Tuesday Tip :

At the end of each month I jot down on one of our Map Journals what has been the main highlight for that month, so at the end of the year (and for the fun of future reminiscing) I’ll have the year simply summarized on a single sheet ~

The highlight for May was the expansion of our Map Magnet range! Back in January we launched the first of our Map Magnets, which covered 22 regions across the country ~ We’ve added a further 8 areas so now we have 30 Map Magnets covering most of Australia!

And for something new for me…. here is a little video clip ~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tp-kclvroY

Click on the ‘2010‘ tag to see a synopses of my year at a glance

Tuesday Tip:

Map Journals are great for ‘simply’ summarizing where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing ~ on a single sheet

March & April 2010

Within days of returning from the Sydney Trade Fair at the start of March, I flew off to Scotland (click  ‘Scotland‘ under ‘Tag Cloud’ or ‘Great Britain‘ under ‘Topics Talked About’ in the column to your right to read all about that trip!)

Up, Over & Out of Australia

Each month this year I’m entering a highlight into one of the jotting boxes so at year’s end I’ll have a visual keepsake for 2010 ~

Click on the ‘2010‘ tag to see my year at a glance :D

Tuesday Tip 5:

Do you ever get to the end of a year and say -

Where did the time go?

What did I do? Where did I go? And when exactly was that?

Book type journals are great for all the detail, but they just don’t cut it for seeing the year at a glance.

So for each month of this year I’m going to jot just one or two highlights in each of the boxes on a Map Journal so when I get to December the year 2010 will be laid out before me ~

simply summarized on a single sheet!

January 2010

I get the impression this year has started brightly ~

Click on the ‘2010‘ tag to see my year at a glance

Tuesday Tip 4:

Often overheard upon first seeing a Map Journal –

‘Oh, if only I were going on a major trip, or doing the big lap?’

(i.e. travelling all the way around Australia)

Why, only if you’re doing a ‘big’ trip?

Aren’t annual holidays and last minute weekend breaks away to the beach just as much fun to remember?

How many times have you heard people say…

“‘We stayed at the most gorgeous little place, now… ummmm what was it called?”  

So, next time you’re heading off over the hills on hollers, decide to go on a spontaneous short sortie, or simply enjoy a long weekend away with the family…

take a Map Journal to arrow in the ‘where’ and jot down those names…

before you forget!  :)

Tuesday Tip 3:

“Im not sure where to start”

Making the first mark on a new Map Journal can be a bit daunting ~

Artists have sketch pads to practice on, so…

If you feel nervous about making a mess or a mark you’re not going to be happy with, make some cheap photocopies of some of the jotting boxes (for your personal use only of course!)

Now you can really let loose

However, this is only a short term confidence builder! Don’t practice and plan so much that the entries become contrived -

Spontaneity is the key to really sparking those memories back to life in years to come!

Tuesday Tip 2:

Some of my most fun and memorable travel started on a spontaneous whim

With no time for preconceived notions to be formed, there are no expectations to live up to and, the experience can only be judged as it happens ~

Jotting spontaneous notes rather than planning and preening journal entries is the same!

By worrying about the perfect opening phrase, the essence of the moment can be totally missed in a contrived composition.

Unlike a conventional book type journal, Map Journals have no beginning, no middle nor end so entries can be made randomly, and spontaneously, in any one of the boxes that surround the map.

Feel elated about an amazing experience/sight? Jot down how you feel now while it is fresh and vibrant in your mind – The important thing is not to think about it – let spontaneity capture the moment and you’ll be forever connected to that time and place…

Outside the Wollumbin toilets, in amongst the leaf litter...

“The essence of pleasure is spontaneity” Germaine Greer

I’ve been contacted by a High school whose theme for their end of year 12 graduation valedictory is to be Dr Seuss’ ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go’

“Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own.  And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”

To mark the start of their life’s journey beyond school they wish to honour the occasion by giving each student a Journey Jottings Map Journal for tracking their future trails & tales ~

What a charming symbolic idea for stepping out into the world

School holidays in Australia, can mean lengthy car trips with children to either go and visit interstate relatives or simply go on hollers to the beach ~

I thought it may therefore, be a good time to share an idea put to me by a Post Office owner who I met at a Trade Fair. She was telling me how each Post Office has its own individual rubber-stamp specific to their location.

There’s a great travelling eye spy game to be had here!

Children must have eyes peeled on a car journey to spot the red Australia Post Office symbol. Armed with either a Map Journal or Mail-It Map for using as their ‘Post Office Passport’ the children go into the Post Office to ask may they have their map uniquely stamped in one of the surrounding (jotting) boxes.

Eye Spy with my little eye a red & white Australia Post Sign!

Keeps the children occupied en route, gives a sense of purpose during pit stops and what a fun visual memento of every car trip having a map surrounded by rubber stamps commemorating all the places they have been

A great travelling game whether going on a long trip, short trip or even popping to the shops!

I was talking with Rosemary this week!

A few years ago she decided to pack up home to travel around Australia on an extended holiday.

When she reached Central Australia she came across Journey Jottings Map Journals, bought three and posted one to each of her grandchildren who live over in Great Britain.

From here on, she informed them where she was by Postcard or email and the children had to search the map to find where she was and once located, plot and dot their grandmother’s progressive route around the country.

Grandma's Footsteps

What a fun, educational and interactive way of involving them in her travels as they together discovered and then shared the adventure