What is a travel journal?

I thought I knew the definition, but since VF reopened, I’ve been wondering—so if you could help me out, that’d be great! 🙂.

Thanks a lot!

Hi Dolma, 🙂

How about you start by giving your own definition?

For me, it’s a text—illustrated with photos or not—that recounts a trip you’ve taken. Not necessarily day by day, not necessarily in detail, not necessarily a list of places visited. In short, a pretty free-form exercise that reflects what the author wants to share.

I agree with Agnès’s message: what’s your definition? And why this question since the site reopened?

For me, two words define a travel journal: sharing and memory.

Sharing because telling the story of a trip, in any way, means exchanging info but also your favorite moments, frustrations, and maybe even some great tips. And reading a travel journal means comparing someone else’s experience with your own if you’ve already been to that country. Or finding ideas for a future trip. Or exploring a country you don’t even want to visit. Or discovering a future destination you hadn’t even considered. Many of my trips have been inspired or confirmed by travel journals.

Memory because I sometimes reread one of my own journals on a rainy day. It helps me relive forgotten moments. Or reading a journal about a country I’ve already visited to spot the changes.

PS @agnes I’m not stalking you, I’m just on the active discussions thread 😉

This reminds me of my high school exit exam, where in philosophy I chose the topic "What does it mean to be wrong?" because the other two were even less exciting.

The kind of question that, decades later, you're relieved you don’t have to answer anymore.

Good evening,

I thought I knew the definition, but since VF reopened, I’ve been wondering—so if you can help, that’d be great! :)

Travel journal: words and/or images that evoke a trip.

Thanks so much!

You’re welcome.

Catherine

It's the notebook I used to take with me on trips. True story!

Incidentally, it served as a medium to recount the entire journey and its details in what we aptly call a "travel journal" here on VF.

A travel journal is a tool for sharing info with loads of people—most of whom won’t bother to return the favor.

A travel journal can also be a way to embarrass yourself in many ways: crappy photos, lame jokes, a glaring lack of originality, selfies with unflattering or average looks—take your pick.

A travel journal could be the traveler’s Porsche: you see it pass by and think, "Wow, I’d love to have that kind of financial means."

Now, Dolma, what exactly are your gripes with recent travel journals? I sense you’re holding back! !

I’m replying to Catherine’s message, but of course, hello and thanks to everyone! 🙂

A few days ago, I posted a piece called "Strolling Through Quebec" in the journals section. It’s about thirty lines long—short, and without photos—but I think it captures what I see and feel during my trips to Quebec, and I wanted to share it. I was surprised to find my journal in the miscellaneous section. Like, what do we do with this? Then it moved to reflections, probably for the same reason: what do we do with this? Okay, it did eventually get added to Quebec (phew).

It’s clear that if I’d included 3 or 4 photos between the paragraphs, the post would’ve stayed in the right category. But here’s the thing: I prefer to write my journals with words, not photos. I respect everyone’s way of sharing their travels, and I’d love for the new VF to respect my choice too.

That’s all! 😉

Oops! Jojoone’s message popped up while I was writing 🙂. Hope I answered your question.

If needed, you can send a message directly to VF. The response is sometimes brief, but there’s always a reply.

That's what I did, but no, nothing's happening. Oh well, it's just annoying me :)

This story will at least allow a few people to discover your nice little piece.

My first thought: a journal has pages and it tells a trip. So VF will put in travel journals either a trip told in several more or less chronological episodes or in a single episode, but then a very long and detailed text.

I therefore think your text would have fit particularly well in the "Thoughts and Reflections" section or even in Québec rather than in Travel Journals. That’s just my impression.

Good evening Dolma,

So that’s where your strange message came from!

I’ll admit, I read your post about your Quebec impressions in the “Miscellaneous” section and wondered why on earth you hadn’t posted it in “travel journals.” Oh well… 😉

Catherine

a very long and detailed text

So my texts will never be in travel journals because they might be long, but definitely never very long and detailed

"Go figure..." 😛

To wrap up this topic, see the reply I just posted to Jojoonne above 🙂

Thinking the opposite way can be really enlightening. If the "travel journal" section regularly featured posts that only had a distant connection to what we usually think of as travel journals, wouldn’t readers feel a bit lost—maybe even like it’s a bit of a mess?

I thought I knew the definition

I’m discovering this thread late, preferring my Lisbon wanderings to what VoyageForum’s reopening offers. So, I get to benefit from both the question and the reasoning behind it.

