Keeping a Journal While I Travel

One of the things I do when I travel is have a notebook to journal in.  My goal is to journal every night but that is not always possible for a variety of reasons.  For instance, my trip to Africa, a lot of nights we were in bed early and there was nowhere to sit down and write.  So when we got somewhere that had a bench and a place to write, and we weren’t going to be making supper immediately or something, I would get caught up.

What Do I Write?

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Start with the basics.  Where was I, what were we doing, any key points that stand out to me.  These journals are what I use when I blog the trip.  Relevant information like what we saw that day, special notes, things that are unique that I want to remember in the future or something interesting the guide told us.  Sometimes my entries are very short and not very informative beyond what creative thing I may have tried to make in the kitchen with limited resources.  On a tour, I may make notes about the meal we had or a food that I tried.  Depending on where I am, there are notes about the weather. 

Spending

At the back of my notebook, I keep track of the money I have spent.  I like to have a good idea of what I spent and how I spent it.  Of course, I can always track it based on how much money I converted or put on my credit card.  The other advantage of listing my spending is that it can help me remember where I was on a certain day, especially if I haven’t journaled for a bit.  I typically keep the spending list current.  If I convert cash, I will make a note of the exchange rate I got when I did the exchange.

Do you keep a journal?  What do you record?