It’s always a good idea to keep a travel journal. It’s a way to document your trip and ensure you don’t forget it later. But it’s also a good way to remember what you saw, who you met, and how you felt.
Take a travel journal with you when you travel, and use these travel journal prompts to guide your writing:
Travel Reflections and Experiences
Preparing for Travel
- How often do you go away?
- What do you want to accomplish while you’re away?
- When was the last time you took a trip, where did you go, and why did you choose that destination?
- Did it meet your expectations? If not, how could it have been better? If so, what made the trip an enjoyable travel experience for you?
- Did this trip help bring about other changes in your life (new job, new friends, etc.)? In what way?
- What would you like to do or see on your trip?
- How do you prepare for a trip?
- How do you prefer to spend your time on the plane or train?
- What’s your favorite way to pass the time on a bus or car ride?
During the Journey
- What’s the best thing about traveling?
- What’s the most exciting thing about traveling to another country?
- What do you like to do when you travel?
- What would make this trip perfect for you?
- Do you’ve any fears about going on this trip?
- How do you feel about taking risks when traveling?
- What are your expectations for the trip?
- What would be the worst thing that could happen to you on this trip?
- How long do you plan to stay in each place you visit?
- Are there any rules or guidelines to ensure your trip is safe and fun?
- What was the first word that came to your mind when you exited the plane?
Cultural Observations and Encounters
- What interesting facts did you find out about your destination?
- How are the people different from those in your home country?
- Describe a typical day of your life here.
- Describe the weather.
- Describe the first person you met on your trip.
- Describe the people in this country (or city) compared to your home country (or country). In what ways are they different/the same? Do they seem open or closed to foreign travelers?
- What do you think of the food culture here – are there dishes that are particularly interesting (or less so)? Or the other way around – do they all seem pretty much the same to you?
- What’s something you don’t understand about people from other cultures?
- Describe a place you’ve visited that wasn’t what you expected
- Describe something you saw in nature that made you stop and wonder
- Describe a place that makes your heart happy when you think of it
- Describe the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen in person (not online)
- Describe a time when you felt safe.
- Describe a time when you were scared on a trip.
Personal Feelings and Experiences
- Do you miss home at all? If so, how do you feel about home (and why)?
- What’s one place you’d recommend visiting?
- What did you learn from a stranger on your trip?
- Did anything go wrong on your trip? If so, how did it affect your travel experience, and how did you feel about it?
- What are your favorite travel destinations?
- Who travels with you? Is it a partner, family member, or friend?
- What do you discover about your travel companion(s) as you travel together?
- Do you prefer to travel alone or with friends/family? And why?
- Do you prefer public transportation or renting a car when traveling between cities? And why?
- What makes the place you traveled to similar or different from home?
- What’s the strangest thing that happened to you on your trip?
- How would you describe this place to a friend or family member?
- What songs did you hear along the way remind you of this trip?
- When did you step out of your comfort zone on a trip?
- What are the top three things that made this trip memorable for you?
- In what ways did this trip change your life?
- What was the biggest challenge during the trip, and how did you overcome it?
- What was the most surprising thing about the trip?
- What did you find out about yourself during the trip?
- What do you wish you’d done differently on this trip?
- What would it be and why if you could return to one specific trip moment?
- What was your favorite day on this trip, and why?
- Who or what inspired you the most on this trip? Why do they inspire you so much? (This could be a person or an object).
- What activities, sights, sounds, and smells do you experience when you travel?
- Do you feel relaxed, tense, or somewhere in between?
- What would the first chapter look like if you wrote a travel memoir?
Preparing for Travel
- How often do you go away?
- What do you want to accomplish while you’re away?
- When was the last time you took a trip, where did you go, and why did you choose that destination?
- Did it meet your expectations? If not, how could it have been better? If so, what made the trip an enjoyable travel experience for you?
- Did this trip help bring about other changes in your life (new job, new friends, etc.)? In what way?
- What would you like to do or see on your trip?
- How do you prepare for a trip?
- How do you prefer to spend your time on the plane or train?
- What’s your favorite way to pass the time on a bus or car ride?
During the Journey
- What’s the best thing about traveling?
- What’s the most exciting thing about traveling to another country?
- What do you like to do when you travel?
- What would make this trip perfect for you?
- Do you’ve any fears about going on this trip?
- How do you feel about taking risks when traveling?
- What are your expectations for the trip?
