Do you take your bullet journal on holiday with you? Do you have a dedicated journal just for travelling? If you don’t, I’m here to tell you why you SHOULD have one, and show you some spread ideas to set up in advance to easily document your travels.

Recommended Supplies:

• Archer and Olive Journal – I usually use my usual bujo on holiday, but I love the idea of creating a journal ‘just’ for travelling. I think I may start one for my next trip!
• Fineliners – My favourites are the Unipin fineliners as they’re waterproof, affordable and have a strong nib.
• Coloured/Favorite Pen – As you’re travelling, you don’t want to be carrying too much around. Therefore I usually make my spreads quite simple with just a colour or two to add a bit of fun.
• Ruler – If you’re one of those rare people who can draw a straight line I envy you! I need my ruler everywhere I go!

To Bujo Or Not To Bujo

The question to take your bullet journal on holiday seems to be a highly debated topic on bujo Facebook groups and Instagram. Mostly people worry about losing or ruining it. Others think having a holiday means they should take time off their bujo too (especially those who use it predominantly for work). And others simply think they won’t have the time on holiday to journal. If you fall into one of those categories, I want to persuade you to try taking it the next time you go away. And here’s why:

Losing/Ruining Your Bujo

Let’s think about it this way, you probably take you bujo EVERYWHERE at home, right? Snuggled in your bag, your bujo does just as many steps as you do to work/school/shopping. And you’ve managed to keep a hold of it so far! I find I am extremely aware of where my journal is, and I rarely let it out of my sight. So I believe it is just as unlikely for you to lose it abroad too. Furthermore, I actually recommend when you’re on holiday that you leave it in your room and don’t travel around with it all day – mainly because you shouldn’t need to. Just tuck it away in your hand/carry-on luggage so you aren’t separated from it, and leave it on the bedside table whilst you’re out adventuring. As for ruining it, maybe don’t take it to the pool!

Time Off Your Bujo

The way you bujo on holiday will be completely different to your daily journaling. I believe journaling on holiday is predominantly to help plan your trip and document the amazing memories. So you won’t be creating daily task lists etc. This is why I love the idea of having a dedicated bujo JUST for travelling. So maybe leave your day-to-day and work bujo at home, but don’t go off the idea completely!

No Time To Bujo

The best way to ensure you’re not taking up too much of your holiday journaling is to set up your spreads in advance. The spreads I am about to show you took me just one day to set up the whole travel month (minus a few drawings), so it doesn’t need to be elaborate. You then just need maybe 5-10 minutes on an evening to think back on the day and write down the memories in pre-planned spreads. I personally planned it so I would input one diary entry, one memory, and one word to sum up the day on an evening, which took me less than 10 minutes each day!

Spreads To Include

So now I’ve (hopefully) talked you into taking your bujo on holiday, you need to decide what spreads you need to help you plan the adventure, and what you need to set up in advance for documenting memories.

Planning

For me, the first thing to do is make a big master-list of everything I need to do! Also important (but sadly not as fun) is figuring out finances and make a budget. These are probably my most used spreads when planning so I put these both together!

The next thing I do is create a travel itinerary. This is my favourite spread! It includes a quick look at the dates you are going, where you are going, and has room to make a list of where you want to go! I usually make a separate spread for important documents (not pictured for privacy) but I like to add important reminders on here too as I look at the spread a lot when planning!

Finally, you will definitely want to include a packing list and countdown! There’s no better feeling than ticking off each day, or checking off an item as it goes into the suitcase!

Pre-Planned Holiday Spreads

My go-to set up on holiday is a variation of this dutch door spread:

I love it as you have nearly everything you need on holiday in one place! This cuts down how much time you’ll be spending in your journal. I like to include:

• Room for a daily diary entry
• List of ‘best of’ moments
• Doodle of a memory
• Overview of the week with the activity/event options on each day
• To do list
• Highlights section

This dutch door set up allows you to have room for all this, whilst still seeming to be one spread!

On top of this, there are only two other spreads I regularly use whilst on holiday:

1. One Word A Day

This is really fun to look back on, and only takes a few seconds to do every evening! The challenge was created by Sophie (@phiespoetry on Instagram).

2. Memories

I usually take my HP Sprocket with me to print pictures through the holiday. However, if you don’t have a pocket printer you could do this when you get home. Alternatively you could write in memories and/or doodle them!

Make It Fun (Optional)

I love to bring a few drawings into my journal to make it more personalized to each trip, and just make it more fun. Of course, this is completely optional, and it doesn’t have to be as arty as mine! If you’re not a big drawer, maybe stick in some pictures of where you’re going, or check out Etsy for stickers/printable! Here’s some ways to personalize it:

Add some travel doodles:

(This doodle was originally created by @mylife.mylove.mypassion on Instagram)

If you’re not arty you could just have a page saying ‘adventure awaits’!!

Feature the place you’re visiting:

As you can see for this trip I went to France, so what better landmark to sketch than the Eiffel Tower!

This was a street we walked down that I found particularly picturesque!

Hopefully I’ve given you confidence to bring your journal with you on your next trip, and inspired you to include some of these spreads! If I have, I would love to see your attempts, so tag me on Instagram (@hayleyremdeart) and use #hayleyremdeinspired to get the chance to get your creations featured in my stories!