The Joy of Keeping a Travel Journal

There’s something timeless about recording your travels on paper. In a world filled with phone cameras and digital notes, a travel journal offers a slower, more thoughtful way to capture your experiences. It becomes a keepsake that tells your story not just through words, but through the small, personal things you collect along the way — a pressed flower from a countryside walk, a ticket stub from a favourite museum or a café receipt that reminds you of a quiet morning abroad.

Travel journaling is about more than documenting where you’ve been. It’s about pausing to notice the details that make each moment meaningful — the smell of the sea air, the laughter of strangers, the colour of a market stall. Writing these snippets down or creating collages helps you relive the experience long after the trip has ended. And unlike photos, which capture what something looked like, journaling captures how it felt.

Choosing your journal

For travel journaling, size matters — you’ll want something portable yet roomy enough to be creative. Something compact like our Mini Lace Travel Journal is ideal. It’s compact enough to slip into a small bag or pocket, yet has just enough space for short notes, sketches and little collages. You can use it daily while travelling, jotting thoughts during train rides or waiting in airports, without feeling like it’s a chore to carry.

A journal with sturdy pages is best if you enjoy adding paper mementoes, stickers or light watercolour sketches. Some people even prefer journals with pockets or envelopes for tucking away keepsakes like business cards, maps or tiny souvenirs.

What to include

Your travel journal is completely personal — there are no rules. Still, a few ideas can help you get started:

• Tickets and passes: train, bus, museum or concert tickets make wonderful visual memories.
• Postcards and photos: glue one on a page and write a few lines about the day it represents.
• Pressed flowers or leaves: a delicate way to capture the season and scenery.
• Receipts and menus: note what you ate and where — small details that bring a place back to life.
• Sketches and doodles: even quick outlines of a landmark or café table add charm.
• Daily highlights: a sentence or two about your favourite moment or feeling each day.

Why it matters

By the time you return home, your travel journal becomes more than a notebook — it’s a personal archive of sights, feelings and discoveries. Flipping through it months later can transport you right back to those moments, far more vividly than scrolling through photos ever could. It’s also a wonderful way to reflect, express gratitude and remind yourself how much joy can be found in exploring new places.

So next time you set off, take a small journal, a roll of washi tape and a pen you love. Collect snippets of your journey, write or collage freely and let each page become a keepsake of your adventure — one that feels beautifully your own.