Whether you’re heading off on the big OE or planning a little road trip with friends, I believe any travel trip is worthy of a travel journal!
You can choose to purchase a journal specifically designed for travelling, or like me, just make your own. This not only gives you full control over the design and content in your journal, but it also makes your journal more personalised and meaningful. For this reason, DIY travel journals can make wonderful gifts for friends or family heading overseas.
The travel journal below is one I created for my cousin who’s recently embarked on her year long OE. She was only travelling with carry-on luggage, and as such, I decided to convert a very plain, light-weight exercise book/notebook which I bought from a local stationary shop. It cost less than $2 NZD and would hardly contribute to her carry-on luggage weight limit, so I was off to a good start. Below are the five steps I took to convert a plain notebook into the perfect travel journal:
Step 1 – Journal Cover
In an attempt to make it as meaningful as possible, I chose to add a personalised painting to the front cover. I found Pinterest was perfect for art inspiration.
Rather than painting straight onto the cover which risked seeping through the card and into the notebook itself, I painted onto quality painting paper and glued it down onto the front cover. For the back, I used a patterned washi tape.
Finally, to give the cover a more professional finish, I used a paint brush to apply a thin coating of Mod-Podge and glitter. This allowed the colours of the painting to shine through, made it glossy, and also helped everything stick together so ultimately made the journal cover more sturdy and durable.
Step 2 – Inside Cover (map activity)
For the inside cover I glued down a cropped map of the general area of the world she is intending to travel around. I traced a picture from Google Maps to ensure the map was accurate, then painted in the area of sea and left the countries themselves uncoloured.
The idea with this is that as my cousin travels to new countries, she can colour them in on this map along the way. Overall, it’s a gentle activity to visualise the journey she’s taken.
In the case of a one country road trip, one could trace states or territories for an equivalent experience.
Step 3 – Beginning and End Pages
These are the first and last pages you’ll see when reading through the journal. They are responsible for making a significant first and last impression, and should thus be treated with high attention.
So with my cousin being equally fond of the Lord of the Rings and J. R. R. Tolkein’s work, I took the following quote from The Fellowship of The Ring novel and divided it between the first and last pages accordingly. And it never harms to include an illustration or two that fit around the quote both physically and figuratively.
Step 4 – Second Page
This was 100% inspired by pins on Pinterest and involves drawing a signpost with a selection of countries or places you intend to visit and their distances from ‘home’.
It’s a fun way of understanding how far from home you’ve travelled, and is maybe a comforting reminder that while you may be far away, your home remains, dutifully awaiting your return.
Step 5 – Third Page
Essentially the ‘instruction’ page, I chose to write a list of all the possible things my cousin could include in her journal if she so chooses. It can be a good page to flick back to if you have some time to journal about your travels but don’t know where to start.
If you are gifting the journal, you might also like to combine this page with a farewell note which makes it more meaningful to whomever receives it.
So there we have it! I hope you could take some ideas or inspiration from this post and wish you all the best with you own DIY travel journals. Please feel welcome to share any other suggestions or tips in the comments below regarding travel journals and their content 🙂
