June 2010

We believe memories from holidays and short breaks deserve just as much attention as those from a major trek ~ Its not the length that matters, its what you do with it
And when it comes to jotting those few notes that will jog the memory when nostalgia strikes, I advocate the shorter the better (Check out my *Best Kept Travel Secrets* for some pointers there!)

We exist so when your annual holiday would otherwise be but a distant memory, you’ll have a visual keepsake!

We do what we do so, for those who can’t imagine keeping a journal for a non-journeying holiday, you can now arrow in where you went on a hand drawn pictorial map and jot memorable moments in the surrounds, so this year’s holiday will be simply summarized on a single sheet for future reminiscing!

Have you highlighted your holiday adventures?

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At the end of each month I enter a Journey Jottings highlight on a Map Journal so at year’s end I’ll have 2010 simply summarized on a single sheet ~ The image above is June’s entry.

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

My good friend Kirsty Wilson from Travel Tips Plus wrote a blog post last week entitled ‘Souvenirs:  Postcards from Travel Destinations”.

I posted the link onto our Facebook page asking:

“Do you keep all the PostCards you receive?”

Kirsty's Fridge Door

Photo: Travel Tips Plus

“I keep them!” piped up Charley Jones

And Sarah Mitchell responded:

“I don’t but my sister-in-law recently showed me a shoebox full of postcards I’d sent to her kids over 15 years of international travel. It was a very cool record. I had forgotten about some of it.”

Despite the best of intentions, one does forget!

Sarah’s statement brilliantly exemplifies how even a few words, in this case on the back of a postcard, is all it takes to bring back otherwise forgotten travelling adventures ~

So… next time you are away and writing a few postcards, take a few moments to jot down the equivalent of a postcard to yourself in a small notebook jotter, and at the end of the holiday pop it in an envelope (with a selection of pretty local stamps) and post it home to yourself  ~ Postmarked envelopes are like passport stamps in that they mark where you were and when. On your return you’ll have the fun of receiving mail from this far flung location with a neatly parcelled chapter full of memory joggers encapsulating your latest escapade.

Check out my Best Kept Travel Secrets for other ways to

*highlight your holiday adventures*

When I go travelling I never take a generic journal, bought prior to the trip, away with me.

One of my ‘travel secrets‘ is to buy a small (my preference is an A6 sized) jotter/notebook in each country/region I visit so associations of the travel journal are connected to the place – It also means I get to have my first interaction with the locals as I make it’s purchase.

On the first day of my recent trip to Scotland I sought out a local supplier of stationery ~ in this instance the local newsagent ~ and purchased an A6 x 80 page notebook with the blue and white cross of St Andrew Scottish flag on the front, and the yellow and red Royal flag of Scotland on the back.

Not keen on feeling I have to make time, for what otherwise requires an obligatory evening journal writing session, my favourite way of recording my travels is to stop and take stock at pertinent moments in the day and simply jot a few words of response to what I can see, what I can hear, what I can feel, what I can smell and what in the atmosphere I can taste, that will serve as memory joggers years later when the moment for nostalgia strikes.

See, Hear, Touch, Smell, Taste

I find this technique cuts to the chase and omits obvious mundane words such as ‘I went for a walk…’

I also like to bring encounters with people I meet along the way more alive by incorporating their notations in my jotter too! When in Cairnsmore Nature Reserve I was having trouble finding the location of a sculpture located on the top of a mountainous cliff – I met a girl who sketched this mudmap for me to follow, which being in a rugged moorland area with blanket bog of varying depths of peat, I was most grateful for ~ It’s also a great reminder of my conversation with her

Mudmap

Once filled, or as the trip draws to a close, I make a visit to the Post Office and select as many pretty stamps as possible and post it home ~

Postbox at Cairn Holy, Scotland

Its such fun opening the mail box and finding a package from a far flung place…

My Mail Box in Australia

Adorned with local stamps and precious overseas postmarks that fix the trip in time

Scottish stamps and precious local postmarks

These stamps illustrate the monarchy of Scotland – On the right is Mary, Queen of Scots 1542 – 1567 and to her left is James Vl, King of Scots 1567 – 1625 (becoming James l King of England and Ireland 1603 to 1625) ~ The stamps on the left portray the Thistle, Scotland’s floral emblem and the lion rampant of the Royal Standard of Scotland

Its great, a week after returning home to receive my holiday memories encapsulated in a jotter; walleted in an envelope that is adorned with stamps from the country/region I have not long before visited and date stamped for future musings…

revealing another chapter of my travelling life

Tuesday Tip 6:

I started this Tuesday Tips section to answer some of the most common questions or comments I hear about our Map Journals ~

This week:

“My handwriting would spoil it”

Take inspiration from these beautiful scribbly gum tree markings

I don’t think you can ever argue with nature, when it comes to beauty

No matter how scrawly your handwriting is, there is still  a pattern to it and while when you start you may think it looks too un-perfect I can assure you that when all the boxes are filled there will be a unifying style that will actually bring the whole sheet together.

