In this digital era, social media is the primary platform to share your traveling experience. We can get our adventures out for the world to see with just a few taps. Nevertheless, although using social media is a fast and easy way to reflect on our travels, it lacks the richness of having kept a proper travel journal. So here are Few reasons about why you should quit your smartphones and start using pen instead.
What purpose does a travel journal serve?
Travel journals are not just some ancient method of note taking from when the written word first began to take shape, but rather one of the oldest and most meaningful ways in which you can improve your travel experiences.
Write it Down: Think of it as a written journal for Instagram addicts. While social media posts are often surface-level and centric on visuals, travel journals make you write about all the details that matter to you! Not only can you take in all the visuals, auditory encounters and aromas of a place but also record (graphically or digitally) what goes through your head at that moment.
Self Reflection: The act of writing in a travel journal forces you to reflect. It helps you to process what you saw and did, so that it can sink in a little bit longer than just the moment. That is a level of reflective process that no quick social media statement can really provide.
The Travel Journal: A tangible memento you can go back to for a decade at least. While digital posts quickly become buried in the relentless scroll of your feed, a journal is tangible; it literally houses a catalogue of memories and revelations that provide you with an instant blast from the past.
Improve your writing: You get better at observation and skill of writing too if you keep on involving in travel journaling regularly. This will force you to come up with creative ways of telling your current situation, and that helps improve your speaking as a whole.
Disconnect and Be Present: When you write in your travel journal, it keeps YOU being fully present. In an age where social media can easily get you to compare yourself constantly rather than being present in your life, journaling allows you break away for a few minutes and be fully alive with what is going on around it.
Writing a Travel Journal
The idea of beginning a travel journal can be intimidating, but today I want to offer you some simple tiny steps so that your new record is not only started once and for all.
Pick Your Notebook Wisely: Go for a journal that can easily carried, and is made of durable materials. You are looking for something durable enough to be crumpled in your bag going through an airport.
Where to Begin: Your entry could start with the date and place at which you are, then provide some sort of chunking about what popular how your day went. It will help you remember the context of your experiences at a later date.
You got that right: Description Challenge yourself to actually say what the environment looks like. What do you see, what do you hear…what do you smell and feel. These will make your memories come alive every time you look at them or think about that journal.
Stick To First-Hand Experience: Write about what you did; who you met and how it made you feel. The good news is you don't have to look good — this journal if for you (1) Write like yourself!
Reflect on your experiences — how they should refine you. What have you discovered along the way? In what ways have your travels altered how you perceive the world? It is in this reflective feature that the power of travel journaling resides.
Include your own Flourishes: Add drawings, a ticket stub or pressed flowers. The addition of these individual aspects makes your pages interesting and a bit more original.
Reasons to Document Travel Moments
Storing travel moments is a lot more than storing where you traveled or what did you see there. The reason why you need to document these experiences:
Keep Memories: Travel memories fade away, but a travel journal is the bedrock of preserving them closely. In a few years, you will be able to sit down and read those past experiences as if they had happened yesterday.
A Legacy is Born: Your travel journal is something that will be passed down from one generation to the next. It is as a place where you can tell your stories, amazing things from the past that happened and lessons learned to children or even grandkids.
Encourages Mindfulness: When travel writing, you need to slow down and smell the roses so that your voice smells like a rose. It promotes staying in the moment, making you taste each of them properly rather than being on a run.
Inspire future travel Looking over your journal you can be inspired to visit other places. Until recently, it was best used as a digital scrapbook something to remind you of places you want to return or inspire new adventure.
Traveling — Why the Over-posting?
ALSO READ: After 3 Months, This Is What I Learned Keeping a Travel Journal However regardless of the number reasons to keep one, travel journal or no — we are still an assortment sharing our wanderlust on social media. Here are 6 reasons why human nature leads people to take photos of their holidays that should come as no surprise:
Social media gives instant feedback: likes, comments, shares The most beneficial aspect of this instant response or feedback is that it encourages the sense of community and interaction.
Social Connection: Social media posts can keep travelers connected with loved ones. Is a way to show their life in real-time and let family and loved ones know where they are.
Creating a Digital Identity: A large number of individuals establish their digital identity such as through social media. They post about their travel to paint themselves as adventurous, cultured or well-traveled individuals.
Inspire/Influencer: Social media is a great way to inspire others. Most people who are traveling end up sharing their travel stories, experiences and places they would recommend others to visit.
Conclusion
As beneficial as social media has become in capturing and chronicling travel memories for generations to come, it should never be a replacement for the good old-fashioned method of keeping your own journal. A travel journal makes you think deeper, write in more detail and adds a personal touch to your travels. It helps promote mindfulness, creativity, and self discovery — things we forget about too often on social media. The next time you journey somewhere new, think about leaving your smartphone behind and taking a notebook instead. The moments you document in a Journal may prove far more valuable than any post on social media ever could.
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