Document Your Travels - Ireland & Scotland 2023
Earlier this year Nick and I set off on a whirlwind 18-day adventure to celebrate our 28th anniversary, and it completely changed the way I document my travels.
🇳🇱 Amsterdam • 🇮🇪 Ireland • 🏴 Scotland
We each packed just a carry-on and a backpack - for 18 days! which meant I had to be very intentional about what I brought for documenting.
My entire travel documenting kit consisted of one Traveler's Notebook insert a pen and a pencil. That's it! Along the way, I picked up a few colored pencils and stickers, but everything else waited until I got home.
The trip itself was a whirlwind:
✈️ 5 flights • ⛴️ 2 ferries • 🚆 1 train • 🚲 e-bikes • 🚗 countless miles on the road
We stayed in 13 hotels, visited 21 castles, explored 8 beaches, 3 museums, 3 national parks, enjoyed 12 pubs, drove through 204 roundabouts (yes, I counted! 😂), and saw far too many sheep to count!
Before we even boarded our flight home, I had every single day documented. Not beautifully decorated. Not filled with photos. Just the stories. Just the facts.
How?! Before leaving home, I had prepared a Traveler's Notebook insert with one spread for each day of the trip.
I added dates, cities, hotel details, space to track miles walked or driven and top 3 things I wanted to remember
Each evening on the trip, I spent a quick 15–20 minutes recording just the facts, while everything was still fresh in my mind, without stressing about saving space for photos or memorabilia, which felt incredibly freeing!
If I was too tired at night, I did it the next day while Nick was driving, or while flying between countries.
That simple system completely changed my approach to travel documenting. Instead of stressing over what supplies to pack, how much space to leave for photos, or how I wanted each page to look, I simply focused on capturing the memories & details.
When I returned home, all the hard work was already done. I could take my time adding photos, tickets, maps, and memorabilia, enjoy the creative process, and create pages I truly loved - without feeling rushed or exhausted after a full day of sightseeing.
For me, that's the beauty of this system: capture the memories while you're traveling, then create the keepsake when you get home.
Since that trip, I designed and released the Document Your Travels Traveler's Notebook Insert, inspired by the very template I created and used while we were on the road. It makes documenting your travels simple by giving you a ready-to-use framework for capturing each day's stories and details while they're still fresh in your mind.
One of the biggest reasons I love documenting my trips this way is because it takes all the pressure off.
Instead of packing half your craft room, trying to decide what supplies to bring, and then sitting down at the end of a long day wondering how much space to leave for photos, what memorabilia you'll want to include, how to decorate the page, and where to even begin... you simply write down the story.
In just 15–20 minutes, you capture the day's highlights while they're still fresh in your mind. No overthinking. No designing. No worrying about where photos or tickets will go later. Just the memories.
Then, when you return home, you can pull out your favorite supplies, print your photos, gather your memorabilia, and enjoy the creative process without the pressure of trying to remember all the little details. The stories are already there—you've already done the hard part.
I find this approach so much more enjoyable because after a full day of exploring, I'm usually tired! The last thing I want to do is make creative decisions. By separating the documenting from the decorating, I get the best of both worlds: I preserve the memories while they're fresh, and I get to enjoy creating beautiful pages when I have the time and energy.
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