This is a type of project that’s still new to me. I’m excited to see it changing and growing over time.
I’ve kept gas and milage logs since I started going to Burning Man, and I’ve attempted to start and keep a journal, but it has never really happened. In 2006 I decided that I was going to tape my gas receipts into a composition book. That way they wouldn’t be in a scrambled mess when I got home (or lost). I figured it would also be a big improvement over hastily writing the information before I left the gas station.
Something clicked. I taped other things into the book. I wrote a few paragraphs when I had time. I filled in some of the gaps when I got home and continued to write and paste in pictures and found objects.
In late Feb-early March of this year, I went to Tula, Mexico for a week of volunteer work and a week of vacation after that. I brought a blank, lined Moleskine journal, some tape, and my blue Waterman Phileas fountain pen. The video below shows my travel journal from that trip. Most of my writing has been blurred out (personal thoughts and observations). The tiles on the cover were from a photo I took in San Luis Potosi. I added it, and a few other images after we got back.
More following the jump.
I think the thing that helped me get started was to stop being fussy about things. (With my handwriting, I have to cut myself a lot of slack. It ain’t gonna look like Leonardo de Vinci’s notebook.) Although many people glue items into their travel journals, using tape allowed me to get things in quickly and write about them. Making it easy meant I was going to do it, rather than putting it off until I was back home in my workshop (too late). All those taped-in items and written entries have been great at helping me remember things in ways that are different from the photos I take.
I’m going to have a second part to this tip in a few weeks. I’ll list creative references, sources for supplies, and some other ideas that people may want to try. But in the mean time, just get started with journaling, have fun, and cut yourself a whole lot of slack.
Bonus multimedia:
I listened to Moby’s ‘Lift Me Up’ (below) as I waited for my video to render, get uploaded, and while YouTube was processing it. I found it and the music video inspirational. Lots of creativity there. I also checked out some of the how-to and travel videos on YouTube. Some good, some bad. YMMV.
Here’s the music video (via YouTube).