Travel Journal Ideas: What to Write, Stick and Sketch

A good travel journal mixes three things: a few lines of writing each day, small keepsakes glued onto the page, and quick lists or sketches that take a minute to make. You do not need long entries or neat handwriting. What makes the pages worth rereading years later is detail, such as the smell of a market, the name of a café, a joke someone made on a train, that never makes it into a photo.

Set up the journal before you leave

A little preparation at home means you can start writing on the first day rather than fiddling with the notebook.

• Pick a size you will carry. A pocket or A5 notebook fits in a day bag; a larger one stays at the hotel and gets filled in the evening.
• Choose paper that copes with glue. Thicker pages, such as those in a sketchbook or mixed-media notebook, stop glue and ink from showing through.
• Prepare a few pages. Write the dates, a rough route, the packing list and the people you are travelling with on the first spread.
• Leave an envelope at the back. Glue in a paper pocket for tickets and receipts you have not had time to stick in yet.

A small travel journal kit

• Two pens that do not smudge, one fine and one bolder.
• A glue stick and a roll of washi tape, which holds things without wrinkling the paper.
• Small scissors, if you are not flying with hand luggage only, or a folding paper trimmer.
• A pencil and a couple of coloured pencils for quick sketches.

Writing prompts that beat "today we went to…"

Entries that only list where you went tend to blur together. Prompts nudge you towards the details that make each day different. Pick one or two each evening:

1. What was the first thing you noticed when you stepped outside this morning?
2. Describe one meal in enough detail that you could order it again.
3. What surprised you today, and why?
4. Write down something you overheard, in the original language if you can.
5. Which moment would you replay if you could only keep one?
6. What went wrong, and how did it turn out?
7. Describe the place you are sitting right now using all five senses.
8. Who did you talk to today, and what did they tell you?
9. What do you want to remember to do differently next time?

Things to stick in

Ephemera, the bits of paper a trip leaves behind, gives a travel journal its texture. Collect as you go and glue things in at the end of the day.

• Train, bus, museum and concert tickets.
• Café receipts, sugar sachets and labels from local products.
• Postcards you bought and never sent.
• Maps from tourist offices, cut down to the area you explored.
• Wrappers with interesting packaging or unfamiliar alphabets.
• A leaf or a flower from a walk, pressed flat between two sheets of plain paper tucked into the back of the journal until it is dry enough to stick in.

Be mindful of local rules on picking plants, especially in parks and protected areas. Fallen leaves are usually the safer choice.

Quick lists and sketches

On busy days, a list takes two minutes and still captures the day. Some list ideas:

• Three best things about today.
• Words learned in the local language.
• Everything you ate, ranked.
• Songs heard in shops, taxis or on the radio.
• Places recommended by locals that you did or did not get to.

Sketches do not need artistic skill. A doorway, the shape of a teapot, a rough floor plan of the apartment or the view from a bench can be drawn in a few minutes. Even a wobbly sketch brings back the memory of sitting and looking, which is often the point.

Travel journal layouts

How to keep it going

When should you write?

Pick a fixed moment: breakfast, the train ride, or ten minutes before bed. Tying the habit to something that happens daily anyway makes it easier to keep. The same approach helps with an everyday journal at home.

What if you miss a few days?

Skip ahead and write today. Gaps can be filled later from photos, receipts and the calendar on your phone. A journal with gaps beats one abandoned on day four.

Can you finish it after the trip?

Yes, and many people do. Printing a handful of photos, adding a map of the route and writing a closing page about the whole trip turns the notebook into a keepsake. If you enjoy that part most, a dedicated album may suit you; see our guide on how to make a scrapbook. Planning a drive next? Leave some slack in each day, which is exactly when the best journal material turns up.