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Travel Advice

13 travel writing prompts to inspire you.

Use these travel writing prompts, initially created as part of the Wanderlust Writing Challenge, to help inspire your writing, dream up new story ideas, or simply get your creative juices flowing…

Welcome! You’ve landed on Wanderlust ‘s travel writing prompts. Hopefully, you’re sat at your laptop (or have your pen in hand) and are ready to write.

Originally created for the Wanderlust Writing Challenge, these prompts are designed to help you flex your writing muscles. All of them will help you to explore past travels as something to write about, and hopefully spark a few ideas for future stories, articles and journal entries.

Don’t forget to let us know if you’ve used one of our writing prompts. Tell us @wanderlustmag on Twitter , or on Facebook . To find about the Writing Challenge, and when the winners will be announced, head here .

Explore your senses

Nothing like the sight – and sound – of a lion on safari (Shutterstock)

For your first prompt, let’s open up the senses. Write no more than three sentences about one of your favourite destinations. Include all five senses in your description.

What can you see, hear and smell? Was the sun shining, and did you smell crisp, clear fresh air? Were cars whizzing past in a bustling city centre, or were you struck by the wild roar of a lion on safari? What did you eat while you were there – how delicious (or not-so-delicious) did it taste? Did you touch anything – how did it feel?

Save your sentences in a safe place, like a Notes folder or a Word Doc, so you can refer back to them.

Describing people

Practice writing about people (Shutterstock)

Often, our travels involve meeting kind strangers or quirky characters. Before you write about them, it might be easier to describe someone you know. Pick someone you’re close to – be it a travel companion, a friend at home, a family member, etc – and write out 10 words you’d use to describe them.

Think about their personality, the way they walk and talk, their laugh, not just their physical appearance. Now take two or three of those descriptors, and use them in a line or two about the person.

Reflect: Looking back, do you think you chose the best adjectives? Have any others popped into your head today, maybe that would be suited to describing the people you met on the road? Write them down and keep them somewhere you can look back on.

A picture tells 1,000 words

Today’s prompt requires reflecting on travel photographs (Shutterstock)

Whether print or digital, pull out your last (pre-lockdown) travel photo. Take a good long look at it – what’s happening in the shot?

Write a short account of that experience, just before and just after you snapped the photo. As much as you like, but a few lines is more than enough. What was it like? What were you doing? How do you feel about that experience looking back now?

Don’t worry about trying to make it sound ‘fancy’ – instead, imagine you’re recounting the experience to a friend or fellow traveller.

Reflect: Did you find it easier to write when you imagined telling the story to someone? Or harder? It’s great to journal and record travel experiences for yourself, but your entry at the end of the challenge is about writing a story for other people – friends, and fellow travellers – read and enjoy.

Sentence starter

Not sure where to begin? Try this sentence starter (Shutterstock)

As we’ve learned , an engaging first line and paragraph is important for hooking the reader’s attention. Especially when it comes to travel writing. So, h ere’s a sentence starter to get you going.

Try starting a piece of writing with the sentence: Of all the things that could have gone wrong, this could only happen to me. You’ll need to revisit a trip that didn’t quite go to plan to make it work.

Conversations

Inside a market in Fes, Morocco (Shutterstock)

When we’re travelling for ourselves, we don’t often think to make a note of the conversations we have, though professional travel journalists and authors will often take a notebook and note conversations, times, dates and places.

For the latest prompt, try to write up what you remember of an interaction with a local, or a fellow traveller, from any past adventure you’ve been on. Where were you: haggling in a market? Meeting at a restaurant? What do you remember them saying, exactly? Can you only remember the outline of what they said? If so, jot it down.

What was it about? How did they describe things? Did you learn something from the conversation, and if so, how would get that across subtly in your writing, without saying it outright? Imagine how you’d recall the conversation to a friend or colleague, and try to write it that way.

Write as much or as little as you like. Keep your writing somewhere safe, so you can refer back to it.

Highs and lows

Kayaking through Lan Ha Bay? Definitely a high point (Shutterstock)

On any trip, no matter how spectacular, there’ll be high points and low points. You may be ticking off a bucket list adventure, or enjoying one of the world’s great wonders, but nobody is immune to the annoyance of a delayed flight or missing suitcase.

Ups and downs are still part of our travel experience, whether we like it or not. So, decide which trip you’d like to write about (surely, when you think of a ‘low point’, one springs to mind?) and try to take your reader on a short journey, starting with the lowest point.

The purpose? To help you write a knockout ending – with the ‘pay off’ being the absolute highlight of the trip. What went wrong, and how did you get past it? Was it all worth it in the end?

What’s the weather?

A rather angry-looking Sydney lightning storm (Shutterstock)

Picture the worst weather you’ve experienced on your travels: biting cold, stifling heat or endless flurries of rain. How did it feel? Did you get drenched? Maybe it was so severe you had to seek shelter, or find a water supply?

Write as much or as little you like for this prompt, but you must start with a straight-into-the-action description of the weather around you. See where that takes you.

If describing the weather doesn’t come naturally, make an attempt to one instance of pathetic fallacy. It’s a writing technique where you attribute a human emotion or feeling to something in nature, like an animal or, indeed, the weather. Here’s an example: The sandstorm raged on. Often, it mirrors the narrator’s own feelings.

Sentence starter #2

What’s the kindest thing anyone’s ever done for you? (Shutterstock)

No pressure to remember conversations or practice literary techniques for today’s prompt! Phew . Today, we just want to focus on the kindness of strangers, which was also our theme for the Wanderlust Writing Challenge.

Simply begin a short (or long – up to you) piece of writing about your life, leading on from: The kindest thing anyone has ever done for me is…

Reflect: How did this prompt go down? And was your experience connected to travel, or was it something that happened in your home life? We’d love to know, tell us on Twitter , Instagram or Facebook

Pack your bags

Write about packing for a trip (Shutterstock)

Wherever you travel, however you travel, and no matter how long you travel for – packing for your trip is essential. Today’s prompt is all about turning that unavoidable constant into something a bit more creative. It’s simple: write as much or as little as you like about a packing for a recent trip.

Ever packed for a long weekend the night before, and argued with your travel companion about a misplaced passport? Felt overwhelmed by a to-do list for a trek or three-month expedition, and forgotten most everything on it?

How do you feel when you pack: are you calm and excited for the adventure ahead, or do you feel wistful as you come across old plane tickets and paper maps, as you re-pack your trusty travel case? Perhaps you simply hate this part of travel, and want to (comedically) vent your frustration. Put it all down on paper, and see where that takes you.

Sentence starter #3

Where did you last land? Time to tell the story (Shutterstock)

Keeping it simple with another sentence starter. Write as much or as little as you like about a travel experience, following on from: As soon as I landed in…

A seafood barbecue by the Mediterranean Sea (Shutterstock)

Foodie travellers, rejoice! This prompt is for you. Your challenge is to write a few lines, a short paragraph, about a particularly enjoyable foodie experience you’ve had.

A region or country’s cuisine is part of its culture, and for lots of us, a big part of our travel experience. So, aim for lots of vivid detail: what were your surroundings? Was it made by a local chef? What did you eat? What ingredients could you taste?

Was when you ate it important (say, after a challenging hike), and how did it make you feel? And important, did you dare to try the national tipple after your meal?

The Simien Mountains in Ethiopia (Shutterstock)

Describe the most breathtaking, awe-inspiring landscape you’ve ever witnessed, putting our travel writing tips into practice.

Don’t fall into the trap of over-fluffing your descriptions, with fancy words you’d never use in daily life. At the same time, make a real effort to avoid these all-too-common travel writing phrases . Time to stretch your vocabulary. Write as much or as little as you like, but aim for at least a few lines.

Reading your work

An Arctic village. Will you describe the people, the food, the landscape – or all three? (Shutterstock)

Your writing prompt today isn’t about writing. It’s about reading, which is incredibly important if you want to be a travel writer. Not just the work of others, but your own work, too.

Firstly, give yourself a pat on the back if you’re here and you’ve used some of these prompts – challenging yourself to write when you’re just starting out or are starved for inspiration isn’t easy!

Secondly, read through what you’ve written based on these prompts. Choose your favourite piece of writing and continue it – write the full story, flesh it out and see where it takes you. Enjoy.

P.S. Do let us know if you would like us to keep updating this article with more prompts. W e always love to hear from you at [email protected].

More travel writing inspiration to enjoy:, how to describe people in your travel writing, 10 classic (and expert) writing tips for travel articles.

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16 Travel-Writing Prompts

SHARON’S BLOG Are you a homebody or do you love to gallivant? To gallivant is to travel, wander, or globetrot. Does that sound like you?

Whatever you happen to be, you can use these 16 writing prompts to become an armchair traveler and see the world right from where you are. You might even be inspired to plan a real-life trip!

Suitable for 5th – 12th graders.

1. You’ve just landed in exotic Bora Bora . Send a postcard home to your family. What do you say? 2. Around the world in 180 days? You’ll need a packing list. What will you bring? 3. You’re backpacking across mountainous Nepal . What’s in your backpack? 4. You and your mission team just landed in Haiti. Make a list of all the items lost between America and Haiti and what you hope to find there. 5. You’re going on a 5-country tour of Europe: France, Italy, England, Germany, and Austria. What do you eat? What’s in your food journal? 6. You’re traveling to Mexico, but you don’t speak any Spanish. Describe your interaction with locals. How will you ask about food and other necessities? 7. Write a letter home to your best friend describing what you miss about home. 8. You’re getting ready to take historic Route 66 cross-country (USA). What advice does your mom or dad give you? 9. You’re going to be on a long flight. What books will you load on your tablet or bring with you? What music will you load on your music player? 10. You want one kind of a vacation and your family wants another. Make a list of things to say to them to convince them to go where you want to go. 11. You are taking a cruise to Alaska and the Arctic Circle. List the things you hope to see there and what you hope you do not see. 12. You’re taking a cruise with your best friend, but when you arrive at the ship you find it’s a senior citizen cruise. Describe your first day. 13. Describe getting lost while visiting the island of Buton . 14. You just got home. Make a list of all the things you’ll miss from your trip. 15. You’re traveling to see your grandma. You’re a new driver and your mom is letting you do the driving. Describe your anticipation. 16. En route to your destination, your flight is cancelled and you are stuck in the airport for 34 hours. Write a journal entry describing the situation.

Something extra for moms and teachers: If you are planning a trip this summer, use this fun printable travel journal ! 

Explore our fun writing prompts for your middle school students here. >>

Your teens will enjoy these engaging prompts. >>

Find more prompts geared for both age groups here. >>

Prompt by Gina Glenn. Copyright © 2017 by Sharon Watson

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Your Dreams Are Waiting

22 Travel Story Ideas To Get You Published

Posted December 1st, 2020 by Kurt Jacobson & filed under Travel Writing .

It can be hard to find ways to generate article topic ideas, so here’s a graphic to help you…

Ways to generate article topic ideas : The biggest tip? Just go for it. Yes, you’ve heard it before…but, really, I can’t emphasize it enough. You’ve got to bite the bullet. And, the sooner the better. To help you on your way, here are two top tips:

Roy Stevenson said that despite having 900 bylines to his name now, he’s probably only written about 500 articles. He just sells and resells the same pieces again and again. There’s an art to it, Roy told us.  You can’t sell and resell the same piece to competing markets.  But you can certainly spread the wealth by pitching something to a magazine on the west coast and then, a few months later, pitch the same story to a publication on the east.

Likewise, expert travel writer Steenie Harvey says that U.K., Australian, and New Zealand publications are just as hungry for stories, too.  So, when you’re out of options here in the States, you can always look overseas to sell your work.  And in some cases, you’ll benefit from the currency exchange.

Below, Kurt Jacobson looks at 22 topics that he’s written about so far to help give you some inspiration…

By Kurt Jacobson

Before attending The Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop last year, I had only one article accepted for publication in 10 months of trying. I’d sent out queries but got no positive response.

After the Denver event, however, I became supercharged and had almost 40 articles published (or accepted to be published) in the next seven months! 

Here’s my list of 22 topics I’ve written about so far. Once you know where to look, you’ll find travel story ideas all around you…

#1: Write about what you already know.

Since I’d visited New Zealand several times, had bought a rental property in Gisborne, and had lots of experience and photos of the area, I started there. I queried an editor at GoNomad.com and he accepted.  

Where do you travel often? What places do you know well and have lots of photos of?

#2: Turn annual trips into article ideas.

I take fishing trips to Alaska every year, so I queried a publication that focuses on adventure travel and asked if they’d be interested in a story on do-it-yourself saltwater fishing in Alaska.  They accepted, and now my annual fishing trip is also a travel-writing trip.

Do you have an annual vacation spot? Take lots of photos and write about it. Some editor out there wants your story.

#3: Visit National and State Parks in your area.

There are many great attractions in the area where I live, so I decided to visit a few. C&O Canal Park and The Great Falls of the Potomac Park are literally right across from each other but in two different states — Maryland and Virginia. I’ve written about both.  

What national parks are near you? Go visit them. Take photos of signs and displays to help you remember what you saw and did. Write about it, and query several magazines and websites with your stories.

#4: Keep an eye out for programs advocating education, health, or recreation.

I wrote about C&O Canal’s Free Bike Program and my article was accepted by two different publications. I had to turn one down as it could only be published once. But it’s nice to know others want it. Maybe I can pitch something similar (or from a different angle) to the other publication later down the road.

#5: Always be ready to write – even if things don’t go as planned.

A snowstorm made for a change of travel plans after landing in Durango, Colorado on my way to Pagosa Springs. The roads were too icy to drive that night, so I hulled up at the Historic Strater Hotel. I had my trusty Canon camera, so I took some photos and sold my review to trip101.com.

#6: Choose your hotels wisely.

I go to New York City 3-4 times per year and typically stay in the best-value places I can find.  Now, instead, I always look for something interesting and unique. Something I can write about.

My review of The Evelyn Hotel also appeared on Trip101.com.

#7: Consider a vacation rental instead of a hotel.

The Maison Pignons, a Montreal vacation rental, has an amazing Bonsai garden out back. There are publications devoted solely to vacation rentals now in addition to travel magazines that take articles on vacation rentals. Use airbnb.com or vrbo.com to book one on your next trip, and then write about it.

#8: Find day-trips in your area. Tourists are always eager to learn about easy day-trips from specific cities.

What kind of day-trip possibilities do you have in your area? I wrote about a day-trip to Frederick, Maryland and sold it to a publication in Baltimore. Where can you go?

#9: Women entrepreneurs. 

Women are trendy right now. I wrote: Poppy Wines: Profile of a Woman Winemaker

and told the story about the changing winemaking profession that used to be almost exclusively male. 

You can find great stories about women pathfinders in tourism-related subjects and write about them for women’s publications. (Note: You don’t have to be a woman to write this type of article.)

#10: Write about local restaurants.

A food review of an interesting and historic DC eatery I love, Martin’s Tavern, was published on TravelPostMonthly.com. They don’t pay but if you like to eat, think about publications near you who might like reviews and then follow Kyle’s advice in the program for getting them published.

#11: Find a new approach to a popular destination.

Kodak once said the Maroon Bells Peaks were the most photographed place on earth. I wrote about a hike nearby to avoid the crowds. You can find a similar natural setting and write something other than the obvious . 

#12: Take advantage of your insider knowledge of your hometown.

Online travel websites love this type of seasonal/temporary information. I wrote about budget travel in Baltimore. People love to save money.

#13: Write about timely festivals.

Festivals are a great way to get an article published. I had photos and experience from previous visits to the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC. You can sell them the following year. Some editors need the story six months ahead of an event.

#14: Write with a special interest group in mind (families, solo travelers, adventure travelers)

I wrote: From Wellington to Wairarapa For Families With Kids. What special interest group do you know a lot about?

#15: Offer sound travel advice.

I’ve been to Japan several times and, when I land at Narita airport, I usually take the two-hour bus into Tokyo. The Nikko Narita Hotel, however, is right next to the airport and offers a good night’s rest without the two-hour bus ride.

Look at what everyone is doing and find a better way to travel, pick a hotel, or attraction. Be creative and write about alternatives for other travelers. 

#16: Write about luxury resorts.

My story on Peppers Parehua in New Zealand was readily grabbed by an editor.

Find a special resort to visit and show readers why it’s worth choosing.

#17: Write about your hometown.

Try writing for the “City Guides” section of your hometown . They don’t often pay but it gives you a byline and credibility. Other publications might want this type of story also.

#18: Explore an undiscovered hotel. 

On an off-strip assignment for GoNomad.com, I profiled the Tahiti Village Resort Las Vegas

which provided me comped lodging. Make a case for staying off the beaten path. 

#19: Visit new or just opened attractions.

When something is new or up-and-coming, editors want it. I did a “site visit” on the Grand Junction, Colorado: Wine Country Inn while I was in town for other business. It sold right away.

#20: Write about your past.

Alaska Magazine has accepted two of my stories so far. I wrote about experiences from more than 20 years ago living and working in Alaska and didn’t need photos.

What kind of interesting jobs have you held, and where did you go? There are regional and special interest magazines out there that want your story. You can write about your life experiences and find a magazine that wants it.

#21: Use personal interviews to spice up your articles.

My article about the Ivy Hotel in Baltimore featured a story about the manager. Who can you interview for a story?

#22: Write about wildlife encounters.

I wrote: Three Young Coasties Meet a Musk Ox. This was a story about a wildlife encounter I had years ago in the wilds of Alaska that will appear in the February 2017 issue of Alaska Magazine. You’ve probably had wildlife encounters, both comical and frightening. There is a publication somewhere that wants your story.

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38 Travel Writing Prompts for Travel Writers

Whether you’re experiencing writer’s block or stressing about the headline for your next travel writing pitch, we’ve got your back!

You should always check out the publication’s you’re pitching to get a feel for the style of their headlines for your best chance at success (and do some SEO research if it’s your own site), but here are some ideas to get the creative juices flowing…

Itineraries

[3] Days in [City] for [Nature] Lovers

The Perfect Long Weekend for a Romantic Trip to [City]

Itineraries for Kids of Every Age in [City]

How to See the Best of [City] in [2] Days

[7] [Movie] Filming Locations to Visit in [City]

1st Person Narratives

How I [Found Myself Again After Divorce] in [City]

How I [Explored My Roots] in [City]

Exploring my Hometown as a Travel Writer

My Search for [the Perfect Beach] in [City]

The Quest to Save [the Oneida Language] in [City]

Searching for [The Wolves of Nearly Extinct Fruit Dove]

Off the Beaten Path

[7] Restaurants Only Locals Know in [City]

Live Like a Local in [City]

Get Lost: Why I Ditched the Map in [City]

The Longest-Operating [Hotel] in [City]

Packing Lists

[12] Must-Pack Items for a Trip to [City]

The Carry-On Capsule Wardrobe for [City]

Packing for [3] Climates in One Carry-on

[9] Summertime Packing Must-Haves

Where to Find Black History in [City/State]

Where to Find the Best Coffee in [City]

Summer Arts Guide to [City/State]

The 5 Best Things to do in [City] When It’s Snowing

Anniversaries/Debuts

New [Art]-Themed Hotel Opens in [City]

See the [Exhibit Name] at [Museum Name] Before it Closes

[City] Celebrates It’s Centennial with Fun-Packed Weekend

Annual Festivals/Events

Don’t Miss This Year’s [Festival/Event Name] in [City]

How to Attend the [Festival/Event Name] on a Budget

5 Hotels That Put You Near the Action at the [Festival/Event Name]

Holidays/Seasonal

Travel Hacks for Making the Most of Christmas in [City]

Experience [Holiday] in [City]

Celebrate New Year’s in Style in [City]

A Black History Road Trip Across [State]

It’s Leaf-Peeping Season in [State]! Where to Find the Best Colors

Summer Fun in [City]

An Inside Look at [City/Resort/Activity]

Live Like [a Celebrity] at [Resort]

[7] Cities Where Vegans Eat Like Kings

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Writer’s Block? Over 100 Travel Writing Prompts, Titles & Topics

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100+ Travel Writing Prompts, Titles or Topics that You can Write on your Blog

Do you ever hit a wall? Suffering from writer’s block?  Or have so many travel stories to tell you don’t even know where to start?  I’ve been reading great travel content produced by travel bloggers, freelance writers and journalist to get a bit of inspiration.  I thought I’d share over one hundred travel prompts, titles or topics that you can write about on your travel blog or travel section of your beauty or lifestyle blog. I scanned my very popular Pinterest Board – Travel Blogs and Travel Bloggers to Follow    to see what jumped out at me.  Here are a few suggestions for writing prompts if YOU have writer’s block.  Please let me know if you used one of these prompts and I will link back to your post as an example of how it was used!

Attractions/Festivals/Events

• The Most Amazing Museum in ______
•  Incredible Street Art we found in  ______
• Great Playgrounds in _________
• Fastest Roller-coaster in ________
• 10 Rides you don’t Want to miss at ________
• 5 Amusement Parks in the State/Province of _______
•  Amusement Park every Teen wants to Visit
• Eight of the Best Kiddie Rides at ______
•  10 Tips to make your Visit to _______Easier
•  Write about sacred places (churches, synagogues, shrines, mosques, temples)
•  Best Foods at (football, baseball, amusemant) ______ Park
• 5 Characters you want to meet at _________
•  10 Rides to take with your Toddler
•  Freaky Fish you don’t want to miss at _______ Aquarium
•  Write about the  summer festivals , concerts or fall fairs
•  Write about the historic part of your city (buildings, streets, schools)
•  5 Plays you don’t want to miss on Broadway
• 7 Bars to Catch Great Live Music in _______
• 5 Comedy Bars you need to LOL in_______
•  Christmas Markets in ________

Itinerary or Guides

• 24 Hours in ____________
• 48 Hours to see these 10 Things
• 48 Hours to Eat your way through ________
• 48 Hours in ______’ s Capital City
• 3 Days in/5 Days in/ 1 Week in/ 3 months in ________
• How to Spend ___ Days in _________
• Things to do to become a local in __________
• First Time Traveller’s Guide to __________
• Guide to National Monuments in _____________
• Guide to best Italian/French/Pizza Restaurants in __________
• Guide to Kid-Friendly Restaurants in
• Guide to adventures/museums/park in ______ for Families
• Guide to ________ for beach lovers
• Guide to Festivals in _____________
• Guide to best Restaurants in __________
• Guide to Seeing the (City)  using public transport

Province or State

• Welcome to my Provincial/State — things you need to know
• Write about all the symbols that represent your province or state (flag, bird, food, coat of arms)
• The ____ Provincial/State Parks in _____
• Write about the  tourist attractions in the biggest city  in your province/state
• Best Place to Shop until you Drop in ___________
• All the ‘FIRSTS’ in this amazing city
• This EVENT changed the history of ______ country/province/state/city
• Write about a  military monument or event
• Best Instagram Pictures to take in __________
•  Video you need to see from my trip to ________

Food Related:

• Write about your  favourite place to eat : ice cream, poutine, pie, burgers (pick your poison)
• 10 Regional Wines you need to Try from
• 6 Ways to Order Coffee in ___________
• 10 of the Best Foods I ate in _________
• If you go to ________ Try these 5 Foods
• Did you know ______comes from ____ and other food trivia
•  Write about what national foods your country is famous for (pasta, poutine, burgers, chocolate, coffee)
•  Traveling with allergies and dietary restrictions
•  Where do you find the best gluten-free/vegan/vegetarian meals
• Best Place to Have a Beer/Coffee/Dessert/Tapas
• Best Place to Listen to Live Music
• Best Street food in ___________
• What to do when you get Food Poisoning in a Foreign Land
• Write about a particular region (The North Atlantic, Central America, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Northwest, New England, The Deep South, The Great White North)
• Exploring Authentic _____
• Watching (a sporting event) _________ like a National
• Visit _____ Where _________ film was shot
• Write about  great authors  and where they are from
•  Great Movies That were Located in _________
• Best Subway/Metro/Tube stops in  Toronto/New York/Montreal/Paris/London
• 5 of the Greats band from ___________ & The Cities Where they came from
• Why the (Mississippi. Hudson, Thompson, Fraser, Mackenzie, Seine, Rhone, Rhine, Nile) is the greatest river in ___________
• Top 5 cities to visit in ____ (your) country
• Best airports to fly into when you got this ______(country)
• Great RVing or camping tips in ______ (your country)
• Write about the longest, fastest, biggest anything
• Wildest music festival in ________
• Tips to Survive a 3 day Festival in _________
• Where to stay/eat when you go to _____ Film Festival
• Never ever do this in __________ (customs or manners or code of conducts that you should adhere to)
• Best Place to take a Selfie in ___________
• 10 Sunsets you don’t want to miss
• The time I saw a _____ (bear, lion, snake, alligator) in the wild
• I Travel Because …

Tips and tricks

• Solo Travel 101
• Couples Travel 101
• Girls Road Trip Tips
• How to Travel with Babies & Toddlers
•  Keeping your Teens engaged when Traveling
• Fun Games for Long Car Rides
• How to pack the perfect Kids Fun Bag for Travel
• Gift Ideas for the Traveler in your Life
• What is your destination bucket list
• How to pack a suitcase/knapsack/carry-on
• What  apps do you use for traveling
• What  travel books do you swear  by to Guide you
• What to do when you’ve been robbed
• Share your worst travel and best travel experience
• Why out trip to ____ will be my fondest family memory
•  What I’d do differently on a trip to ______
• Why I choose to go to ____
• My first time on a plane/train/bus/
• How to Save money for that Epic Trip
• How to Travel with you pet
• Family Travel with Seniors
• My favourite hiking gear/walking shoes/sunglasses/quick-dry clothing
• I will NEVER go (here) if I could go (there) instead
• 25 Lessons I’ve learned on the road
• 10 phrases you should know in Spanish, French, Danish, German, Italian, Chinese

I love to travel and there are so many amazing stories to read, see and listen to.  Many bloggers use different media to share their journeys.  Whether you want to write a blog post, publish a story, document a video or record a podcast, I hope you will get a bit of inspiration.  I know I will be going back every once in a while to overcome my writers’ block.

