Keeping a Travel Journal

Posted by Barbara Rogers Nov 17, 2007

Many travelers are discouraged from keeping a written record of their trip because they think it must be a literary work. After a day’s touring they are just too tired to be their creative best, so they put off writing about what happened that day.

The important thing is to write down the things you do remember – you can fill in the blanks later, or leave them out. Where you went each day is not nearly so important as your impressions. Once you have been in a place even two or three days, it’s hard to remember what struck you about it when you first arrived.

Write down vignettes, incidents, surprises, delights and disappointments. Don’t worry if you can’t spell the name of the little church or the little Portuguese town it was in – who cares? It’s the sweet lady arranging the altar flowers who invited you to see the usually locked sacristy that you’ll want to remember.

And don’t wait until you drop into bed – make a few notes over a midmorning cappuccino (you’ll some day want to conjure up the image of those Italian men engaged in the animated discussion at the bar), while waiting for your lunch to arrive, or as you’re remembering the day with a traveling companion over an aperitif.

Don’t even worry about sentences – a few hasty notes or even a word or two will be enough to jog your memory later.

Viewing it as an exhaustive trip record or as a literary work-in-the-making defeats its very purpose – unless, of course, you love to write and do it easily, in which case by all means be your literate best.