No matter how ‘messy’ (and self critically) you think at the time it may look, spontaneity speaks louder than words, and your quick scribbly jottings conveying the fun of the moment is what you will see in years to come – not that you’ve dotted the i or crossed the t

I’ve been nominated by Kirsty Wilson of TravelTipsPlus to participate in Tripbase’s “3 Best Kept Secrets”

“Congratulations on being nominated in Tripbase’s Best Kept Travel Secrets Project! Two months on, and we’re amazed at the response we’ve had. Over 100 travel bloggers have participated so far, sharing their Best Kept Travel Secrets on far-flung destinations, hidden hotels, exotic foods and expert travel tips.” – Katie from Tripbase.com.

So here are what were (up until now!), my three best kept travel secrets :

1. Don’t take a generic tome type travel journal with you ~ They’re heavy, have no connection with the place you are travelling, and are often hard to ‘start’ due to a fear of messing up that first pristine page and so spoiling what is to follow!

Do buy small thin notebooks (I like the A6 size) made in the area you are travelling, or at the very least the country you are in! You’ll have the associated story of its purchase from a local news-stand owner, stationery vendor or artisan at a market; and it’ll ooze the culture with local language and design on its cover, and paper with its own unique feel.

Being small it will quickly fill, which is just what you want, as it’s now ready for popping in an envelope, with a beautiful local stamp (or two), and posting home to yourself.

Post your small notebooks home as they fill

Postmarked envelopes are like passport stamps in that they mark where you were and when; and when you finally return home each envelope will reveal a neatly parcelled chapter of your journey.

2. Don’t separate the telling of the tale from the experience ~ By leaving the recounting of your travelling tales to an evening homework exercise!

Homework

Do incorporate your notebook/journal into daily activities like you do with taking photos –

Keep it handy – i.e. with your wallet and camera.

So when asking the concierge for directions, give them your small notebook to draw a mud map of how to find where you’re going, and note the name of your accommodation (partly so you can find your way back!)

Mudmaps are a great addition

When asking a local to take your photo, get them to also jot down the name of the location you’re in (You’ll be amazed how handwriting styles vary across the world)

And when getting your wallet out at a restaurant, get your notebook/journal out too and ask the waiter to write the name of where you have just dined.(different scripts all add to the flavour!)

With the outline of your day now recorded for you by other people, avoid filling in the gaps with wordy compositions of woolly fluff!

Keep it simple and quick (there’s travelling to be done!). You’re only after memory triggers that will later help you recall the whole story –

So… jot down the ‘where’ you are, or ‘what’ you are doing, and then checklist each of your five senses with a word or two that expresses how they are responding to the place/experience ~

For example: ‘rainforest’: epiphytes (what you see), whip-birds (what you can hear), composting leaf litter & humidity (what you can smell), soft-moss (touchy feely), rich leafy lushness (a taste that is in the air).

I find the last one, what you can ‘taste’, often the most revealing! Incredible how atmospheres taste so different and are such brilliant scene setters

3.Don’t throw away used tickets and receipts ~ It is the day-to-day by-products, which are integral to the journey that can provide your best recall associations and be your most treasured mementos.

Do save ephemera such as headed paperwork, ticket stubs, local food wrappings and coasters and keep in a ziplock bag to be posted home every week or so, as and when your small notebook journal is filled.

There is something about holding a handwritten notebook and mementos that you once held and used when away in far flung lands that seems to magically bridge the gap across time.

Something a blog, in its virtual reality, can never do

Mementos and ticket stubs

SUMMARY -

1. Buy a small local notebook/journal to post home every week or two.

2. Incorporate your journalling into your daily activities by getting people you encounter to write in the pertinent place names of where you’re eating, sleeping and visiting, while you simply fill in how your senses are responding to the experience.

3. Keep headed receipts, entry tickets and travel mementos in ziplocks to post home with each notebook as they fill.

Spending time with travel memories fulfills your journey

Ok, as part of Tripbase’s project, I now have to nominate five other bloggers to share their 3 best kept travel secrets. Here are my nominations:

• Rita’s Outback Guide
• Brooke vs the World
• Our Hiking Blog
• Miss Kish
• Cairns Family Holidays

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

Need some inspiration for what to do in or with a journal?

Check out the 1000 journals site.

The 1000 journals project was initiated in the year 2000 when 1,000 journals were sent out into the public domain; some to a fixed location, others that roamed the world, but wherever they were they were open to anyone to make an entry –

It was so successful a selected collection of the results has been published.

While these are not travel journals per se they all reflect the essence of the moment in which they were created and so convey an emotion that comes from making spontaneous entries responding to where you are and what you are doing.

There is now a 1001 journals project operating.

The joy of travelling is its spontaneous nature –

Events change courses and lead to unexpected adventures –

Let your journaling follow suit

Watercolour from a walk in the Border Ranges, NSW

Volcanic rock, Bleeding Heart leaf, giant snail shell, eucalypt leaf and fallen Flame tree flowers are things that caught my magpie eye on this walk through the rainforest at Bar Mountain in the Border Ranges, NSW

Reflection of a moment

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