OK so it will come as no surprise to you that hobbies do wonders for our health – they’re pretty much an active form of meditation which encourages us to fully engage in an activity and block out the rest of the world. Chances are you need one just as much as I do!
You might ask: ‘But isn’t making things your hobby?’ Making things used to be my hobby, but as you guys know I’m been very lucky to have been able to turn that hobby into a job. And whilst I couldn’t ask for anything more amazing, it’s changed the way I approach this first passion. Clearly it’s no longer a hobby! In short, I’ve been meaning to try a new hobby for a while and so when Officeworks asked me to collaborate on a campaign of theirs around ‘upgrading your downtime’ I decided it was time to take on the holy grail of hobbies – Travel Journaling. (View the second post in this series here).
A Guide To Travel Journaling
My trip to Bali was the perfect opportunity to experiment with this new hobby and I absolutely loved it! It took a while to get used to the different activities and mindset that goes along with travel journaling, but once I got the hang of it, it turned out to be such a nice lens through which to see my journey – collecting memories, items and Polaroids of the trip in real life. It truly made the trip feel completely different. Because I loved it so much, and know you will too, I thought it would be a good idea to share with you a guide to getting started with Travel Journaling as your next hobby. Read on for the full guide, and watch the video below.
Tools of the Travel Journaling Trade
- A good quality blank notebook (I used Moleskin Classic Notebook)
- A good quality writing pen ( I used Pilot Prera Fountain Pen)
- Various typography pens with different shaped tips (I used Tombow Brush Pen )
- Watercolour pencils (I used J.Burrows Artist Colour Pencils)
- Stickers (I used Tailored quote stickers)
- An Instax Camera and film (I used Fuji Instax Mini 8 Camera)
- Washi Tape (I used Otto Washi Tape)
- Paper clips and bulldog clips (I used J.Burrows foldback clips in gold)
- Scissors
- Small Envelopes
It’s a good idea to get a small pencil case for keeping everything together, making it easy to journal on the go, like when you have some downtime on a bus or flight.
Tips for Travel Journaling:
Don’t worry if you can’t draw… I’ve always been afraid of travel journaling because I’m not a great illustrator, but through the process I realised that travel journaling is a mixed media experience in which you can use whatever you want to create written memories. If you can illustrate that’s great, but if you can’t Polaroids, postcards and other items are just as nice.
Become a collector… This is the part that was the hardest to get used to, but was the most enjoyable benefit of travel journaling. Collecting things form the trip! Usually I throw scraps and tickets away because they can become clutter if they aren’t organised, but the travel journal was such a lovely way to keep these things (in an arty way) as real life mementos. Ideas for things to collect…train tickets, bag tags, local newspapers, teabag tags, receipts in a different language and currency, small currency, postcards, candy/food wrappers, hotel branding.
Don’t be limited by a diary format… A journal is a great way to write what you did, but it’s also so much more than that – it’s a place to break out and get creative. I loved devoting a two page spread to the key places we went, like the markets or an indigo dye class.
Write what you want… On the same subject as the diary format, don’t feel limited to writing all about everything you did. Just write whatever you want to write and leave the rest out. That way, you won’t feel pressured or bored by your new hobby.
Use all your senses… Write about the sounds, smells, tastes and even textures of your trip. Get it down on paper while it’s fresh, it will be much more vivid. If there’s not enough time for a full description, jot down a few key words, which will jog your memory and fill in the gaps later.
Get creative… In how you display your page, his was the bit that I loved the most – really getting creative with how I wrote up my pages as collages, with photos, stickers, colour schemes and other elements. It was this that really got my creativity flowing.
Travel Journal at home… You don’t have to be a constant traveller in order to enjoy travel journaling, half the fun of travel is the planning and imagining, so use your journal before and after your trip at home for unleashing your creativity.
Here are a few pics of some pages from my travel journal, it was such a lovely experience and I recommend you give it a try. It’s inspired me to continue journaling – one day I’ll be able to look back and feel inspired by my own creativity.
For the first time I really had some downtime on this trip, imagining and drawing up my travels. I even found that the pens I used helped me to learn more about calligraphy where in the past I was too scared to give it a go!
Make sure to stop in to your local Officeworks store or online to get fully equipped before your trip, they have everything you need to get you started on your next hobby.
See the next post in this series here.
This post is in collaboration with Officeworks. Photos by Nicola Lemmon and Illustration by Natalie Ong.
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This sounds so amazing, I will keep this in mind for my next trip! What a cool idea!
https://www.makeandmess.com/
So happy to hear that! Thanks for tuning in love. x
Your journal looks amazing! I always shy away from sketching and doing anything I’m afraid I will “mess up,” but I really should just go for it and make it my own, even if it’s not perfect.
Totally! Doesn’t need to be perfect at all, I can’t draw at all really but I made it work 🙂
Absolutely loved this post Geneva. I used to travel journal all the time, I style have journals from when I was younger from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore etc … almost every day documented. It’s weird that I stopped as I got older, i suppose travel blogging became the new version of it, but this has certainly inspired me to give it a go on my next trip.
Mel x
http://mediamarmalade.com/
I totally think there’s room to do both, and even share the pages with your audience, I know people love to see them! It’s a slightly different goal than just doing them for yourself but anything to keep you doing it x
I love this! This is perfect timing! I’m in Vietnam and have been berating myself for not getting it down on paper while it’s fresh! Thanks for the inspiration!
Thats so great to hear. I would love to see some of your pages!
This is amazing!
Nicole | http://www.nicochulin.com
So glad you like Nicole! x
I love how you make it all so simple. Perfectionism in journalling is pretty much a death knell to doing it. I must get a Polaroid camera now.
