Travel Journal Ideas and Tips

Are you looking for travel journal ideas?

An excellent way to remember everything you’ve done while travelling is to keep a travel journal.

This is a journal that is usually devoted to one trip at a time.

Lucky for me, I have a blog that I can use to document my travels.

But sometimes during the travel, I do not have the time to write or document my experiences.

This is where a travel journal comes in.

Easy Travel Bullet Journal Ideas To Plan Your Travels! Travel Journal Ideas: 25 Things to Include in Your Travel Journal Do you want to start documenting your travels? Here are some travel journal ideas to help get you started along with 25 things to include in your journal.

Travel journals have been used for years to document trips.

Think Indian Jones or even Historians.

They used travel journals to write down what they saw, types of foods they ate and people they met while on their journeys.

And even though it is 2021 and you can use your awesome phone to take gorgeous photos, I think travel journals still play an awesome role in really documenting your personal experiences.

You’ll write and add mementos and memories into the journal so that you can look back on it with pride and happiness.

Plus, you can share your journey with others later over a fun game night.

Keep reading to get an idea and a list of fun journal writing prompts related to travel. 

If you are new to travel journaling, here is what we are covering: 

  • What should a travel journal include?

  • How do you make a travel journal?

  • What is the best travel journal?

  • Why you should keep a travel journal?

  • How do I decorate my travel journal?

Easy Travel Bullet Journal Ideas To Plan Your Travels. Here 25 Travel Inspired Bullet Journal Spreads for you to try. These creative travel journal page ideas will inspire the heck out of you to pln your next incredible adventure. You can map out your BUCKET List to amazing places like Paris, Hawaii, New York and other fab spots in the USA & World. These drool-worthy layouts & spreads include maps, itineraries, checklists packing lists, pictures and diaries. #bulletjournaltravelspreads#travelplanningbulletjournalspreads#travelthemebulletjournalspreads

Here is a list of unique travel journal ideas to document your journey

Before we get started on our best travel journal ideas, we did want you to follow us on Instagram for more tips. 

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What is a travel bullet journal?

Before you jump into creative travel journaling, you first need to understand what it means to have a travel bullet journal as well as what you put in it. 

Simply put, a travel journal is a place where you write about your experiences on trips you have taken. 

It’s basically a collection of all your awesome adventures, stories, memories and experiences.

And that’s why we are excited to share a few travel diary ideas you can use to start your own travel journal. 

What should a travel journal include?

Easy Travel Bullet Journal Ideas To Plan Your Travels! Travel Journal Ideas: 25 Things to Include in Your Travel Journal Do you want to start documenting your travels? Here are some travel journal ideas to help get you started along with 25 things to include in your journal.

1. Start with the Planning Phase

The journal should begin the moment you start planning your trip.

You can use the journal to plan by writing the things you need to do and then checking off what you completed for the trip.

Ask yourself what you want to accomplish on that particular trip.

What do you want to experience, what do you want to learn, and when will you do each activity?

2. Write Daily During Your Trip

Once you are on the trip, don’t miss out on writing on any given day.

Try to find time to write in your journal when the experience is still vivid in your mind. I use my phone to write quick notes, in your case, you can have your travel journal. 

You can also consider taking a recording device (which you also have on your phone) with you so you can record your initial thoughts while you’re doing it.

3. Add Physical Mementos to the Journal

Don’t just add text to your journal – also add colour, images, and mementos.

Decorating your journal and making it fun is part of the experience.

Here are few things I add to decorate my travel journal: 

  • My tickets, including bus tickets, vouchers or anything I got on the trip
  • A napkin from a restaurant
  • Travel flyers
  • Other little things you touched during your trip
  • Stickers 
  • Brochures
  • Postcards 

You don’t even have to buy anything extra to do this part.

Our top travel journal diaries! Ideas for Your Travel Journal | 25 Travel Journal Ideas To Document Your Memories -Travelling leaves you speechless and then turns you into a storyteller. So why not pen down your stories and document your memories in a travel journal?4. Remember to Record the Good and the Bad

You don’t want to look back on the trip and see that it’s not written realistically.

It’s perfectly okay to talk about what was good and bad about the trip.

When you do that, you can plan differently next time and make it a better experience.

Maybe you learned that you need new shoes if you’re going to walk that much?

It’s a good thing to write down so you remember and make a mental note.

5. Write What You’d Do Differently

Coming up with travel journal ideas is much easier than you think.

It’s pretty much documenting your experiences.

If you ever go back to that travel destination, what would you do now that you’ve done it once?

