IMPERFECTLY-PERFECT TRAVEL JOURNALING
A simple, playful, use-what-you-can-find, organic approach to documenting your trip
Do you remember the scene from Working Girl where Sigourney Weaver's character comes bounding into her apt on crutches after breaking her leg on a ski trip exclaiming, “ I’m home, I’m home, I’m home!” It’s become a bit of a mantra for us when we return from any vacation. It feels so good to come home and to begin to settle back into its familiar comforts. My bed, my coffee pot, my pups! As much as I love to travel, I get equally excited about coming home.
I’ve been away from home and from my writing as a daily practice for about a month now. The only serious writing I have done over the last four weeks was to write my anniversary letter to my husband. We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary with a hopscotch trip across Italy and France. This adventure with Ron was an incredible gift and one that I would not trade for pages and pages of words written.
Admittedly, I did think I would find a bit more time to write. I brought a new journal with me and the most bare-bones of journal supplies. Before the trip, I wrote personal prompts in the opening pages of the journal and envisioned expansive days with time for reflection at the beginning and end of each day. However, given that we were on the move every few nights and spent full days exploring together, there simply wasn’t as much downtime as I imagined for writing, and honestly, when there was I was just too tired from the day’s activities. This wasn’t a solo pilgrimage after all, this was a celebration of our relationship and we vowed to soak up all the joy we could hold on this trip together.
Upon our return, we agreed that while we wouldn’t change a thing about this trip (except maybe going to Rome on Italy’s Labor Day Weekend -oops) it confirmed what we already knew to be true - we prefer a slower pace and less moving around. Noted.
Journaling On The Fly
Even with our on-the-go trip, I was still able to create a sort of on-the-fly record of our days.
The only creative tools I’d brought with me for the trip were an old roll of washi tape, a glue stick, and a few pens and pencils thrown into a glamorous Ziploc baggie. I borrowed Ron’s scissors from his dopp kit on more than one occasion. These simple tools came in handy.
I did what I could to jot down a few things each day or the following day. Sometimes I would use our time on trains or while waiting at a train station to journal a bit from the day before.
I added whatever memorabilia I had collected that day - maps, hotel cards, restaurant coasters, local free magazine photos, boat or train tickets - and slapped them into a quick daily journal. I’d also add quick lists of highlights, insights, impressions, favorites, and appreciations. Sometimes I would capture an especially funny quote or impactful moment in my notes app on my phone and then later transfer it to my journal. I know that I would have forgotten so much had I not done it this way.
This on-the-fly journaling also kept me from getting caught up in perfectionism once I returned home. If you are like me, you make great plans for creating a gorgeous travel journal once you get home but it generally doesn’t happen because other things tend to occupy your attention once you return. There’s the laundry, stacks of snail mail and email, and before you know it you are back tending to the rhythms of your life at home. You’ll get to the journal later. But you don’t.
On that same note, another perk is that by using all the scraps of memorabilia as I went along instead of collecting them to take home, I was able to discard what I didn’t use or need. I didn’t lug all of that paper home with me only to discover it two years later in a shoebox in the closet.
This quick and easy process allowed me to come home with a keepsake that captured tiny moments and the flow of our days in a short amount of time and without stress. Yes, I sacrificed pretty writing for my messy, on-the-train scribble. And yes, I could have spent much more time later at home creating a more visually pleasing design, but would I have done it? Hmmm. Maybe? Maybe not. Case in point, I still have a shoebox with memorabilia from my honeymoon, and um, no scrapbook. This journal was a real-time log that carries special memories embedded in its playful messiness. I am surprised by how much I like it! I think there are lessons here for me. Maybe for you, too?
xo Mary
3 THINGS WORTH SHARING:
More about my at-home journaling practices and tools
This gorgeous podcast conversation on creativity and relentless healing. Suleika Jaouad who writes The Isolation Journals and Diego Perez, who writes as Yung Pueblo arrived at writing through adversity. Writing became a way of life when each was faced with death, a healing mechanism that became a craft. - Substack
I’ll leave you with the most surprising restaurant bathroom we stumbled upon in France. Time to remodel the guest bathroom at home? Disco Potty for the win.
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I love the way you did your travel journal! I think I might try that sometimes even when I’m not traveling. I have often collected cards, postcards, etc. when going to an art fair or a museum - and then they they sit in a drawer or an envelope or a basket.... Instead I could stick them in my journal. Thank you for that great idea!