I wish I had journaled more while traveling in my younger years. I would have so many more memories recorded.
Like, I’m sure I had some thoughts about that time I rode on the back of a motorbike in the Dominican Republic to a remote beach to go fishing! At the time I was mildly terrified, and looking back I would love to know what I was thinking that day, when everything turned out just fine.
Journaling has been linked to an increased sense of wellbeing, as well as better creativity and insight, not to mention better physical and mental health. All good things.
One of my new favorite apps, is called FindPenguins, and it records your geographical location on a map and lets you share with others. There are places to write about your travels and to upload photos. When you are done with your trip you can even order a printed photo book as a keepsake, that will have all of your travel musings recorded. You can connect with others and see what sights they went to in that particular location, getting some ideas for things to do on your trip.
If you want to know more of my favorite travel apps for 2025, see my rec’s here.
Why you should journal your travels
- Encourages Creativity– Describe your what you see, feel and hear. Slow down and soak in the sights and sounds. Capture your thoughts and feelings about the day. These memories are the ones that fade and writing them down helps evoke a feeling when looking back through your travel photos
- Record Memories– What better way to remember your travels than to describe them in a journal, you can add in pictures and mementos too for a fun scrapbook type journal.
- Encourages introspection– There is just something about traveling somewhere away from home that encourages reflection on your life. Do you like the different cultures or is there something about the local fashion that you want to incorporate into your wardrobe at home. In what ways has this trip helped you to grow as an individual?
- Helps you plan future travels– By recording what worked and what you would do different you can hone in on your personal travel style. You can keep track of your budget and accomodations for reference when planning your next vacation. I find this helpful, because I used to plan way to many activities for a day and not enough time to just relax and enjoy our surroundings. By recording thoughts and feelings, it can help you plan better in the future.
Travel Journals:
- Papier Travel Journal-This gorgeous sunset covered travel journal has lots of room to record your adventures, and it’s available at Target for a good price
- Linen Travel Journal– This journal comes with paper pocket to place train tickets, or museum ticket stubs into for memories, as well as plenty of pages to record your travels and thoughts.
- Vegan Leather Journal– This vegan cognac colored journal is cute and functional and listed at a competitive price. It’s a page a day type journal, so you don’t feel like you have to spend a ton of precious vacation time journaling.
Journal Prompts:
- What interesting thing did you eat today?
- What do I hope to learn on this trip?
- What is one favorite thing about my travel partner?
- What cultural thing surprised me today?
- How are the locals and what interactions did I have with the locals?
- What tips would you give to someone going on the same trip?
- Would you do anything from the day different and why
- What was a challenge from the day and how did you overcome it?
- What am I most looking forward to doing tomorrow?
- Write down an act of kindness that you saw or did today
- How has this location changed my perceptions of the world?
- If I could give anyone one piece of advice about my day what would it be?
- What souveniers did I buy and why did I choose that in particular?
- What places would I like to visit if I came back?
- Was the day organized well? Did we have enough time to enjoy all the activities without feeling rushed?
- What is a valuable lesson I learned on this trip?
- What is the most memorable thing that happened today, or on the whole trip?
- What food am I still dreaming of?
- What place would l have liked to have more time to explore?
- What thing took me out of my comfort zone, how did I handle it? What would I do differently next time?
disclaimer: Some of the links are affilitate links, you will not pay more to use them however I may earn a small commission. Thank you
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