Hahaha I guess in some ways I was a little embarrassed about how simple I made my pages, I mean we feel like we should be doing amazing watercolour imagery of the rice fields or something but to be honest I just don’t know how to do that. So I focused on what I could do (snap, glue, add colour etc) rather than what I couldn’t. The polaroid camera was so great, the other option too is a little polaroid printer, so you just print the pics you like from your iPhone onto polaroids… Kinda cheating I know but easier and saves those dud pics!
Very inspiring! Love the photos!
Thanks so much! Glad you like it x
I’ve been keeping a travel journal for years. But lately the fun has worn thin and I’m finding it much more satisfying to blog about my travels. Then the feedback makes it even more worthwhile. Back when I still kept a paper travel journal…I’d run out of steam a few weeks into a long trip and my husband would take over the pen. Those are fun to read!
Thats so interesting. Interestingly I found it really nice to do it knowing I would be sharing with you guys, hahaha. Thats so not the point I know but that added factor made it even nicer for me, so maybe there’s potential to integrate the two. The other thing I thought about was getting a book that you do like one spread for each trip at the end, and then you do it for each trip and then in a few years you have a one page reminder of each trip…. This could be good if the pressure of journaling about the whole trip is daunting?
As a child, I´ve tried journaling a couple of times, but always failed after a couple of days.
Travel Journaling however, seems really cool and great to capture memories from the trip.
xx Julia
http://www.talesofjules.com/
Yes I agree, to be honest I shy away from regular journaling, I guess this blog is that in some ways. But for me the point of travel journaling is about remembering the places you visit more, and experiencing them slightly differently in this way.
This is wonderful. My sister-in-law gifted me a journal for my upcoming trip to Spain + I cannot wait to start writing in it!
http://thebbar.org/
You definitely should. It’s kind of something you have to get used to doing, but once you get the hang of it it’s so fun!
Great post!!! x
Marveling-Mind☀ | Instagram | Bloglovin’ ✨
Thanks so much I’m so glad you like it!
Thanks for the post! Worth reading. And by the way, the white dress you wear on the pic is absolutely stunning 🙂
Thanks so much, I absolutely love it 🙂
Agreed! Where did you find that beautiful dress??
It’s Spell Byron Bay! x
Such photogenic journaling 🙂 Mine is usually so messy!
Hahahaha some of mine were messy too!
Love this idea and how detailed it was! Have to try! There is just something about writing! http://www.creativesis.com
Thanks honey, I’m really happy you liked it. This post took a long time to put together but I am really into the subject so worth it! x
I am going to NZ in two months and I’ve been tossing and turning on whether I want to do a journal. Yours looks so beautiful and aesthetically pleasing! Your post is so informative, I might give it a try.
Keep up the good work
xx
Thank you so much! Happy to hear that 🙂
I love journaling while on vacation its so fun to look back on, but mine are never as pretty as this!
https://azanah.wordpress.com/
I’m sure they are! And that is so kind of you to say, I feel like I want to warn everyone not to look too closely because they’re pretty messy, but thats the point I guess 🙂
such a wonderful way to create memories!
http://www.thewonderlanders.com
I couldn’t agree more 🙂
I love this! I’m exceptionally good at collecting clutter while travelling, but not so good at doing anything fun or creative with that clutter. I have a load of old postcards, museum guides, and tickets just sitting in boxes — time to break them out, I think! Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
Katie | http://owleesi.wordpress.com
That was my issue too! I’m in Sri Lanka right now and trying to be a little more organised with it all.
I’ve been wanting to get in to travel journaling for awhile now, especially after my last 2 trips! Definitely appreciated this guide because it’s going to help me start my travel journal! <3 🙂
XO, Elizabeth
http://clothestoyouuu.com/
Yay! I’m really happy to hear you say that 🙂
[…] Travel journaling. I need to do […]
Great post
XOXO
new post:http://thepinkpineappleblog.blogspot.com/
Thanks so much!
[…] things to do. If you have any tips, let me know!! For now, I am reading A Pair and a Spare’s blog post on Travel […]
I looooove pretty stationery. I am planning to take up calligraphy, so that will give me a nice excuse to buy more journals that I don’t need! =)
Lucia | http://www.thevivalavita.com
Amazing! I’m so happy to hear that. Because who doesn’t love a reason to shop for stationery? xxx
[…] Bislang hatte ich zwar immer Notizbücher aber keinen richtigen Plan für ein gutes Reisetagebuch. […]
Thats so great to hear, happy to inspire you!
Thanks I’m so glad I could help you, particularly because I’m such a newbie and you seem like a seasoned journal-er. I’m sure I could learn a thing or two from you 🙂
I totally think you can get back into it. x
[…] An Easy Guide To Travel Journaling (I tried it and I love it!) […]
So fun! I would LOVE to be disciplined enough to do this, and I think I used to be, but now I try to show my trips in photos. I sort of do the photo journaling on my blog, most recently with my trip to Iceland. Perhaps it’d be fun to incorporate that handwritten, taped in train ticket style to a travel blog post!
http://www.shessobright.com
I love that idea, I think it’s useful to integrate things that you feel you will be able to continue, and create a way for it to work that suits you!
How do you stop the thick black markers from bleeding through? Thank you for your post! I love this idea!
So happy to hear that!
Hi Geneva 🙂 I just recently went on a 4 month holiday and found it incredibly hard to journal that time because we were so busy (and enjoying our trip!). Your tips are so helpful and I will definitely keep them in mind for my next trip. Can’t wait!
xxx The Strawberry Story
http://www.thestrawberrystory.com
I have collections ofbtickets and other bits and pieces from hokidaysh but sadly they’re all in in small bags or boxes. I’m looking for a way to keep them so they’re enjoyable to revisit and this looks like a good way to do that. How did the book go with slightly thicker items that you attached? Did it get too thick for the bindings?