←→To Write or Not to Write: Keeping a Journal

Posted Tuesday, February 13th, 2007 · Permalink

That is a question many travelers ask themselves before they set-out. Keeping a journal during your travels has pros and cons. I have read a few opinions on the matter and would like to add my own.

I enjoyed keeping a journal during my travels through Asia and Europe. I kept rather detailed journals of my trips. This was not an easy task. At times I allowed for periods of procrastination. These are the most difficult things to get out of once you’re a few days in. (I wrote about three pages in Asia per day. Three x four (days) = 12 pages of catch-up! That’s a lot of writing.) It requires a certain discipline and therefore is not for everyone. But needing discipline is not the only discouraging aspect of the matter. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons.

They call it Pros and Cons, putting the pros first, but let’s start with the cons first this time. Here are four.

• You only remember what you write. One of the cons I’ve heard about is the notion that you’ll remember only the things that make it to your journal. What might be a more accurate description of this issue is that you’ll remember the things in your journal better, thus letting other things by comparison slip a bit to the background. And as you can’t write down everything, this might be a truly unfortunate byproduct of keeping a journal.
• It’s difficult to keep it up-to-date. You’re on the road and you’re having a great time. Now you have to put all that on hold for a moment to write. Not everyone can do this. It takes discipline and, speaking from personal experience, this is something that I personally do not always have. What makes this a nag is that when you start skipping days, you actually start creating holes in your memory of your trip, something the first point discussed.
• It can be frustrating. Keeping a journal can be frustrating for many reasons. One such feeling is the constant worry of finding time to write, almost like a homework assignment that you have every day that is due the next day. Once you’re behind on your entries it can really start being a frustrating burden and can screw up your experience.
• Details? Generalities? This frustration is compacted be the difficult task of finding a balance between time spent and details noted. If you spend too much time covering every aspect of your trip, you’ll end up missing many of the wonderful things happening around you. But if you don’t go into much detail, your journal wont be worth reading later. Where is your personal balance?

The above points are definitely interrelated issues. The pros are less so, which is a good thing as they have more value individually.

• Reflection. Sitting down and taking some time to reflect the day’s events is important. It’s easy to let them go by in a flurry of memories but then it will become exactly that: a flurry of memories. Appreciating your individual experiences lets you gain something extra from them, like added knowledge. Keeping a journal is an excellent way of reflecting.
• Therapeutic. When I was doing “The Loop” in Laos, I was completely cut-off from any English speakers for about four days. Keeping a journal helped keep me happy; giving me someone to talk to.
• Good reading. One great pro is that keeping a good journal makes for good reading after the trip. I have a few of these now, and I must say it’s really fun to peruse them from time to time.
• Great writing practice. Consistent writing really helps you improve your style and language-use. You’re not writing notes for an exam; you’re writing to hopefully entertain your reader. This requires a certain style of writing, something that will improve with practice.

You might have guessed that I’m a writer-kind-of-guy. I like to keep a journal. It’s my opinion that keeping a journal can be a rewarding activity. You’ll have something you can read years from now which can bring up lots of nostalgia. For this alone it’s worth all the effort.

Filed under Travel Tips.