Margarita Ibbott is a seasoned multi-generational travel blogger.  Her love of family travel began when she was very young.  She still remembers the epic road trip her parents took with her immediate family,  her grandmother, and uncle in the 1970s.  You can find out more about her travels with her family, her mom, and her blogger friends at DownshiftingPRO.com .    Follow her on  Instagram  and  Facebook  too!

Margarita Ibbott

Margarita Ibbott is a travel and lifestyle blogger. She blogs about travel in Canada, the United States and Europe giving practical advice through restaurant, hotel and attraction reviews. She writes for DownshiftingPRO.com and other online media outlets.

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3 thoughts on “Writer’s Block? Over 100 Travel Writing Prompts, Titles & Topics”

Informative post of amazing list , It’s really help

thank you so much for sharing It

An intelligent and helpful work.Thanks for sharing! I am a writer and your title and topics are way too good.They will definitely help me and others.

Thank you for sharing such a fantastic list! I will definitely use some of the prompts that you suggested.

Comments are closed.

40 Creative Travel Journal Ideas & Writing Prompts to Save Your Best Travel Memories

Travel journaling is therapeutic, fun, and provokes self-reflection and creativity. While we travel, we can be pretty busy – exploring different places, sleeping on planes, meeting new people. But just because you’re busy during your trip doesn’t mean you can’t keep a travel journal!

And if you’re just here for the prompts, you can jump to the bottom of the post or download the free ‘Where She Goes’ Travel Journal Prompts list from The Travel Library .

Some of these links are affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through that link, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read my full disclosure !

All About Travel Journaling: What It Is, How To Do It, & Should You Keep A Travel Journal?

It can be used to beat the lonely times of solo travel or try to escape the post-trip blues by reliving those memories just made.

The Best Travel Journals

If you struggle with what to write about, opt for journals with prompts built into them (or scroll down to the prompts below and download the list!)

Travel Journal Apps

Everything has an app these days, right? Travel journaling can even be done on your phone! Some apps for travel journaling include:

Creative Travel Journal Ideas

Look for inspiration everywhere. Maybe you have a ton of extra coins lying around from your trip to Italy . Or you saved those flowers you picked near the coast of France and they are now dried. These can all be accessories used to bring your travel memories back to life in your journal!

Photo Pocket

Scrapbook layout.

While the first idea to making your travel journal more creative was a simple way to include photos in your journal, this version takes a bit more time and creativity.

Good places to buy unique stickers and decals are Etsy , Amazon , and Society6 .

Add Your Own Art

Preserving tickets, passes, & other mundane mementos.

They may seem useless after your trip, but these tokens of your travels are the real elements that bring your memories to life. Seeing a word can help you imagine a place, but physically touching your metro pass or gallery ticket takes you right back to the moment you used it.

Choose Something to Collect

Travel journal prompts for reflection & memory-keeping.

Travel journal prompts are ways to combat writer’s block and inspire creativity. To make these prompts easier to reference, you can download the free printable of ‘Where She Goes’ Travel Journal Prompts from The Travel Library, where you’ll also have access to resources like my girl’s packing list and Lightroom photo presets.

The Journey

The destination, general memory-keeping, final tips for travel journaling.

Let me know what you think of these travel journal ideas, prompts, & tips with a comment!

You may also enjoy:

Vienna on a budget: 10 money-saving travel tips, leave a reply cancel reply.

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Check this out, buy me a coffee, planning a trip to italy, looking for something.

52 Travel Journal Prompts That Will Inspire You

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52 Creative Travel Journal Prompts

Are wondering what to write in a travel journal? Here are 52 travel journal prompts to inspire you!

I used to keep SUPER detailed travel journals, which are great to look back on, but time-consuming to actually keep up with. Now I make shorter bullet-point lists at the end of every day when I’m traveling, and make notes on my phone throughout the day to capture my thoughts.

No matter how you decide to document your trip, you will be glad you did it! It’s so fun to be able to look back on your memories and re-live your memories.

You also never know who else will enjoy your travel journals one day… I loved reading my grandmother’s travel journals decades later and I’m so glad I have them!

So here are 52 travel journal ideas to get your creativity flowing.

Related:  15 Creative Travel Bullet Journal Ideas

Best Travel Journals

While you can use any notebook for travel journaling (or even use your phone!) there are a lot of cool dedicated travel journals/planners out there which I love!

Here are two great options for travel planners that also have a lot of space for journaling:

This Erin Condren travel planner is small and easily fits in your purse, but contains tons of pages for planning AND journaling! Document every aspect of your trip with this travel journal.

This spiral-bound travel planner and journal is another great option for both keeping the details of your trip organized, and journaling all your travel memories as you go. 

If you’re just looking for a blank notebook to use as a travel journal, you can’t go wrong with a classic Moleskine notebook which is what I personally use for my travels!

And without further ado, here are the 52 travel journal prompts for you to use!

Pre-Trip Travel Journal Prompts

Before your trip and even on the way to your destination, writing about these travel journal prompts will allow you to document your anticipation for your adventure.

• What are you most excited about?
• Is there anything you are nervous or worried about?
• Why did you choose this particular destination?
• How much did you pack for this trip?
• What is the first thing you’ll do when you arrive?
• What’s on the itinerary for your trip?
• Have you had any pre-trip disasters?
• What are some interesting facts about your destination?
• How are you feeling on the way there?

Journal Prompts While Traveling

Capture your feelings and experiences while traveling forever with these journal prompts to be answered during your trip. I recommend setting aside a small amount of time every morning or evening to write about your day while it’s still fresh on your mind! 

• What were your first impressions of your destination?
• How did you feel when you first arrived?
• Was anything different from how you expected it to be?
• Make a list of what you did today..
• What has surprised you so far?
• What were the highlights of today?
• What about the lowlights of today?
• Is there anything you’re missing from home?
• What’s a conversation you overheard today?
• How do you feel about where you’re staying?
• What was the best thing you ate today?
• Did anything go wrong today?
• Make a list of the scents, sounds, and sights you experience.
• What have you learned about your destination?
• Did anything funny happen today?
• What are you reading/listening to?
• What emotions are you currently feeling?

Post-Trip Travel Journal Prompts

Reflect on your trip and share your memories with these post-travel journal ideas.

• Would you visit this destination again?
• What would you change if you could re-do your trip?
• What are some lessons you learned from your trip?
• Did you have any travel disasters?
• What were the funniest moments from your trip?
• What was the best meal you ate on your trip?
• Did you bring home any souvenirs?
• What were your favorite things about the destination?
• What are some things you wish you had packed?
• Did you feel let down by anything?
• Make a list of the best and worst moments from your trip.
• What is one thing you wish you had gotten to do but didn’t?
• What is one thing you did but wish you hadn’t?
• How do you feel about being home?

General Travel Journal Prompts

Even when you aren’t traveling, you can always write about past trips, or dream about future trips! Here are some general travel prompts to get your creativity flowing.

• What’s on your travel bucket list?
• What are your favorite travel memories?
• Make a list of the best and worst trips you’ve ever taken.
• Who are the most interesting people you’ve met while traveling?
• What is one time you got lost while traveling?
• If money was no concern, where would you go?
• What is a time you went out of your comfort zone while traveling?
• What are the funniest travel moments you’ve had?
• What is the most beautiful place you’ve ever been?
• Are there any places you have no interest in traveling to?
• What are the best meals you’ve ever had while traveling?
• What are the best and worst places you’ve stayed while traveling?

Related: 37 January Bullet Journal Ideas to Inspire You

More Ways to Document Your Travels

These are the best travel journal prompts to inspire your creativity!

In addition to keeping a travel journal, you might also consider starting a travel blog to document your travels. (You can even make money from travel blogging!)

I have a whole series on starting a travel blog, which you can navigate through below:

• How to Start a Travel Blog for Beginners
• Travel Blog Names: How to Choose One + Ideas
• How to Make Money with a Travel Blog
• 6 Best WordPress Themes for Travel Blogs
• 50 Travel Blog Post Ideas
• Travel Blog Income Report Roundup

Hopefully you found these travel journal prompts helpful. Happy travels! 🙂

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About Denise Cruz

Denise is a marketing executive who escaped corporate to travel the world… twice. A Brazilian native living in the U.S., she’s lived in 4 countries and visited 35+ others. After side-hustling her way to financial independence, she curates solo destination guides, slow travel tips, and travel blogging advice on Wander Her Way. When she’s not on the road, you can find her in Miami with her dog Finnegan.

9 Creative Writing Tactics to Enrich Your Travel Writing

My Top Travel Writing Secrets I Probably Shouldn’t Share

I have been writing about travel for two years now four years now ( update 2022 ). When I started this blog, I wrote about personal growth and life inspiration. But because I travel constantly and I relish writing about nature, people, and experiences, I began writing travel articles on On My Canvas. ( I’m an itinerant writer now.)

When I first ventured into travel writing, I panicked every time I put down my solo excursion tales and travel guides. I didn’t know how to write about traveling. I didn’t have the right tools. I remember telling my partner it would be a long time before I write good, relatable travel stories readers will enjoy. ( my ideas about good writing .)

But even as a beginner travel writer, I wrote subjective articles such as  why I travel  and how can we stop ourselves from turning into the worst dictators (inspired by Cambodia). I have always preferred penning down personal travel memoirs rather than writing about the five things to do.

Some of my travel writings turned out to be good and some bad. So while this piece on  the love and hate relationship with India  won accolades, I’m still ashamed of this  Vietnam photo essay .

I continued writing about trips to Southeast Asia and South America . As I published frequently, I started getting a hang of  travel writing.

Now instead of fumbling with how to write a travelogue or a guide, I was rejoicing at heartwarming comments and emails from readers.

A beginner travel writer messaged, “Probably your blog is the most useful one I have come across. Most of your posts are stories and experiences rather than what you see in usual blogs. It helps the readers connect.” 

So many writers loved my 11 best tips for bloggers I was overwhelmed. I pitched guest posts to many travel websites. All of them accepted my articles as soon as they read my travel stories. I got the Best Travel Writer award on Medium (which expired as I have stopped publishing on Medium). After reading my blog, editors and freelance clients reached out to me. Some editors said, to quote, “No doubt you’re an excellent storyteller.”

When anyone compliments my travel writing or says I have immense writing talent, I quietly remember the nights and days I spent bent on my computer writing, editing, reading aloud, deleting, rewriting, poring through writing tips for beginners , and so on. I want to stand on a rooftop and scream that writing is less of an inborn talent and more of a muscle that strengthens as we exercise it more.

I would be lying if I say I didn’t write before starting a travel blog. I began my writing career as a fiction writer. The first-ever rules I learned about writing were creative writing tactics. So to say, I launched into the travel writing world on a creative writing broomstick. 

Now I’m not Stephen King or  Ruskin Bond , but I write short stories, personal essays (like this one ), and poetry , too. Some of my work is published .

Within a few months of writing about traveling, I heard many times that I was not doing travel blog writing.

A reader’s comment read , “Beautiful written, your prose is lyrical that reads less like a blog and more like a novel.” That reader has a Ph.D. in literature.

I was writing travel stories and memoirs using my creative writing skills. And travel writing and blogging about travel are all about storytelling — at least they should be.

In this writing guide, I am sharing the indispensable creative writing techniques that have helped me write engaging travel stories.

In a storytelling workshop recently, the six attendants said I should have added more exercises to the class. I took the advice to heart. I have included a writing exercise with all the travel writing tips. Complete the exercises while reading or bookmark the article and get to them later. But remember, you can only master these travel writing tactics if you practice. 

Travel writers, fasten your seatbelts as I am going to take you on a ride. 

1. Write about travel, but don’t forget to Tell a Story

Stories hold words together.  Without a story, words are black noise on paper.

Do you know why we don’t look forward to academic texts and instructional blogs? Why do we enjoy reading Sapiens even though it is a non-fiction book about our entire history?

The former don’t have a story and the latter has.

Expecting your readers to enjoy your story-less writing is like expecting them to enjoy bland food.

Travel blogging needs more storytelling (as I keep repeating and even Jodi from the popular Legal Nomads travel blog started emphasizing a decade ahead of me) . To blog doesn’t mean to give information only. To blog implies to weave our experience in a tale that readers not only can’t keep down but believe in (since the beginning humans have got others to join them for a cause by telling stories).

A story arc goes like this:

• a scene or an event introducing the story and the characters (exposition)
• a buildup on the scene using the characters and their background (the rising action)
• a high-tension point (climax)
• arriving at the end while resolving those tensions or providing (and refusing) the characters’ desires (the falling action)

This video by Chungdahm Learning explains the story arc well.

For example, m y travel narrative of climbing the Volcano Villarrica begins with these lines: “The alarm rang at 3:30 am. In the dark hostel dormitory, I peeked out of my blanket and cursed myself for signing up to hike the 2,800-meter active volcano.” 

By opening the travelogue with a hint of the oncoming adventure, I make readers curious.

Then I share why I was climbing the volcano and that the hike was challenging — I lay the background.

Bringing the travel memoir to a middle point I say, “A thought that I might not be able to complete the hike knocked my head.” — This is a high-tension point because from here on either I will give up or achieve my goal.

I make the characters clash — “After a few hours of trudging up the volcano, I wanted to give up. So when Alejandro and Alison told me I had gone too far to quit, I didn’t relate with their relentlessness. Why couldn’t I watch the summit from a lower altitude and enjoy the majestic vista bordered by icy volcanoes?” — Though the character conflicts are subtle, this much tension is usually enough to drive a travel story.

I take the travelogue further by talking about how the guide and my friend cheered me — the falling actions. The story ends with me making it to the summit.

“ Every story is about something bigger than ourselves,” Neil Gaiman says, and I concur. The main point of the story was not trekking the volcano. It was about conquering my greatest fears and pushing myself to climb despite them. Ask yourself why do you want to write your story. Remember the reason while writing the travel tale.

One of the loveliest comments I received on the travelogue says, “I really enjoyed reading your story. It made me want to hike the volcano but it also made me slightly terrified of it.”

My purpose was achieved. I wanted to inspire people to climb the thing for I knew what an incredible experience they would miss if they gave in to their fears.

We have to narrate our travel guides like stories or a collection of many anecdotes. And for every travel article that cannot be a continuous story — such as logistical pieces like how to get a visa to Malaysia, things to do in Dharamshala et cetera — I begin by telling a related incident and then write down the information strewing many more tales throughout.

Writing Exercise —  Look at your drafts or a published piece. Or write about traveling to a place you loved. Write/rewrite as if you were telling the story to your best friend.

How cool would be to tell this story! The Sleeping Gypsy and The Lion, by Henri Rousseau / Public domain

2. Show, Don’t Tell

Show, don’t tell was one of the first writing advices I got. 

What does “show, not tell” means?

When you “tell” (not show), you dictate information to the reader, rather than letting her deduce it. 

When you show, you paint a picture of the scene rather than throwing all the facts at the reader .

In the  travel blog on Manikaran, Himachal, I could have written — The Gurudwara is white. The Parvati river flows by its side .

But I wrote — The milky gurudwara complements the white froth of the unstoppable Parvati bellowing by its side.

A few more travel writing examples on telling and showing :

If we tell, the story feels less like a story and more like a boring monologue spilled out on the page. But when we show, the reader watches the scene unfold in front of her, becomes a part of the journey, and draws her own conclusions.

To show what is happening, write using your senses. See, smell, hear, touch, and taste. Now write what you find.

Writing Exercise  —  Pick up an existing work or continue working on the travel piece from the first bullet. Or write about what you see now. Don’t tell, show. You cannot use the words sad, angry, hungry et cetera. Use your senses.

When you are writing about a trip, describe not just the people but also the mountains and the lakes. The Lone Lake by Franklin Carmichael / Public domain

3. Be Descriptive – One of my most important rules while writing a travelogue

This point is a continuation of the above tip on showing, not telling. 

To create a story, we need to give details about the setting, the scene, and the action.

In the  travel blog on Manikaran, Himachal I could have written — Tourists were getting photographed. It was a beautiful place with narrow streets. Shops lined the roadsides. People were shopping. Sikhs were visiting the Gurudwara. Mothers were taking their children to the hot water springs to bathe them.

But here’s what I wrote: 

“ Young girls dressed up in traditional bright Kullu dresses and Himachali topis waited to be clicked. Streets were lined with kitschy souvenir shops flaunting neon plastic toys, rudraksha malas, and brass bracelets.

Devoted Sikhs with their  Kirpans  hanging around their waist walked swiftly towards the Manikaran Sahib Gurudwara. Hindu families strode to the Shiva and Ram temple to bathe their young ones. The children trailed behind eyeing the hot jalebis and crispy samosas displayed at the roadside sweetmeats’ shop. “

In the first method, the writing reads boring, incomplete, and doesn’t help us see the place. I could be describing any religious site.

In the second method, I have added colors. I have not only used my senses to show, but I have focused on the little details that make Manikaran the place it is.

Zoom in and then use the five senses to show what is happening. 

Writing Exercise   —  Pick the story or the paragraphs from the above exercise. Edit the piece while filling in the details. So now you want to draw more lines, more leaves, more grass, and pour in some more color.

Traveling 160 years ago. The Traveling Companions by Augustus Egg / Public domain

Inspirational Read: How to Keep Going When Writing Seems Hard

4. Be specific

Specificity adds nuance and makes the scene real. Ditch common nouns and use proper nouns. 

She kept her copy of ( a book ) The Color Pur ple on the table. 

Celebrations were spent huddled around the barbecue with  ( a drink ) terremotos in hand. 

When I got tired, I walked back to the homestay and listened to ( music ) Anoushka Shankar fill the treehouse. 

There was ( a car ) a white ambassador with a broken headlight on the road.

Writing Exercise  — Take any travel article and replace all the common nouns with proper nouns wherever it makes sense.

To help the reader relate, talk about your fears and apprehensions often. Franklin Carmichael / Public domain

5. Tell what you care about, but don’t ignore others

Consider this paragraph: “I arrived in Manikaran at noon. I wanted to take a long hot bath in the thermal pools so I walked to the temple. But as families and their children had already crowded the bath, I got out early. After the bath, I was hungry so I ate a samosa. The rudraksha males were beautiful so I went to one shop to buy. “

A lot of travel blogs read like the above. 

Why would anyone be interested in my monologue? People would rather binge-watch Netflix.

Virginia Woolf said ,

“Your entire devotion is due to your story. You cannot leave it to attend to some personal grievance. Let not anger tug at our imagination or devotion and deflect it from its path.”

We only read when we can relate with the writing while getting entertained (I will talk about entertainment in another point). And readers would only relate to our writing if they can imagine themselves in our shoes.

If our writing is relatable, it will be enjoyable, too. The reader would laugh along and would be embarrassed when we fall flat on our faces at the crowded Andheri railway station. 

To make the writing relatable, we show what is happening with us, but we don’t skip the world. So the floodlight is on us, but the rest of the stage isn’t dark either. And in this space the reader can scooch in wherever she likes.

Rewriting the above lines:

“ When I arrived in Manikaran at noon, the town was bustling with activity. Tired from the journey, I headed to the temple to bathe in the natural hot springs. Some twenty children were playing in and around the temple pool. The mothers yelled to get the children out of the water.

Postponing my desire to take a long bath I was out of the water in a few minutes. Soon I was on the street. The thick fragrance of the freshly fried samosas pulled me towards the sweetmeat shop. There was a long queue, but I got my samosa. Right opposite the shop, an old man sold rudraksha malas. The sunlight seemed perfect to click the ruddy necklaces. so I walked to him. Who knows, I might buy one this time. “

I’m still talking about myself, but while describing the people, places, and scenes I come across.

Writing Exercise   —  Read what you have written. Do you hear “I,” “me,” “I,” “me,” or does the story care about others, too? Make a friend read the draft. Ask her what she thinks.

Quiet a landscape, eh? How will you describe it in words? Karl Paul Themistokles von Eckenbrecher / Public domain

6. Weave the facts throughout the story 

Fiction writers never give all the facts and data in the first paragraph of the story. Travel writers shouldn’t stuff all the logistics and information at once either. Otherwise, the piece will become a read-before-sleep rather than a read-because-you-can’t-stop concoction.

Read this: “ The museum was opened in 1871. With the ticket, we got an audio tour of the museum. The museum had four walls, all painted white, and four galleries. The first gallery is of the realism paintings. Then comes the second gallery with oil paintings. The third gallery is of natural paintings. By the fourth gallery, the writer d..o..z…e..s.s. off… The reader d.o.z…z…e.s off…   “

Now consider this :

“ The ticket to the museum said it opened to the public in 1871. Out of the four museum galleries, I first walked towards the realism paintings gallery.

…Journey in the realism paintings gallery…

After half an hour, I exited the realism to enter the world of oil paintings, the second gallery. The audio tour was so helpful I haven’t had to look up anything on Google, yet. Et cetera. Et cetera. “

As travel writers, we have to share information and facts. But we can’t burden the reader with all the information in one go. Unfurl the truths of the place slowly. When you write about a trip, weave the dates and the data in your narrative.

Writing Exercise   —  Check your piece for facts. Weave them subtly in the article.

7. Show more than you are comfortable with – Writing travel articles would need you to open up.

Personal essays and travel stories read real when we share how we feel. Of course, it is hard to open up on a public platform. Nor do we feel comfortable knowing others can see into our personal lives.

But to become a travel writer, you have to compromise on privacy. You have to let people inside your head. Else you will not be writing books but would only be protecting your identity. 

Here is something personal I wrote about my first solo travel in Thailand : “One morning in Chiang Mai, I was walking in the middle of a street. Clutching my bag, I was trying to read menus written in Thai. Just then, on a phone call back home, my mother said she would never forgive me and hung up. She wanted me to return home immediately but I wanted to travel more. “

I wasn’t comfortable sharing the entire conversation. But to progress the narrative and give context to my subsequent feelings and actions, I shared a less dramatic version of the phone call.

If we are not writing about a travel experience from a personal point of view, the piece would just read like a report on the destination. 

