When you think of recording memories from a trip, you might imagine photos, videos, social media posts, or souvenirs. But what about your feelings, emotions, and personal experiences? Enter the world of travel journaling—a creative and deeply personal way to document your journey.
The Art of Travel Journaling:
A travel journal is a personal diary where one can express everything inside their head onto paper and the best part… there are no rules! There is no right or wrong way to go about it. Travel journals help to immortalize the specifics of your journey and may include, but are certainly not limited to, the new places you’ve seen, the new food you’ve tried, the amazing sights you’ve seen, and the emotions you’ve felt. Basically, the highlights of your day that you wish to remember.
The idea is to create your own personal souvenir, designed according to your chosen themes, colors, and topics. It’s all up to you for how you want to create your own lasting memory.
Our recommendation is to plan your approach to your journal before you embark on your student tour. By having a general idea beforehand, you can essentially compose your journal entries at the end of each day, while the memories are fresh. This may include researching your trip itinerary and pre-planning portions of your pages based on that day’s events.
The Benefits of a Travel Journal:
- Cultural Observations- When writing entries in a travel journal, you are more aware of your surroundings. This can help you relive the experiences of your trip in a more positive way. For example, by sketching out your thoughts when visiting the Eiffel Tower, you may recognize not only the beauty of the structure but the cultural significance and the emotions you felt for how this iconic monument represents the Parian culture.
- Stress Relief- Let’s face it, traveling can be a stressful yet rewarding journey. A full day of city tours can be physically exhausting and draining, especially after a long flight the night before. Journaling your experiences at the end of each day can be done quickly and become an influential part of your student travel adventure. It can help you embrace all the events of the day after a flood of new experiences.
- Easier to Share your Journey- Let’s be honest, the second your plane touches down after your return, your family and friends will bombard you with numerous questions about what happened on your educational student tour. By having a journal, you can relive your experiences with them. You’ll have all the information to help you recall and share the memories you were inspired to record.
- Memories for a Lifetime- Some day in the future, you’ll want to look back on your travels and relive your experiences, either for yourself or with those close to you. Journaling allows those memories to come flooding back and to be shared with your family for generations to come.
Note from the Author:
If you are preparing for an educational tour or trip in general, I highly recommend making a travel journal a must-do gift to yourself. If you are struggling with how/where to begin, remember there are no rules, and you are completely in charge. You can get as complicated or concise as you wish. Be confident that, although the process may be new, you’ll soon find your own rhythm.
For those of you who need a bit of inspiration, I personally keep things simple. Before my trip begins, I choose a time to set up my journal for my next trip. I have a journal for international trips, as well as a journal for smaller trips here in the U.S. I keep these separate so when I’m 80 years old I have somewhat of an idea of what trip is in which journal.
I adjust the title page with the name of the trip, the dates I’m travelling, and the major stops along the way – such as the names of the cities or landmarks. For each day I write roughly a page or two about what I did, and how I felt, then I include my favorite picture taken that day.
For the actual trip, I pack:
- My journal
- Designated colored pens
- A mini 2×3 photo printer (it connects to my phone and prints straight from my camera roll like Polaroids)
- Glue Stick
- Scrapbook Paper (For color accents on the pages)
Obviously, this is a simple system, and you can go more in-depth if you want, but I traveled three years ago to Costa Rica and I often find myself scanning the pages and reliving the moments. It’s the attention to detail that goes a long way.
Here At EA Tours:
We encourage our student travelers to creatively reflect on their personal experiences. As an educational-based company, we want all travelers to be aware of the benefits and lifelong memories one can create and cherish through travel journaling.
Kade Bergeron
Student Traveler
