Let's Create a Travel Journal

1. Introduction: Card located in your seat pocket. We kindly ask you to take a moment and review the important information... Hi, I'm Elaine Vitikainen. I'm an illustrator and an entrepreneur from Helsinki. I love to travel and I've visited 50 countries. I also love to document my travels on my blog and on my Instagram. But also I love creating travel journals. Journaling about my travel has always been an enjoyable process that allows me to be at the present moment while preserving that moment at the same time. It's always fun to look back through my travel journals. There's no one way to create a travel journal as travel journals showcase our own personal style and therefore it is unique. For me, there are no rules, no right or wrong in travel journaling. Just let your creativity flow and enjoy the process. So let's create a travel journal. 2. Class Project: For the class project, we will be creating a travel journal of any travel that we've experienced. It could be a visit to the next city from where we live or somewhere far. Although I'll be guiding you in creating a travel journal page, please remember that this is your own journal. So feel free to express your own personal style and uniqueness. Let's start. 3. Travel Journal Examples: In this lesson, we will be going through my travel journals to give you an example of how a travel journal page could look like. I hope these examples will inspire you to create your own travel journal. If there are only three things I've learned over the years of travel journaling, they would be that first, don't wait to journal until you feel that you're good enough. Just be brave and just go for it. If I've waited to be good enough to start creating travel journals, then I would have never created anything at all. The second would be, don't wait too long to journal your travels because it could easily lose the momentum and you really want to journal when the travel is still fresh in your mind. Then lastly, it would be about expressing your own style when creating a travel journal. There is no one way to create a travel journal. It can be simple, or it could be as elaborate as you want. You can write, draw, and create a collage of potographs, clippings, memorabilias and other items that you have collected during your travels. You can also add embellishments such as glitters, stickers, colored papers, fancy cuttings and stamp images. I think the most important thing is to be able to create in a way that makes you happy and gives you the courage to start journaling. So don't wait too long until you feel that you're good enough, don't wait too long to journal your troubles. Then lastly, express your own style. 4. Travel Journal Kit: A pen and a journal is sufficient enough as a travel journal kit. As long as you have the right weight of the paper for your pen, you are ready to start journaling. One important thing when preparing your travel journal kit is to decide what style you're going for. For my latest travel, I created a simple travel journal using a traveler's notebook watercolor paper. And my choice of writing tools were Pashca pens in mostly pastel colors. Some brown pens, white for highlight. Since I was traveling during the cherry blossom season, I wanted to recreate the moment in my own way. I also like to stick items I've collected during the trip. So I have a glue tape with me. I like using glue tapes because they're easy to peel off in case I change my mind. You can also carry Washi tapes with you that compliment the style and colors that you're going for. Also, bring a pencil and an eraser if you want to sketch before inking in also a ruler would be helpful. I really like this transparent pen case because I can easily see what's inside my case. The size really makes it easy to spread the things inside without taking them out. Decide what style you are going for, get to know the paperweight of your journal, and decide on the writing tools to use. 5. Let's Create: In this lesson, we will be creating a simple journal page. As I've mentioned before, there is no one way to create a journal page. For example, this one's I've drawn elements to create a journal page. Here I have included clippings from a travel brochure. This one I drew where and how I traveled. Here are drawings of some of the food I had during the trip. Here, I've included a map to show where I drew. Here I made a postcard. But this one I've used a binder with all the items I've collected during the trip. I also drew this digitally to include in the binder. There are many ways to do a travel journal, but today I'll be journaling the visit to a cute cafe in Hongdae, Seoul. First, I've gathered all the materials that I will include in my travel journal. I have my Travelers Journal sketch paper. I have three polaroids taken from the cafe and a sticker pack that I bought at the cafe with the intention of using them in my journal. One travel journaling tip is to look for the specific items to include in your journal. For example, bookmarks and postcards with city name are really good for a front cover. I also look out for postcards with a map. Here it shows where I've explored. This postcard is really special for this reason. Also, I really like postcards of recipes of food that I've eaten during the trip. So keep a watch for these postcards if they are your interests. I also kept the tissue that I will use for the name. Then I have an envelope with a color that matches the theme. I will stick it onto the side to put the receipt and business card. For my travel journal, I like to include the title, the date, and the place. I'm going to use this tissue for the name. Now we can plan where things should go. I will then write how I feel about the visit. I will use a Posca pen to add some hearts. Then some stickers. Then lastly, I will draw some simple cherry blossom as it was the cherry blossom season. If you're not very confident to just go straight onto your journal, test it out first. Do a practice sketch if you like, but if you just went for it and didn't go as you have imagined, let it be. Just enjoy those creative moments, because it's all part of the process. 6. Thank you: Thank you for joining me in this class. I hope you enjoyed creating your own travel journal to preserve your travel memories. Please don't forget to snap a photo of your travel journal page and share them in the project gallery section. I really can't wait to see what you've created and if you're posting your project on Instagram to also a review of this class to help me in creating more classes, I would really appreciate it. Bye for now and see you again soon.