In carnet de voyage, there’s voyage, a word that can spark many interpretations—but everyone more or less agrees on those. Anyway, that’s not really the point of the question. Let’s skip the de and focus on the word carnet.

A *carnet*—you carry it physically or keep it virtually in a corner of your mind. You jot down details, information, feelings, sketches, photos, lists, or menus. When it’s about a trip, it can be made during or after (before is trickier). Then you flip through it, browse it, maybe even add to it. You do it for yourself, but you can always share it.

Is your text a travel journal? I’d lean toward thinking it’s more of a travel narrative than a travel journal. The feelings take center stage (anaphora too), but there’s not much practical detail. If you ignore the title, it takes a while to figure out what it’s about.

I get why moderation might struggle to place it. The Québec section makes sense, but it’s a shame to leave it there, where (selzé) those who enjoy beautiful writing won’t find it. It’s actually an indexing issue. You could put it in *Traveler Reflections / Québec*, but it should also be findable under *Québec / Traveler Reflections*—which isn’t technically possible.

You explained it better than I could, and I totally agree with your take.

By the way, while we wait for VF to reopen, was it really you who started that little blog, or was it someone impersonating you? I’ve been wondering about that for a while...

Good evening,

Is your text a travel journal? I’d tend to think it’s more of a travel *narrative* than a travel *journal*. Feelings play a big role in it (anaphora too), but there aren’t many practical details. If we ignore the title, it takes a while to figure out what you’re talking about.

I agree.

Dolma’s text is nothing short of a narrative—a structured account of events. It falls under the category of a journal, a record, though in her case, an impressionistic one, of a trip to Quebec. It seems important to distinguish between what a travel journal *is*—the physical notebook—and what it’s *commonly* presented as online, on VF or elsewhere. Very formatted, in the end.

I’ll share two photos of a paper journal from two trips to give a real sense of it.



And this one, because we’re on VoyageForum...



That said, writing a travel journal *before* actually taking the trip is a great experimental idea—perfect for a freezing Lombard weekend. Long live VF’s return and the mental sparkle!

Catherine

Good evening Catherine,

I see you’ve chosen a page heavy with emotion. A few words that take me back to some days in August 2008, in Telavi, where my naive eyes couldn’t see a general mobilization—until a distinguished VF member opened them for me in Tbilisi. A heavy, feverish night on an avenue in Saburtalo, Ortachala, two 50 € bills left secretly in a Lonely Planet, a bus with Özlem Ardahan, military columns in Gori, then an internet café in Kars. Back then, we still used to tap away in internet cafés. And a foreign devil. Terrible news you don’t want to believe.

My journals are only digital now, but I remember few days as vividly as that one.

Michel

Good evening Michel,

I know. That same internet café in Kars whose front steps I’d climb six months later after wandering through the horse market amid swirling snowflakes, the only foreigner endlessly happy. Back when Booking didn’t list a single hotel, when we set off with Orhan Pamuk as our only dream.

Catherine

I thought I knew the definition, but since VF reopened, I’ve been wondering...

You’ve always had a thing for those unclassifiable texts of yours! 🙂😛

Before VF shut down—maybe even earlier—the section was called Travel journals, travelers’ texts. A catch-all section, like a vast library or media center focused on travel catalogs/tourist brochures, a goldmine of info but also, sometimes, the dusty little shop where you’d dig out a shaky pile to uncover an unidentified literary gem that—maybe, maybe not—would turn out to be a joy to read... (And when it’s not, we’ll avoid trashing the book...)

How many trips, travel cravings, or travel dreams began between the pages of a book... or here, reading a travel journal that, without offering an Excel roadmap, without showing a single receipt, without plotting an itinerary, without even revealing the colors... gave you the unexpected side of a country, its lesser-known facets, brushed against its soul, its poetry. Gently dismantled the prejudices and assumptions we all carry in the back of our minds when we think about certain corners of the planet...

Even if they don’t do anything for the site’s SEO, shouldn’t these little (and not-so-numerous) iconoclastic gems be preserved like precious flames in worlds that are becoming more and more materialistic... and be accessible through multiple gateways (Miscellaneous/Destination/Travel Journals)? ... And then... VF carefully keeps in its folds the traces left by those who, having flown too soon to a place they can no longer tell us about, entrusted their Travel journals, travelers’ texts here, never knowing they’d still stir so many emotions, smiles in the heart, or tears in the eyes of those who’d crossed paths with them.