- What would be the worst thing that could happen to you on this trip?
- How long do you plan to stay in each place you visit?
- Are there any rules or guidelines to ensure your trip is safe and fun?
- What was the first word that came to your mind when you exited the plane?
Cultural Observations and Encounters
- What interesting facts did you find out about your destination?
- How are the people different from those in your home country?
- Describe a typical day of your life here.
- Describe the weather.
- Describe the first person you met on your trip.
- Describe the people in this country (or city) compared to your home country (or country). In what ways are they different/the same? Do they seem open or closed to foreign travelers?
- What do you think of the food culture here – are there dishes that are particularly interesting (or less so)? Or the other way around – do they all seem pretty much the same to you?
- What’s something you don’t understand about people from other cultures?
- Describe a place you’ve visited that wasn’t what you expected.
- Describe something you saw in nature that made you stop and wonder.
- Describe a place that makes your heart happy when you think of it.
- Describe the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen in person (not online).
- Describe a time when you felt safe.
- Describe a time when you were scared on a trip.
Personal Feelings and Experiences
- Do you miss home at all? If so, how do you feel about home (and why)?
- What’s one place you’d recommend visiting?
- What did you learn from a stranger on your trip?
- Did anything go wrong on your trip? If so, how did it affect your travel experience, and how did you feel about it?
- What are your favorite travel destinations?
- Who travels with you? Is it a partner, family member, or friend?
- What do you discover about your travel companion(s) as you travel together?
- Do you prefer to travel alone or with friends/family? And why?
- Do you prefer public transportation or renting a car when traveling between cities? And why?
- What makes the place you traveled to similar or different from home?
- What’s the strangest thing that happened to you on your trip?
- How would you describe this place to a friend or family member?
- What songs did you hear along the way remind you of this trip?
- When did you step out of your comfort zone on a trip?
- What are the top three things that made this trip memorable for you?
- In what ways did this trip change your life?
- What was the biggest challenge during the trip, and how did you overcome it?
- What was the most surprising thing about the trip?
- What did you find out about yourself during the trip?
- What do you wish you’d done differently on this trip?
- What would it be and why if you could return to one specific trip moment?
- What was your favorite day on this trip, and why?
- Who or what inspired you the most on this trip? Why do they inspire you so much? (This could be a person or an object).
- What activities, sights, sounds, and smells do you experience when you travel?
- Do you feel relaxed, tense, or somewhere in between?
- What would the first chapter look like if you wrote a travel memoir?
You can use any of the travel journal prompts for your travel journal. You can choose one journal prompt or more travel writing prompts for your travel journal. The best travel journal prompts are the ones you choose for yourself.
Why You Should Keep a Travel Journal
A travel journal is a great way to record what you saw and did, your experiences, and the people you met. It’s also an excellent way to remind yourself of the times in your life that are important to you.
Writing down events in your journal helps you remember them later. When you write something down, it solidifies in your travel memory so that later, when someone asks you about your road trip or you want to relive some of those memories, you’ve all those moments fresh in your mind. And if you write down how you felt during those experiences, you can better frame things for future trips!
Keeping a journal during your trip abroad can also be helpful when you need to explain things to friends or family back home. You may not always have time to write an email explaining what happened while they were away! But if they read your journal after returning from their travels, they can understand all the details immediately.
Creative Travel Journal Ideas
Your Travel Journal Can Be Anything You Want It to Be
One of the best things about a travel journal is that it can be as creative as you want. For example, if you’re going on a trip and want to add something special to your journal entry, you can get some bus tickets and receipts.
You can also include business cards from hotels or restaurants. Anything that helps it feel like a natural part of your trip is excellent!
That’s not all – you can also use postcards or other souvenirs to decorate your page. If you’re feeling particularly creative, you can also draw a picture of what you saw or scribble between the lines of your letters. Don’t overdo it, though – you don’t want anything to distract you from being able to read what you’ve written! If there’s one thing we’ve learned from our travels (and from observing the journals of others), it’s that when traveling, it’s best to keep things simple!
Kids Travel Journal
When you travel with your children, they’ll probably be grateful if you get them to keep their travel diary early on. Even if they can’t write yet, they can use some of the travel journal writing prompts above and draw creative travel journal ideas instead of writing.
This way, they can record their favorite trip memories, and you’ll be amazed at how many little details they can remember compared to adults. Children are very efficient at turning a simple prompt into an excellent journal idea.