Growing up, my family did a lot of weekend trips within a 2 to 4 hour radius. If there was a state park to see, we were most likely camping there. I never realized this until I was older, but my mom would log our camping activities. She would not keep track of every little detail. How could she when she trying to wrangle four kids and a husband for meal times? One of these days when I get back home, I am going to ask her for them.
I like to think of myself as a photo-journalist because I am much better with images than with words. However, the photos sometimes miss fun stories or names of the people you did an activity with.
I have found myself picking up writing in journals on my travels. I will say my journals vary in style through the years. I wrote a journal when I was living in Venezuela for a month with our foreign exchange student’s family and also when I studied abroad in France. These were some of my first travel adventures on my own and am glad I have my words to remind me of the details.
Now-a-days, I try to keep track of how much the exchange rate was when I started my trip, the cost of the accommodations, activities, tours, etc. we do, along with daily journal entries. During my last trip to Iceland (March 2013), I found myself dreading to write. I actually, to this day, do not have a hand written journal for Iceland, which sometimes drives me crazy, but I have the details written out on my blog.
Most of my prior trips have hand written recollections. My plan is to at least highlight the details of my past trips here. As this project moves forward, I am excited to relive my travel experiences. It is amazing how much comes back to you when reading through the journals.