Sorry, but I have to point out that inclusive writing is unbearable for normal people.

Forgive me, but I must point out that inclusive writing is unbearable for normal people.

I wouldn’t have used “normal” because what even is normality, but I’ll admit I also really struggle with reading fluency…

You’ve always had a thing with your unclassifiable texts, huh! 🙂😛

Actually, by refraining from posting my texts here, I won’t have that kind of issue anymore—it’s much simpler! Maybe I’ll leave a comment if a text really speaks to me, but that’s it.

From the various posts (well, almost all of them), it seems better to offer a detailed journal that summarizes the trip day by day—prices, meals, hotels, you name it—and add tons of photos. That’s what people like. Okay, I respect that 🙂.

If you only knew how much your last paragraph resonates with me...

Hi,

a detailed journal that summarizes the trip day by day, including prices, meals, hotels, and whatever else, plus tons of photos

You’re describing the perfect snooze-fest of a journal here...

I’d rather have a well-written piece like yours, even if it supposedly doesn’t fit the "right" category.

Totally agree with you! 🙂 __

UnaMilanese and Tatra: A few intertwining lines that are enough to let your imagination wander and set off on a journey. Thanks...

Hi there,

The MyAtlas team, which Voyage Forum is now part of, selects travel journals it wants to "feature" based on the following criteria:

The travel journal should be interesting even if you don’t know the author (not too many private photos, selfies, etc.) The travel journal shouldn’t focus too much on the side aspects of the trip (too many photos of hotels, food, planes, airports, etc.) Photos should be high quality (sufficient resolution, good framing, few failed shots, etc.) No promotional journals (for a travel agency, organization, hotel, guide, etc.) Get into the trip quickly (not too many introductory steps or preparations so the reader doesn’t get discouraged) Ideally, the travel journal shouldn’t mention flights

Hi,

Where did you get these details? Do they refer to the MyAtlas site, which is indeed very focused on travel stories, or do they apply to VF? Are you a spokesperson for the VF administration?

Ideally, a travel journal doesn’t talk about flights

That’s a strange idea—why not? When I do a 10-day trip like Sonderborg - Copenhagen - Vienna - Riga - Helsinki - Copenhagen - Sonderborg across 5 airlines, isn’t that a trip? Couldn’t it be written up in a journal? 🤪

Michel

Hello,

Where do you get these details from?

From MyAtlas, quite simply, where I’ve published around thirty travel journals. That’s the message I receive every time I upload a new one.

Do these apply to the MyAtlas site, which is indeed very focused on travel stories, or do they apply to VF?

No, this doesn’t apply to VF.

Are you a spokesperson for VF’s administration?

No!

Ideally, the travel journal doesn’t mention flights. Strange idea—why not?

It’s clearly stated as ideally. In reality, I occasionally mention them in my stories, and yet MyAtlas still selected them.

When I do a 10-day trip: Sonderborg - Copenhagen - Vienna - Riga - Helsinki - Copenhagen - Sonderborg on 5 different airlines, isn’t that a trip?

Yes! There are all kinds of ways to travel—business trips, pilgrimages, medical trips...

It’s clearly stated ideally. In reality, I occasionally mention it in my stories, and yet MyAtlas selected them.

Would a travel journal that not only mentions air travel but even makes it the main—or even the only—theme still be considered one in your opinion? A journal on MyAtlas or one on VF—nothing says the criteria have to be the same, right?

Michel

There are all kinds of ways to travel.

Just like there are several ways to tell the story of your travels? :)

not too many introductory steps or preparations so the reader doesn’t get discouraged

VF is a precious treasure, a fabulous repository with its own requirements. Should we now expect such... infantilizing formatting?

Would a travel journal that not only evokes air travel but makes it the main—or even the only—theme still qualify as one in your opinion?

Why not, but I wouldn’t read it. The golden rule for a travel journal is the freedom to write whatever you want within the bounds of the law. It’s all about freedom of expression.

That said, in my view, a journal that strays from MyAtlas’s (recommended, not mandatory) guidelines—like too many flights, too many hotels, too many restaurants, or too many redundant or low-quality photos—ends up being a snoozefest that you’ll drop pretty quickly.

Hope that answers your questions.

Best,

Michel

That's what people like

Do we write a travel journal to please the largest audience? 🙂

If so, the author should pick a trendy destination, describe their trip in a positive light while including plenty of activities (you’ve got to get your money’s worth), post heavily edited photos to showcase the experience, and add a few drone shots for that wow effect. A few carefully selected photos of the author themselves are a bonus (reader identification).