Don’t be shy. Share how you feel so that people can relate. After all, you are not the only one struggling with angry mothers and Thai menu cards. 

Readers want you to hook them from the beginning. Christen Dalsgaard / Public domain

8. Don’t bore the reader. Make her laugh. Make her cry. But never bore her.

We read to get entertained.  We read to forget ourselves for a while and get lost somewhere else. Reading is another form of meditation.

Recently in a storytelling workshop, I asked the six attendants why they read.  Their reasons ringed close to entertainment though they never used the word.

There is nothing wrong with reading for fun. Even though we might be learning alongside, growing as a person, getting out of the mundane, and venturing into different worlds, we wouldn’t read unless we were having fun.  ( these 21 books changed how I look at life .)

By enjoying a book, a story, or an article, I do not mean the reader would always be rolling on the floor laughing. She might cry. Her heart might get broken. She may miss her family. She might regret something she did ten years ago. 

As writers, our job is to make a reader feel all those emotions she was hiding from — that is the entertainment.  At the end of the read, the reader should feel as if she has just come out of another world (the one we will serve on a plate).

How would you make sure your travel writing isn’t boring? 

Read your work aloud. Cut every redundant and dull word and line. Be more frugal than the Michelin star chefs.

Laugh upon yourself if you have to. Talk about your fat nose. Tell us about how you were blown away by the wind. Open up about that embarrassing morning when the hostel bathroom was occupied and you had eaten too much salsa picante . 

Use metaphors. They will be a hit and miss in the beginning but you will soon make sense. 

In an essay on changing my career to become a writer , I wrote — Parents didn’t allow their children, especially girls, to go out and play with friends, and Voldemort wasn’t the reason. Men ogled women on the streets freely, and I was grabbed a few times even in crowded places as soon as I hit puberty.

I talked about why children weren’t allowed to go out by sharing a dark reality but putting in a little punch of Voldemort laughter there. 

Here’s another example of travel writing from an essay on being clueless in Chile when people spoke in Spanish :

Suddenly, I was the toothpaste cover girl: silent and vacuously smiling. Like the referee in a tennis match, I turned my head from one speaker to another to understand the expressions. I was the excluded newcomer in the class; rarely asked for advice or answer unless directly involved. Avoiding conversations was a new skill that I was assimilating. The quick cat who used to jump at everyone (literally with words) was out of breath and was watching silently from under the bed .

Unless my piece entertains me, I keep editing it. When you can’t enjoy your writing how would anyone else enjoy it? 

The scene could be soft and slow. But you have to write it such that people don’t get bored. On the Desert by Jean-Léon Gérôme / Public domain

9. Read like a Writer

As I am writing more, I am reading more, too. I have talked about the importance of reading in my 27 tips on improving writing skills , too. (my best non-fiction books from 2020 and best fiction books from the same year.)

Not just reading, but reading as a writer is one of the most important practices for any writer.

When I started reading travel blogs, I was overwhelmed. They were so many. How could I ever finish? But I realized I could read only some of those blogs. The rest were either boring or too short or just talked about how the writer enjoyed the place and didn’t give enough information, and so on (no offense to anyone for I am just sharing my reading experience).

I picked up the dos and the don’ts of good travel writing from my own experience as a reader.

While reading, notice what made you laugh or which part of the travelogue made you put the article aside. Was there an awkward word? Was the information weaved into the story? Would you read more of this writer? Why?

Learn from other writers. 

Here are books that have helped me progress as a writer (or at times have helped me write at all),

• Sapiens: a Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari — I’ve included this one because Sapiens establishes how humans could (cognitively and otherwise) evolve by telling stories to each other
• Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl — One of the best non-fiction memoirs I’ve ever read by such a young author
• Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life — for inspiration to write, and also to let go in the avalanche of warmth that flows out of this book
• On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft  by Stephen King — Learn from the best. King always knows how to cut the noise.
• Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke — Another book which suffuses me with strength, courage, and belief all writers so badly need. 
• A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf — Inspired by A Room of One’s Own, I even have a meditation on Woolf’s advice on writing and life . Virginia’s essay is a must read for all writers (and those aspiring to write).
• The Letters of Vincent van Gogh by Vincent van Gogh — In these priceless letters to his brother Theo, Vincent inspired everyone to pursue their art with utmost devotion. I read the letters frequently to fill myself with courage, focus, and belief.
• Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life by Natalie Goldberg — The title says it all. But this one stays with me wherever I go.
• The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Junior and E.B. White — for learning the basics of grammar and, literally, how to write
• Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University — another must have on non-fiction. I’m always reading this one yet I have so much more to learn 
• On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser — a must have in my opinion
• Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind (99U) — a brilliant book from the creatives around the world on how to manifest the creativity inside us in our work

Now go get them.

for as Vincent said , what is more artistic, doing it or not going it?

Writing Exercise   —  Pick up any travel story. Maybe take one from my blog  (could be this BR Hills piece ) or any other blog you love. Print it out. Now keeping the tips for travel writing discussed here in mind, read the story. Underline the descriptive words. Circle the boring parts. Mark the sentences that tell instead of show. Understand where you got bored or what kept you going. Now do it with one of your pieces. Rewrite the things that don’t feel right.

I hope these ideas on how to write about travel help you write better. Word by word, my friend, word by word.

Follow Up Reads: My best Blogging Tips from 2 years of blogging , Creative Routines for everyone , and an inspiration on pursuing our dreams

Are you writing about traveling, too? Do you now have a better idea on how to write a travel article? Let me know in the comments.

Like this post? Please pin it so that others can find it on Pinterest. Thank you. 

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6 thoughts on “9 Creative Writing Tactics to Enrich Your Travel Writing”

very informative

नमस्कार क्या आप मुझे बता सकते कि कहानी को लिखने का सही तरीका क्या है क्योंकि मैं बहुत दिनों से ट्राई कर रहा हूं पर लिख नहीं पा रहा हूं।

Hey priyanka, It was a great blog. I liked the whole blog specially the second point of Showing instead of telling. Keep going

Very good information blog! it is useful to me to write a Travel blog and thank you for posting.

Hi Priyanka, This is a wonderful article. Congratulations! I have just completed a travel book called ‘The Last Train Through the Heart of the Americas,’ for which I am trying to find a publisher, so I can very much relate to the travel tips you give in the above post, as I had to learn most of them the hard way. My book has been 30 years in the making and still isn’t published…. And I too worked in investment banking before setting off on travels to India, South-East Asia and South America. Although you are in India and I am in Canada, we have some things in common. You have used lovely illustrations in the blog post too, which added to the pleasure I got from reading it. And that’s how I write my pieces as well, keep rewriting and rewriting until it amuses me, and hence the reader. All the best, Ian Birch

Hi Ian, thanks a lot for your lovely message. We have so much in common it surprises me. And I have some many good friends from Canada. Your book will soon get published 🙂

Also, appreciate your feedback on the pictures. I take some time to find good images and paintings that would complement the piece. Here are some old paintings that are getting dust on Wikipedia so I thought to share them with all.

Good luck. Stay in touch, Priyanka

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31 Travel Journal Prompts + Creative Travel Journal Ideas

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Looking for travel journal prompts and creative travel journal ideas ?

Then you’re in the right place! 

Especially right now as travel is limited and people are searching for ways to travel at home, such as through relaxing staycations , keeping a travel journal can be a great way to relive your favorite trip memories. 

Moreover, it can keep travel alive, allow you to explore the world from home, and help you stay curious. 

Keep reading for a list of fun journal writing prompts related to travel as well as tips for creating something tangible that truly helps you feel inspired. 

Table of Contents

Downloadable Travel Journal PDF

Before we dive into the post, though, I want to offer you the chance to grab my free printable travel journal . 

The trip journal includes 56 prompts in total. 

This inspiring printable and fillable journal is great for exercising your creativity while traveling from home as you remember your favorite trips. 

Grab it, and then feel free to message me on Instagram ( @jessieonajourney ) to let me know which travel journal writing prompts were your favorite and why.

I plan to update the journal in the future — and you’ll get any revisions I make — so your feedback is appreciated!

What Is A Travel Journal?

A travel journal is a place where you can document your trip memories, whether you’re spending 7 days in Cancun , going on a solo USA road trip , off completing the world’s best hiking trails , or something else.

These can be paper or digital, bound or looseleaf, thin or thick. And— when it comes to how to write in a travel journal — it can include just text or a variety of mediums.

The point is, it offers a way to record what happens to you on the road — though you’re welcome to take your entries and give them a fictional twist for fun! 

Choosing Your Travel Journal

I may be a little biased, but if you’re looking for the best travel journal with prompts, I recommend grabbing my free printable journal here . 

Because I made it fillable, you can also use it as a travel journal online!

Additionally, there are loads of inspiring options online if you’d prefer to purchase one. On Amazon, I love this vegan leather option as well as this mindful travel journal .

Creative Travel Journal Ideas

Wondering how to be creative in your journal?

First of all, remember that a journal doesn’t just have to be writing. Use markers, paints, stickers, glitter, and even momentos from your travels to really bring the text to life. 

Of course, don’t forget about travel-themed accents, too, like stamps, tickets, postcards, and maps — you can even cut out sections of a map to showcase your favorite destinations. 

If you’re artistic, you might also consider bullet journaling and other techniques to make your journal more visual. 

In terms of keeping your travel writing fresh, having details to pull from can be a huge help.

When possible, try to experience a place with all five senses so you have more to draw from later. I personally like to take notes right after any experience I think I may write about later. 

Keep in mind, being fully present in this way is also just an overall healthy practice. 

If you’re having trouble remembering details, try to sit in silence and do a visualization. Personally, when I do this exercise I aim to not only see myself in a place, but to put myself back in the place so that I am seeing the scene through my own eyes. 

Feeling writer’s block?

Sometimes all that it takes is a change of scenery to get inspired again. Try going for a walk or trying a new cafe to see if that helps.

If not, put the journal away, give yourself some mental space, and pick it back up tomorrow. 

And if you’re proud of what you’ve written, feel free to post it on social media, share it in an email with friends or, of course, keep it to yourself. 

How To Keep A Travel Journal: Quick Tips 

As an avid journaler myself, these are some of my personal tips for having fun, feeling creative, and staying inspired while writing.

As with travel tips and trip styles, everyone has their own process when it comes to journaling, and something that works for me may not work for you. Feel free to try out this advice, keep what works, and let go of what doesn’t.

Overall, the goal is that you get something beneficial out of these pages.

Tip #1: Journal when you feel most creative.

For instance, you might choose some mindful ways to start your day and have completing daily journal prompts be one of your morning rituals. 

However, if you find you feel more creative in the afternoon or evening, plan your writing for then.

Tip #2: Don’t edit as you write.

Allow your first draft to be all about getting your ideas and thoughts down onto the paper and getting into a creative flow state.

You can always tweak things later.

Tip #3: Remember the power of lists.

This is one of my favorite trip journal ideas!

Writing in lists can be helpful when you’re:

• having trouble getting started
• wondering what things to put in a travel journal
• feeling like your sentences just aren’t flowing together

This way, you can at least get your ideas down and edit them together in a cohesive manner later on.

Tip #4: Write stories.

While this isn’t mandatory, those who are curious how to write a travel journal that’s worth reading should consider writing your thoughts as stories instead of in a stream-of-conscious fashion. 

To write a story, make sure you have a beginning, middle, and end. Actually, if you really want to do it right, you should also consider character, plot, setting, and tension.

For a lesson in storytelling, make sure to check out this video on how to improve your creative storytelling skills for more engaging writing:

Tip #5: Go beyond text.

Wondering what to put in a travel journal?

Realize there is no right or wrong answer to this question!

Keep it text-based, or add paintings, drawings, stickers, momentos from your trip, and more. 

Personally, I’ve started writing out my journal entries and then drawing them to add some additional creativity and really bring the pages to life. 

The Best Travel Journal Apps

Prefer a digital journal option over paper? 

There is an app for that! 

I’ve talked about my favorite travel safety apps before, but here are a few of my favorite apps for keeping a travel journal:

Travel Diaries .  This free app allows you to create both public and private journals. The layouts are customizable, and you can easily add text, photos, and even maps. 

One really neat feature of this app:

You can turn your travel diary into a physical creation to be shipped to your home!

Day One Journal . This is another great travel journal app that makes it simple to record your memories using photos, videos, drawings, and even audio recordings. 

The “On This Day” feature allows you to go back in time to revisit your favorite trip moments, while automatic backups ensure your content never gets lost. 

Unique app feature:

You can handwrite in your journal using your finger or Apple Pencil. 

This travel app has both free and paid premium versions. 

Polarsteps . Dubbed “the personal travel log in your pocket,” Polarsteps is an app that helps you plan your trips as well as record them along the way in a visually-appealing manner.

In fact, this app puts an emphasis on adding experiences to maps and using video to document, so you can really bring your trips back to life later on. 

A feature I love:

You can turn your travel memories into a stunning hardcover book to keep!

Unique Travel Journal Examples

Looking for some travel journal inspiration?

Here are some mood boards with journal examples to help get your creative juices flowing.

These are also helpful if you’re wanting to learn how to make a travel journal.

By the way:

Check out the bottom right photo in the top collage if you’re looking for travel journal layout ideas.

Travel Writing Prompts – Quick Picker 

If you’re like me and often feel indecisive when choosing a prompt, I’ve got a fun little tool that can help:

The above video moves through the list of writing prompts quickly.

To use it as a quick picker, press play, turn your gaze down, and then stop the video at a random moment.

Then, voilà , you’ve got your travel writing prompt chosen for you! 

31 Travel Journal Prompts

Whether you’re physically traveling or at home dreaming of the road, use these travel prompts for your journal.

I love these prompts for when I’m feeling stuck and am searching for things to write in a travel journal:

1. Remember a time when you met people while traveling that felt like family. Describe your time with them in great detail.

2. Write a postcard to a friend from a place you’ve loved visiting.

3. Think about a problem that exists in travel. Now, invent a solution to the problem. Hey, could this journal help you come up with your next million-dollar idea?

4. If you could go on a trip with anyone, dead or alive, who would you go with? Where would you go and what would you do?

5. Share a time you were lost or that you lost something while traveling. 

6. How has travel changed or shaped you? Note: This is one of my favorite self-discovery journal prompts!

7. Start your travel story with the following: “It was a dark and stormy night…”

8. What is the first vacation memory that comes to mind? Come up with your memory in 10 seconds or less!

9. Think back to the most beautiful place you’ve ever been to. Now, describe it using all five senses.

10. Write about a multi-destination trip — from the perspective of your backpack.

11. What is a sticky situation you’ve gotten out of on the road? Hint: Allow this to also be a reminder of your strength!

12. What is a fear you’ve overcome while traveling? How?

13. Take your story from the previous prompt about overcoming a fear while traveling and rewrite it from the perspective of an onlooker.

14. What has been your craziest transportation experience?

15. Write a review of the best hotel you’ve ever stayed in.

16. Write a review of the worst hotel you’ve ever stayed in using humor.

17. Write a letter of gratitude to someone who showed you an act of kindness on the road .

18. Write about the last trip you took — from the perspective of yourself in the year 2600.

19. Write about a hike you loved doing using all five senses.

20. “Travel makes me feel _____.” Why?

21. Write about a trip you took last year from the perspective of your favorite book or movie character.

22. What is the biggest lesson that travel has taught you? Share a story that brings this to life.

23. Pretend that you were given an extra day on a trip you loved. What would that day have looked like?

24. Choose a trip you haven’t written about yet. Now choose a different time period, and write about the trip as if it happened in that time period.

25. In your opinion, what is the biggest misconception about travel?

26. Think back to an interesting conversation you’ve had while traveling and begin your story with that dialogue.

27. Transport yourself to a beautiful beach you’ve visited. Suddenly, a message in a bottle washes up onto the shore. What does it say? How do you react?

28. Here is a road trip journal idea! Write about a road trip you went on, but have someone else from the trip be the narrator. Hint: If you traveled solo, have the car or an onlooker be the narrator.

29. Think of a time you went on a trip that took you out of your comfort zone. Write the end of the story, then the middle, then the beginning.

30. What is one piece of advice you’ve been told by a local while traveling? Have you applied it to your life? Why/why not?

31. If you were to write a travel memoir, what would the first chapter look like?

Bonus: Pair Your Journal Prompts With Self-Care

In my opinion, the best way to enjoy time spent journaling is by pairing it with other self-care activities.

In the video above, I share my top 10 favorite self-care tips and rituals for travelers — though they can also be enjoyed at home!

My recommendation:

Make a day of it! Use the journal prompts and the self-care rituals to create your own DIY retreat .

Want more travel-themed prompts?

Don’t forget to grab my free downloadable Inspired Storyteller Travel Journal — featuring inspiring quotes, writing tips, and 56 fun prompts to help you recount your favorite trip memories and write creatively. 

Do you have any travel journal prompts to add?

What are your favorite creative travel journal ideas.

Related posts:

About Jessie Festa

Jessie Festa is a New York-based travel content creator who is passionate about empowering her audience to experience new places and live a life of adventure. She is the founder of the solo female travel blog, Jessie on a Journey, and is editor-in-chief of Epicure & Culture , an online conscious tourism magazine. Along with writing, Jessie is a professional photographer and is the owner of NYC Photo Journeys , which offers New York photo tours, photo shoots, and wedding photography. Her work has appeared in publications like USA Today, CNN, Business Insider, Thrillist, and WestJet Magazine.

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These prompts are just the inspiration I needed to capture my thoughts about travel. Not only do they tap into my travel memories, but they feed my creative spirit. Who says you have to actually go anywhere to be well-traveled? 😉

I have trouble keeping a journal, but have always want too – these are such good prompts ill have to give it another try!

Wow, what an incredible article! I’m so grateful to have come across this treasure trove of travel journal prompts and ideas. The suggestions provided here are truly inspiring and have sparked my wanderlust even more. From capturing the sensory details to reflecting on personal growth, these prompts cover every aspect of a fulfilling travel journal. The beautiful descriptions and practical tips have motivated me to start documenting my adventures with a renewed passion. Thank you for sharing such a valuable resource that will undoubtedly enhance my future travel experiences. Keep up the fantastic work!

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21 Road Trip Writing Prompts

by Joe Bunting | 133 comments

Summer is the season for road trips. Whether you are on the road yourself or only dreaming of a vacation, today we have some road trip writing prompts to make the time fly. Try one out today!

This prompt was originally posted in June, 2012. Today, I'm traveling overseas and thought a few of you might also be on the road! We've added twenty prompts to the original one, but I kept my own practice from 2012 at the end. Enjoy!

Road trips yield great stories. Why? Because a road trip forces you, your family, your friends, or your characters into uncomfortable and new situations. Add to that the potential for various complications and conflict, and you have all the ingredients for a terrific story. 

Whether you want to write the story of a road trip you took, or one you're planning, or a scene from your work in progress that involves a road trip, you can use the elements of plot to help you. (See our full guide here.)

Start with a character who has a goal, and then let the complications and conflict ensue. Bring their actions to a crescendo of crisis (will they make the best bad choice to get what they want?) and deliver the climax and denouement .

A road trip has a built in external goal: you want to get to your destination, usually in a specific way for a specific purpose. But all those details can get hijacked by internal conflict, car trouble, wild roadside stops, and any other complication you can dream up. Give it a try!

Twenty-one Road Trip Writing Prompts 

• My original prompt was simple: Write about a road trip.

You can still do that one. But here are twenty more to take for a drive. (See what I did there?)

2. A parent and adult child have to take a road trip to sort out important family business. What happens?

3. Two co-workers have to drive to a work event one state away, but the trip goes terribly wrong.

4. A group of college seniors embark on a final road trip before graduation, but at the beginning of the second day, they pick up a hitchhiker who looks a lot like one of their professors who died the year before. 

5. A newlywed couple borrows a travel trailer and sets off on a cross-country roadtrip, when…

6. A young twenty-something trying to get home makes the mistake of stopping at…

7. An older couple has to move closer to family and takes a route that has some unusual memories.

8. A multi-family caravan road trip is derailed when a sink hole drops them into another dimension.

9. A motorcycle road trip through the Rocky Mountains turns deadly when…

10. A photographer sets out to capture pictures of the last five family-owned motels along a historic route when they discover…

11. A child convinces their grandparent to drive a thousand miles to return to a family home, but when they arrive, they are shocked to find…

Ten more road trip prompts for journaling

12. Tell about a time you took a wrong turn on a road trip.

13. Describe your dream road trip. Be sure to include details about the vehicle and riders along with the route and sights along the way. 

14. What was the best thing you ever ate on a road trip? The worst?

15. If you could only take a single route to a single destination for a road trip every summer for the rest of your life, which would it be and why?

16. Describe a time you learned something new on a road trip. 

17. Create your dream road trip playlist. Which artists and albums would you include and why?

18. Write about the characteristics that would describe your worst-case-scenario road trip buddy. (You can approach this either way: the person who would be best in a crisis OR the worst person to ride with.)

19. Find pictures of the open road in your favorite region and describe how it feels to be in that setting. 

20. What is your favorite book or film that includes a road trip and why?

21. Write about your favorite season or time of day to be on the road and describe it. 

For this writing practice, choose one of the prompts above. Set your timer for fifteen minutes . When you’re finished, share your work in the Pro Practice Workshop here (and if you’re not a member yet, you can join here ).

If  you post, please read and comment on a few posts by other writers. Share the love 🙂 

Here's my practice from 2012:

We're driving from California to Georgia this week, my dad and me. The first time since I was sixteen and only spoke six words to him the whole trip. We drove to Big Sur and then to Cambria where we stopped and listened to jazz in a little club along the road. It was the first time I had really listened to jazz. The piano player was blind. He could play well, the whole band could play well, but all I remember is feeling sad and alone and observant.

This time we're driving to Georgia through New Orleans where we'll sit in a smoky bar on Canal Street and listen to jazz. We drove through Texas today. Texas is normally a two day state, but for us it's a three day state. He wants to take it slow and relaxing so we'll stop in San Antonio and then Houston before making it the Mississippi Delta. I'm impatient to go faster and farther, a flaw of youth I suppose.

In El Paso we ate the worst Texas barbecued brisket either of us have ever had. Me, because it's the first Texas barbecued brisket I've ever had so it was both the best and worst. And he, because it was so dry and tasteless he had to chase it with shots of BBQ sauce just to get it down.

After El Paso we drove along Texas roads so long and flat you stop seeing road entirely and completely disappear into the black asphalt, the golden land, and the blue eternal sky that seems to dissolve the land itself.

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

133 Comments

“Come on, Nick, are you coming or what?”

“I’m coming, hang on.” Nicky rummaged through her shoulder bag again. “I just…hang on. Have you seen my Dramamine?”

“You already took it. The bottle is in your pocket.”

“Right. Okay.” She patted her pockets. You reminded your sister about the plants?”

“I did. Twice a week. She’s going to take the orchid home with her tonight.” Jack jingled the car keys and stared her down. She started down the front steps.

“Oh, I’m just going to check the coffee maker. I don’t remember if I turned it off.” She started back up.

“Nick! It’s on a timer. If you forgot to turn it off, which you didn’t, it’ll go off in an hour.” She hesitated at the top of the stairs. “We already got the garbage, the modem and tv are unplugged and the refrigerator is closed. We dumped the extra milk.”

“You’re sure?”

“Do you want to do this or not?”

“Of course I do! We’ve been planning it all month. You know how I am…” She smiled weakly. “ Just being thorough.” He didn’t respond, just spun the keys around his index finger before turning to climb into the driver’s seat of the rental car.

She took a deep breath and plunged down the steps and into the passenger seat. After arranging her bag on the floor she started to put on her seat belt, but stopped. Jack’s fingers drummed on the steering wheel as he stared ahead. Nicky picked her bag back up, took out her water bottle and put it in the cup holder. She exchanged her glasses for sunglasses. Hesitating, she put the box with the Sea Bands on her lap before buckling up. She anchored herself in the seat and reached for the bar on the roof.

“You know I’m a good driver, right?”

