are optional (in case you want to stick to the traditional pen and paper kind of journal), they sure make journaling more fun, as you get more opportunities to style the layout of your spreads.

 

 

Collect mementos.

via liravega on Shutterstock

From ticket stubs and receipts to postal stamps and postcards, mementos are part of your travel story, so you might want to incorporate them into your journal. For safekeeping, you can glue a small envelope on the last page of your travel journal to create a pocket that can store the small items you wish to keep. 

 

 

Your journal, your rules.

via Theodore Scott on Shutterstock

Okay, let us just get this out there. We can go on about travel journaling tips and tools forever, but at the end of the day, it is your journal. It’s up to you how it will turn out and there’s definitely no right or wrong way to do it! As long as you’re enjoying what you’re doing and 

 

 

Got any travel journaling tips to share? Let us know!

 

 

*Featured image by Rawpixel.com on Shutterstock

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