If not, the author does whatever they want! 😛

That said, on VF, the average reader is a bit older. Option 1 might not go over well...

That said, in my opinion, a journal that doesn’t meet MyAtlas’s (recommended but not mandatory) criteria—too many flights, too many hotels, too many restaurants, too many redundant or poor-quality photos—is a boring journal that you quickly stop reading.

In my view, their boring nature has more to do with how the journal is written than the fact that transportation methods and accommodations are the focus. What do you expect from a travel journal? I find tourist visit accounts potentially very boring if they’re poorly written. I rarely read them on VF or elsewhere mostly because they’re poorly written—too factual, not elaborate enough. But you can describe a journey by plane in a literary way with some really beautiful photos. 😏

Michel

Hey, I’ve got an idea: I’m going to sign up for MyAtlas (which I didn’t know about 😮) and I’ll submit one of my travel stories. Do you think it’ll be accepted? Surprise 🙂...

Should we now expect such an... infantilizing format?

It’s a flexible template.

There’s a bit of everything on MyAtlas. Mostly with photos, though.

Otherwise, the author does what they want! 😛

Totally agree 🙂 Might as well end up with your text in Misc

Yes, accepted. Anything that complies with the law is accepted.

Being featured is another story.

Being featured is a bit like VoyageForum’s Reading Suggestions section.

I missed the featured part! To be continued...

There’s also the promotion of certain discussions on VF’s Facebook page.

For example, Kate and Richard’s latest travel journal.

I’ll add that a "boring" journal can actually be a precious one. (Even for the person who’s bored...)

When a destination or region has very little info online, practical details are super helpful for future travelers who’d like to go there. It’s kind of like a guide, really.

Tourist visit accounts can feel really boring if they're poorly written.

I completely agree with this.

But you can talk about a plane journey in a somewhat literary way and with some really beautiful photos

Absolutely. I’m not particularly interested in planes, but I’ve enjoyed reading well-written travel stories about train trips.

Great idea, especially since you can write simple articles.

Hello,

The MyAtlas team, which Voyage Forum now belongs to, selects travel journals it wants to "feature" based on the following criteria:

The travel journal must be interesting even if you don’t know the author (not too many private photos, selfies, etc.) The travel journal shouldn’t focus too much on the side aspects of the trip (too many photos of hotels, food, planes, airports, etc.) Photos should be high quality (sufficient resolution, good framing, few failed shots, etc.) No promotional journals (for a travel agency, organization, hotel, guide, etc.) Get into the trip quickly (not too many introductory steps or preparations so the reader doesn’t get discouraged) Ideally, the travel journal doesn’t mention flights

Hi Michel,

If you don’t request it, the journal won’t be featured on MyAtlas. At least, that’s the case for mine. Maybe they’re too "boring"...😉

Good idea

I signed up on MyAtlas, it was easy. I wanted to create a journal, I followed the "instructions," but then it got more complicated: they absolutely want steps in the writing, except there aren’t any steps in my stories, and I can’t change anything. Too complicated for me. I give up 😛.

Conclusion: the "Reflections" and "Miscellaneous" sections on VF aren’t so bad for posting unclassifiable texts

Thanks to everyone who took part in this little diversion...

In your case, it's just a single-entry travel journal, that's all. 😛

So we learn that Herodotus isn’t involved in moderation. I would’ve happily voted for him as the champion of culture, rigor, and pedagogy, though!

Oh, surprise—Mr. Tatra isn’t either? So who *is* collaborating, then?

I’d love to know, but I guess I’m just an incorrigibly curious little traveler! 🙂

I think it was once requested that moderator members be clearly identified, but unfortunately, that request didn’t go through.

I figure if people knew about it, they’d be flooded with questions, criticisms, complaints, suggestions, and who knows what else.

Sure, but the link is skewed if someone wears two hats.

I think a member shouldn’t be a moderator. Or at least only to delete scam messages (selling medications, offering fake documents, or too-good-to-be-true investment schemes).

It ruins the vibe by creating generalized suspicion.

Of course, it makes you think about that. In my opinion, the site manager chose people they trusted and who had given them serious guarantees, under conditions we can't know. I'm willing to bet that even if we entrusted the management to an A.I., there would still be the same rate of dissatisfied people. I think we just have to deal with it.