“Oh, I know. Its the rest of them I’m not sure about.”

I like the banter between your characters, Catherine. It’s great dialogue. It also made me laugh. I swear I have been Nick on a car trip or two.

I love the mystery in this. Are you going to keep writing this? I would.

I just might. I’ve been getting a sense of where these two might be going on their (ill-fated) trip. I’ve only been visiting Write Practice for about two weeks now, and the practice prompts are all so great I keep tucking all these little 300 word stories aside to work on later!

This is like a great study on the beginning of agoraphobia. What would happen is you followed them further. Would she want to go back. Would she worry about her home while she was gone? Very interesting theme.

Love it. Great dialogue. Getting ready to go on a trip is such chaos. Especially around worry warts (not sure if “worry warts” is a real thing or just a phrase we made up to describe my brother) I really felt that in your piece.

Really enjoyed this piece and would continue reading to find out more. I related to the woman’s OCD tendencies and her companions resultant frustration.

When I was a kid, road trips were awful. I remember the miles of boredom. Green mile marker after green mile marker ticking by like the second hand on a clock on Christmas Eve.

There was only so much we could do in the car. Read books. Play animal poker. Sing songs together.

Seat belts were usually neglected like the leftover tuna casserole in the back of the fridge. Some states protected us with laws back then, but nobody cared. We would often fall sleep while laying in the floorboard of the car.

My kids do not understand how good they have it. The minivan was built to keep them entertained for the 13 hour drive to Tampa. Instead of having to stare out the window for what seems forever, they can stare at the LCD screen conveniently hanging from the roof of the van.

Instead of swiping through the pages of a book and the story hidden within the collections of letters and words and punctuation marks, they can swipe through “Angry Birds” or “Cut the Rope.”

Instead of singing songs with each other, belting out the “I Wish They All Could be California Girls” with Brian Wilson and the beach boys, they can put on their headphones and sing along silently to Lady Gaga.

If only my kids understood how wonderful of a world they live in with all of the technology that helps the time pass by.

I guess someday they will say the same about their kids. In that great mystery of time and life, the present will become the past, and the past will become the present. The future will remain as it were, a better place that none of us find.

I love this Jeremy, especially the part about state laws. Great writing.

Jeremy, this is beautiful. The first three paragraphs are my favorite. Oh, and “California Girls” will be stuck in my head for the rest of the day.

Interesting idea in the last paragraph. I wonder what will happen to the human mind when it no longer has time to rest and wander (or be bored).

I really love that last line. Too often we are caught up with the Future, as if it were something we knew as well as the Past. I enjoyed the compare and contrast between then and now as a sort of reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Keep up the good work.

The last line is GR-R-R-R-R-R-E-A-T!!!

Brings back so many memories of sleeping in the back of the station wagon. Things have definitely changed!

The last paragraph really is just great. Though to be honest technology tends to be a negative thing because it removes the human interaction in road trips. We suddenly now have our own worlds where we’re alone along with our phones / laptops.

Actually that was the angle I was going for. Thanks JB.

I agree with EVERYTHING. (Except that I much prefer reading to electronics). 😉 😀 I HATE it when somebody says “I’m BORED.” My hair bristles at the thought of someone being bored when they have the whole world around them.

Great piece which keeps me reading on. The last paragraph is wonderful. 🙂

I never could read in a moving vehicle.  Even with all of today’s technology,  my kid’s still cry boredom.  I think they suffer from the same “car sickness” affliction as I have my whole life.  Although, I believe technology doesn’t add anything, it subtracts a whole heck of a lot!  Loved your writing.

It’s odd but I have the opposite reaction. I wish they could experience just a little of the joy of those good old days when we we not all separate and know they joy of singing loudly and off key hurtling down the road to a new shared adventure

The rain pounded on the car, a thunderous sound on the silver metal hood of their little car as they they drove northeast to Rochester, New York. An unexpected trip they didn’t plan to take. They had no plans this New Year’s Eve so Rick had planned an impromptu road trip to Rochester. Erin had always wanted to go to New York for New Year’s eve but by the time they got on the road they knew they wouldn’t make it to New York. They settled for Rochester. Erin stared blankly out the window. The darkness outside made the car feel like a tightly enclosed space adding to the mounting anxiety burning deep in her stomach. Rick reached over and squeezed her knee. He always squeezed her knee, on car trips when she drifted and he wanted her to talk to him. She didn’t feel much like talking on this trip. “This will be fun,” He said to her with a smile. There was an air of genuine excitement in his voice. She nodded. She knew Rick had nothing planned. They would arrive at a hotel and from there they would meandering aimlessly in a strange town in the middle of the night. They would end up in a bar with strangers for the midnight count down, she was certain. She let out a breath, silently. Trying to release some of the tension inside her. She told herself it would all be fine. But, things hadn’t been fine for a while and this trip only reminded her of the disconnection that was growing between them. It seemed to be getting worse and worse everyday. This trip felt like an attempt by Rick to pull her back into him. It only really prolonged the inevitable, in her mind, at least. She looked over at Rick. He noticed and smiled at her. She gave him a forced tight lipped smile in return. She turned her attention back to the darkness beyond the car window.

I like it. I felt the tension.

This is interesting. I don’t really like the narrator because I can’t figure our why she is still with this guy, but I would keep reading to see what was going to happen mostly because it’s a trip and trips often show conflict well. I like the phrase “pull her back into him”. The first paragraph is confusing I think because you say the trip is unplanned too many times and in different ways..

Good story–very heartfelt.

I think this is an interesting narrative depicting inner tension and anxiety in the woman, who is evidenly not at home anymore in the relationship. This might make a good scene in a longer story developing the reasons for the tensions and their resolution. Does he attempt “to pull her back into him” because he wants her to be an extension of himself, or maybe his posession? In my opinion, the second “car” in the first sentence is somewhat redundant — there are all manner of descriptive nouns that could be used to fill in the portrait — their little (BMW? roadster? Toyota? the possibilities are like endless!)

The description is great. I know it was only fifteen minutes for the practice, but I was left wanting more. DID Erin end up in a bar? Or did Rick pull off something amazing?

I love the built-in futility of the beginning (having lived near Rochester and in New York). It shows the incompatibility between the characters so clearly right from the start.

Joe, I’m sorry for you terrible BBQ brisket experience, but that’s what you get planning a road trip through Texas. Next time go through my home state of Missouri and enjoy some delicious Kansas City BBQ brisket or St. Louis ribs. Wash ’em down with a cold Bud and then finish it off with our famous Gooey Butter Cake and Frozen Custard.

We may just have to add a day to the trip and do that. 🙂

I loved your story, especially the scene about barbeque. Here’s my attempt.

Kin Marla Cantrell

I’m writing a review for the new album Kin that author Mary Karr wrote with singer/songwriter Rodney Crowell and I’m thinking about drinking again. The whole thing is about drinking and pickups and firearms and cussing and drinking, you get my drift, and I’m trying to find a way to say I love the album but you shouldn’t drink, no sir, you should not drink to excess, which is what you do now if you’re a writer for a responsible publication, and don’t we all want to be responsible?

So I’m thinking about drinking and I’m thinking about family, which is the catalyst for this album, and I say in it that family makes you as crazy as a sprayed roach, and then I worry that my family will read this and be offended, and hit BACKSPACE, and up in the cabinet is a bottle of Arkansas Moonshine that I took home from a bluegrass show last July, and it’s calling to me, all sweet and sinister at the same time, but I’ve got another story to write, about beer makers, my Lord, beer makers, and my eye starts to twitch.

I chunk the story for now, and get back to the review. Norah Jones sings, “If the law don’t want you, neither do I,” and I remember that summer with Troy who had a twin named Roy, and how Troy stole change from Coke machines in rest stops all along I-40 all the way up to Little Rock, and how I rode with him on those black nights, and how it felt like flying to be so close to him, the quarters piling up, and his arm around me and the windows down. He took me to Del’s Place, out past a cow pasture in Clarksville, where they’d serve you if you looks old enough to do long division, and we drank beer that stuck on the bar, which I now know, thanks to the beer makers I interviewed, is not a good sign.

There used to be a man with fancy leather pants whose entire job was to wait on the brewers, let them pour their beer on a bench, and then he’d sit on the beer for thirty minutes. If his pants stuck, the beer was bad. If he’s was at Del’s Place, it’d take a crow bar to set him free.

In the review I say I love Mary Karr’s foray into country music, and her triumph over alcohol that led her to write Lit, and how I have my own demons, don’t we all? I say, but drinking is not one of them. No-sir-ee, I say, but now I’m sweating, and the moonshine’s talking, and Troy still lives up in the hills, a half day’s drive away, and my keys are right there where I can see them. Right there like an omen, like dare, like a bad country song.

Wow. That was impressive. The second sentence in the first paragraph is confusing, needs to be made into two. Other that that this is great, perfect.

Thanks Marianne. I think you’re right. I just started writing and kept going. It needs editing, but it was so much fun.

Oh my goodness, I LOVE this character!! Hilarious, and I love the feel of this piece – you’ve hit the nail with the pace and ‘ramblings’!!! They’d serve you ‘if you’re old enough to do long division’, the keys are ‘like a bad country song’. REALLY enjoyed the freedom of this. Please write more!!!

Thank you so much. You made me smile. It was really fun writing it.

The last bit is awesome. 😀

Thank you so much, Themagicviolinst.

The sun set early on that cold night in November we hit the road. The entire family, as well as Grandpa Ace, was headed across the state to visit family for Thanksgiving. I was at the wheel, while Ace rode shotgun; the wife and kids were safely stowed in the back of our minivan.

I hate driving at dusk. It seems my eyes have a hard time adjusting from day to night vision. The lights of oncoming cars blur and multiply on my dirty windshield. I’m convinced that every oncoming car has purposely turned on their high beams just to mess with me.

State Highway 54 is a narrow two lane road heavily traveled by farmers, hunters and college students. That’s not a great combination; so it’s important to stay alert and practice defensive driving.

Ace is breathing heavily next to me, fogging up the window. His asthma is working overtime due to his lung cancer treatments. I try not to act annoyed, being that he’s dying and all.

“If we pick up the speed, we might be able to make the last quarter of the football game when we get there,” Ace said. I hate driving when my father-in-law is in the car.

I see up ahead a police car and a truck pulled over on the other side of the road. The policeman is shining his flashlight towards me.

“Why is he doing that? Doesn’t he know that’s blinding me?” I say, highly aggravated. I slow down to about forty and keep moving ahead. As I get up next to the cop with the blinding light, I hit something.

Thud! Kerplunk-kerplunk!

My windshield goes dark, completely covered in deer juice.

That was great Tom. I’m so glad your posting her again. I like how you describe that time at dusk when it gets really hard to see. I can definitely sympathize with your narrator. Well done.

Love it! Grandpa Ace is a great name. Makes me feel like he was once a powerful man and even though he is sick, his ego must be maintained. Shows the difficulty of keeping track of a lot of details at once.

Thanks! This is actually a true story and my F-I-L was named Ace. And your description of him is spot on!

I can identify with your driver. Every other driver absolutely puts his high beams on to purposely blind me. It’s a conspiracy I’m telling you.

I love your description of Highway 54. Great work.

Really enjoyable reading, due mostly to the sardonic family humor!

ewwww … deer juice! Great piece.

I’m so excited. My parents are taking my brothers and I to a beach to celebrate my 11th birthday. We’ll camp and get to stay up late. I’m a little more excited about the staying up late part than the camping park. There will be bugs. Sandy restrooms too. But at least I’ll get to stay up late. I’m pretty sure we’re mostly going for my mom since she loves the beach so much, but that’s fine. I love the beach too.

We always take our road trips at night. My parents probably think we’re all back here asleep. My brothers are, but I’m not. Ha. All they do is sleep. My mom says they’re always tired because they’re growing, but they’re only 13 and 15 years old. Not that much older than me anyway.

I like them the most when they’re asleep anyway. Even if they did put me in the middle for our car ride down. I don’t know why they think it’s fair to put me in the middle of them. Every single car trip. Just because I’m a girl. Hmph.

I can feel the energy of the narrator. “I like them the most when they’re asleep anyway.” So true!

You have a great narrator here. She is very authentic and I would keep reading were this a longer piece to hear more from her.

What is a road trip without snacks. My favorite road snack, well probably really my favorite snack overall, is popcorn. For the car, I usually stop at Trader Joe’s and get their salted corn popped in olive oil. Once, when driving across country, I went about 15 miles out of my way to stop at the closest Trader Joes. My boyfriend said I needed to get back “on point” if I was going to complete the drive from Southern California to Georgia. That tells you a lot about that relationship. I’m enjoying my road trip and he’s talking about being “on point.”

That was the trip where I decided almost at the drop of a hat to move across country. I had 3 weeks to empty my house, load what was left in my car and arrive in Georgia start my new job. I usually don’t make snap decisions like that and after that one,and I know why. Lets just say the job didn’t even last a year.

Now it’s sounding like I don’t have any stability, changing boyfriends, changing jobs, moveing across the country. Well I used to be the most stable person in the world. My nickname in college was Maytag – because I was so dependable. But that was a long time ago.

I took a great road trip came when I was in high school. What kind of parents would let their 17 year old girl get in a car with three boys and drive half way across the state to see a friend’s college play? Only the best in the world – mine.

That brings me to another key ingredient of a legendary road trip. Music. For that trip in 1984, the music that still stands out in my mind is Queen’s “We Will Rock You – We are the Champions.” Oh yeah, they were doing mashups before there were mashups. Driving down the freeway, John K’s feet hanging out the front passenger window and all four of us pounding on whatever was closest shouting “We will, We will., Rock You!” Sigh

So far we have two key ingredients in the road trip – snacks and music. But what about the car you ask? Isn’t that an essential ingredient. Well, it depends. A road trip could be by road, rail or air. While I didn’t realize it at the time the trip I took with my parents from San Diego to Seattle on the Amtrak was a road trip too. Although I was only about 11 that was a really great road trip, too.

So here we are at the final ingredient I have time to discuss today. The Company. At eleven years old, my parents were great company. At seventeen, three boys was even better. Now at nearly 50 I find my own company some of the best.

We drove for half an hour before saying anything. Cate and I were exhausted after the previous day’s drive through the south-eastern states. Waking up in Amarillo today was like opening our eyes on an entirely new world. The air was bitter, the sky straight-up blue, and the light of the sun was sharp, as if there was nothing between us and that great ball of fire. Insects were fewer, but the windshield would not get clean. I hit the dash after another attempt to clear off the glass. Cate looked at me as if she had just gotten a mouthful of dust. “We’re out of wiper fluid.” It was all she said, but it felt like she had just unzipped our pouch-full of problems and dumped them into the jeep. It was another jab at my ineptness, my inability to prepare for the trip, my incapability of doing any job to her standards, my lack of responsibility because I was still out of what she termed a ‘real job’, and my failure to give her a happy marriage. I felt like pulling over, getting out, and walking along the highway like a cowboy in one of those westerns I loved. Oh yeah, that was another thing my wife hated. Cate wiped her forehead. “It’s so hot, why don’t you turn on the air?” My brow must have furrowed too low for her, as I studied her, trying to figure out why I had married her in the first place; because she narrowed her eyes at me and said, “What? You don’t have to get mad just because I’m hot. It’s not my fault we’re out here in the middle of nowhere to see your parents.” I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry you’re miserable. You didn’t have to come.” She tossed her head and her red hair barely moved from all the hairspray she’d bathed it in. “Of course I didn’t. But someone has to keep you in line.” I laughed, completely unamused. “You know what, Cate, I don’t want any of this.” She hardly flinched, although I did. “You don’t know what you want, Caleb. You have no backbone. Just turn on the air conditioning and drive.” I wanted to hate her for her words, but I couldn’t because I knew her words were true. I didn’t know what I wanted. But at the same time she was wrong; I might not know what I wanted, but I knew I didn’t want her. As I started to count how many words we had spoken that day, she coughed and said, “Caleb, you know you need to think about what sort of job you want to get. Daddy doesn’t like you living off my allowance.” “I’m sure.” I grunted. “I don’t know why you have to live on his money anyway.” I said it softly, not harsh or cold, completely emotionless. “Shut up and drive, Caleb,” she snapped as I started to tell her how much I disliked her, her family, everything about her stupid life. Cate rolled her eyes. “Maybe if you stopped fooling around trying to write songs, you could make real money at something. Daddy is holding that position open for you and I will tell him you’ve taken it.” We sat in silence as I contemplated how best to tell her I hated everything about her. I wanted to make her hurt. Just as I mustered enough courage to say, “Cate?” she gasped and gave a tiny shriek. “Oh my gosh, where is my purse! Stop the car, stop the car!” I pulled over, looked into her startled, angry brown eyes and said it. The words that I had been biting back since the day I said I do. They finally came out. At least, I heard my voice yell at her. “I’m done, Cate. I want out.” I sat back and waited. Her eyes glistened and I thought maybe, just maybe she was going to cry. Maybe she would show some emotion and I would know her heart was not petrified. “Did you hear me?” I said, but the scratchiness of my voice betrayed my fear. There was a tiny tear in her right eye and my heart lept to think that she would react. “I can’t believe I left it. What if somebody stole it? It’s probably back at the hotel, right?” “What is wrong with you?” I said, hoping she would react at last to what I had said earlier. “Don’t you care that I can’t stand the sight of you? I hate being with you–I always have. Don’t you care that I don’t love you!?” I blanched, surprised at myself for finally expressing those thoughts that had tortured me for months. My emotions had felt so just, so right in the quiet of my heart, but as soon as I had spoken them, I felt dirty and cruel. Cate didn’t seem to care that I was pallid and sweating; if she did notice, she probably thought I was just hot from the oppressive heat. She tilted her chin up and repeated, “Just shut up and drive.” But there was something different. A tone in her voice that told me I had hit the nail on the head.

Painfully real and honest, Mollie. It was like they were both in different cars and conversations. I loved the line, “My emotions had felt so just, so right in the quiet of my heart, but as soon as I had spoken them, I felt dirty and cruel.” Sad to say, I’ve been there, done that. Great job!

Thank you very much. I have been there as well; I guess Caleb was really a reflection of myself at times…his quiet, cool bitterness. It felt truly awful to write those words he spoke to his wife.

I love the fact that the wiper fluid is the spark to all this… so true to life – that feeling that it truly is the last straw, that something so small can bring so many huge issues to the surface.

Thank you–I feel the same way. The simplest things can spark a huge fire!

I used the writing prompt as a way to reconnect with some memories from my childhood, writing about them for 15 minutes on my blog: http://amairedinsmore.com/2012/06/13/writing-prompt-road-trip/

Joe, just a note to say how much I like your photo images. You are doing a spectacular job of adding to your writing with great imagery. Love this road photo.

Thanks Cynthia. You’re too nice, though. If they’re good, though, I blame it on the flickr creative commons. I’d be lost without it.

She smirked to herself as she slid into the back seat. “This oughta be somethin’ to write home about.” Not that she would. The car turned onto the main road and the hum of the tires on the pavement was all that could be heard for the next half an hour.

A crackle and a sharp voice that sounded like it was coming from inside a tin can startled her. It was the dispatcher at the sherif’s station. The sherif picked up the receiver and mumbled a response. She straightened up and looked around.

The road lay before them like a rattlesnakes’ back, slithering silently through the hot sand. She chortled to herself. The sound of her laugh surprised her. She didn’t laugh very often. Her laugh had a different effect on the Sherif. His eyes, which were framed perfectly in the rear view mirror, narrowed. “You shut up back there” he warned.

The warning irritated her. “Why’s that Sherif?” she hissed. ” You can’t even get at me through that fence. I never been this far outta Haxton before and I will laugh about it if I damn well want to.” She felt empowered. She whispered to herself, “I’ll never tell them who did it. I promised.”

Oh, I’d like to read the rest of this. I like her already! She sounds like a hoot!

haha, thanks! I’m pretty sure she’s insane. I’m continuing it on my blog. http://www.rainybrook.org . Think I’ll work on it throughout the week. Post a new bit every evening.

I love the images and feel of the third paragraph – from rattlesnake’s back to her laugh that suprised her, to the Sherrif’s eyes in the rear-view mirror. Nice.

I love the reveal on being in the back of the Sherif’s car. I want to follow this character around as she gets into trouble.

I’m continuing this story at http://www.rainybrook.org . I would love some input, especially on grammar etc.

I was seven years old in 1970 and riding shotgun in my dad’s 1968 Camaro. We were headed home with the top down. We had just spent a terrific week in the beautiful hills of middle Tennessee. I had a lot of firsts on that trip. I got my first taste of life outside of Chicago. I met my grandparents and some of my first cousins on my Dad’s side for the first time, and got into my first fight with one of them. I saw my first cow, rode my first horse, played in my first barn, and I was the first one in our family to see our new house. And now we were on our way back to Chicago, but I couldn’t get the memories of that week out of my head.

I didn’t want it to end. I wanted my dad to turn that car around and take me back and drop me off. I argued that I could stay with my new cousins until he brought my mom and sister down in the truck with our furniture. He didn’t buy it.

I was already becoming nostalgic as the country began to give way to the city. I remember it well. We drove away from fresh country air into the familiar fragrance of Chicago. I watched in disappointment as the beautiful rolling hills and colorful trees morphed into row houses and skylines. The pastures were replaced by city streets. The reality of returning to the city was grudgingly sinking in.

When we pulled up to the curb, some of my friends met me and asked about my trip. I just smiled and pulled out my very first silver dollar my new-to-me grandmother had given me just before we pulled out. With shrieks of joy they followed me as we ran to the five and dime on the corner of that city street in Chicago.

The four of us are crammed in John’s much-to-small silver pickup, ensorceled by British accents and lightning-fast guitar spilling from the stereo. There is Nothing in every direction for miles outside the truck’s cab. On a wintery Tuesday, in the dead chill of early morning, we are the only car creeping slowly up the I-5. No cars means no cops and the truck is filled from ceiling to floor boards with pot smoke.

John is driving and I am riding co-pilot, with Pud and Sebastian stuffed into the truck’s half-assed attempt at a back seat. Wrapped in every blanket we brought, the two of them look like a giant pile of rags, hands reaching up from the cozy abyss to grasp for bowl after bowl. When John says he can hardly see anymore, we roll down the windows and I imagine we must look every bit the smoking locomotive.

“What’s the first thing you want to do when we get back?” Pud asks. He and John just got back from this very trip a few months ago and are itching to introduce Sebastian and I to all of the things they discovered the first time they trekked up to Seattle.

“Um…” John says and quickly forgets that he had said anything at all.

I watch Nothing stretch on before us and then quickly slip by to make room for more Nothing, all the while a knot twisting in my gut. The first thing I want to do is hit a handle of whiskey and explore the new world we have set out for. The first thing I should do is tell them that I’m not going back to California…

“We’re looking for a nurse to help transport a ventilator patient from Coffeeville, KS back here.”

I quickly raised my hand to get my supervisors attention.

“I’ll do it! I could really use the overtime.”

The trip from south Kansas City to Coffeeville Kansas and back would be a long one; seven hours round trip.

“Hey, what could be more glamorous than being able to tell my friends that I helped transport a critically ill patient two hundred miles?” I told myself.

Excitedly, I climbed into the ambulance. The medic was already strapped into his seat which was located right behind the wall separating the drivers cab from the box portion of the truck. I had the pleasure of sitting on the long bench. You have seen this seat before in the movies or on TV. It is where the medical professional sits and works on the patient while the ambulance is screaming down the highway headed to the hospital. It is the glamor seat, of course.

This long, bench style, seat was quite possibly the least comfortable place on earth. Imagine, if you will, trying to sit on your kitchen counter top for three-and-a-half hours while being driven down the windy, gravel covered back roads of Kansas, and every time you try to stretch your back to get comfortable, the upper cabinets gouge into the back of your neck. This is an ambulance ride across the great state of Kansas.

