How to start a travel diary ?

5 min readJun 28, 2021

If you have the spirit of a traveler, you’ve come to the right place. We are here to share with you the tips and tricks to create a travel diary. Be convinced, the experience is easy, you will not regret it.

You can start with almost nothing, an empty notebook and a crazy desire to fully enjoy your travel experience.

How to make a travel diary and why?

The starting point of your adventure and to please you with a travel destination that makes you vibrate and always keep with you a small notebook on your way. It’s important to note that you don’t have to go far to make your travel experience unique. Paris, our capital is full of treasures and will offer you a weekend destination rich in memories. The travel diary becomes a real treasure. It fills up on your way and is made up of little stories and anecdotes that you observe or that you have experienced. It’s a great way to keep track of your experiences. By creating a notebook in the image of your experience, it keeps your memories warm. It will be a bit like your Proust madeleine. See the exercise as a way of leaving a trail. The travel diary can be passed on from generation to generation.

The essentials to start your travel diary

People with artistic souls and regulars often use small empty notebooks. If you are unsure of your drawing or illustrating skills, or even your writing skills, you can opt for a notebook that offers advice and helps you get started.

We recommend that you have a small, flexible and light kit with you in which you can put a pen, pencil, possibly an eraser, a roll of scotch tape and some colored pencils. The notebook will contain both written memories, items recovered on the right and left in your travels and small illustrations that marked your trip.

Before your trip

You certainly have plans for specific visits, sometimes even planned itineraries. So, you already have elements to start your diary. You have your tickets and therefore the journey takes shape. On the first pages, remember to indicate the essentials, the destination, the dates while remembering to indicate the year. It sounds obvious, but imagine your grandchildren opening this notebook. You would offer them a journey straight back into the past. Then, for example, draw a route start on a map and indicate in a few lines your expectations and the highlights planned in this travel diary.

We recommend to have with you a small, flexible and light case in which you can put a pen, a pencil, possibly an eraser, a roll of scotch tape and some colored pencils. The notebook will contain both written memories, items recovered on the right and left in your travels and small illustrations that marked your trip.

From the start of your trip

Day 1 is already here. Open your eyes and make the most of this chance, this break in your life. The first encounters and discoveries will appear on multiple occasions. From a meal taken in an authentic place, to the delight of the taste buds. You already have something to write. Observing your surroundings, take advantage of your breaks in places that inspire you in order to take a few notes and add a few small drawings.

During your trip

As the journey progresses, you will not always have time to fill out your notebook. However, keep the small items you come across on the trip with you. A postcard, a photo booth, a note, a museum ticket, a bus ticket. All these little free artifacts are proof of your trip and will contribute to your memories. You can pick small flowers and add a small herbarium to your notebook. You can play on all 5 senses and even keep olfactory artefacts. For example, an orange blossom, a eucalyptus leaf, etc. Don’t forget to specify the context of each small artifact with a small text. The place, the date of your experience is useful information that you may forget when you return.

Following your trip

As soon as you return, finish organizing your travel diary. You can then finish the last adjustments and share a few pages on social networks with your loved ones. If you have taken photos, you can then complete it with the printed photos. Take advantage of the end of your trip to make a quick summary of your impressions. What did you like the most? What was the most surprising thing you saw. Do you want to go back soon? You can then turn the last page of this great adventure.

If this travel diary is now complete, you have offered yourself the opportunity to go back in time. At any time, you can dive back into the pages of the past and relive the emotions.