25 things to collect and keep in your journal

There are so many ideas on the Internet for what memorabilia to keep in your travel journal that it can become overwhelming! (Just ask Pinterest 😉). Everyone has their own idea about what is most valuable to keep hold of. These are some of the things I personally like to keep:

  1. Tickets – train, plane, boat, museums, galleries, cinema, theatre. Anywhere you go you’ll probably get a ticket.
  2. Boarding passes.
  3. Luggage tags.
  4. Business cards – restaurants, bars, cafes, specialist shops, nearly everyone now has a promotional card.
  5. Loyalty cards/stamp cards.
  6. Bookmarks.
  7. Playing cards – souvenir decks of cards sometimes have different tourist attractions on the reverse of each card.
  8. Hotel key cards.
  9. Postcards – both promotional postcards and souvenir postcards are great, you can write on the back about your experience at the place. ( you can also write yourself a postcard, send it home, then tape it into your journal when you get home, it’s a great way to remember small, in the moment details).
  10. Postage stamps – sending postcards to friends and family, buy a couple of extra stamps for your journal.
  11. Flyers and leaflets – these are great way to add more information about the places you’ve been, you can tape the whole thing in or cut it up and use the relevant sections.
  12. Photos, instant cameras and mini photo printers are ideal for this. ( Also a great opportunity to share a moment with local people, ask to take their photo and give them a copy of it).
  13. Letters and notes, letters from home, notes from fellow travellers/people you meet.
  14. Maps.
  15. Coasters, beer mats, paper place mats, napkins with logos.
  16. Magnets.
  17. Fabric patches.
  18. Paper bags – great for storing extra bits and pieces if used whole.
  19. Food wrappers – what snacks and treats did you love? Or hate? Empty candy wrappers are great memories.
  20. Clothing labels – colder than expected, you had to buy a woolly scarf, or something too good to pass up?
  21. Receipts – I don’t often include receipts in my journal, but I do like to buy a few things from a supermarket or similar and enjoy seeing the cost of food in comparison to home.
  22. Pressed flowers, leaves – one of my favourite  items is my red maple leaf found in a park in Quebec.
  23. A small ziplock bag of sand.
  24. Found items – a flat shell found on the beach, small charms, flat beads. I was once given a small pair of dangly earrings on a trip, since I don’t have pierced ears and they are flat, they fit perfectly in my journal and bring back wonderful memories.
  25. Money – leftover small denomination notes or coins.  If coins are too bulky take a pencil rubbing of them.

Truly the sky and your imagination are the limit when it comes to including items in your journal, pretty much anything you find that’s flat will work. If you find something too big to add, a quick photo works brilliantly (instant print cameras like Instax are great for this).

(This article is part of a series about keeping a travel journal, to read the previous post click here.)

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