When I travel, I know that I’m going to want to retain the memories of what I saw and experienced. This is where my very handy journal comes in. If any burgeoning traveler wants some tips of mine, this would be at the top of list of things to bring along. They’re easy to pack, and they save your memories and experiences from going away; it’s nice to go back into my journals from trips one, two, or three years ago and be able to jog my memory. As a side note, I like to use them outside of trips for any sort of inspiration I may suddenly have or just to use them to recap the day’s events. My mantra for journals is that no matter what you post on Facebook, Twitter, or elsewhere, technology won’t last, while journals will. Keep one. Like I’ve said, they’re amazingly useful all around, and they can’t be deleted.

To close out this post, I really love the type of journals that can be closed. I’m talking about ones that specifically have a device that will hold in your thoughts in said journal. Nothing against ones that can be opened without any effort, but I want to ensure that what I write in my own journal won’t be ripped out, looked at without my knowledge, or stay intact in my backpack during my travels. Finally, I highly recommend using paperblanks journals-they’re great and fairly cheap. You can find more about them here at http://www.paperblanks.com/us/en/.