Many people try to preserve their journey in the form of a journal, thinking their inner Steinbeck will come out as they experience the riches of travel. What usually happens is the journal entries end up trailing off halfway through the journey and never get read again. Here’s a few tips to make your journal a little more manageable during your journey.

 1. Don’t expect your inner Steinbeck to take over.

If you are not a writer, you will not likely get past the flowery introduction of the taxi ride to your hotel before your mind is tired and the distractions of the actual journey take you away from the scribbled musings of your journal.  Keep your writing brief, to the point and be sure to focus on the right stuff instead of overly-worded descriptions of irrelevant things. You don’t need to write everything out, jot down times, places and sights, then a few sentences of what moved you.

2. Insert ticket stubs, receipts, pamphlets and post cards into your journal.

Often the ticket stubs to museums are colorful, feature designs that incorporate their most popular attractions and fit nicely on the pages of your journal. If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, imagine how much space in your journal (and time writing) you’ll save by inserting a postcard, ticket stub or subway ticket (with one ticket you’ll remember the date, location and what you saw). The point is to remember your journey, not record every minute detail of the journey.

3. Bring different colored ink pens.

Each entry should be written in a different ink (at least two). That way you can easily see where the day or event ended and can start another entry while leaving room to come back and fill in the rest later.

4. Write quick notes.

If you are in a hurry and can’t find the time to write about something just jot down a quick note, like: “Louvre, then sandwiches and back to hotel.” That way you can come back when you get to your hotel or on a train and have the time to fill it in properly. And stick the ticket stubs in there to help you recall the day’s events later.

5. Enjoy the trip and write during down time.

You are there to experience something new and different, don’t get stuck on a museum bench writing when you should be seeing, smelling and hearing another place. Train rides can be long, break up the monotony with a journal session. Plane is delayed? Journal time.  My wife once fidgeted with her camera all the way through the Changing of the Guard at Arlington National Cemetery, missing the whole ceremony for a picture, in the end she didn’t get the memory or the photo. Life is a journey, enjoy it.