My Europe Travel Journal

I have always been fond of scrap-booking but the idea of a travel journal never crossed my mind until I was preparing for my Europe trip in July 2012. I thought this trip was the ideal time to explore my creativity and make an informative journal about my experiences. I looked up ideas on Pinterest and went prepared. I took plain envelops to keep memories from each day separately. I also kept a little diary with me the whole time so I could jot down all the information our Belgian guide Christoph would give us. I can’t wait to share this journal with you today.

An important aspect of scrap-booking is to have a protective layer right on top of the cover, once everything is glued together. My sister Nataliya introduced me to Mod Podge which is a white colored glue and comes in matt/shiny finish. Once you are finished with the cover, all you need to do is apply a thin layer of Mod Podge evenly on the surface. Once it dries up, it will form a protective layer. If it isn’t available in your country, white glue is its substitute. In the above picture, you the cover without Mod Podge on the left and with it on the right. The words travel and journal have been sewed to give it a unique look. One of my best friends Silky Kohli helped me sew it while we were at work.

The best part of scrapbooking is that sky is the limit. There are no do’s and dont’s. You are welcome to use anything in your journal. One of the keys to keep interest of your audience is to try to keep each page unique by using different mediums and textures.

I have used many different items on this travel journal. Some of these are tea bags, pressed leaves, coins, stamps, cruise tickets, toilet coupons, bar coasters, hotel tissues, postcards, brochures, luggage tags, restaurant menu cards, underground metro maps, cheese foils, sweet wrappers, ice-cream receipts, my pen sketch of Eiffel Tower, Ferry sugar sachet, post-it’s, French newspaper and hotel souvenirs.

Almost all of these items are free of charge. All you need is some creativity and a lot of glue. I have also used acrylic paint, stencils, date stamp, stickers, printed Google maps, colored paper clips, colored staples, pictures, pens, french manicure marker, ribbon, lace, graffiti, magazine cuttings, clothing tags. I also sewed two words on the cover using a needle and a thread.

After the cover, there is a table of contents, travel quotes, map overview of the entire trip and preparation. This included weather forecast and packing. I also wrote how I got the idea to book this particular tour with Cosmos.

After that, each days’ highlights are displayed along with the countries traveled during that day. All major information about the country and my personal experiences are written as we go along.

After all the days have been discussed, there is a page showing a summary of the trip. So out of all the countries, which one was my personal favorite and why. This is a question that a lot of people still ask me and I always struggle with the answer. So this graph shows why I loved each country. Then there’s a quotation on how travelling isn’t just about seeing of sights, its about a change that takes place within us. It’s true our ideas about life are changed after seeing the world.

After that, I have got a comparison of European Languages which our tour guide gave us. Then there’s a page allocated to all the expenses incurred during the trip. In the end, I have made a comparison of all the countries traveled. So at a glance, one can see how these countries differ from each other in terms of population, area, currency, languages, capitals, flags, country code, independence, architecture style, coastline and literacy rates.

Following is a picture of the back cover of the journal. I have used pictures from Cosmos magazine and simply written a quote on it using a post-it. After gluing these, I used a sponge to evenly spread out Mod Podge over the cover to give it a good finish and a protective layer.

So, this was my first ever travel journal. I intend to make journals for my future travels as well. It is a great way to carry forward the good memories from each place you visit. Even though we think we remember, but we always forget the details. This is why a journal is a great way to explore the world while actually learning facts about that place. It is strange but only after two years, I sometimes forget even the names of cities I visited. This journal is a great way to remember where you were.

I strongly recommend you to make a Travel Journal for your next vacation. Our tour guide gave us valuable information throughout the course of the trip. Tour guides summarize a country really well stating it’s most significant facts. I learned how Nivea creme is made in Germany and Ferari is made in Italy. Without a journal, the nitty-gritties would be forgotten in a year or two.

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Journaling takes a lot of time, but it is something that keeps the creativity in me alive and refreshes my mind. I am currently working on my Genealogy Journal. Would you like me to share it with you all? I love your comments. Thanks for reading. Lots of love.