Would you change what you chose to do to something else?

6. Mention What Disappointed You and What Thrilled You

Talk about the things that were disappointments.

Were the people nice or rude to you?

Did the train smell like excrement?

That might seem like a strange thing to write, but it will help you remember even more.

Also, did something unexpected happen that thrilled you and excited you?

When I travelled to Vancouver, we stayed in an area I was not particularly happy with, and hence I would never recommend that specific location. 

7. State What You Learned from Each Day in Your Travel Journal

Add some facts that you are learning about your destination, the people you met, the people you travelled with, and yourself.

For example, did you learn that you love people watching when you didn’t know you did? Did you discover a historical fact previously unknown?

8. When It’s Over, Finish by Writing a Last Reflective Entry

After the trip is over, take the time to write one last entry where you reflect finally again on everything you learned about the trip.

Talk about what it was like, what you learned, what surprised you, and so forth.

Name the thing you’d do again and the thing you’d not do again, plus something you’d do next time.

If you are searching for a travel journal with prompts, you will find a lot online. 

But you can also get a blank journal and use the travel journal prompts below to start your own. 

Ready to steal our DIY travel journal ideas?

Easy Travel Bullet Journal Ideas To Plan Your Travels! Travel Journal Ideas: 25 Things to Include in Your Travel Journal Do you want to start documenting your travels? Here are some travel journal ideas to help get you started along with 25 things to include in your journal.25 Travel journal prompts

Now that you have some ideas, here are a few travel bullet journal ideas you can use to start documenting your journey. 

You do not need to use them all. 

Pick and choose what resonates with you best. 

1. What happened today?

Document what you did today, where you went, what time, what you ate and your overall experience.

2. Write down the cost of things (Activities, accommodation, transport and food)

3. What would you do differently on this day (maybe hike more, swim more, have better shoes, be better prepared)

4. Keep track of the weather (you could draw a little sun or rain or whatever it is at the top of each entry daily)

5. Include maps, tickets & tourist brochures and give a little explanation about each 

6. What is a fear you’ve overcome while travelling? How?

7.  Write a review of the hotel you stayed in (good or bad).

8. Write a review of the activity or excursion you did on the trip (good or bad)

9. Review the restaurants you ate at (good or bad)

10. Highlight the best activity or excursion (Pick on or top of your best memories)

11. Write a letter of gratitude to someone who showed you an act of kindness on your trip.

12. What words have you learnt during the trip if any? Even if it’s the same language, what words are new to you? 

13. Did you see something unusual (people dancing in the streets, a funny mode of transport?), document this

14. Write about something new you’ve tried whether food or an activity. It has to be a new experience. 

15. What was the first thing you noticed upon arriving? (Were you hit by the heat? The different styles of clothing? Smells? Crowds of people?)

16. Write down any travel quotes that might have inspired your trip or quotes from famous people in that area

17. Did you splurge on anything in particular on the trip, why or why not? (Restaurant, an item, and activity)

18. Interview your travel partner (how are they feeling? what’s been their best memory so far?) – girlfriends, your partner, family member

19. Take a picture of a moment you want to remember, print and add to your journal and talk about the specific moment

20. Write down some interesting facts or history about your destination

21. Did anything make you smile or laugh during your trip?

23. Summarize your travel expenses on the trip, did you overspend, spend less, what areas could you have cut on in terms of expenses (Use this spending planner to tracker your expenses on the trip)

24. Pretend that you were given an extra day on a trip you loved. What would that day have looked like?

25. Write down everything you would have done differently to make your vacation a better experience

You can read about my experience travelling to St Lucia in July and why I recommend it. 

I hope you enjoyed our list of bullet journal travel ideas!

A travel journal will improve your memory of the event.

You will retain more information and – believe it or not – it’ll help you make the next trip even better.

Use these tips if you want to get the most out of your travel journaling now and in the future.

Here are the best travel journals to write in:

Now that you have a list of travel journal ideas to help document your travel, you need a journal. 

I use my blog to document. 

But you can also just get a journal. 

Here is a list of the best travel journals for your journaling journey:

Which of these travel journals will you get today? 

Let us know in the comments section below.

Get started travel journaling today!

Our top travel journal diaries! Ideas for Your Travel Journal | 25 Travel Journal Ideas To Document Your Memories -Travelling leaves you speechless and then turns you into a storyteller. So why not pen down your stories and document your memories in a travel journal?

Related blog post: 

25 Travel Journal Ideas To Help Document Your Travel Adventures