I’ve written before about how keeping a travel journal is fun and makes a wonderful keepsake.

You can check out the Travel Journal Tips post here.

Sometimes, however, completing a travel journal seems too time consuming and hard to keep up with while traveling.

Today I offer a quick and easy way to keep a day-by-day journal.

The Daily Top Ten List!

Background

A few years ago I took a writing class from Lynda Barry, noted author and artist, and she showed us how to do a daily Top Ten Images Diary.

And you may remember The Top Ten List from David Letterman’s shows, which were funny, poignant and captured the moment.

I adapted these ideas and now incorporate them into my travel journals.

Method

Here’s how it works:

At the end of your travel day, sit comfortably somewhere and get a nice glass of something refreshing to drink.

Set a timer for 90 seconds-but you could make it up to three minutes if you absolutely have to. 

Start the timer.

Quickly jot down ten images from your day-things you most remember, what was funny, interesting, activities you liked, etc. Even what you didn’t like.

You don’t have to write complete sentences, just write enough to remember what you did.

When the timer stops, you’re done!

Result

If you do this daily on your trip, you will have a quick de facto diary of what you did.

I first started Top Ten Lists in 2014, in Florence, Italy. My friend Milinda and I went to the rooftop garden of our hotel with a glass of vino and set the timer.

We shared our lists and had fun talking over the day. This set a pattern that we have continued on each trip we’ve taken.

molly nunnelly heirloom vacations top ten list travel journal page

You can see the list is written quickly and not full sentences.

Lately, I’ve taken to embellishing my lists for my travel journals, and often create one after a few days in a city:

molly nunnelly heirloom vacations Paris Journal Top Ten Page

Again, incomplete sentences and images.

I also do them for a region I’ve visited

molly nunnelly heirloom vacations New Zealand North Island Journal Top Ten Page

Each time the process is the same, and I have all these images safely captured in my journals.

It’s very easy and doesn’t take much time. Let me know if you try doing your own travel Top Ten Lists!

 

Contact me to start planning your heirloom-worthy vacation!