How to Write a Travel Journal? Writing Tips || The Travel Tester

JOURNALING & TRAVEL WRITING ADVICE

DEFINITION OF TRAVEL WRITING

According to the dictionary, travel writing is “a genre of writing in which the author describes places they have visited and their experiences while travelling”.

It sounds simple, but as we all know, travel writing is a bit more than just describing what you did in a place you visited. It’s so easy to become repetitive when writing “and then we did this…”, “and then we did that…”

That’s why in this article, I would love to show you how to make a travel story more interesting to read. My best tip? It’s to W R I T E !

W.R.I.T.E.

Just WRITE? This is what I mean with that:

W.

If try and answer all these questions, you’re already giving a lot of information that makes the reader better understand what happened on your trip.

R.

Reflect: How did the experience make you feel? Was it a positive experience, or a negative? Was there something you learned from it? What were your thoughts?

Did you have any expectations going to this place? Did you make any plans? If so, how did the real experience compare?

I.

Investigate: Can you add some background information to the experience? For example, is there a historical or personal connection, a current event, or something else that you can tie into the story?

T.

Talk: Can you add quotes or phrases from people you encountered? Did you overhear any conversations, opinions or stories? What language did they speak and how did this sound to you?

And did you perhaps also see any specific gestures or expressions that people made while speaking (or when they chose not to speak?) All these little details will really make the story start coming to life!

E.

Embellish: What can you add to the story that will make it really stand out? Make sure to use all your 5 senses (see, hear, feel, taste and smell).

What else is there around you that you can describe? Think about people, objects, nature, animals, colours, textures, food, accommodation, clothing, customs, music… what else can you think of?

ADDITIONAL TRAVEL WRITING TIPS

Make sure to always write like you speak, that will make your story much more pleasant to read than using big words or writing down phrases you’d never say yourself. Read the text out loud to hear the rhythm of your words. Does it sound natural, like you’re telling the story to your best friend?

Always carry something to record your experiences while on the road. It’s so easy to forget the little details that could make your story come alive! If you don’t want to write down everything right in the moment, perhaps you can carry a small audio recorder with you (or just use your phone) to record the sound of your surroundings or leave voice memo’s to yourself.

If you find it difficult to keep up with a travel journal on your travels, perhaps a small travel logbook is more for you! Here you can quickly jot down the key memories of your day, so you won’t forget later. You can always use this little notebook to write a longer story later. Some good ones are the Everywhere You Go journal by Compendium or The Trip Passport by Letterfolk.