Travel Journal Templates: 6 Ready-to-Use Formats for Every Traveler

Morning

Woke up before the alarm—the call to prayer does that here. Had coffee on the riad rooftop watching the sun rise over the medina walls. The city smells different at dawn: bread baking, wet stone, jasmine.

Decided to abandon the map entirely. "Let's just get lost," I said to no one. So I did.

Afternoon

Got genuinely lost around 2pm. No GPS signal in these narrow passages. Asked a woman hanging laundry for directions. She invited me in for water. Her apartment was small, immaculate, filled with photos of grandchildren in Paris. She gave me cookies. I stayed for 30 minutes.

Found a restaurant by following construction workers on lunch break. Lamb tagine, bread, mint tea. 80 dirhams for everything. I stayed until 4pm because no one seemed to be in a hurry.

Evening

Watched the sunset from the terrace. The whole city turned gold, then pink, then purple. Sat there for an hour saying nothing.

Sensory Notes:

• Sounds: overlapping calls to prayer, scooter horns, metalworkers in the souk
• Smells: leather from the tanneries, mint tea brewing, tagine everywhere
• Textures: rough wool rugs, cool tile under bare feet

Quote of the Day: "You walk slow, like Moroccan. Americans always rush."

One Thing I'll Remember: Her cookies were dry and perfect and tasted like someone's grandmother made them. Because she did.

Photo 1: The Crossing

Shibuya crossing at 5pm. Stood on the pedestrian bridge for 20 minutes watching the choreography of 3,000 people crossing at once. It looks like chaos but somehow no one collides.

Behind the shot: What you don't hear is the jingles. Every store has a different song playing. It creates a wall of sound that's oddly peaceful.

Photo 2: Harajuku Style

Found Takeshita Street. The fashion is exactly as wild as advertised—saw a woman dressed as a Victorian doll eating a rainbow cotton candy taller than her head.

Behind the shot: This street is narrow and packed. Took 15 minutes to walk 100 meters. Didn't mind.

Photo 3: The Shrine in the City

Meiji Shrine feels like stepping through a portal. One minute you're in the world's busiest city, the next you're in an ancient forest. We watched a traditional wedding procession.

Behind the shot: The torii gate entrance is designed so you can't see the city from inside. Intentional peace.

Photo 4: Convenience Store Dinner

7-Eleven at midnight. Onigiri (¥150), canned coffee (¥120), melon pan (¥150). Better than most restaurant meals at home.

Behind the shot: The staff bowed when I left with a plastic bag full of snacks. I bowed back. We had a moment.

Day Summary: Tokyo is overwhelming in the best way. Sensory overload from 8am to midnight. My feet are destroyed but my heart is full.

Sarah's Highlight

The Picasso museum. I didn't know he started so young—the early portraits are technically perfect. It makes the later weird stuff feel like a choice, not incompetence.

Tom's Highlight

The beach. I know it's basic. I don't care. I swam in the Mediterranean at 4pm on a Tuesday. Life achievement unlocked.

My Highlight

La Boqueria at opening (8am, before tourists). A vendor gave us free jamón because we were the only customers. It tasted like Spain distilled into meat.

The Moment We All Remember

Standing in line at the tapas place pretending we didn't just eat our weight in market samples. Eating more anyway. The patatas bravas were worth it.

We Disagreed About

Gaudí. Sarah thinks Casa Batlló is genius. Tom thinks it looks like a haunted gingerbread house. I'm team Sarah.

Group Photo Caption

Three people who've eaten enough ham to fuel a small village. No regrets.

The Trip in Numbers

• Days: 14
• Cities: 7 (Rome → Florence → Cinque Terre → Milan → Lake Como → Venice → Rome)
• Kilometers driven: 1,200
• Photos taken: 2,847
• Photos worth keeping: ~200
• Best meals: too many to count
• Times we got lost: 4 (all worth it)
• Unexpected detours: 3

Top 5 Moments

1. Sunrise at the Colosseum with almost no one there
2. The wine tasting in Tuscany where the owner cried talking about his grandfather
3. Hiking between Cinque Terre villages and swimming in that hidden cove
4. Getting lost in Venice at midnight and finding a tiny bar with live jazz
5. The last dinner in Rome when we didn't want to leave

Top 5 Meals

1. Cacio e pepe at that place with no sign, Rome — €12
2. Fresh pasta at the cooking class, Florence — priceless
3. Seafood at the cliff restaurant, Riomaggiore — €45
4. Risotto at the lake house, Como — €18
5. Cicchetti crawl in Venice — €30 total for way too much food

Biggest Surprise

Lake Como wasn't just for billionaires. Found a small town where locals outnumbered tourists 10:1 and the food was half the price.

Biggest Disappointment

The Leaning Tower. We went anyway. It was fine. The gelato across the street was better than the tower.

What We'd Do Differently

• Skip Milan (one day was enough)
• Add another day in Cinque Terre
• Book the Florence cooking class earlier
• Bring better walking shoes

What We'd Do Exactly the Same

Everything else. Especially the spontaneous detours.

One Sentence Summary

Two weeks of pasta, wine, getting lost on purpose, and remembering why we travel together.