Travel Tips: 5 Reasons Why You Should Keep a Travel Journal

You have probably primed yourself on general travel tips before – beefing up on how to stay safe in Europe; how to handle your finances abroad. But focusing on the logistics may make you forget one of the most important things you should be doing. Keeping a travel journal. Sound silly? Here are five reasons why you should do it.

1. Timeliness

You’ll create so many travel memories. The moment that touched you in Montpellier, the way the shops were lined up in Rennes, the topical jokes your travel mate made along the way. Taking down notes in the moment (or just after :)) ensures that you’ll be able to preserve every feeling, every detail of each day. If you wait until you’re back to write things down, when you’re re-acclimating to routine, you’ll forget at least half of what you wanted to remember. Probably more.

2. Humor

There are plenty of hilarious things you will encounter across the way. Whether it’s a funny cultural misunderstanding, or something a local did that cracked you up, these unique experiences need to be written down. Sometimes it’s funny to see what you’ve learned since your travels began, other times it’s just nice to get another laugh.

3. Depth

Sure, you can update your Facebook status everytime something great happens. But we prefer the old school approach. Facebook and Twitter are fun, but nothing can replace your well thought-out, personal, and of the moment prose. With your journal you can talk at length about all that you saw,  felt, and experienced – and you don’t have to worry about whether you’re boring people. A special bonus? You don’t need an internet connection. 🙂

4. Tradition

You’ll be following in the footsteps of so many cultured and traveled peoples before you – Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – the list goes on. All documented their travels, and made their personal stories and experiences accessible to all. Write for yourself, your friends, your loved ones, or even the public. You’ll feel connected to something bigger than yourself.

5. Preservation and perspective

You can return back to this fleeting moment as many times as you want. Your memories will fade, and you may be left with little more detail than what you wrote down. As your travel experiences accumulate – as you discover more places, learn more about other cultures – you will have changed. With a journal you preserve not just your journey, but how you interacted with your surroundings and who you were at that moment in time. And that, my friends, is a beautiful thing.

Keeping a travel journal is probably the best way to preserve your memories. It’s been said that taking photographs takes your attention away from the moment and focuses it on the photos, the packaging. We’re definitely not going to knock photography, but just remember – sometimes a pen and paper can capture more of you than a photograph.

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Let us know in the comments if you have ay other rituals you can’t do without while traveling. We’d love to hear about them. Thanks for reading, and as always –

Happy travels!

Sasha at TravelerCar

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Want to rent a local’s car with TravelerCar? While we work on translating our site, contact us directly to make your reservation or inquiry. Our prices are on average 50% cheaper than traditional car rental, and we’re good for the environment too!

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