FlyerTalk Forums - Travel diary

I am a big fan of travel diaries. I have diaries from the past 15 years of travel. I chronicle my travel faithfully on a daily basis. Then, as my trip is ending, I reflect on the entire trip and fill out summary sections. I refer back to my diaries to give friends travel advice, or to remind myself of the trip. Just today, I had my Brazil diary out to find the telephone number of a Sao Paulo friend.

I found one that worked for me, and used it for many years. It was called The Trip Book and was published by Starhill Press. It had one page for each day, a calendar page to show the entire trip, a world globe page to show the route, and some summary pages to keep track of the high points, low points, how much things cost, addresses of people met enroute, and where to go next time. Sadly, the publisher was acquired and then re-acquired. The current publisher no longer publishes this diary.

Every time I went in a travel book store, I looked at travel diaries. I didn't like any I found. Then, I found a travel diary sold by Magellan. It is a good format, albeit without the summary pages that I like. The format gives space on each page for the hotel, method of transport, expenses, weather, and the diary section. I think it is intended for a longer term traveler; I believe that it has pages for 60 days or so. The diary is not shown in the Magellan web site, nor is it in their current catalog.

In the end, my secretary and I did some self-publication. I took the best features of both diaries and made up a diary that suits me. She took it off to Kinkos and got it printed and bound. It works really well.

I have 24 travel diaries in my secretary, each evoking wonderful memories. I highly recommend keeping a travel diary to you. It will bring you much satisfaction, both as you do it, and as you refer back to it.