Trying to lie down was worse. There was no restraining belt of any kind on this seat. It was impossible to lie down on this thing. I had to keep one leg on the floor at all times to keep from being thrown clear of the edge. Every bump in the road caused the entirety of my body to bounce completely off the firm foam seat. What I hoped would be an opportunity to sleep on the way down to Coffeeville turned into an opportunity to realize that I get severely sick when riding in the back of a vehicle with no windows.

Once we arrived in Coffeeville I flung open the back door of the ambulance, and stumbled clear of the truck. I quickly grabbed the biggest container of water I could find, and slammed it down hoping to hydrate away my pounding headache and overwhelming nausea.

I followed the ambulance crew into the small hospital attempting to stand as erect as possible and not appear disabled. We found our patient, complete with portable ventilator, three bags of IV medications, an indwelling catheter and a feeding tube.

We transfered the patient onto the gurney and headed back towards the ambulance.

It did not look as glamorous this time. The rear doors looked more like the mouth of a monster that wanted to eat me.

Your description of how uncomfortable the bench was was really effective. I felt that gouge and winced.

My red-haired sister picks me up from the store early that afternoon. We head south from Fort Worth on the Cleburne highway, and the memories set in at once of all the summertime trips to the family reunions at Ben and Sarah’s place on the Brazos River, between Glen Rose and Nemo, less than a mile from the low-water bridge, site of my near-drowning and salvation at the hands of my dad at age fourteen; I always swam like a rock, and did not realize that day how swiftly the sand bottom was washing away. The land seemed unchanged by the intervening decades’ passing. Colors shone bright and vivid — deep blue big sky, stunted evergreen trees, the large flat white rocks that line the sides of two-lane country highway. We lost our way just this side of Glen Rose, then found it just by remembering carefully. “That’s our story . . .” Sis began, ” . . . and we’re stickin’ to it!” I finished. There was a good-sized group of people at the little frame house, and we all walked up the hill to the family cemetery to see our Uncle Ben laid to rest. Quiet, scholarly (and a career school-teacher), creative, artistic, he was my absolute favorite uncle because he was so different. I’m glad I have my broad-brimmed straw hat and wrap-around sunglasses on. I have dropped twenty years, and aged forty, with this road trip. I won’t be able to make my wife understand.

Fort Worth, Cleburne, Brazos, Glen Rose, all my stompin grounds. good job.

Thank you ! Absolutely love that country.

You had me at red-haired sister. I love this. The line “found it just by remembering carefully” is wonderful.

Thank you very much!

This ends with another interesting comment about time. I like how you put that. Good writing.

My father asked me what happened in the witch doctor’s hut. I said, what witch doctor? He said, you wrote a post card home, you wrote about it. What? I had no recollection. Six weeks hitchhiking around East Africa and I get home and can’t remember. How weird is that? I can only think it occured on the shores of Lake Victoria when our steamer stopped at Kisumu, giving us six hours to get into trouble. I hired a taxi to run me into the bundu for quick lookie-loo. The driver delivered me to a village where a traveling judge was presiding over an outdoor session, during which a character flaunting a pink boa and dancing to music in his own head, decided, at great embarrassment to me, to entertain me, the only muzungu. My mind goes blank. But obviously not immediately blank, because I had written home about it. I’d also written about wandering into lion country after midnight and being inticed back to town by a klatch of kids concerned for my health. They stood across the road and stopped the next vehicle, a tire truck. They unhappily put me in the back. I spent a moonlit night bouncing through Tanzania in a cage piled high with tires. I remember that. I remember getting stung by jellyfish in Mombasa. I remember getting picked up by the Tanzanian Highways minister in a cool cream Mercedez and wondering how he got the scars on the back of his hand. I remember shrimp curry in Dar es Salaam. I remember walking the Kenyan savannah country with ostriches on one side of me and zebra on the other. I remember being shit scared. But for the life of me I don’t remember that witch doctor. I reckon it’s a good thing I’m a skeptic. I don’t believe in spells. I don’t believe in much. But hitting the road…now, that’s my religion.

So much description in this piece. I got a feel for the variety of places in your words.

Wow. What great writing.

This is so great, PJ. I like how conversational and yet powerful it is.

I want to read an entire travelogue of this trip!

Joanne has a headache. And we know the only thing that will cure that. The open road.

We pile in, Snail with his leaky nose, Sammy with his fistful of chocolates and me. We squeeze in the back because Joanne needs space to allow her head to rest. Maybe in an hour or so, I’ll be bumped up to the front seat. It all depends on whether her headache is gone or not. So much of my life depends on her moods, so it makes sense to me that the tone of the roadtrip will be too.

Nobody says anything. Snail is holding his head back to stop the inevitable, and Joanne’s glaring at him through the rearview mirror, just daring him to sniff. He knows better. I look out at the industrial building, all grey and straight, and just like the one next to my house.

I want to ask her to drive way faster than the speed limit, way faster that’s safe, but I just scratch the pink nailpolish off my nails instead. Snail’s head’s waving to and fro with the pressure from staying bent out of shape so long, and it looks like he’s struggling to breathe. I realise I’m holding my breath just watching this play out. Sammy’s grabbing for a chocolate wrapper and tearing it open for dear life, and he can’t eat it fast enough.

Joanne puts her hand to her temples. ‘That’s not helping,’ she says, meaning that she doesn’t want Sammy to rustle chocolate papers in her car.

‘Can I give you a massage?’ I ask.

She shrugs her shoulders, which means OK. So I lean over Sammy and his chocolate, putting an elbow on his hairy leg, and start squeezing Joanne’s tight shoulders through her navy cardigan.

It’s then that Snail sniffs. Not just a little one, but a humongous sniff that he’s been holding onto since he got into the car. Joanne slams on the breaks. I look out and see the fir trees in the distance.

This is fantastic! I LOVE the name Snail, and your descriptions are wonderful. How many times have I chipped off nail polish when I really wanted to do something else? Did you really do this in just 15 minutes? I may be jealous.

Haha, thanks Marla! That means we’re both jealous then! 😉 Question – do you live in the South? If so, where? It sure sounds like it! 😉 I lived there for a while, though I’m in South Africa now, and find myself OFTEN writing Southern… I just LOVE the South!!

I do live in the South, Zo-Zo.  In Arkansas.  I’m the managing editor of @Urban:disqus  Magazine http://www.AtUrbanMagazine.  I’m the senior writer, so I get to do a LOT of writing, which led me to my post about the road trip.  I was juggling both stories and stopped to do this.  I love the South.  Where did you live?  (I love your writing!)

That was really good. Is Joanne their mother or there sister? It really doesn’t matter, she’s in charge and she’s mean and unstable. You really have some good characters going there.

thanks Marianne!! You’re really generous with your comments – I can’t wait to read your pieces! 🙂

Wonderful cast of characters here! Your descriptive words are excellent. I assumed they were small children when the piece started but saw a variety of ages, and genders, by the end. Very well done!

Thanks, Beth… So good to hear! 🙂

I want to know what happens next. Interesting story. I’m curious why everything depends on Joanne.

I like the ending when Snail finally sniffs. It was all great, Joanne’s tension, the kids trying to help but they’re not really helping, the description. I have only one thing (and really, it’s just me being picky as usual). At the beginning it says, “We pile in, Snail with his leaky nose, Sammy with his fistful of chocolates and me.” It sounds like Sammy has a fistful of chocolates and her. (I assume it’s a her since the person has pink nail polish on). It needs a comma. Otherwise it’s great! 😀

Ha, ALL feedback – especially picky crit – is welcome!!! Thanks! 🙂

Phew! 😀 I’m always worried about being too picky. ;P You’re welcome! 😀

Read and enjoy 🙂

The day was scorching hot. The car’s AC was broken and the windows were down. I tried leaning forward and I felt my clothes sticking to my seat with my sweat as glue. In front of me was the road—endless and vast and lonely. Above me was the sun—red and angry and was following me like big brother’s eye. I pressed harder down on the gas and the car roared in protest. I kept on driving.

I knew perfectly where I had come from, but my destination was still a mystery. I just decided I needed a drive alone. I packed light—just a few snacks, two bottles of water, and three handpicked music CD’s. An hour of driving reduced the buildings to trees. Two hours passed and the people became rocks. Eventually the other cars became ghosts and I was the only one driving on that road. The trees lost their leaves and became bare and naked and dead. I kept on driving.

I stopped and pulled the handbrake. I grabbed a bag of Cheetos and ripped it open. Maybe I wasn’t driving, not really. It was more of an escape. I needed an escape from her, from the words thrown, from the voices raised, and from her leaving. I needed, no, wanted to be alone. I needed to be moving because whenever I stopped, my mind would wander back to her. I’d remember stuff—the scent of her shampoo on her hair, the way she pursed her lips absentmindedly, the way she said that she just wasted two years of her life with me. The words felt like daggers. I lowered the handbrake and I kept on driving.

I eased on the gas and the car slowed down to 20. My right hand grabbed a random CD and I pushed it in the car’s audio system—I thanked the good lord that the radio still worked. Strumming of guitars filled my oven-hot car and I knew what song was being played. It was our favorite. The playing of harmonica followed the guitars. The voices came on last. I sang with them. I sang loud. My tuneless voice rose out of the open window and into the barren landscape. I sang until the end of the second chorus. The third chorus had a different voice—a female’s. I stopped singing, smiling, waiting for her to sing—this had always been her solo part. I waited. Then, I remembered we’re no longer together. I was driving alone. The smile dropped from my lips and the song ended in silence. I kept on driving.

That kind of points out how the end of a love affair has both it’s bad and good moments no matter how much one wants it to end. You get in the habit of having the other person around. Very well done as usual

Thanks Marianne. Yeah, especially if the two of you were together for a long time.

Well done! Sad ending.

Thanks Beth. 🙂

The sadness is tangible through all the little details you remember about her, and your description of the road. The driver’s resilience and doggedness comes through vividly – the repetition of the phrase ‘I kept on driving’ is very effective…

The story just felt so sad. Like how everything revolves around a single person when you’re together. And when things get rough and eventually break, the routine, the feeling of having someone there all the time just shatters you to a gazillion pieces.

“The higher you climb, the harder you fall.”

I loved the end where he forgets that they’re not together again. Sad and mysterious. Nice job! 😀

Thomas loved road trips. It had been quite some time since he had driven one so this would be an extra special treat.

“Tommy, I am so excited, where are we going?” Madge’s voice cut thought Thomas’s reverie, quickly grounding him in the reality that such a carefree excursion would not be so carefree. The city slugged by as they battled traffic on the wide expressway, not fast enough, thought Thomas, as that cankerous voice assaulted his right ear. “Oh, Tommy, so thoughtful of you to take me away on a trip! But for heavens sake, tell me, where are we going? You never even let me pack a bag, oh I will have to buy clothes when we get there I suppose.”

Thomas did not look away from the view over the curve of the steering wheel as he replied in a distracted monotone. He was taking Madge on a long trip. He barely heard her as she lamented about how his boss would never approve the extended leave. This whining wife of his was always thinking on the downside. If all went well, he would not have to return to work again anyway after this journey was done.

Honking horns gave way to the blissful hum of tires speeding along the freeway, and soon concrete melded into suburbia. Madge opened her window and the breeze tossed her chemical stiff hair all about. Thomas did not look at her once but he was sourly reminded of her presence as the scent of her expensive perfume permeated the tiny car.

The sun was high and the freeway thinned down to a ribbon of road that stretched for miles before them. Only a few others traveled this way now, seen only as shiny dots far ahead of them in the haze. Thomas led the car off an exit and the gentle tinging of the turn signal was barely audible above the din of the engine. For a brief moment the sun got caught in Madge’s hair. For an instant it transformed her head into some feral torch while she absentmindedly studied her top notch salon manicure that Thomas had paid for with his blood, sweat, and tears.

Flat expanse soon rose up around the little car in rolling mounds, green fields dotted with the shadows of clouds passing overhead. Thomas remembered how he used to make pictures in the clouds when he had been just a boy, back before the days of long hours at the factory, piles of bills, and the incessant company of a nagging and useless wife. What had he ever seen in her? He realized that he did not even know anymore.

The drive back home was peaceful. It would be nearly morning when the trip would finally end, but that was ok, Thomas did not plan on going into the foundry in the morning. As he looked over to the empty passenger seat to his right, he inwardly exalted the thought of never returning to that stinking place again. For years he labored away while Madge spent every dime, but now the insurance money would more than pay him back for all the trouble she had caused.

Thomas pulled into the driveway at last, and for the first time in years a genuine smile turned up the corners of his thin lips.

That’s chilling. You got a complete story done in fifteen minutes. I’m impressed

Somehow I knew Madge was destined to die the first time she opened her mouth! Excellent piece of writing. I really enjoyed this!

This sentence, “The first time since I was six­teen and only spoke six words to him the whole trip,” felt awkward to me but otherwise really enjoyed your piece. 🙂 Maybe it’s the word “since.” Seems to flow better without it.

Here’s the most basic math problem any idiot can solve: A road trip from New Jersey to California + No electronics allowed in the car + two annoying little brothers + an annoying older sister = BOREDOMVILLE. It’s every 12-year-old boy’s nightmare. So at six o’clock in the morning, everyone reluctantly began to pack the car, still yawning and still rubbing half-closed eyes. We barely fit all of the stuff into our minivan. The worst part (besides the electronic ban) was that I was stuck sitting next to my big sister Gabby who was popping bubble gum and chewing loudly. I rolled my eyes in frustration and sat down, arms crossed, on the seat. “This’ll be fun!” My mom said, giving us a huge smile and making the thumbs up sign on both of her hands. “Uh huh,” Gabby said. “Yeah, Mom, you can stop lying to us right now. We are not going to have fun.” Mom frowned slightly in her disapproving way. “Now, Gabby-.” “Why do we have to drive to see Grandma and Grandpa?” My little brother Trent inturuppted before giving a humongous yawn, showing the gaps in his mouth from the teeth that had fallen out. “Why can’t they fly on an airplane to see us? They have, like, a bazillion dollars.” “Trent, we thought it would be nice to surprise them, remember?” My dad reminded him as he put yet another bulky suitcase in the bulging trunk. “They always come visit us so we thought they’d enjoy us visiting them.” Trent stuck out his lower lip and narrowed his eyes. “Plus, this gives us a chance to spend time as a family,” Mom said, trying to stay positive. “For once I’d rather be in school,” Ben said. Ben was the second youngest kid in our family, Trent being the youngest. Mom opened her mouth to give one of her “school is wonderful and you should appreciate it and don’t you want to learn?” speeches, then closed her mouth, thinking better of it. “Time to go, kids!” Dad yelled, clapping his hands together several times. We all got in the car and buckled in. As soon as we set off down the road, Mom pointed out everything to us, whether it was a Texas license plate (“That’s not very common around here!”) or a calf drinking milk. (“Isn’t it so cute!”) Three hours later, I finally caved and pulled out one of the “Boredom Busters” Mom had packed for me. She and Dad were now singing along to a cheesy romantic duet on the radio and I was trying to figure out how to block out the screeching. I reached into the backpack labeled “Jonathon” and pulled out an item at random. It was a book. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. I read the back. Mom had done it. She had found a book that I thought looked interesting. I read the first page. And the second. And the third. I was on Chapter 10 when it started to get dark and Mom forced me to put the book down, (she actually forced me to put a book down!) insisting that it was bad for my eyes to read in the dark. I rumaged in the backpack for a flashlight. Unfortunately, she hadn’t packed one. After a few days, we reached California and I had finished the book. As soon as we stopped for a bathroom break before going to Grandma and Grandpa’s house, I begged my mom to take me to the nearest book store so we could purchase the second Harry Potter book. She was so excited that I was interested in reading, that she agreed. Three months later, I had finished the whole series and had watched all of the movies. And that, ladies and gentleman, is how I discovered the love of reading. And that is also discovered how much I loved roadtrips. (Not that I’d ever go on one again without a good book).

A good book is essential for a long road trip! How clever of your mom to introduce you to reading that way.

LOL! 😀 Actually, this story isn’t about me. I wrote it based on people I know. 😉

I had butterflies in my stomach as I packed the car. I was driving from southern Alabama to middle Georgia with a four year old, but otherwise alone. Not a long trip by some standards. Still there were plenty of unknowns. It had been some years since I’d driven most of the day, serving as mommy, navigator, and driver. Not to mention the funeral at the end of the trip.

I checked items off my mental list. Afraid I would forget something. I like more time to prepare, but funerals wait for no one.

The first hour or so it rained. Maggie asked me, “Are we there yet,” at least 30 times. It wasn’t long though before we settled comfortably into our trip. As I left the live oaks and Spanish moss of the coastal south the familiar winding roads through pine forests felt like a memory.

As the scenery changed images from the past imposed themselves on my surroundings. I felt myself smiling as I recalled road trips to Grandma’s. Huge columned homes, mouldering in their grandeur, flashed by. Split rail fences; orange back roads; and grey outbuildings, decaying under a layer of vines, sped by as the road drew me closer to childhood.

As I followed a print out of Googled directions another journey was being sorted out. The hours afforded me time. I gained perspective on a relationship that had become fuzzy, the edges smudged and undefined. Peace settled and gratitude accompanied me as the last miles fell away.

Some beautiful lines here! I love the nostalgia of ‘the familiar winding roads through pine forests felt like a memory’. ‘huge columned houses, mouldering in their grandeur, flashed by’ – what an image!!

Engine started. Brakes checked. Mirrors adjusted. Music playing. Camera ready. Go!

I just quit my job and my parents wouldn’t stop bickering about how life was too short to be wasted on useless dreams like being a photographer. It wasn’t stupid. It wasn’t useless.

The sky was starting to turn a nice shade of pink as I turned to the highway. A lovely mix of colors. I moved to the emergency lane and turned on the hazard lights. I opened the windows and framed the sky and the highway together.

Click. One beautiful moment captured. 

I took a couple more shots from a different angle and started to drive again.

My GPS gave me directions to the first destination I entered before leaving: a small wedding chapel.

Just in time, I thought as I saw the couple walk out of the chapel smiling happily at the crowd with hands entwined together. Happiness. Love. Trust. Everything wonderful in a single portrait.

I stared at the couple and imagined myself walking down the aisle. Tears started to flood my eyes. 

Happiness. What is happiness for me? Where can I find it?

I let myself think for a while longer but realized that this wasn’t the only way to get happiness. Marriage isn’t the only thing.

Time to get back in the car and drive, continue on the journey of life. 

Terribly bad with grammar and tenses. This is my first time writing so go easy on me please.

——————————-

I don’t remember what brought me on the road. I only know I needed to get out of that house, get out and breathe in some fresh air. So I grabbed the keys, jumped into the car and just went off.

I have no idea where I’m going and when should I stop. All I wanted to do at the point was just to keep moving. Move and not think.

I can’t remember how long I must have driven. One hour, two hours, five hours, ten hours. It’s just seemed like an endless road. A road with no destination. I can just continue driving like this forever.

But reality pulled me back. Can I really escape? Can I really let go? Forget about the years together? Ignore the existence of our kids?

So all I can do is to give up and drove back, back to the house I ran away from. And to forget that this road trip even happened at all.

I still remember the car dance that Anna, Tiffany, and I created back in October 1999. We were on our way down to Jacksonville for a football game affectionately termed as the “World’s Largest Cocktail Party.” That’s right, the Georgia versus Florida football game. We were proud fans of the Bulldog Nation and drove down clad in our red and black. We went down there (some of us in the friend group three years in a row) more so for the football and the friends than for the cocktails, but I would be lying if I said the third was not at least a minor consideration. 🙂 If you were to meet Anna, Tiffany, and I nowadays, you never would guess that we partook in this event. Anna just earned a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences and is about to have a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in England. Tiffany and I both earned master’s degrees and are now teachers. All three of us are and have been writers, at times professionally, at times as a hobby. Tiffany and Anna have baby girls who, coincidentally, will both turn a year old this July. I am an honorary aunt to both girls, and I greatly enjoy dancing and playing with them. Hopefully, they will be like the three of us and our girlfriends Jaymee and Laurie, studious girls who are career-oriented, but still like to have fun. Now, all three of us girls who created the car dance have bigger fish to fry than who wins the big game. But, I am still glad we took those college road trips. We formed friendships that would last a lifetime in the midst of screaming at football games until we were hoarse, going to “cocktail parties”, dancing in the car, and driving six to ten hours in a day to see a bunch of large college guys run into each other. I’ll definitely remember those games and road trips more than what I learned in my college classes, as much as I enjoyed reading Shakespeare.

Meet Spirit and Dance. six year old twins – they went on a road trip – a walking trip:

We call our mother “mother” because it annoys her. She would like us to address her as Sweet Divinity, the name she chose when she left home to join a commune. We found out years later she was called Mary Winifred O’Connell but we were used to mother by then and much as we would have liked to annoy her with Mary we could never remember it in time. We never really knew mother, just when we thought we understood what she was, she changed becoming more robust, or a little fragile, very political or like an earth mother. Her moods were like shifting sands, when other people were around she was always bright and shining like a beacon of hope. However when they left they snuffed out the spark of hope and we endured dark days, sometimes she didn’t cook for days or even get out of bed.

It was on one such deep black nadir, as long as we had known, lasting more than five days that we went in search of food and changed our lives forever. We could only count up to five and we had done that and eaten all the berries we could find. We weren’t sure about weeks but we knew it was autumn as the leaves were falling from trees, it was getting colder and both of us had put on shoes for the first time that year.

We dressed with care for the occasion of the big walk. Spirit was wearing orange corduroys with a yellow jumper that came down to her knees. Dance was wearing a dress that dragged along the ground made out of heavy crushed velvet. A dark blue matching cardigan two sizes too small finished her outfit.

We now know that we looked wild but back then it seemed natural to have our hair streaming down our back, unkempt with twig and leaf entwined. The clothes we wore were either too big or too small, all given by these transient caravanners as part payment for water and pitch. So on this particularly momentous day in our lives we thought we looked normal and set off down the road. We decided to walk down rather than up because when the people went for a walk in the evening they always went that way and came home cheery, loud and happy.

The first part we skipped as a new freedom descended on us, this slowly gave way to a slower pace until we were trudging. Our clothes were getting wet as rain dripped unnecessarily harshly, they hung down and got heavier and muddier as we marched our slow monotonous walk. The village started abruptly as we turned a bend, cottages on both sides gave way to terraces and eventually we saw a shop. We had brought money in mother’s purse. Although naïve about a lot of things we knew that mother gave money to get things and people sometimes gave money to her for staying with her. We pushed open the door and Dance spoke to the lady, well pointed at things; a packet of jam biscuits, a chocolate bar and bananas. Spirit opened the purse and gave it to the lady.

Honesty was thankfully well imbued in the shop lady and she only took out the £2.30 needed. We left and sat on a bench outside, each item came out of the bag, halved and stuffed unceremonially into our watering waiting mouths. We choked and spluttered our way through the food and with hiccups stood and went in search of something to quench our thirst.

As we turned a corner a group of children were coming the other way. We said hello to them but they laughed, encircling us, they pointed; at our hair, our faces now covered in chocolate and biscuit crumbs, our clothes, they said we smelled funny, we were dirty, and we were stupid. We cowered turning into each other, arm around protecting, not understanding why but aware of danger. The noise must have alerted some adults to investigate because suddenly the chanting stopped and we opened our eyes. A huge man stood over them asking who they were.

Spirit spoke, “I am Spirit. She is Dance.”

“Come on now girls, tell the truth. You have run away and stolen a lot of money. Mrs Hanrahan at the shop says you had more than fifty pounds in that purse. Tell the truth like good girls.”

Dance moved forward, facing him, she craned her neck until she could see his face, “We tell truth, me Dance and she is Spirit, we were hungry so we came for food.”

Spirit dragged her back to be with her and put her arms back around her

We were driving from California to Missouri and then from Missouri to Michigan. We would make stops when needed and see many states along the way. I was with my parents in my favorite yellow van, the one that looked like a special bus that I used to beg my parents not to pick me up from school in, but they didn’t listen. I loved the inside of that van though. The outside gave no indication of the awesomeness inside. The plush velour seats that were so comfortable and beautiful. You could write secret messages into the back of the chair and then wipe it away with one hand swipe. It was going to be a great trip.

