The intro post to this series is here, journaling for mental clarity is here, journaling through fear is here. Journaling to clear your mind is here. Journaling to work out choices is here. The 5 year diary is here.

I recently got back from a trip, and later this year I have another trip planned so I thought that I’d dedicate a post to travel journaling.

My travel journaling differs pretty significantly from my normal, daily journaling in a few key ways:

1. I move to digital journaling.

2. I journal to share and not just for myself.

3. I oftentimes backlog journal.

Here’s a breakdown of what I do when it comes to travel journaling and why:

Digital Journaling

While my daily journal is always analog, when I’m traveling I switch to using Day One. There are several reasons for this:

1. The entry point to my travel journaling entries is the photos I take, and journaling makes me take more thoughtful photos. I used photos to capture a moment or tell the story of where I was, when and why. The entries in Day One then expound on that.

2. I compile my daily entries to share them with my family back home. It’s a way for us all to participate in the adventure, in a way.

3. I tend to return to the same places, and it’s easier to search what I liked or didn’t like about a place, or a place name using Day One than it is digging through notebook pages.

4. Writing quick entries on my phone while waiting in line for stuff is both convenient and helps the time go by faster, and my phone is always on me.

Journaling to Share

I normally write only for myself in my journal, but when I travel journal, I write with sharing in mind. While I don’t share my entries to social media or this blog, I do share them with my family.

Backlog Journaling (or Giving Myself a Break)

It’s often the case that I’m too busy to journal as things are happening, or during the day that they occur. In that case I just take pictures, sometimes supplementing them with a note on the list of activities done and places visited. When I have more time (for example on the flight back home) I can backlog these entries – with the added bonus that I get to live through them again.