I have kept some form of journal or sketchbook on and off since I was nine years old. Over the years, they have taken many forms: sometimes a daily diary for processing my thoughts, sometimes a sketchbook, and often a way of documenting my travels.
One of my favorite things to do when I am traveling solo is to journal. I love a long lunch with a glass of wine, sitting at a table by myself, people watching and reflecting on my day. But journaling doesn’t always mean writing. It can be sketching, making a collage, or simply saving little pieces of a day—a label from a beer you loved, a receipt from a memorable lunch, or a ticket from a train ride.
I first started thinking about travel journals this way when I took a couple of study-abroad architecture classes in Orvieto, Italy, in 2008. The final projects for the classes were travel sketchbooks documenting our summer in Italy. Almost 20 years later, I still take a travel journal with me when I travel, and I still use some of the same prompts and assignments from those classes.
A travel journal doesn’t have to be a work of art, and you don’t have to consider yourself a writer or an artist to keep one. For me, it is simply a creative way to slow down, pay attention to a place, and document the things I want to remember.
After years of documenting, here are some of my favorite travel journal ideas and prompts to inspire your own creative journaling.
Write: Prompts To Inspire Travel Journal Writing
Writing is the most traditional form on journaling, and here are some of my favorite prompts to get started.
Daily Log of What you Did Today
Sometimes the easiest way for me to start warming up for journaling is to just start writing about what I did that day. I often find that once I start, it becomes easier to just keep going. I like to write about anything I did that I want to remember.
Sometimes that memory is what I thought about the first time I tried haggis, or if I thought it was worth it to brave the crowds to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Social Observations and People Watching
This could be something like manners or gatherings, or anything that you notice that seems specific to that culture (or just different from home). It could even be fashion or clothing you see that wouldn’t fit in at home but seems completely natural in a new place.
Here is one I found in a sketchbook from one of my first days in Italy back in 2008: “Italian men stare, even when you make eye contact they don’t look away, they continue staring.”
One Local Phrase or Word per Day
Or whatever the local language is. You are likely learning (or hearing) certain phrases wherever you are that are unique for that place and fun to document.
I remember learning how to pronounce khop khun kha in Thailand. At a port tasting in Porto, I asked the bartender how to know when to say obrigado or obrigada and I learned that because I am female, I should always be saying obrigada.
Sometimes just documenting little language learnings is a memory worth preserving.
Sensory and Visual Observations
Take a minute to notice the world around you. Sometimes just noting what you see, hear, and smell can create a vivid memory of a place.
What does the air smell like? What sounds do you hear? Are there textures you keep encountering? What does the air feel like? Are there architectural elements you keep noticing that seem unique to this place?
For instance, a memory I have of New Zealand is that Rotorua smells like farts.
Just paying attention to what you notice can create a powerful memory to revisit.
Collect: Cut and Paste Memories that You Collect on Your Trip
I love having little visual memories from a trip, and a travel journal can be a great place to preserve them.
Little Paper Memories: Receipts, Labels, Tickets, Stickers…
I love saving an old receipt from a really good meal, a museum ticket , or even a train ride. It’s always fun to look back on, especially if it is in another language or currency! These little memories are easy to glue or tape into a journal and fun to look back on.
If you loved the wine at dinner or found a beer you must remember, peel off the label and glue it into your sketchbook. Had a meal you want to remember? Save the receipt and glue it in your journal. You can even write notes about your favorite dishes, or interesting receipt items like “bread service”.
My journal from a trip to Thailand is decorated with all the little stickers I kept getting on tours and boat rides. If I didn’t have the journal, I would have just tossed them all.
Maps
Not everyone loves to write or draw, sometimes the best memories from a trip are a simple map that you cut and paste into your book. I have often traveled with a little pair of scissors and a glue stick just to paste little memories in a sketchbook.
I found an old map of an obelisk walking route in Rome with the route in blue highlighter that I saved!
Create Postcards or a Collage to Represent a Place
I have a collection of “postcards” that I made that are a combination of hand sketching and cutouts of maps or photos blended to capture the feeling of a place.
Think basalt paver patterns in streets, terraced vineyards on a steep hillside, or a chaotic looking map of a medieval town. Places often have unique features that can be captured with maps and sketches better than words.
They take a little more time, but they make nice memories of a trip. It’s also a fun way to create a memory without writing.
Draw: Sketching Ideas for Your Travel Journal
As an architect, I love sketching as a way to study a building, a floor plan, or even just a unique tile pattern. If you like sketching, here are some ideas for things to draw in a travel journal.
Any Building Façade That You Like and Want to Study
Part of the Grand Tour was to study the details and proportions of famous works so they could be recreated back home. The best way to really understand a building, along with the proportions and lighting, is to draw it. It slows everything down and makes you really hone into the details to understand it.
If you want to go even further, think about the building section, or architectural details.
Floor Plans of Every Place I Stay
This is my favorite thing to document in a travel journal, every place I stay! When I look back at old sketchbooks, so many memories come back when I see the sketches of floor plans of the places I’ve stayed.
I have sketches with little notes of where the view is, what bed I slept in, and weird little memories I forgot about. It’s amazing what comes back from just the little sketches of a floor plan.
If this feels intimidating, I truly don’t think you need to know how to draw a proper floor plan, even a rough diagram and some notes are enough. In some of my past sketches, I see notes about the view out of the bedroom window and I remember how magical that place was.
Choose a Design Element To Study
Sometimes it is fun to choose just one design element you want to study on a trip, or something you are drawn to.