And then I learned my stepsister and her daughter were coming as well. This meant I had to share the inside workings of the van with someone who was not only extremely selfish and vengeful, but she taught her daughter to be the same as well. As most road trips will treat small squeamish girls, I got car sick about three-quarters of the way through. I think we were in Oklahoma somewhere when my inertia couldn’t take the moving van any longer; the van where I sat claustrophobically trapped with someone who was not nice in any way, (they even looked nasty because they had a black, scrunched up soul that didn’t hold very much good inside). Her inside ugliness seeping out hour after hour, along with the trapped sensation inside a moving box, forced everything I had eaten up until that point to eject violently from wherever I sat. Apparently, I was sitting quite close to my stepsister’s pink satin blanket. Let me tell you, her heiness (or so she thought what with the pink satin) was mortified.

Although I had just given my stomach’s contents to her blanket, and obviously needed to just lay down, I’m pretty sure there was a smile there. If not an outward smile, then for sure a grin from deep within me. Nobody on the planet deserved a blanketful of 9-year old puke more than she did. There were many screams, a pull on the van door and much commotion to move my lifeless body to the side of the road where I could finish if I must. Her horrified screams proceeded as she wondered what she would do now with her blanket. I didn’t care what she did. As far as I was concerned, she could take her pink satin blanket with her and hitchhike home. Sadly, this is the memory that remains from this trip. Let’s just say it was the trip from hell.  

The day was hot and we didn’t set out as early as planned. There was always something to do at the last minute: check that all water and gas pipes were closed, set the answering machinge, leave enough food out for the cat.

Finally, we took to the road, only stopping to buy snacks and drinks. The way was long but we were excited. We put on a tape, started singing and laughing. I thought it was going to be a great rip.

We passed farmers bringing produce and flowers from the fields. There were stalls selling coconuts, mangoes and tepache (a pineapple fermented drink). We drove past archaeological sites that we had visited in school trips.

Once, we stopped in a small town because there was an old cathedral right by the side of the road and we wanted to take some pictures. It turned out it was being renovated because an earthquake (and time) had damaged it.

A little further on we saw a cutting on a mountain that was shaped like a heart. My sister loved that it seemed pink in the evening glow.

And after a few more turns, we saw it: Oaxaca. The lights were just starting to turn on and the valley seemed magical. We had been there once before, but we were very small and could barely remember the town. I felt as if we were discovering it for the first time.

I was excited about the history we were about to see, the gorgeous churches, the delicious food and incredible handcrafts. Perhaps we would even meet old friends. It was the best graduation gift my mom could give me, and Oaxaca did not disappoint.

There are certain songs that come on the radio and make me want to jump in the car and head across the Land of the Free. 

My dream is to start on the farthest east location in the United States and drive all the way across the United States and find the most Western point and then stop.

Do I take someone with me on take this  Pilgrimage– a finding myself from east to west and back again? 

Find the cutest convertible with the greatest sound system, because you will need a great stereo for that long of a drive.  Gas up and load the console with plenty of Chex mix, not the kind with m & m’s because they will melt.  A case of water which I will undoubtedly forget about and grab Coca Cola at every pee stop on the trek out west and I am ready to go. 

My only dilemma is do you drive and only stop at the great attractions like the giant ball of string. Do I stop in the tourist trap stops built for people just like me that think they are witnessing real Texas when they buy an Armadillo keychain.

Or do I spend a night here and take in a band and a meal.  Should I dance with the man who has grinned at me all night across the restaurant?  I could take the Tornado alley tours and witness what families are forced to endure every year.  I could stop at the World’s Largest Mall and the World’s smallest doorknob museum. 

I have a mental checklist in my head of things I want to find such as the best food in Texas and the Grand Canyon and spy a look at a local tribe on their reservation.  I want to peer across the cornfields of Iowa and the mountains of Montana.  I want to say I have been to Hell and back in Colorado and go and watch fish be thrown at the fish market in Seattle. 

I want to arrive on the West Coast and get out of my car and wriggle my toes in the sand of California. 

But until I can do that, I will finish dinner that is cooking on my stove.  Until I can get in that rented, red, car full of Chex Mix I will feed my family and dream of a trip on another day from sea to shining sea. 

The intent for this one wasn’t to fit with this, but it works out that the main character is (I think) the Disney Anti-Hero. This was inspired solely by James Halls’ commentary piece:

Before them, large, jagged mounds rose from the cave floor, a miniature of a landscape that belonged someplace else, where the sun was hot and scorching and the only fools who crossed it were adorned in thick soled hiking boots. Cella eyed the boy’s flimsy, tattered sneakers (if they could still be called that) piteously and wiggled her toes in her boots. Ah well.

“Take these, boy, quickly now.” She toed off her comfortable, well-worn shoes and handed them to him, almost bitterly. From the light of the lamp Cella carried, he observed her barefooted-ness.

“And what will you wear?” His little voice was expectant, as though he truly expected her to whip out an extra pair of shoes from inside her pant pocket.

Annoyed, she hissed, “Do you want them or not, prat?”

Silently, he took the shoes, and she felt a sting of bitterness, at herself, and at the boy. Feeling mutinous, she touched the tough pad of her big toe against the edge of the limestone landscape. At first it wasn’t so bad, but after a while her optimism faded, as her feet were assaulted from all sides by the brittle rock. She was sinisterly reminding herself that the boy hasn’t even tanked her for the shoes when she first heard it—an echoing far above them. She looked up.

Before, the roof of the cave felt oppressive and intrusive, and stirred within her feelings of claustrophobia previously unobserved by her. Yet now, as Cella gazed up with wonder and awe, her feelings of suppression dissipated, to be replaced by a sudden loneliness that conjured fear. Above her, the darkness moved in an endless abyss, a sky where no stars dwelled.

She stumbled as the rock broke beneath her and another piece fell on her left foot, digging, burrowing itself into the skin there, and when she lifted it, hissing, her skin oozed interlocking webs of blood. She threw the rock aside, where the shadows swayed mournfully and jeered at her beyond the broken bubble of light. The boy stood watching her, healthy and normal, and had just enough decency to look guilty as they trudged on, although perhaps his hanging head was just to watch his footing.

Z.C.S. July 10, 2013

Advice and such are strongly appreciated and encouraged. =)

“Above her, the darkness moved in an endless abyss, a sky where no stars dwelled.” I like this, but I think “moved” is a poor verb choice. This suggestion that something is moving above them. But, at least in this excerpt, you don’t show that.

Nice job of showing tension between the characters. I don’t think I did that well with my characters.

This is the beginning of something I’ve wanted to start for a long time. It is still pretty rough….

The call came unexpectedly. A jarring sound that pulled him into his bed and out of the darkness of slumber. He realized that his time of rest was over and rolled over to grab the phone without opening his eyes. The high pitched voice on the other end had a pinched quality to it, as though the back of the throat were cutting off the words despite her best efforts to create them. breathily, she asked, “Aaron Jade? Are you still doing detective work?”

He wondered briefly weather to answer or ask who was calling. Before he could do either, the raspy voice continued, “I need someone with your skills who can be counted on to be discreet, at least until my issue has been resolved to my satisfacation.”

It was obvious she was used to getting her way, what she wanted, and she wanted him, or rather his detective skills.

“Who is this?” He tried to sound harsh and demanding, “ I haven’t done a job in years. How did you get my number? No-one has access to this number unless I know about I what.”

“Who gave it to me isn’t important.” The breathiness had left her voice, and a commanding, I know-what-I-want-and-I’m-going-to-get-it tone had completely replaced any sign of fear. “I need someone who knows his way around, and will do whatever it takes to complete the job. I hear that you’ve done business with those that have needed the utmost discretion, and have gotten results.”

Jade’s inner radar had kicked in, his attention fully engaged, he recognized the old back-in business feeling. It began as a slight, nearly imperceptible tingle in the middle of his body, as if a clock had been set to ticking.

Your dialog comes across as a bit fake. I’m not sure what has caused it though. Things are not quite said right, probably a little too long winded. Dialog is a little more snappy.

More creepiness or something in the woman’s dialog would up the tension needed in the piece. The “I’m a woman who knows how to get what she wants” cliche just doesn’t cut it, in my opinion. At this point, you want the reader thinking “What is UP with this crazy woman calling?”

On the other hand, you did say it was rough. I didn’t have to struggle with the ideas, it was easy to read. You get your point across.

Keep Practicing and you’ll get there!

I don’t really know what kind of anti-hero Lindy is, but we can let her speak for herself. ——– “Today’s the day!” Tinder was grinning from ear to ear when Lindy opened the hostel door. “Our grand adventure. We’re going to save the town and bring settlers back to the North. It’s going to be a raging success, I can feel it!” Lindy rubbed the knuckles on her right hand absently. Tinder still bore the purplish blotch on his cheek from their row a few days ago. When Lindy had still insisted that she would return to her homestead alone and leave the colonies to their own fate. The scabs on her knuckles itched where the split skin threatened to open up again. “You’re not going to hit me again are you?” Tinder asked cheerfully eyeing her clenched fist. “If you keep grinning like that, I might. There’s no room for blind optimism out there. If you want to have a gleeful adventure, try the hologarden. We’ll be very lucky if we don’t freeze to death before we’ve reached the first outpost. And you better hope there’s fuel and shelter there. Nobody’s restocked the place in 10 years.” Lindy hoisted her pack onto her back and carried her heavy green parka over her arm. “Let’s get on with it.” A small crowd had gathered at the east gate. Tinder’s father handed him an oiled leather packet. “Pemmican, for the journey. Should keep you when everything else has frozen solid.” He handed a similar packet to Lindy, along with a second, smaller pouch. “Try not to lose my boy down a crevasse” he said. “No promises” Lindy said as she gingerly opened the pouch. It contained heavy twine made of horse hair, long cords made of sinew and an oiled length of catgut. “I know old Pete taught you how to trap, let’s hope you still remember some of it.” He rested a hand uneasily on her shoulder and gave it an awkward pat. She turned to Tinder to break the man’s touch and placed the pouch into the tall boy’s pack. The townspeople were quiet as they loaded their saviors down with gifts of fuel, provisions and tools. The headman presented Lindy with a map that looked more like it had been drawn for a child’s scavenger hunt. Their destination and the various outposts were scrawled on it with vague directional markers, landmarks and distances measured in ox legs. It wasn’t much to go on and more likely than not they would be blown off course by summer storms and never reach their destination. There were so many things that could go wrong. It was no wonder that, while everyone wished them well, no one spoke of their return. Hope had long deserted this settlement. It probably died just after her grandfather did, Lindy thought bitterly. Served them all right, sending their most valuable ally on a fool’s errand. Now it was Lindy’s turn to be sent off into the arctic night. Except no one here would mourn the loss of her skills. As for Tinder, the town already had a butcher and he would not long be needed once the herders’ dome collapsed entirely. Soon this town dome would empty and the people would go out and die in whatever way seemed best to them. Lindy and Tinder would have only one ox for their journey. Lindy’s own ox was left to the care of the herdmistress and a fresh one, Petri was gifted to them. Lindy preferred her own ox, but was relieved that her Snowball at least wouldn’t die on this foolish errand. “All right, let’s go.” Lindy donned her parka and mittens and fitted her goggles to her face. When Tinder was similarly bundled and masked, the townspeople retreated to the cafés. The east gate squealed in its tracks. The wide open air was before them. At least Lindy would be nearer to her Lights again. The first morning passed in silence. They took turns riding Petri and walking alongside her. On the ground, the large animal’s bulk blocked the majority of the wind. As the day grew old, both Tinder and Lindy walked on the leeward side of the ox, trying to regain the warmth in their hands and keep the sharp winds from biting the coddled dome skin around their masks. “How much further to the outpost?” Tinder asked. “Didn’t the map say three ox legs? We should have seen the first landmark a leg ago.” “I imagine the landmark is long gone, it was only a signpost or shack. Any number of storms could have ripped it down and buried it under snow by now.” They marched on, their eyes burning in the bright light of unfiltered sun on snow. As the sun met them direct in the eyes, Lindy knew they wouldn’t reach shelter by dark. “We have to make camp” she said. “Don’t argue” she said as Tinder opened his mouth. “If Petri freezes in the twilight cold, we won’t be saving any domes this lifetime.” She scanned the land around them for any geographic features that might block the wind and give their ox a respite from the cold. “There” she said, pointing at a strip of pale blue on the snow a hundred yards from them. “Looks like a mound or a hill or something, we can make camp next to it.” She strode off with lead rein in hand, not waiting for Tinder’s response. As they approached the strip of blue, she found it didn’t rise up from the snow as she had expected. It grew larger to be sure, but it should have blocked out the sky or something. At the very edge of it, Lindy stopped abruptly, and pushed Petri back. “It’s a hole!” she shouted to Tinder who had been looking at sky and landscape and snow. Everywhere but at his own feet where the crevasse yawned wide.

5 Types of Anti-Heroes, there’s something more to talk about this anymore.

Um, my anti-hero isn’t in this list? What do you call an anti-hero who is a complete screw-up in crisis and knows it, but can’t seem to stop doing hurtful things despite wanting to do the right thing, until he finally realizes the truth he needs to in order to live differently?

How are you? I had fun with the Prompt. *** A Road-Trip; 278 tunnels; seeing snow for the first time & learning to ski – on the spur of the moment.

I know all about road trips, good ones and bad ones, boring and exciting ones. Road trips in thirty-two US States, South Africa, France, Italy, Spain, Ballearic Islands, Jamaica, Bahamas, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Belgium, Luxembourg…

Our road trips are never planned. We don’t own a car because we own a boat. For road-trips we rent a car, dust off the worn map and go, wherever the road takes us. We love to drive on smaller roads and mostly they are not marked on the big scale maps that is why we argue a lot too, because we get lost al lot.

But we also have amazing experiences and seen amazing places. A few years ago, in March 2010, we were in Pretoria, South Africa and our son had two days to get to Viareggio in Italy for a job. Airline tickets booked and the morning of our flight they emailed us saying we can fly to London but no further because of airline personnel strikes. The brave or stupid or both, Storbecks made a plan. Landing at Heathrow we had 18 hours left to arrive in Italy. We rented a car at the airport. After much hassle because we needed one with an EU number plate, Avis had no road maps and no GPS for us either. Ok, we knew we had to drive south-east to the Mediterranean. On the A20 to the Euro Channel, arriving in Calais, France we followed signs south-east. Riems, Troyes, sleeping late that night somewhere near Chaumont in an motel. The next day we drove to Dijon, Geneva, through the Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, tunnel. An amazing tunnel, 18 miles in length. Arriving in Italy we drove like a bat out of hell to Genoa and arrived with a few hours to spare in Viareggio.

Tired, hungry and Peter very happy because the new job on a stunning super yacht, a dream come true. A few days later, knowing he was settled we made a quick detour in Tuscany, near the Italian Swiss border I saw Zermatt on the map. I remembered a friend said they go skiing there every year. That the Zermatt looked like those pictures you see on chocolate boxes. We are from South Africa and have never seen snow! ‘Let’s go skiing” we said, funny right? We drove to Zermatt, a resort below the Matterhorn, booked into a hotel, rented gear and an instructor and skied for 4 days.

That was the most fun I have ever had on any road trip. Snow…and more snow… hiking in snow, getting lost in the dark, on the mountain, following voices to town, sliding down a steep plowed slope on our behinds, it was to steep to walk. Then the trip back to the UK. All in all we drove 2700 miles in 14 days, through 278 tunnels.

My 15 minutes is up

It was the crack of dawn at Laguna Seca Speedway in the summer of 1988, the Sunday after a weekend concert. I had to be back in Portland Oregon for class on Monday morning. I was in grad school then and swore I would never miss another class for a Dead Show again. I hadn’t slept that night though everyone else in my friend’s converted school bus had managed to sleep. My shoes were somewhere under someone’s head. Did I dare wake them to say goodbye and look for my shoes? No. It was time to go; shoes be damned. I wrote a quick goodbye note with something about butterflies and headed for the freeway North. About fifteen minutes into the drive I saw a hitchhiker and picked him up. He lived not too much out of my way so I decided to drive him back to his house somewhere in Marin County. When we got to his house, I went in to use the bathroom and get a bite to eat. We sat on his living room floor and he cried in my arms because he could never see the Dead again; the memories were too painful. He and his wife had met at a show and she had just left him for another man. I held him; stroked his hair; gave him a bear hug and left on my journey, never to see or hear from him again. I then had twenty hours left to make a fifteen hour drive. No problem. However, my detour to his house got me off the highway and so I had to trek through the back roads of Northern California. Several hours later I came across another hitchhiker and picked him up. He was an older man, perhaps in his forties as I was in my twenties. When he got into the car he said, “Thanks for picking me up. I just got out of the hospital.” To which I immediately thought, “Oh no. Here’s the one I should never have stopped for. Here’s the serial killer I thought I’d never be unlucky enough to meet.” But it turned out someone rear-ended him and he had been in the hospital for a few days and when released he had no way to get home; his car had been totaled.

We talked of his family, his wife and Elvis. She named one son Elvis and the other Russell after Kurt Russell because he played Elvis in a movie once. I drove him home too; met the wife, and the two tributes to The King and off I went once again with now 15 hours to make a 12 hour drive. No problem. I turned on the radio in nowheresville and up popped Jerry singing Sugaree, a very good sign. All was well. I was the angel of hitchhiker-mercy endorsed by synchronicity. I passed through Marysville and as I passed the town limit sign, The Wind Cries Mary came on. I stopped to get gas. The wind did feel a bit moist as if washing us in light tears. I noticed on my map I was near Oroville and a commune one Deahead boyfriend from long had moved to: Con Cow. The gas attended gave me directions to the commune and I showed up asking around for Rich. I found him and the woman he’d left me for living in a dome next to a pond. We skinny-dipped and milked his goats. I cried in his arms at life in general. He said his dome often got people to cry. I gave Jezebel a bear hug and took him with me to Chico where he was spending the night with some friends. It was midnight when I dropped him off. I said hello to his friend’s drank some coffee and was off again. I had to be inclass at ten am. I drove all night not having slept in over 24 hours. I pulled into Lewis and Clark College at 10:05 and ran to class, barefoot, in a ripped hippie skirt. The class gave me a standing ovation.

The violent weather is treacherous on the tarmac tonight, a lonely deserted road in the desert accompanied by a raging storm lights up the night sky, lightning stretches & appears to crawl across the distant blackness. This weather doesn’t deter this type of man who’s brain is wired indifferent to most others of his own kind, with no thought of consequence of personal well being. A psychopathic assassin has no need for normal thought processes or common sense, out here alone in this situation he is right at home.

Speeding through the treacherous conditions the car is bombarded by dense rain where it appears nails are tearing through the sky to bombard this crazy’s man vehicle.

This black hot rod engine wanes and punches through the weather wanting more.

Finally our killer known as Magnolia reaches an intersection, the hot rod screams to a halt, this moment will be used to light up a cigarette. As He lights his smoke he see’s a wolf pounce onto a nearby rock on the side of the road. The headlights shine in the wolfs eyes. Magnolia gazes at the wolf when he begins to show his teeth and snarl at the car in confusion. Magnolia smiles and nods to the wolf to deliver fellow acknowledgement between predators.

The hot rod suddenly speeds off and the road trip is underway again, there is not a lot of distance left to cover to reach this designated city of black smoke and hatred.

An industrial erected man made monstrosity of abandoned structures have now become canvases for the local kids to characterize and graffiti. The sun is powerless to beings there.

The car speeds on and on, in the revision mirror Magnolia sees red and blue lights closing in on his position. he slows down to enable these highway patrol pawns to get closer to the hot rod, that is just what Magnolia wants.

The Police car eventually pulls alongside the perused car of Magnolias, The Police pa instructs the hot rod to pull to the side of the road as Magnolia increases his speed, The passenger highway cop draws his gun and flashes it out the window as a warning, Magnolia begins to also wind down his window. when the officer flashes a torch to see the suspects face, he sees a pale white scared face accompanied with slick long black hair.

Magnolia begins to slow the chase right down, enough so he can draw his silver plated pistol and shoot the back passenger window, he appears to miss the squad drivers but this is part of his plan. The car speeds back up, the cops pull alongside to shine a light on Magnolia to fix a target to shoot, as the light shines on Magnolia they spot his yellowing teeth grip and pull out two pins of a couple of grenades, he then tosses them in the back seat through the shot window of the police car, One officer frantically turns around to collect and discard the grenades when he is stopped by the prisoners back seat protection grill, the grenades are trapped bouncing around on the seat.

The police car pulls over but it is too late, the car explodes and it is all over.

Magnolia turn around to pull over and marvel at this event, he exits his car and smiles and approaches the car, he rubs his hands together and lights up a smoke using the burnt out wreckage.

He turns and faces what remains of the open road, in the distance he sees the city lights

It is not long to go now until this road trip is at an end and Magnolia is home.

By Luke Stanley [email protected]

Roadtrips. Truth be told, I’ve never had a memorable one. Well I have few images of a roadtrip I once had one with my family, but seeing as I was about five years old, I don’t remember it in details. I only know that that day was memorable, even if I did forget most of it. I just remember us being happy, my family and I. It was one of the last times we were all in one car. And that’s why I plan on going on plenty of roadtrips as soon as I’m old enough to drive. Not with anyone. With the people I love. We would listen to good music, take pictures, walk in old markets, watch the sunrise, have heart-to-heart conversations, and simply pour our hearts out and soak up all the beauty in this world. I know this idea of a perfect roadtrip is a bit utopian, but the slightest prospect of having such a roadtrip makes my heart flutter and fills me up with hope. The possibility that, in time of hardships, a simple car trip with a true friend might renew my vision of life and love, makes me have a hopeful look on the future. So, to me, a roadtrip is more than just a long car ride. It’s a ride towards a new perspective. It’s a way to show me the good in the world when I’ve lost sight. I truly hope I won’t be not disappointed when I actually go on a roadtrip. I’m almost sure that i won’t be, because I am confident in the faithfulness of my friends, no matter how little I’ve experienced.

The move from California to Texas was both exhilarating and terrifying. I used to think that there would be no new adventures for me as I aged. After all I was a part of the generation that loudly proclaimed “Trust no on over 30.” That of course changed as the years flew past and 30 something became the new 20 and 60 the new 40 and so on and so on. Will death become the new life? Numerical options become somewhat limited at this point in the game. I honestly have no answers but I have made a deal with myself to stop counting and just be present for this chapter of my life. The only thing I’m currently certain about is that at this point anything other than living each day to it’s fullest and on my own terms is a waste of precious time. With that in mind each day becomes it’s own new adventure.

The icy winds blew in through the windows, the frozen path straining on the car. A heavy mist had surrounded us and my vision was restricted to just the front of the vehicle. I heard Mal and An shivering and comforting each other as I tried to plow ahead. Heather was rubbing her hands together, an attempt to keep the escaping heat in her body. She kept trying to toy with the heating systems but everything had broken down an hour ago.

I cursed myself for plunging my family into this disaster, all holiday plans melting away. I had promised them an adventurous get-away but had never fathomed it turning into this.

Heather was holding on to my arm and tried to soothe me. Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she looked up at me. Someone was coming behind us and we all knew that they could be our saving grace.

I clambered out of the car, making sure to buckle myself up, ready to brace the chills. My feet; having made contact with the snow-laiden road; froze instantly and my voice struggled to escape my throat. I signalled for the driver to stop and come to our assisstance but, to my utmost panic, the car never stopped. The jet black Jeep just speeded past me and left me stranded. I was lost in thought, as to why I wasn’t offered any help when the loud honk of a horn woke me up. Heather was staring up at me and gave me a confused and questioning glance, mirroring my expression.

I peered into the fog, hoping for anyone to come but I was just greeted by a silvery haze and an increasingly cold and fast wind threatening to trap us in a whirlwind of disasters. The only thing I could do was wait…This was turning out to be a never-ending road trip for us all!

