Journaling on The Go

With summer vacation season in full swing, I bet you have a fun trip or two planned. If you are anything like me, you take tons of photos and collect all sorts of memorabilia while on vacation.But, sometimes remembering everything that you saw and did on your vacation is not that easy, and sorting through all your collected memorabilia can be a tiresome task.

So, why not journal while on vacation? With a little preparation, it can be fun and easy.

First there are some things you will need to take with you, such as:

• a small notebook or journal
• a journaling pen
• a glue stick

For my sample I used a 5" x 5" chipboard book from Stampin' Up! You can decorate the journal beforehand like I did and then it can serve as a mini vacation album when you add photos or leave it undressed and simply use it to hold your thoughts to use later in your scrapbooks.

These items can be stored in your purse or camera bag for easy access during your vacation. Whenever you have some downtime on your trip, you can take out your notebook and jot down your thoughts.

If you don't want to carry a notebook or journal around with you your entire vacation, then the Heidi Swapp Days of the Week Journaling Spots are just what you need. They are perfect for jotting down daily highlights and small enough to stick in your pocket. You can easily add them to your layout when you are ready to scrapbook the memories.

Some things that you might consider journaling about...

• where did you go
• when did you go (if traveling to more than one site while on vacation, it's important to note each specific date of your journal entries)
• who accompanied you on the trip
• what did you see
• anything you might have learned
• how you felt about your destination, hotel, etc.
• any memorable places where you ate
• the weather conditions

You might even consider asking a traveling companion or a family member to share what he or she has seen or learned on the trip. It may be something you missed. Seeing the sights through a child's eyes is always a priceless memory.

If all of this seems like too much work for you because you just want to live in the moment, then you might consider postcards. Purchase postcards while at each site or destination, fill in the day's highlights and mail them to your home address. This can be done at the end of each day. When you get home from vacation you have your journaling all done for you.

Whichever method works best for you, just remember to record your vacation memories. Years from now you will not remember every little detail about your trip or every funny little story. All those great memories will be lost forever. By making sure you preserve them, you will be able to relive your vacation over and over.