Tips to write a great travel diary

Effetmer Travelers and EQ is the story of a meeting, one beautiful autumn morning. It was love at first sight for a project that really chimed with us, for a couple who were globe trotters at heart and had set off on something that many people dream of doing one day – a journey round the world. 

This journey of a lifetime in quest of inspiration, discovery and encounters, authentic experiences are related with real flair by Perrine and Max in their blog (link). But also via their travel log which is written in their own style, and where adventures, confessions and love are conveyed beautifully. We asked Perrine to give us some tips for an inspiring, timeless and original travel diary. Read with caution, this may make you want to escape from it all at the end of it!

"Each journey is synonymous with encounters, discoveries, learning new things and anecdotes that make the journey unique and authentic! It seemed important to me and inevitable that we would write down this flood of memories in a travel diary every day.

As soon as I started travelling, I began to write a travel diary day after day that detailed our plans for that day, the routes we took, our encounters, discoveries, toils and troubles, good addresses and so on. I love taking time out to do this every evening, to remember the memorable moments from that day. It's a time for mindfulness, a time that is very personal and is also just so I can take stock of my day! Often I add a little note about my mood, state of mind, things I thought about, questions I asked, and so on. It's not always easy to embark on this kind of "work" but I guarantee you that years later you'll be happy to go through your various diaries and realise how much you've forgotten some things, and how much others change you for life. To help you take the plunge, I'm giving you my 5 top tips for a unique diary that really reflects you:

1. Choice of Diary

 First of all, and a very important stage, one of my favourites, is choosing your diary!  You must want to open this little book every day. But how do you choose a good one? The first thing you need to bear in mind is the size. The one I like best is A5 maximum so I can take it everywhere with me. You could also go for a smaller size but I wouldn't necessarily advise that because it's not practical for writing much in or sticking things into. On the other hand, it could be a little smaller than A5, square-shaped for example, the main thing is that a double page gives you a good surface for creating things on. Then the next most important point is the paper quality, the grammage. I generally choose a slightly thicker paper so I can draw and do watercolours on it. But that all depends on your personal preferences. There are also notebooks with different types of paper inside, and I think that's lovely because it gives a certain pace to your account. But the most important thing, and the thing that will decide if you buy it or not, is just getting that "love at first sight" feeling when you buy it. I have to admit, as soon as I see one I like, I buy it, so that means I always have 4 to 5 notebooks in advance at my place