No mountains, no lakes, no greenery, no waterfall…no beautiful brook is flowing parallel to the road in which I am travelling….so what you think .. I am in a monotonous journey you do not long for…. The dust clearly strewn visible in black bituminous road crossing which appears to be a eternity.My black Scorpio has turned white due to patches. I am in a stretch surrounded by large dunes of sand on two sides… I cannot add .#beautiful# adjective to these dunes, they are dry and nothing else and I have turned drier. I occasionally wet my lips with tounges lubricating the cracks… Casting my eyes sideways I find a herd of camels traversing the desert in peace somewhere near the horizon … I am calm too but not in peace, for my senses which are not used to this silence start keeping me busy with distractions of past and future , worries and griefs maybe this is the most rewarding time for introspection.. Yes THAR triggers the philosophical side of me…… When I had planned this trip , I had mentally imagined this scene quite numerous times but this was catalyzed by the traditional tune of KESARIYA BALAM AAVO JI MAARHE DESH…..( you are welcome to my country … The grace of lord may bequeath upon you) … But now in this very moment I am feeling so much thirsty that the depression ahead of me which appears to be filled with water makes me joyous only to make me sad when I reach there ..all my water bottles have drained and so the knowledge of miraje which I has read in my science books…………

The best type of road trip is one where I am not driving. When I get to look out the window and allow my mind to paint over the vast expanse of the land around me. Boy, do I love the days where I can make up catchy song-lyrics in my head, pretending that I can play an instrument, while the car speeds along the highway at ten miles-per-hour over the speed limit. Those are the days that I can devote to doing nothing, answering to nobody, and still see everything. I can see the earth itself, polka-dotted with trees, cars and uniform houses. I can see the occasional hitch-hiker as we tumble past him, the thought never crossing our minds to pick him up. I see the world as it is, a bastion of infinite artistry. I can visualize the creation of something far greater than myself, the colors that humans have forged. And from the cars we pass and those that pass us, I can see their hues and I can rest assured that each one is inherently unique, each one portrays a new gradient. Because of these observations, my mind can rest easy, letting the car hurl me forward into a flurry of colors. Sometimes though, when the sun becomes consumed by mountains and the radiance of the daytime becomes nothing more than a muddled shadow, I start to think of myself. I don’t like it when I think of myself. It starts with the faces. Always the faces. Faces of people whose voices I refuse to recall because they are faces of people whom I have deemed unworthy of my time, my dreams, or my thoughts. And while they have never done anything to deserve my condemnation, I have still chosen to shun them. Then come those who have wronged me, people whose hearts I have invested my own in and yet they chose to do the same thing to me that I have done to others. They chose condemnation over recognition. I hate them for it, and if I hate them for their ugliness, then others must hate me in the same way. The only color I see now in the evening light is not a color at all, it’s more like a feeling. It cannot be explained, our language does not denote the existence of this color; it simply is. I peer into the side-view mirror from the backseat of the car, the sun almost finished banishing itself into the abyss of western mountains, and I can no longer see myself. All I see is the ever-elusive color, and a crowd of faces in front of mine.

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Make Moments Matter

Get Inspired With These 50 Travel Journal Prompts

Travel Journal Writing Prompts

Struggling with ideas for your Travel Diary? Try these travel journal prompts to get you inspired and create amazing memories from your adventures and destinations!

There are so many reasons you should try writing a travel journal for your next vacation. Keeping a travel journal is a fantastic way to prepare for a trip, help you stay organized during a holiday and to keep those amazing travel memories alive long after your adventure has finished. 

Trying to come up with ideas on what to write about can be hard work though…especially if you are tired after a day of sightseeing! It can also be hard to know where to start as you have often seen and done so much in a day of travel !

Create a travel journal you are going to treasure for many years to come with the travel prompts below. They will help you capture all the sights, feelings and experiences you have that make your trip worth remembering.  

Table of Contents

Travel Journal Prompts

So, what do you write in a travel journal?

It’s normal to feel a little stuck with writing. Usually just starting is the hardest part and once you begin writing you will find the ideas flow easily.

Using journal prompts like the ones below is a great way to get stop the writing block. 

If you use your travel diary to help plan your adventure then it’s a great idea to get into the habit of journaling before you leave. 

Travel Prompts For Before The Trip

• What are your expectations of this destination or experience?
• What is on your destination bucket list? And why do you want to see or experience these things? 
• What part of this trip have you enjoyed planning for the most?
• Have there been any pre-trip disasters? 
• Why did you choose this adventure or destination?
• Are you worried about anything?
• What advice have you read or been given about your destination?
• What are you most excited about? ( it could be food to try or a tour you have booked).
• What has been your favorite vacation/adventure ever? 
• What  souvenir do you want to bring home?
• What do you want to learn on this adventure?
• How have you saved up for this trip?
• What are some interesting facts you have researched about your destination?

To really make the most of travel journaling it is a good idea to create a habit. Maybe get up half an hour early to write about your day before, or make sure you leave some time at the end of the day to journal. Try to journal every day as it is amazing how quickly you can forget all those small details.  Try the below journal prompts to inspire you while you are traveling. 

Journal Prompts While Traveling

• What was the first thing you noticed/felt when you reached your destination
• What was the most amazing thing you did today?
• What was the worst thing that happened today?
• Did you try something new?
• What made you smile, laugh, cry?
• What did you eat?
• What people did you meet today?
• Did something go wrong today? ( Travel disasters can sometimes end up as funny stories later on)
• What are clear things you remember feeling, seeing, touching, smelling or hearing? Evoking senses is a fantastic way to bring back memories when you reread your travel journal.
• What are you missing about home?
• What cultural experiences have you had today?
• How did you feel waking up in a new place?
• Describe the place you are in detail ( add smells, tastes, sounds, and feelings as well as what you see)
• Write down some interesting facts or history about your destination
• What makes this place similar or very different from where you are from?
• Did something put you outside of your comfort zone? Why? How did you feel?
• What is happening in the news at your destination? Are you seeing/feeling/being affected by this while you travel?
• How did an experience, person or site make you feel today?
• What music are you listening too?
• What books/magazines are you reading?
• Did you learn any new words or phrases today? How did you learn them? Where did you use them?

Writing in your travel journal at the end of your adventure is the perfect way to reflect. You could journal on the flight home, or wait until you are already home and unpacking to see what your lasting memories and emotions are about a vacation. Below are some holiday journal prompts to help. 

Post Vacation Writing Prompts

• Would you visit again? Or change something in your itinerary if you could go back?
• Did you learn anything?
• How would you describe what you did and saw to a friend or someone that was thinking of traveling to the same destination?
• What was your favorite…. ( could add food, tour, place to visit, experience, person you met.)
• Recall something funny that happened on your trip.
• What were the highlights of your adventure?
• What were some low points of your trip?
• How did your trip differ/live up to your expectations?
• Did your adventure change you or help you grow in any way?
• Where do you want to go next? Why?
• What  souvenir did you bring home?
• What item did you wish you had packed? Or things you realized you didn’t need to pack!
• What is one thing you didn’t get to do but wish you had?
• What is one thing you did do but wish you hadn’t?
• Is there a new food, or tradition from the trip that you are going to bring into your everyday life?
• How did you feel coming home from your adventure?

Want these as a printable to take with you on your adventure? Download your FREE travel Journal Prompts HERE

Travel Journal With Prompts

Want to make it even easier? Why not buy a travel diary that already has travel writing prompts?

Here are some travel journals with prompts we love!

Travel with Meraki – Remember, when you are wondering what to record in a travel journal to not just stick with the facts ( I went here, it was hot today). Add lots of descriptions using all your senses! As well as what you saw, you want to remember the smells, textures, and sounds of a destination. Be sure to also write how all these things made you FEEL !

Travel Quotes To Use In Your Travel Journal

Quotes About Journeys

Vacation Quotes For Families

The Best Travel Quotes

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Holiday Journal Prompts

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21 Creative Travel Journal Ideas & Prompts for Your Next Trip

February 29, 2024

Journaling is a great way to make the most of any trip. Here are some of our favourite creative travel journal ideas.

Travel Journal Ideas

Photos and videos aren’t the only ways to capture your travels. A travel diary can help you enjoy the trip you’re on and help you relive all those memories once you’re home. After all, how often do you look back through your phone’s photos?

I’ll be honest. Completing a travel bullet journal is something I often dream about more than I manage to complete, particularly when travelling with young children. But over the years, the travel journals I have managed to complete have brought me great joy and prompted my ageing brain to remember sights, smells and tastes more vividly than ever.

So, don’t get hung up on making it pretty and perfect. Just concentrate on enjoying your trip and use these travel journal ideas to deepen that enjoyment. Don’t let them turn into one more burden or chore to complete!

What is a Travel Journal?

A travel journal is whatever you want it to be, baby! Or in more standard talk:

A travel journal is a personal, written account that documents an individual’s experiences, observations, and emotions during their journeys. It serves as a dedicated space for recording details such as daily activities, cultural encounters, and reflections on the places visited.

Typically, travel journals include a mix of narratives, anecdotes, and practical information. Whether handwritten or digital, a travel journal is a valuable tool for preserving travel memories, fostering self-reflection, and creating a tangible record of one’s explorations and discoveries around the world.

Although, don’t think you need to write reams. We’ve plenty of creative travel journal ideas if writing doesn’t happen to be your thing. We’re all about the easy way to fill those travel journal pages.

Where to Find the Perfect Travel Journal

The romantic in me says that the best travel journal is found on the road. But the practical side of me knows that it’s easier if you pick one up before you go.

In my experience, you want a book that will stay flat when you fold it open and ideally have a tie or piece of elastic to hold it together again, to stop things falling out.

I also like travel journals with a space for a pen as that makes it more likely that you will actually have a pen with you when the time comes to write. In my experience, the best way to make sure that something happens is to remove as many obstacles as possible.

Personally, I prefer blank pages but I know that many prefer grids or lines. And I’ve never got to grips with a digital journal but if they work for you, then great!

A hard cover can protect from the bumps and bruises of life on the road but, then again, a soft cover is lighter to carry around.

Here are some lovely travel journal examples you can find on Amazon:

• Vegan Leather Beechmore Travel Journal
• Adventure Travel Journal with Prompts
• Moleskine Hardcover Travel Journal

Note: if you buy through any of the links on this page, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Why Bother Keeping a Travel Journal in the First Place?

Firstly, because it’s fun! However, keeping a travel journal also has a number of other benefits.

Such as…

Memory Enhancement:

• According to a study published in the journal Memory, the act of writing helps to consolidate and enhance memory. By documenting your experiences, in your own travel journal, you’re more likely to remember details of your journey. And that fits with what I learned when I was studying Neuroscience at Cambridge.

Stress Reduction:

• A study by the American Psychological Association suggests that expressive writing can help reduce stress and promote overall well-being. Journaling about your travel experiences allows you to process emotions and relive positive moments.

Increased Cultural Awareness:

• Research conducted by the Cultural Intelligence Center indicates that keeping a travel journal can contribute to the development of cultural intelligence. Writing about local customs, traditions, and interactions with residents fosters a deeper understanding of different cultures.

Reflection and Personal Growth:

• Psychologist James W. Pennebaker’s research on expressive writing reveals that reflecting on experiences through writing can lead to personal growth and self-discovery. A travel journal provides a space for introspection and learning.

Enhanced Creativity:

• Again, the busy American Psychological Association suggests that engaging in creative activities, such as writing, can boost cognitive function and creativity. Documenting your travels in a journal encourages creative expression.

Capturing Details:

• Studies on eyewitness testimony indicate that people tend to forget details over time. Keeping a travel journal helps in preserving the specifics of your experiences, ensuring a more accurate recollection later on. Not that we hope you’ll end up in court. More, that we hope you’ll remember the highlights of your trip.

Improved Communication Skills:

• Journaling encourages the practice of effective communication. Documenting your thoughts and experiences helps refine your ability to articulate ideas and stories.

Digital Detox and Mindfulness:

• A study by the Pew Research Center found that 85% of adults in the United States use the internet. Keeping a physical travel journal offers a break from screens, fostering mindfulness and a deeper connection with your surroundings. Little details can bring about a big sense of calm.

Goal Setting and Achievement:

• Again, the good old American Psychological Association notes that setting and achieving small goals, such as completing a journal entry each day, can boost motivation and self-esteem. A travel journal provides a structured way to set and accomplish writing goals.

Legacy and Sharing:

• According to a study by Ancestry.com, 77% of adults believe it’s important to preserve their family history. A travel journal can serve as a legacy, allowing future generations to gain insights into your experiences and perspectives.

So, how about that? Not just a pretty page after all.

21 Gorgeous and Creative Travel Journal Ideas

OK, let’s get to the fun part! Creative travel journal ideas!

Collect Ticket Stubs

Ticket stubs may not seem so glamorous at the time but they’re one of those travel journal ideas that’s quick and easy to do, with great rewards later on. If you find yourself too busy on the trip, just shove (ahem, collect) them as you go along in one envelope. Once you’re home, you can then arrange them in a scrapbook or bullet journal along with notes and photos.

Carry Some Lightweight Supplies

It’s easier to keep up with your travel diary if you have the right tools with you. No-one needs to carry about an entire artist’s briefcase but a few pens, pencils and a roll or two of washi tape can help make it manageable.

Not sure what washi tape is? It’s like sellotape only comes with a pattern and is much more forgiving when unrolling and using it. You can pick up some washi tape here . It’s a great option to make sure things don’t always fall out along the way.

Brush up on Some Writing Tips

A travel diary shouldn’t feel like homework. But it will be more rewarding to write and definitely more pleasurable to read if you brush up on some writing techniques before you go.

We run a range of writing courses to get you started, including:

• Freelance Writing Masterclass
• Write Better, Write Now
• The Writing Boost

So, whether it’s a quick weekend away or a road trip journal that spans several months, you’ll feel more confident about what goes into your own travel log.

Pick up Some Postcards

This is one of my favourite creative travel journal ideas.

Now, we’re not talking about standard tourist postcards here (although, obviously, that’s fine if that’s what you want to do. It’s your travel diary, right?!)

We’re talking about flyers and postcards for art galleries, live music, exhibitions and special events. Business cards from cafes. Anything you saw and enjoyed and which gave you a taste of the place.

Collect the Cash

Spend more than a few days in a destination and the local money soon becomes a background event that you stop noticing. But when you’re back home, it’s a connection to the place.

So, if you can spare some of the lower denomination notes, it’s a great idea to tape a few into your travel journal.

Keep the Maps

You know those maps that are folded back and forth, torn, soggy and scribbled over? Keep them! It’s amazing how quickly you forget the detail of a place but a scribbled note and the white fluff along a folded map seam brings it back right away. New places, new maps.

Make the Food to Go

At the risk of sounding like a hoarder, look out for sweet wrapper, chopstick wrappers, beer labels and more that really fit the local food you had in a destination.

I always look out for local flavours in particular, so this method of scrapbooking (sounds better than hoarding) works well for me.

Flower Press Stress

Sometimes, pressing flowers or leaves works wonders. And, sometimes, it just makes a mess. This is one of those travel journal ideas that you need to do just right: ideally with a big patch of sellophane rather than just a strip of washi tape.

Be careful, though. Some countries, most notably New Zealand and Australia, are very strict about flowers and seeds crossing their borders. Probably best to avoid this if you plan on heading there.

Sketch Skills

Small sketches and beautiful drawings can really bring a travel diary to life. If you can draw, that is.

If not, never fear. While we can’t all be the best at everything, we can all master a few basic techniques.

It’s a good idea to just relax and have a go.

Learn the Lingo

As everyone knows, with a few local phrases, you’ll get a better reception wherever you go. Yet, with age, it’s alarming how quickly that knowledge fades.

Write down those phrases while they’re fresh! It’s a fun way to nurture those brain cells.

Stick in Those Lists

Have you used a packing list? A leaving the house checklist? A bucket list? To-do list? If so, stick them in! They’ll be surprisingly interesting to look at come the end of your trip. Don’t let your trip planning go to waste!

And if you don’t? Check out our collection of packing lists and pre-travel checklists here .

Use Some Travel Journal Writing Prompts

When inspiration fails, fall back on these. Don’t worry if you feel cheesy. No-one has to read this but you.

Travel Journal Prompts Before You Go

• Outline your expectations and goals for the upcoming journey. What do you hope to achieve or experience during this trip?
• Share your pre-trip excitement and any pre-travel rituals or preparations you engage in before embarking on a new adventure.
• Detail the research you’ve conducted about the destination, including its culture, history, and notable attractions. What aspects are you most eager to explore?
• Reflect on any pre-trip concerns or uncertainties. How do you plan to address them or prepare for potential challenges?
• Describe the anticipation you feel about trying the local cuisine. Are there specific dishes you’re looking forward to sampling?
• Outline your itinerary and the key activities you have planned for each day. What landmarks or attractions are a must-see for you?
• Consider the local customs and etiquette of the destination. How do you plan to respect and engage with the local culture?
• Share your thoughts on the packing process. What essentials are you making sure to bring, and what strategies are you using to pack efficiently?
• Reflect on any language barriers you might encounter. Have you learned a few basic phrases or expressions in the local language to enhance your experience?
• Write about your overall mindset and emotions as you approach the trip. What are your hopes, fears, and anticipations for the upcoming adventure?

Travel Journal Prompts For on the Road

1. Describe your initial impressions upon arriving at your destination. 2. What local cuisine or dish did you sample, and how would you rate your experience? 3. Reflect on a memorable encounter with a local resident or fellow traveller. 4. Share a moment when you stepped out of your comfort zone during your journey. 5. Detail the sights, sounds, and scents of a particular place that left a lasting impression on you. 6. Write about a unique cultural tradition or festival you experienced during your travels. 7. Describe a hidden gem or off-the-beaten-track location you discovered. 8. Share a humorous or unexpected anecdote from your trip. 9. Reflect on a challenging situation you encountered and how you overcame it. 10. Write about a place that surpassed your expectations and why. 11. Document a day spent exploring nature, whether it’s a hike, day at the beach, or wildlife encounter. 12. Discuss the impact of local art, music, or architecture on your overall experience. 13. Capture the essence of a local market or shopping district you visited. 14. Reflect on how the local history and heritage influenced your perception of the destination. 15. Write about a moment of tranquillity or relaxation during your journey. 16. Share your thoughts on the transportation methods you used and any interesting experiences. 17. Describe a sunrise or sunset that left you in awe. 18. Document a day focused on immersive cultural experiences, such as workshops or language classes. 19. Write about a place you’d love to revisit and explore further in the future. 20. Reflect on the personal growth or insights gained from your travel experiences.

Travel Journal Prompts for Once You Get Back

• Reflect on the overall experience of your journey. Did it meet, exceed, or differ from your initial expectations?
• Capture the emotions you feel upon returning home. What aspects of your routine are you excited to resume, and what do you miss from your travels?
• Share your favourite moments from the trip and how they contributed to your overall satisfaction.
• Write about any unexpected discoveries or surprises that occurred during your travels.
• Reflect on the impact of the journey on your perspective and personal growth. In what ways do you feel changed or enriched?
• Describe the local cuisine that left a lasting impression on you. Are there any dishes you wish you could recreate at home?
• Outline any challenges you faced during the trip and how you successfully navigated them.
• Consider how the cultural experiences have influenced your worldview. What lessons or insights will you carry forward from your travels?
• Share your thoughts on the souvenirs or mementoes you brought back. Do they hold special meaning or memories?
• Write about your plans for future travels. Are there destinations you’re now eager to explore based on this recent experience?

We hope you’ve enjoyed this collection of creative ways to catalogue different places and, more importantly, what they meant to you.

For all we’ve talked about the benefits of travel journaling, the important thing is that it’s fun. Don’t let your travel journal become a chore. Like all goals and tools, it’s just a way to help you fall even more in love with life.

Journal entries should make you think or make you smile. And that’s enough.

Why not bookmark this article on creative travel journal ideas on Pinterest for later?

More on Preparing for Your Next Trip

• The Only International Travel Checklist You Need
• Printable Holiday Packing List PDF: The Only Checklist You Need
• The 21 Best Souvenir Ideas for 2024
• 27 Long Haul Flight Essentials and a Flight Checklist for You
• The Best Flight Booking Hacks For Savvy Travellers
• The 10 Travel Skills Every One of Us Should Know
• The 50 Best Travel Websites and Travel Resources
• The best travel journal ideas for kids

Why not pin these creative travel journal ideas on Pinterest for later?

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Great Travel Writing Examples from World Renowned Travel Writers

Are you ready to be a better travel writer? One of the best ways to do this is to read great travel writing examples from great travel writers.

Writing about travel in a way that keeps your reader reading is not always easy. Knowing how to write an irresistible first paragraph to entice the reader to keep reading is key. Writing a lede paragraph that convinces the reader to finish the article, story or book is great travel writing.  This article features travel writing examples from award-winning travel writers, top-selling books, New York Times travel writers, and award-winning travel blogs.

Ads are how we pay our bills and keep our blog free for you to enjoy. We also use affiliate links; if you make a purchase through them, we may receive a small commission at no cost to you.

The writers featured in this article are some of my personal favorite travel writers. I am lucky to have met most of them in person and even luckier to consider many friends. Many I have interviewed on my podcast and have learned writing tips from their years of travel writing, editing and wisdom.

11 Great Travel Writing Examples

Writing with feeling, tone, and point of view creates a compelling story. Below are examples of travel writing that include; first paragraphs, middle paragraphs, and final paragraphs for both travel articles as well as travel books.

I hope the below examples of travel writing inspire you to write more, study great travel writing and take your writing to a higher level.

Writing Example of a Travel Book Closing Paragraphs

Don George is the author of the award-winning anthology The Way of Wanderlust: The Best Travel Writing of Don George , and the best-selling travel writing guide in the world: How to Be a Travel Writer .

He is currently Editor at Large for National Geographic Travel, and has been Travel Editor at the San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle, Salon, and Lonely Planet.

I had the wonderful opportunity to see Don speak at Tbex and read from one of his books as well as interview him on the Break Into Travel Writing podcast. You can listen to the full podcast here .

Below is the closing of Don’s ebook: Wanderlust in the Time of Coronavirus: Dispatches from a Year of Traveling Close to Home

I continued hiking up to Lost Trail and then along Canopy View Trail. Around noon I serendipitously came upon a bench by the side of the trail, parked my backpack, and unpacked my lunch. Along with my sandwiches and carrot sticks, I feasted on the tranquility and serenity, the sequoia-swabbed purity of the air, the bird and brook sounds and sun-baked earth and pine needle smells, the sunlight slanting through the branches, the bright patch of blue sky beyond.

At one point I thought of shinrin-yoku, forest bathing, the Japanese practice that has become widely popular in the U.S. This was a perfect example of shinrin-yoku, I thought: Here I am, alone in this forest, immersed in the sense and spirit of these old-growth redwoods, taking in their tranquility and timelessness, losing myself to their sheer size and age and their wild wisdom that fills the air.

I sat there for an hour, and let all the trials, tremors, and tribulations of the world I had left in the parking lot drift away. I felt grounded, calm, quiet—earth-bound, forest-embraced.

In another hour, or two, I would walk back to the main paved trail, where other pilgrims would be exclaiming in awe at the sacred sequoias, just as I had earlier that day.

But for now, I was content to root right here, on this blessed bench in the middle of nowhere, or rather, in the middle of everywhere, the wind whooshing through me, bird-chirps strung from my boughs, toes spreading under scratchy pine needles into hard-packed earth, sun-warmed canopy reaching for the sky, aging trunk textured by time, deep-pulsing, in the heart of Muir Woods.

• You can read the whole story here: Old Growth: Hiking into the Heart of Muir Woods
• Please also download Don’s free ebook here:  Wanderlust in the Time of Coronavirus
• In addition to writing and editing, Don speaks at conferences, lectures on tours around the world, and teaches travel writing workshops through www.bookpassage.com .

Writing Example of a Travel Book Intro Paragraphs

Francis tapon.

Francis Tapon , author of Hike Your Own Hike and The Hidden Europe , also created a TV series and book called The Unseen Africa, which is based on his five-year journey across all 54 African countries.