Here are some examples I love: doors, gates, door pulls or knockers, cornices, windows, jewelry, furniture, cars, scooters, shoes, fashion, cobblestone patterns, tile patterns, cookware, dishes, flatware, unique signage…
On my study-abroad adventure in 2008, I decided to document Italian kitchenware. I have sketches of unique cappuccino mugs, interesting flatware, and unique plates. Sometimes it is fun to look back on the small things you notice.
Draw a Meal or Beverage
It’s more difficult to draw food than you think! But it is a fun way to study and remember your meals.
Sketching the different shapes of beverage containers can be fun to study. Think German beer steins, Italian cappuccino mugs, unusual beer bottles, or the shape of a water carafe. Sometimes even the vibrant color of your Aperol spritz in an Italian piazza is worth documenting.
I found a few diagrams in past journals of the way a pizza or dessert was layered. My favorite is an elevation an a section of a tartufo I enjoyed in Piazza Navona.
Sketch The View
Sometimes it’s just a rough sketch of the view from your window in your hotel room, or the view you see every day walking to coffee. If there is a moment you want to remember, a quick sketch with notes is a perfect way to document it.
I found this little series from the route I walked to school when I was studying abroad in Orvieto.
Etching, Rubbings & Textures
I traveled with a friend that brought along a charcoal stick to be able to rub interesting signage, textures, or even unique signs she saw on the ground.
Have you noticed things like a symbol that appears all over a city? It’s an easy way to quickly preserve an interesting element in a sketchbook.
Build Your Travel Journal Kit
This is a list of supplies I have brought on trips for journaling. You don’t need all of these, and I don’t bring all of them on every trip. As someone who travels carry-on only, I like to choose only what I want to experiment with on that trip.
Honestly, some of my favorite journals involved just a notebook, a pen, and maybe a glue stick or some tape.
Choosing a Journal
Chose the size depending on the length of the trip, how much you want to document, and if you want it to fit in a purse. I also like to chose based on the type of paper. I want paper thick enough that I can write on both sides, and I also prefer a blank page for maximum creativity.
Small Journal – For two weeks or less, I find a small bare bones journal is enough. If I think I will write more or want more room, I would choose something a little large, but I have taken these little journals on many trips. The size is perfect for a small purse. My personal favorite for a small sketchbook are the small packs of Moleskin Volant Journals. I also like the little Fabriano notebooks and Field Notes.
Best Overall Travel Journal – I love the Pentalic Pocket Sketchbook. The 4×6 size is good for a purse, and I like using the elastic close, ribbon bookmark, and back pocket to keep little tickets or receipts. It is thicker than the small journals, but if I am keeping for longer than a two-week trip, this is my favorite.
Essential Travel Journal Supplies
Pens – You might not be surprised that as an architect, I have a lot of opinions on pens. For travel, I want a pen that won’t explode or leak on a plane, but can produce a nice, smooth line. No ball point pens for this architect. Some of my favorites are Micron Pens for varying line weights, and Pilot Razor Pens are also good for a fine point and multiple colors.
Glue Stick or Tape – Just a basic small glue stick will do, or regular old scotch tape. Some of my journals that are over 10 years old have lost the adhesive. If you want something long lasting, there are more expensive glue sticks for premium archival.
Case for your journaling kit – I like the LOQI pouches for a variety of sizes, but some of my favorites that I travel with are just little zippered pouches I picked up at a local market or craft store while traveling. The sequin bag I often use I bought in Verona in 2020.
Optional Creative Supplies
Pencils – Just like pens, I think it is worth it to use quality pencils if you chose to travel with them. If you want multiple line weights of graphite, I like this tin of varying line weight Derwent pencils. And if you want color, the quality pencils produce much more vibrant colors and blend better than cheaper craft pencils and Prisma color pencils are the best.
Eraser – I like these Stadtler erasers for smudging or blending and erasing if you are working with pencils
Craft Scissors – Make sure they are less than 4” and TSA friendly. I tend to carry plastic craft scissors with rounded tips but there are TSA friendly foldable scissors that I would buy if I was getting some new travel scissors today.
Chalk, charcoal, or thick pencil – for rubbing if you want to test that out.
Watercolor Postcards – I love this pack of 15 watercolor postcards for travel. This is what I used for the series of postcards to create a collage of the feeling of a place.
Watercolor kit or watercolor pencils – The Winsor & Newton watercolor kit is perfect for travel. They have a small kit, and the colors are interchangeable. You can buy custom colors or even just replace one if you run out. I want to try out these watercolor pencils on a future trip and have them on my list.
Water vessel – I like having something with a lid so I can use the water for painting and then just cap it if I can’t dump out my dirty paint water immediately. I have some of these plastic jars that I use for toiletries but also work well for watercolors.
Years From Now, What Will Help You Remember Being there?
The best travel journals aren’t perfect works of art. My favorite journals to look back at are the ones that combine different ways of documenting a trip. Sometimes what brings me back is a paragraph about a long lunch. Sometimes it’s a wine label, a floor plan sketch, a train ticket, or a note that simply says, “Italian men stare.”
That is what I love about keeping a travel journal. It gives you a place to slow down, pay attention, and record the little things you might otherwise forget. You don’t have to be a writer or an artist, and you don’t need a collection of fancy supplies. A notebook, a pen, and whatever you find along the way can be enough.
Years from now, those little pieces may be what bring you back to a place—not just where you went, but what it felt like to be there.
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