You just spent 2 amazing weeks in Japan. You’ve come back with about 500 new photos and videos on your camera roll, and you have a great idea for a cute post you’re going to make about your trip. But then weeks go by, you get back into your normal routine, and your trip just becomes a fuzzy memory of the past.
This is what happens to me after almost every trip. I fail to document my trip beyond taking photos. And instead of writing it down in a travel journal while it is top of mind, I end up waiting too long and forgetting all of the details. I know I am not the only one who struggles with this, but it doesn’t have to be this way.
Why a Travel Journal Beats a Camera Roll
I think most of us are trying our best to document our trip between photos and social media posts, but it is starting to feel more like “content” than a way to keep our memories. Or maybe you’ve gone to the complete opposite side of the spectrum and stopped documenting your trips at all, so you can live more in the moment.
Whatever your approach to documenting your trip is, there is one universal truth. It always seems like you’ll remember in the moment. In reality, those details fade faster than you think. Before you know it, you’re questioning, did I have the life-changing pasta at the restaurant by the sea, or was it the one in the city center? Your digital archives aren’t always going to help you fill in the gaps.
Putting pen to paper, even just a few sentences, can help you process your thoughts and can help you relive the memories for years to come.
Looking Back Helps You Look Forward
Travel journals are not just good for documenting your trips. They can also inspire you to create new memories. My travel journal helps me tap into why I love to travel and encourages me to travel more for myself and less for the algorithm.
It is great to look to others for inspiration sometimes, but it can easily turn into a rabbit hole of consuming content. Your own accomplishments can become your motivation for your next adventure. You can’t help but feel inspired to go on another trip after looking back on memories of experiencing new things with friends, summiting mountains, or solo adventuring across the state.
Your past trips are some of the best inspiration for your next ones.
You Don't Have to Be a "Writer" to Journal
If you’re thinking, I don’t like journaling. I can’t keep a journal. I don’t want to write down every detail. I hear you.
I’ve tried to keep several travel journals over the years and failed, but it turns out I was approaching it the wrong way. I would open a blank journal, stare at the page for a few minutes, and then do what felt the most obvious: a play-by-play of every moment of every day of my trip. It was not only exhausting to write, but I would never look back at those journal entries. The whole thing was uninspiring and unappealing.
The solution for me was something that felt more approachable. Something that felt more natural to me than writing pages and pages of text. I had to change my mindset from capturing every detail to capturing the memories.
That’s why I created the Adventure Notes Travel Journal. It helps you write down the things that mattered to you without it feeling like you're writing a memoir.
How to Actually Start (and Keep Going)
A lot of the stress from starting a travel journal comes from either not knowing what to write about or feeling overwhelmed with writing everything down. So, a good option for beginners is a guided travel journal. They are great because they give you structure and take away the stress and decision-making of what to do with a blank page.
They usually have short prompts like “What was your favorite moment of the trip?” or “Write about your favorite meal from the trip.” It gives you a jumpstart to filling out each page, which then gives you the momentum to keep going.
You don’t need to worry about writing down every detail. In my experience, you won’t care about every detail in the long run anyway. You just need to write down what is important to you. Maybe it is the specifics of what you ate or saw. Maybe it is more of a feeling or a vibe. And you might be surprised how much comes back to you even when you just write down one or two sentences about an experience.
Getting your thoughts down is better than a perfect-looking page. It can be easy to get caught up in social media, filled with images of aesthetic perfectly laid out pages. But this often kills your momentum rather than serving as inspiration.
Another tip for starting and keeping a travel journal is to fill it out right away. It is the perfect airplane activity for the flight home. It is easy to forget about logging a trip or to not make it a priority. Before you know it, months have passed since the trip, and it becomes harder to remember the details. I always make it a point to log my trip within a week or so of returning home. More than that, and you’ll start to forget the details or abandon it completely.
Travel journaling shouldn’t be a chore. It should be fun, inspiring, and a way to hold onto your favorite memories. The best part about it is that once you get in the habit of it, you end up with a keepsake of all of your travel memories, ideas, and notes in one place.
So go somewhere. Write it down. And let it inspire what comes next.