Travel journaling for Vagabonders

As constant travelers, one might argue that it’s no longer a “travel journal”, but rather just a journal.  And why, you might ask, should you keep a pen and paper journal at all anymore, when blogs serve the same purpose and mean you don’t have to carry anything?

In the first place, having a space to write your own private thoughts, someplace that your grandchildren won’t be able to look up in Google in another forty years, is worth its weight in gold.  Having a solid journal means you can choose to show it to someone else or not, as you like; I traveled with a boyfriend for about six months, and we read each other’s journals.  Sometimes it was the only thing we had to read on the road!

A solid paper journal also gives you space to sketch, paste, staple, and stamp; adding mementos of where you are in with the daily musings is a great way to bring back memories and get rid of all those ephemera you’ve been saving and aren’t sure what to do with.  Obviously you don’t have to add anything in if you don’t want; the standard pocket journal (which does come with blank pages) for anyone these days is a Moleskine, and they do come with “travel” editions.

I save all of my journals, travel or not, and keep them — well, right now they’re in a box in my mom’s storage closet with the rest of my non-portable stuff, but when I had an apartment, I kept them on a bookshelf so I could re-read them.  

Another friend of mine took every solid piece of writing, photography, and keepsakes that he had, scanned or took pictures, uploaded the files to the internet for storage, and then got rid of the solid objects.  I think that’s taking Buddhist detachment a bit too far, myself.  After all, you’re not just capturing the smell of a market in Morocco, or writing the address of that Greek woman you met on the boat to Syria.  You can record shopping lists, website addresses, and other daily life necessities, right in with the observations on weightier world matters.

So don’t travel journal, per se; journal a traveling life.

Posted by | Comments (4)  | December 15, 2008
Category: General


4 Responses to “Travel journaling for Vagabonders”

  1. Dolly Says:

    Coming out in April, a book by travel journal expert Lavinia Spalding, from Travelers’ Tales, Writing Away, A Creative Guide to Awakening the Journal-writing Traveler.

  2. » Travel journaling for Vagabonders :: Vagablogging :: Rolf Potts … | developtravel.com Says:

    […] » Travel journaling for Vagabonders :: Vagablogging :: Rolf Potts … […]

  3. Nepal 2008 Says:

    […] » Travel journaling for Vagabonders :: Vagablogging :: Rolf Potts … […]

  4. google directions photos of location | Digg hot tags Says:

    […] Vote Travel journaling for Vagabonders […]