Happy Travels, Archer & Olive community! It’s May Flaum here and today I am thrilled to tell you I’ve finally sorted out my travel notebook conundrum. You see, for years I’ve been collecting information, researching, and generally gathering data on places we want to visit or think we’d like to visit. The problem? I simply have failed over and over to find a format and system that I’m happy with!

You see - this is my number one happy time hobby. I research places to stay, things to do, history, and other information about places we might some day visit. It is such a joy to me which should be no surprise - I’m a travel planner in both my education (not my occupation - long story for another time!) and as a joyful hobby.

Identify the Purpose

My biggest obstacle has been that this isn’t a trip book, this isn’t a setup for a travel journal. This is theoretical future travel that I hope to take someday, this is information to help me someday decide where to visit, when, and for how long. As well as nearby things to do and places to see, historical context, and more. This is also the biggest mistake and frustration I’ve had in (failed) attempts - I’m trying to be a fortune teller and guess which places we’d likely see and group them accordingly vs geographically.

So where does that leave me? I know I want city (or region, depending) by city coverage and I know I want it grouped by location for the easiest reference. I know this is meant to be a guide book, a reference for when I am able to plan a dream trip and actually execute a plan! I want to include things like TV shows/videos available on the places, additional resources, and space to add more as years go by. This is meant to be a guide book like you’d buy in a store - except all of the information will be specifically targeted to my husband and myself, and our interests.

Organizational Pause

Next up - I had to pause and really think about how organizing such a series of books (as I assume this will become) would work, and what would make sense. I’m going to be truthful here - while I’ve spent the last month diving deep for this article I’ve actually been on pause from my travel journals for a year! I had to fully stop when I realized the format and plan I was working with was terrible, and wouldn’t work. This is when I realized I should be going both by country and by region.

So for example, I wouldn’t put Washington DC next to Paris next to Tokyo in this book. Those places are very far apart, and not likely to be a part of one singular trip that I’d be referencing. For sake of my sanity and based on what I have the most resources on, I’ve decided this project will begin with Europe. I’ve also decided I will not say (or know) how many countries or regions will fit in one book until I get working! So what I came up with for myself is: Starting with Europe, A for Austria I will go alphabetical by country, allowing as much space as I need depending on how many places I have interest in, and within country will sort either alphabetically (if very few places) OR by region (if many places). 

I will leave space for:

• History/About Interesting facts Local Specialties (art, foods, drinks, things they make…)
• Sites to not miss (monuments, parks, things of significance)
• Deeper diving should a trip here happen resources (shows, sites, experts)
• Things to do (music scene, museums, etc)
• Nearby finds (that don’t have their own city/chapter)

I decided things like specific hotels and restaurants have no place here - it could be 10 years or more before I visit, so I would wait on such details until a trip would actually be planned… but the way I have this going I could opt to add-in still.

Would you like to see how my first book is coming along? Here is a video where I am setting things up!

What I really love is that I’ve given myself a framework, and I’ve given myself a structure but it is still very loose and I’m not literally or figuratively putting myself into small boxes that would be hard for me to feel happy about. I am leaving room for future musings, findings, and data as I come across it and building a really fun reference tool while I’m at it.

What supplies?

A&O notepads help me with rough info gathering, A&O notebooks is where I’ll be storing the info and details. Now this may be controversial - but I’m not going to commit to one size. Like many of us, I have many blank notebooks and I want to use what I have as I need a new one. I do have several Traveler Notebook sized, and I do intend to start with that. I’m also using adhesive, cutting out pages/pictures from all sorts of sources (brochures, from online, old guidebooks, etc) and black pen. If I happen to own a sticker or washi tape or other decorative element that I want to use - I’ll add those in as available.

What if I have more to add?

Depending on the place, I’m leaving 3-6 blank pages in each entry. Enough to add on as much as I might have without going too overboard. If the day comes that I decide I’m done I can always remove the excess pages much easier vs taking them out.

Why research this hard?

My first school project memory was a report on where I’d vacation and why, and I chose Austria to see the famed Lipizzaner stallions in action along with eating some schnitzel and desserts. I remember being so determined to visit (I still haven’t!) - but also finding so much joy in learning about other cultures, foods, sites, and history.

That love has stuck with me and a few years ago during lockdown when I felt so very alone and trapped in my house - the fire and passion of researching travel just for the sake of it came back with a vengeance! Since then I’ve logged countless hours reading and watching and learning… but had no great place to store it all. Right now I’ve got guide books filled with post-it notes of my thoughts!

So for me, this is a form of therapy. This is wellness and self-care in a way that is just for me - and useful or not the joy is in the learning and it’s never a bad idea to dig in and discover new things to love, new places to aspire to visit. I have created a printable for you here, in case you’d like to join me in dreaming of travel to distant lands and enjoying fantastic cuisine while seeing sights you’d only pictured in movies or on travel sites.

My end game here?

The joy of making something that helps me elevate my dreams, keeps me motivated when life seems mundane, and that will be useful to my future self when the time comes to plan some big travel adventures. The process is going to be one of my most joyful pastimes, and now that I have a structure and a formula to follow I won’t feel like I’m just aimless dreaming and doing things in a useless way. It will feel good and who knows - perhaps I’ll someday visit all the places I include!

Have you ever tried to make a travel notebook or planning journal like this? Do you make planner notebooks for upcoming trips? Do tell! Leave a comment here, or message me on social media - I’d love to hear what you have to say. If you post inspired by this blog post please tag myself @craftwithmay on social media and also tag @archerandolive, @archerandolive.community as well as using hashtags #AOShare and #archerandolive.