This is your sign to start your own travel diary immediately! It will turn into your most important travel souvenir, that will be by your side before, during, and after your journey.

Keep reading to find out why a travel diary is actually a huge game changer and how to start one yourself.

1. Why Keep a Travel Diary?

There are sooo many reasons that just show how important a travel diary can be. That’s why I tried to keep it short and made a list. I didn’t explain all of it, but you’ll figure the rest out in the following parts.

So why should you keep a travel diary?

• To set your vision for the trip, or for future travels in general – like a tiny but meaningful vision board.
• To have a place to plan and organise your travels.
• To create space for important information – that doesn’t rely on a fully charged batterie and is also reachable for other people. For example phone numbers, or personal information.
• To collect things from around the world – now you know exactly where to put cute tags, bills, or cards you find on random places. Some might call it junk journaling – for me, it’s more like a collection of memories I’ll never forget.
• To keep track of what happened – yes, it’s ridiculously easy to forget details that once seemed very important (like mistakes that happened, or people you met).
• To have a place for reflecting on your emotions – write down how you’re doing at the moment. Especially when you’re feeling alone, it’s great to get everything out of your head this way. It’s a bit like self therapy.
• To draw and write whenever you need “me-time” or just have a lot of free time – especially while waiting for flights, hostel check-ins/outs, etc.

I think these are already enough reasons to start it right now. Here’s what you need!

2. How to Make One That Feels Like Yours

Before I found my favourite diary, I tried the ones from shops. They have printed pages with prompts for notes, packing lists, and typical diary questions. It was okay, but I didn’t like the repeating questions, the lack of freedom and the small planning spaces. So here’s what I do instead now – I create my own book from scratch.

What you need:

First, buy the perfect notebook. If you don’t think dotted paper is the best, you’re weird. Seriously, try it, it’s amazing. In the link below, you’ll find the book set I regularly buy (because one is never enough).

https://amzn.to/3PbdrQk

Next, get a small, flexible, and practical pencil case and add the pens you need. Don’t overfill and try to keep it simple.

What’s usually in my pencil case:

• two coloured markers
• two blue fine liners (different shades)
• two black ballpoint pens in different tip sizes
• one mechanical pencil (so you never have to sharpen it, always a fine line, usually with an eraser on the end)
• nail scissors – because you’ll need them anyway, and they’re also handy for trimming paper you want to glue into your diary
• double-sided tape

Now, the most important part: the front page.

It’s the first thing you see, so it needs to slay. Choose the vibe you’re going for – a specific colour scheme, the countries you want to visit, things you want to see during your travel and so on. My first diary was for my gap year in Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand. I made a Pinterest board with travel pictures that matched the countries, their aesthetics and places I really wanted to see there. Afterwards I printed them, and created a collage for the front page. When you’re happy with the layout, use double-sided tape to glue it down. I love this tape because it sticks well and doesn’t wrinkle the paper. Since the cover is see-through, I glued a small text inside, so when you open the book, the font disappears and the collage shows clearly. It’s now a little vision board for the journey ahead.

And that’s it for the outside. Now we need to think about what’s happening in the diary.

3. Organising Your Diary

The Diary Needs Organisation. Depending on what I use my diary for, I have different sets of categories.

Situation 1: diary for one big journey

I’d recommend these categories for long-term travels. Since mine was during my gap year, I’ll use that as inspiration to make the explanation easier. Here’s a quick summary of how I organised the pages:

I divide my diary into two main parts: preparation and main diary.

I separated the first pages for Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand, leaving a few blank pages in between because I knew I’d need them later. This made it easy to find all important informations about the places quickly.

Inside each section, I had detailed organisation, including:

• How do I get there? Arrival info, followed by the next question “How do I get to the hostel?”
• Where do I stay?
• How many days? What’s the plan? What do I need to see?
• Which places and food spots are must-tries?
• What activities can be booked, and which ones are popular?
• What’s the next destination? Create a possible timeline and prepare bookings.

After the place-specific preparations, I included a few general pages:

• Price list: I wrote down what I paid for accommodation, transport, activities, SIM cards, etc. It gave me a great overview and helped avoid confusion, especially when some bookings were paid in advance and others on arrival.
• Packing list: I listed every single item I wanted to pack – with a checkbox, to make sure I don’t forget anything. We already have a good overview of travel essentials. Check it out here – The MOST important Travel Essentials

After all the prep, it’s time for the diary part. This is simpler: I start with a big, colourful heading of the place I’m at, write the date and a small heading that captures the vibe of the day, then just write down everything that happened. I also enjoyed to glue in things I found and collected throughout the day.

Situation 2: diary for short trips

For shorter trips, I keep a smaller preparation section dedicated to the place I’m visiting.

Here’s how I organise it:

• Start with a prep section for the upcoming trip – notes, plans, packing list, whatever you need.
• After prep, begin your daily diary entries for that trip. I do it the same way, just add the date, a short heading and write about my day.
• Mark each new trip clearly with a big heading featuring the place’s name – like London, Rome, or Berlin. This way, when you flip through your diary later, you can easily find each trip and everything related to it.
• When you’re back and planning your next trip, start a fresh prep section and repeat the process.

This method keeps your diary neat and easy to follow, including planning and journaling naturally without wasting space.

4. Turning Writing into a Routine

What I hear a lot, is that it’s hard to stay consistent with a diary. Many people stop writing quickly during their trip. That’s what we want to avoid! The first mistake people make: starting without a structure. Without it, writing can feel more stressful than it should be. With a clear setup and a small ritual, it’s much easier to maintain the habit. The way your diary is set up now, gives you guidance and an overview, so it feels less overwhelming. I guess the first point is already achieved! Second, set yourself a goal to write every single day. Find a time that works for you. Maybe right after you wake up, or in the afternoon to reflect on your day. This way, it becomes part of your daily ritual.

Writing regularly has two big benefits:

1. It naturally becomes part of your life, making it easier to stay consistent.
2. It helps you reflect on your experiences and emotions, and can support you with feelings like homesickness or loneliness.

Especially when you’re traveling for a long time, it’s easy to rush from one adventure to the next without taking a breath. Having a daily writing moment creates a small ritual in your day, something that stays the same no matter where you are, giving you space to slow down.

You’re all set to start your journey with your new travel diary. I hope you’ve found inspiration here and are now ready to create a journal that’s entirely your own.