Visual images add great dimension to a travel journal

This is a copy of an article I wrote for a travel resource website a couple of years ago. Info is still relevant.

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Do you keep a travel journal? For those that already do, congratulations. Perhaps I may offer a few new ideas to your usual style. And for those who don’t, well you really should. Because you think you’ll remember that hilarious interaction with a local character or those amazing, off-the-beaten path dining spots, but maybe you won’t. Here’s one such funny instance that I didn’t want to forget, so I scribbled it in my journal (this is the cleaned-up, reads-in-sentences version):

~ Istanbul, 2004 - I really liked the little café buffets of Istanbul, with their huge trays of creative meat, veggie and carb dishes displayed in their broad front windows. So, I stroll into a place like this one day about 3PM to have a late lunch. I was the only customer there so the server decides to have a chat. He asks (in struggling English, sigh….is it always so obvious?) where I’m from and when I reply “America” his eyes get big and he says, “Ohhhh, Miami?” He had been there and liked it. I answer, “No, I’m from Atlanta, Georgia”. Well, you can‘t believe what he does next —he puts 3 fingers up to his O-shaped mouth and begins to make American Indian sounds. I was confused for a moment and then started to chuckle and thought to myself ‘I can’t believe I’m going to do this, but…..’ So, I nodded and began slicing my arm up and down like the so-called Atlanta Braves Tomahawk Chop, plus making the war chant that goes with it. Well, the guy went into hysterics, laughing uncontrollably, and then began doing it himself. So I said “ baseball” and he replies “YES, baseball!” Oh geez, there are even Braves fans in Turkey. Who would have guessed it. That little interaction totally made my day…and his too, it appeared. ~

Given that I was on a 3 month trip I , so easily, could have forgotten that particular incident. Plus, it used to drive me nuts when a friend was taking a trip to a place I had been, a destination that had a really special B & B, retro shop or funky restaurant, that I so badly wanted to recommend but had kept no information. Not helpful at all, so now I keep a book of notes.

Initially, my problem was that I thought it had to read in some sort of intelligent, chronological fashion, like a book. Hello! What was I thinking? Nobody can write a journal like that and still sink their teeth into the traveling. The point of the journal is just to get the info down. You don’t want it to absorb lots of time, you’ll miss too much.

Listed below are some techniques I’ve employed to make the writing process easy, interesting, visually appealing and more fun.

1 - You simply must buy a journal that will lie flat when opened. Seems obvious but, plenty of them won’t. And if you have to fight with the darn thing, it will win. And there goes your valiant attempt at journal-keeping. Buy spiral bound or Smythe-sewn.
2 - Sometimes it’s very useful to create a section at the top of some of the pages with fill-in prompts like these: Destination, Date, Accomodation, Restaurants, Sites Visited, etc. Whatever is important to you. This makes it much simpler to reference later on and lends a bit of organization. There are also journals on the market that are already designed this way.
3 - Take a highlighter pen with you, or a red pen, in addition to your usual writing instrument (mechanical pencils work well). Incorporating more than one color on the page makes the text infinitely more interesting to the eye. And brings focus to important elements.
4 - If you’re traveling with someone or met a memorable character along the way, ask them to write a short story or impression in your travel journal. A few of those sprinkled around will add some colorful dimension to the writing. Sure, go ahead guys, ask that saucy waitress for her autograph…..and maybe a lip print next to it!
5 - Use the best adjectives you can think of. Don’t hold back. That annoying guy at the train station wasn’t just a jerk……he was a smelly jerk. Well, what did he smell like…..skunky cologne, last night’s garlic, a wannabe Cuban cigar? Trust me, you will begin to laugh then and forever on when you makes notes like that.
6 - If you like unlined journals you can easily turn them into a visual work of art by adhering nifty items inside. Like a small picture from a brochure, an extra stamp, a business card, that leftover 10,000 Vietnamese dong bill, a museum ticket. Take along a small roll of acid-free photo mounts and keep them with your writing tools in a ziplock bag, along with the collected mementos and this endeavor will be super easy and produce amazing results.
7 - If your trip is to just one area, like London or Tuscany, etc. paste a small map inside the front or back cover of your journal. It provides geographic perspective and you can install dots to the places you’ve visited. Map freaks like myself love this sort of thing.
8 - Guide books often provide some great context for describing something. Here’s an example from my own journal:

~ I just couldn’t quite figure how to define the degree of smog in Cairo and then I remembered how the Rough Guide described it, it was perfect…. “that inhaling the air of Cairo is like the equivalent of smoking 30 cigarettes a day”. Nuff said. ~

The whole idea is not to take the writing of a travel journal too seriously. Mostly because it may result in you never keeping one and also because it may wind up reading more like a periodical than a memoir. Make it uniquely yours and enjoy the journey.