He is a three-time TEDx speaker. His social media username is always FTapon. I interviewed Francis on the Break Into Travel Writing podcast about “How to Find An Original Point of View as a Travel Writer “. You can listen to the full podcast here .

Below is the opening of Francis’ book, The Hidden Europe:

“This would be a pretty lousy way to die,” I thought.

I was locked in an outhouse with no way out. Outhouses sometimes have two latches—one on the outside and one on the inside. The outside latch keeps the door shut to prevent rodents and other creatures who like hanging out in crap from coming in. Somehow, that outer latch accidentally closed, thereby locking me in this smelly toilet. I was wearing a thin rain jacket. The temperature was rapidly dropping.

“This stinks,” I mumbled. It was midnight, I was above the Arctic Circle, and the temperatures at night would be just above freezing. There was no one around for kilometers. If I didn’t get out, I could freeze to death in this tiny, smelly, fly-infested shithole.

My mom would kill me if I died so disgracefully. She would observe that when Elvis died next to a toilet, he was in Graceland. I, on the other hand, was in Finland, not far from Santa Claus. This Nordic country was a jump board for visiting all 25 nations in Eastern Europe.

You can find his book on Amazon: The Hidden Europe: What Eastern Europeans Can Teach Us

For $2 a month, you can get Francis’ book as he writes it: Patreon.com/ftapon

Intro (Lede) Paragraph Examples of Great Travel Writing Articles

Michele peterson.

Former banking executive Michele Peterson is a multi-award-winning travel and food writer who divides her time between Canada, Guatemala, and Mexico (or the nearest tropical beach).

Former banking executive Michele Peterson is a multi-award-winning travel and food writer who divides her time between Canada, Guatemala, and Mexico (or the nearest tropical beach). Her writing has appeared in Lonely Planet’s Mexico from the Source cookbook, National Geographic Traveler, Conde Nast’s Gold List, the Globe and Mail, Fifty-five Plus and more than 100 other online and print publications.

She blogs about world cuisine and sun destinations at A Taste for Travel website. I met Michele on my first media trip that took place in Nova Scotia, Canada. I also had the pleasure of interviewing about “ Why the Odds are in Your Favor if you Want to Become a Travel Writer” . You can listen to the full podcast here .

Michele’s Lede Paragraph Travel Writing Example

I’m hiking through a forest of oak trees following a farmer who is bleating like a pied piper. Emerging from a gully is a herd of black Iberian pigs, snuffling in response. If they weren’t so focused on following the swineherd, I would run for the hills. These pigs look nothing like the pink-cheeked Babe of Hollywood fame.

These are the world’s original swine, with lineage dating back to the Paleolithic Stone Age period where the earliest humans decorated Spain’s caves with images of wild boars. Their powerful hoofs stab the earth as they devour their prized food, the Spanish bellota acorn, as fast as the farmer can shake them from the tree with his long wooden staff. My experience is part of a culinary journey exploring the secrets of producingjamón ibérico de Bellota, one of the world’s finest hams.

You can read the full article here: Hunting for Jamón in Spain

Perry Garfinkel

Perry Garfinkel has been a journalist and author for an unbelievable 40 years, except for some years of defection into media/PR communications and consulting.

He is a contributor to The New York Times since the late ’80s, writing for many sections and departments. He has been an editor for, among others, the Boston Globe, the Middlesex News, and the Martha’s Vineyard Times.

He’s the author of the national bestseller “ Buddha or Bust: In Search of the Truth, Meaning, Happiness and the Man Who Found Them All ” and “ Travel Writing for Profit and Pleasure “.

Perry has been a guest on my podcast twice. He gave a “ Master Class in Travel Writing ” you can listen to the full podcast here . He also shared “ How to Find Your Point Of View as a Travel Writer ” you can listen to the full episode here .

Perry’s Lede Travel Article Example from the New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO — A block off Grant Avenue in San Francisco’s Chinatown – beyond the well-worn path tourists take past souvenir shops, restaurants and a dive saloon called the Buddha Bar – begins a historical tour of a more spiritual nature. Duck into a nondescript doorway at 125 Waverly Place, ascend five narrow flights and step into the first and oldest Buddhist temple in the United States.

At the Tien Hau Temple, before an intricately carved gilded wooden shrine and ornate Buddha statues, under dozens of paper lanterns, Buddhists in the Chinese tradition still burn pungent incense and leave offerings to the goddess Tien Hau in return for the promise of happiness and a long life.

You can read the full article here: Taking a Buddhist pilgrimage in San Francisco

Elaine Masters

Elaine Masters apologizes for pissing off fellow travelers while tracking story ideas, cultural clues, and inspiring images but can’t resist ducking in doorways or talking with strangers.

She’s recently been spotted driving her hybrid around the North American West Coast and diving cenotes in the Yucatan. Founder of Tripwellgal.com, Elaine covers mindful travel, local food, overlooked destinations and experiences. Elaine was a guest on my podcast where we spoke about “ How to Master the CVB Relationship “. You can listen to the full podcast here .

Elaine’s Lede Example

I jiggered my luggage onto the escalator crawling up to the street. As it rose into the afternoon light, an immense shadow rose over my shoulder. Stepping onto the sidewalk, I burst into giggles, looking like a madwoman, laughing alone on the busy Barcelona boulevard.  The shadow looming overhead was the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. It had mesmerized me forty years earlier and it was the reason I’d finally returned to Spain.

You can read the full article here: Don’t Miss Going Inside Sagrada Familia, Barcelona’s Beloved Cathedral

Along with his wife, photographer Mary Gabbett, Bret Love is the Co-Founder/Editor In Chief of Green Global Travel and the Blue Ridge Mountains Travel Guide.

He’s also an award-winning writer whose work has been featured by more than 100 publications around the world, including National Geographic, Rolling Stone, American Way, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

Bret’s Lede Example

Congo Square is quiet now. Traffic forms a dull drone in the distance. A lone percussionist taps out ancient tribal rhythms on a two-headed drum. An air compressor from Rampart Street road construction provides perfectly syncopated whooshes of accompaniment.

Shaded park benches are surrounded by blooming azaleas, magnolias, and massive live oaks that stretch to provide relief from the blazing midday sun. It’s an oasis of solitude directly across the street from the French Quarter.

Congo Square is quiet now. But it’s here that the seeds of American culture as we know it were sown more than 200 years ago. And the scents, sounds, and sights that originated here have never been more vital to New Orleans than they are now, more than a decade after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.

You can read the full article here: Treme, New Orleans (How Congo Square Was The Birthplace Of American Culture)

Middle Paragraph Examples of Great Travel Writing Articles

Mariellen ward.

Canadian travel writer and blogger Mariellen Ward runs the award-winning travel site Breathedreamgo.com , inspired by her extensive travels in India.

She has been published in leading media outlets worldwide and offers custom tours to India through her company India for Beginners. Though Canadian by birth, Mariellen considers India to be her “soul culture” and she is passionate about encouraging mindful travel.

Mariellen’s Middle Paragraph Example

While the festival atmosphere swirled around me, I imbued my  diya with hope for personal transformation. I had come to India because a river of loss had run through my life, and I had struggled with grief, despair and depression for eight years. I felt I was clinging to the bank, but the effort was wearing me out. Deciding to leave my life and go to India was like letting go of the bank and going with the flow of the river. I had no idea where it would lead me, what I would learn or how I would change. I only knew that it was going to be big.

You can read the full article here: The River: A tale of grief and healing in India

Joe Baur is an author and filmmaker from Cleveland currently based in Berlin. His work has appeared in a variety of international publications, including BBC Travel, National Geographic, and Deutsche Welle.

He regularly reports for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and is the author of Talking Tico detailing his year of living in Costa Rica and traveling around Central America. I interviewed Joe about “ How to Find Unique Travel Stories “. You can listen to the full podcast here .

Joe Baur’s Middle Paragraph Example

I first became aware of the Harz mountains and the Brocken when reading the works of some of Germany’s great writers, like Goethe and Heinrich Heine. Legends of witches congregating with the devil being the main theme of the mountain’s mythology. I, however, was more interested in a refreshing time spent in nature rather than reveling with the devil.

The first stage from Osterode to Buntenbock was a warm-up to the more rigorous stages ahead. It began on sidewalks before sliding into the forest sporting a healthy shade of green — a gentle jaunt that made my hiking boots feel a bit like overkill given the dry, pleasant weather.

You can read the full article here: Follow the witch through the forest: 5 days hiking Germany’s Harz

Samantha Shea

Samantha is a freelance travel writer with bylines in Matador Network, GoNomad and more. She also runs the travel blog Intentional Detours which provides thorough guides and tales related to offbeat adventure travel in South Asia and beyond.

When she’s not writing she enjoys cycling, hiking, the beach, as well as language learning.

Samantha Shea’s Middle Paragraph Example

Suddenly, the spark of a match pulsed through the early-fall afternoon and my head snapped towards the men. Amir touched the flame to an unidentifiable object that seconds later made itself known by the deep earthy scent of Pakistani hashish.

Amir’s ice blue eyes focused intently on his creation: a combination of tobacco and nuggets of greenish-brown charas. He forced the mixture back into the cigarette, before bringing it to his pursed lips, flicking the match, and setting flame to his high.

I reached out from the cot to take my turn and took a deep inhale, acutely pleased. I savored the familiar burn of the drag, the rows and rows of corn and apple plants in front of me, the stuttered cacophony of animal exclamations behind me, and the generosity of the men to my left, some of whom we had just met an hour before.

You can read the full article here: Thall Tales: A Hazy Afternoon in Thall, Pakistan

Final Paragraph Example of Great Travel Writing Articles

Cassie bailey.

Cassie is a travel writer who has solo backpacked around Asia and the Balkans, and is currently based in Auckland. Alongside in-depth destination guides, her blog has a particular focus on storytelling, mental health, and neurodiversity.

Cassie’s Final Paragraphs Example

So my goal is to feel, I guess. And I don’t mean that in a dirty way (although obvz I do mean that in a dirty way too). This is why we travel, right? To taste crazy new foods and to feel the sea breeze against our skin or the burn on the back of our legs on the way down a mountain. We want to feel like shite getting off night buses at 4am and the sting of mosquito bites. We know we’re going to feel lost or frustrated or overwhelmed but we do it anyway. Because we know it’s worth it for the ecstasy of seeing a perfect view or making a new connection or finding shitty wine after a bad day.

My goal is never to become numb to all of this. To never kid myself into settling for less than everything our bodies allow us to perceive. I’m after the full human experience; every bit, every feeling.

You can read the full article here: Goals inspired by life as a solo backpacker

Lydia Carey

Lydia Carey is a freelance writer and translator based out of Mexico City who spends her time mangling the Spanish language, scouring the country for true stories and “researching” every taco stand in her neighborhood.

She is the author of “ Mexico City Streets: La Roma ,” a guide to one of Mexico City’s most eclectic neighborhoods and she chronicles her life in the city on her blog MexicoCityStreets.com .

Lydia’s Final Paragraphs Example

Guys from the barrio huddle around their motorcycles smoking weed and drinking forties. Entire families, each dressed as St. Jude, eat tacos al pastor and grilled corn on a stick. Police stand at a distance, keeping an eye on the crowd but trying not to get too involved.

After this celebration, many of the pilgrims will travel on to Puebla where they will visit some of the religious relics on display in the San Judas church there. But many more will simply go back to their trades—legal and illegal—hoping that their attendance will mean that San Judas protects them for another year, and that he has their back in this monster of a city.

You can read the full article here: San Judas de Tadeo: Mexico’s Defender of Lost Causes

I hope you enjoyed these examples of travel writing and they have inspired you to want to write more and write better! The next article that will be published is a follow-up to this and will include travel writing examples from my first travel writing teacher, Amanda Castleman. This article will include travel writing tips from Amanda and travel writing examples from her students as well as one from her own writing.

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Alexa Meisler is the editorial director of 52 Perfect Days. Born in Paris, France she has since lived in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon. She currently resides in San Diego with her husband and son where they enjoy exploring California and Mexico.

Travel has always been a part of her life; traveling to such places as Morocco, Tangiers and Spain as a young child as well as taking many road trips to Mexico with her grandparents as a young girl. Since then, she has traveled abroad to locations such as Russia, Taiwan and throughout Europe.

Prior to working at 52 Perfect Days she was a freelance travel writer; focusing on family and women’s adventure experiences.

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Creative Writing Prompts

When the idea to start a weekly newsletter with writing inspiration first came to us, we decided that we wanted to do more than provide people with topics to write about. We wanted to try and help authors form a regular writing habit and also give them a place to proudly display their work. So we started the weekly Creative Writing Prompts newsletter. Since then, Prompts has grown to a community of more than 450,000 authors, complete with its own literary magazine, Prompted .  

Here's how our contest works: every Friday, we send out a newsletter containing five creative writing prompts. Each week, the story ideas center around a different theme. Authors then have one week — until the following Friday — to submit a short story based on one of our prompts. A winner is picked each week to win $250 and is highlighted on our Reedsy Prompts page.

Interested in participating in our short story contest? Sign up here for more information! Or you can check out our full Terms of Use and our FAQ page .

Why we love creative writing prompts

If you've ever sat in front of a computer or notebook and felt the urge to start creating worlds, characters, and storylines — all the while finding yourself unable to do so — then you've met the author's age-old foe: writer's block. There's nothing more frustrating than finding the time but not the words to be creative. Enter our directory! If you're ready to kick writer's block to the curb and finally get started on your short story or novel, these unique story ideas might just be your ticket.

This list of 1800+ creative writing prompts has been created by the Reedsy team to help you develop a rock-solid writing routine. As all aspiring authors know, this is the #1 challenge — and solution! — for reaching your literary goals. Feel free to filter through different genres, which include...

Dramatic — If you want to make people laugh and cry within the same story, this might be your genre.

Funny — Whether satire or slapstick, this is an opportunity to write with your funny bone.

Romance — One of the most popular commercial genres out there. Check out these story ideas out if you love writing about love.

Fantasy — The beauty of this genre is that the possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

Dystopian – Explore the shadowy side of human nature and contemporary technology in dark speculative fiction.

Mystery — From whodunnits to cozy mysteries, it's time to bring out your inner detective.

Thriller and Suspense — There's nothing like a page-turner that elicits a gasp of surprise at the end.

High School — Encourage teens to let their imaginations run free.

Want to submit your own story ideas to help inspire fellow writers? Send them to us here.

After you find the perfect story idea

Finding inspiration is just one piece of the puzzle. Next, you need to refine your craft skills — and then display them to the world. We've worked hard to create resources that help you do just that! Check them out:

• How to Write a Short Story That Gets Published — a free, ten-day course by Laura Mae Isaacman, a full-time editor who runs a book editing company in Brooklyn.
• Best Literary Magazines of 2023 — a directory of 100+ reputable magazines that accept unsolicited submissions.
• Writing Contests in 2023 — the finest contests of 2021 for fiction and non-fiction authors of short stories, poetry, essays, and more.

Beyond creative writing prompts: how to build a writing routine

While writing prompts are a great tactic to spark your creative sessions, a writer generally needs a couple more tools in their toolbelt when it comes to developing a rock-solid writing routine . To that end, here are a few more additional tips for incorporating your craft into your everyday life.

• NNWT. Or, as book coach Kevin Johns calls it , “Non-Negotiable Writing Time.” This time should be scheduled into your routine, whether that’s once a day or once a week. Treat it as a serious commitment, and don’t schedule anything else during your NNWT unless it’s absolutely necessary.
• Set word count goals. And make them realistic! Don’t start out with lofty goals you’re unlikely to achieve. Give some thought to how many words you think you can write a week, and start there. If you find you’re hitting your weekly or daily goals easily, keep upping the stakes as your craft time becomes more ingrained in your routine.
• Talk to friends and family about the project you’re working on. Doing so means that those close to you are likely to check in about the status of your piece — which in turn keeps you more accountable.

Arm yourself against writer’s block. Writer’s block will inevitably come, no matter how much story ideas initially inspire you. So it’s best to be prepared with tips and tricks you can use to keep yourself on track before the block hits. You can find 20 solid tips here — including how to establish a relationship with your inner critic and apps that can help you defeat procrastination or lack of motivation.

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Travel Journal Prompts: 120 Ideas to Help You Document Your Next Trip

By: Author Valerie Forgeard

Posted on Published: September 21, 2022  - Last updated: December 26, 2023

Categories Travel , Inspiration , Writing

It’s always a good idea to keep a travel journal. It’s a way to document your trip and ensure you don’t forget it later. But it’s also a good way to remember what you saw, who you met, and how you felt.

Take a travel journal with you when you travel, and use these travel journal prompts to guide your writing:

Travel Reflections and Experiences

Preparing for travel.

• How often do you go away?
• What do you want to accomplish while you’re away?
• When was the last time you took a trip, where did you go, and why did you choose that destination?
• Did it meet your expectations? If not, how could it have been better? If so, what made the trip an enjoyable travel experience for you?
• Did this trip help bring about other changes in your life (new job, new friends, etc.)? In what way?
• What would you like to do or see on your trip?
• How do you prepare for a trip?
• How do you prefer to spend your time on the plane or train?
• What’s your favorite way to pass the time on a bus or car ride?

During the Journey

• What’s the best thing about traveling?
• What’s the most exciting thing about traveling to another country?
• What do you like to do when you travel?
• What would make this trip perfect for you?
• Do you’ve any fears about going on this trip?
• How do you feel about taking risks when traveling?
• What are your expectations for the trip?
• What would be the worst thing that could happen to you on this trip?
• How long do you plan to stay in each place you visit?
• Are there any rules or guidelines to ensure your trip is safe and fun?
• What was the first word that came to your mind when you exited the plane?

Cultural Observations and Encounters

• What interesting facts did you find out about your destination?
• How are the people different from those in your home country?
• Describe a typical day of your life here.
• Describe the weather.
• Describe the first person you met on your trip.
• Describe the people in this country (or city) compared to your home country (or country). In what ways are they different/the same? Do they seem open or closed to foreign travelers?
• What do you think of the food culture here – are there dishes that are particularly interesting (or less so)? Or the other way around – do they all seem pretty much the same to you?
• What’s something you don’t understand about people from other cultures?
• Describe a place you’ve visited that wasn’t what you expected
• Describe something you saw in nature that made you stop and wonder
• Describe a place that makes your heart happy when you think of it
• Describe the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen in person (not online)
• Describe a time when you felt safe.
• Describe a time when you were scared on a trip.

Personal Feelings and Experiences

• Do you miss home at all? If so, how do you feel about home (and why)?
• What’s one place you’d recommend visiting?
• What did you learn from a stranger on your trip?
• Did anything go wrong on your trip? If so, how did it affect your travel experience, and how did you feel about it?
• What are your favorite travel destinations?
• Who travels with you? Is it a partner, family member, or friend?
• What do you discover about your travel companion(s) as you travel together?
• Do you prefer to travel alone or with friends/family? And why?
• Do you prefer public transportation or renting a car when traveling between cities? And why?
• What makes the place you traveled to similar or different from home?
• What’s the strangest thing that happened to you on your trip?
• How would you describe this place to a friend or family member?
• What songs did you hear along the way remind you of this trip?
• When did you step out of your comfort zone on a trip?
• What are the top three things that made this trip memorable for you?
• In what ways did this trip change your life?
• What was the biggest challenge during the trip, and how did you overcome it?
• What was the most surprising thing about the trip?
• What did you find out about yourself during the trip?
• What do you wish you’d done differently on this trip?
• What would it be and why if you could return to one specific trip moment?
• What was your favorite day on this trip, and why?
• Who or what inspired you the most on this trip? Why do they inspire you so much? (This could be a person or an object).
• What activities, sights, sounds, and smells do you experience when you travel?
• Do you feel relaxed, tense, or somewhere in between?
• What would the first chapter look like if you wrote a travel memoir?
• Describe a place you’ve visited that wasn’t what you expected.
• Describe something you saw in nature that made you stop and wonder.
• Describe a place that makes your heart happy when you think of it.
• Describe the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen in person (not online).

You can use any of the travel journal prompts for your travel journal. You can choose one journal prompt or more travel writing prompts for your travel journal. The best travel journal prompts are the ones you choose for yourself.

Why You Should Keep a Travel Journal

A travel journal is a great way to record what you saw and did, your experiences, and the people you met. It’s also an excellent way to remind yourself of the times in your life that are important to you.

Writing down events in your journal helps you remember them later. When you write something down, it solidifies in your travel memory so that later, when someone asks you about your road trip or you want to relive some of those memories, you’ve all those moments fresh in your mind. And if you write down how you felt during those experiences, you can better frame things for future trips!

Keeping a journal during your trip abroad can also be helpful when you need to explain things to friends or family back home. You may not always have time to write an email explaining what happened while they were away! But if they read your journal after returning from their travels, they can understand all the details immediately.

Creative Travel Journal Ideas

Your travel journal can be anything you want it to be.

One of the best things about a travel journal is that it can be as creative as you want. For example, if you’re going on a trip and want to add something special to your journal entry , you can get some bus tickets and receipts.

You can also include business cards from hotels or restaurants. Anything that helps it feel like a natural part of your trip is excellent!

That’s not all – you can also use postcards or other souvenirs to decorate your page. If you’re feeling particularly creative, you can also draw a picture of what you saw or scribble between the lines of your letters. Don’t overdo it, though – you don’t want anything to distract you from being able to read what you’ve written! If there’s one thing we’ve learned from our travels (and from observing the journals of others), it’s that when traveling, it’s best to keep things simple!

Kids Travel Journal

When you travel with your children, they’ll probably be grateful if you get them to keep their travel diary early on. Even if they can’t write yet, they can use some of the travel journal writing prompts above and draw creative travel journal ideas instead of writing.

This way, they can record their favorite trip memories, and you’ll be amazed at how many little details they can remember compared to adults. Children are very efficient at turning a simple prompt into an excellent journal idea.

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• Tags: Fiction Writing , Novel , Novel Writing , Short Story Poetry

Do you wish to write but don’t know how to start? If you have writer’s block, this article is for you! This article includes 100 plus creative writing prompts across all genres to kickstart your writing journey. 

From horror writing prompts to fantasy writing prompts, we’ve covered everything for you! Before we see examples of writing prompts, let’s quickly understand the meaning of writing prompts. 

Ready to take your writing to the next level? Learn more

What are writing prompts? 

A writing prompt is a simple topic idea to inspire the writer to get the first words on the page. It can be a picture, a line from a poem, or an imaginary scenario. Writing prompts can be abstract, realistic, evocative, thought-provoking, insightful, or descriptive. 

Dive in to see exciting writing prompts from various genres! These also include many creative writing prompts for adults.

1. Horror writing prompts 

1) A man inside the coffin breaks the coffin and starts walking. 

2) A demonic spirit has entered your friend’s body and she is moving closer to attack you. 

3) You wake up in an empty house and see a ghost. 

4) A doll you brought for a friend suddenly starts speaking. 

5)  You suddenly see a man who was supposed to have died in 1900. 

6) A vampire you saw in your dream kidnaps you in real life. 

7) You are awakened by drops of blood falling on your face. 

8) You have an accident and suddenly see a centaur who has a half-human, half-animal face. 

9)  You are walking in the forest and witness a shocking ritual where people are drinking blood. 

10) You wear an old ring you found after which something terrible keeps happening to you. 

11) An excavator finds an old mummy while digging which tries to grab him. 

Now let’s see some of the best creative writing prompts for adults and kids for journaling, 

2. Journal writing prompts 

1) Describe a childhood memory that always makes you smile. 

2) Write about a dream you had that you can never forget. 

3) Recount your biggest challenge and what you learned from it. 

4) Name three people who inspire you the most and why. 

5) Pen a letter to yourself and describe your accomplishments and future goals. 

6) Explain what would you like to change if you had a chance to go back in time. 

7) Narrate an incident where the kindness of strangers moved you. 

8) Express in detail some of your best memories with school friends. 

9) List five activities you love to do and your efforts to perform those activities. 

10) Tell in detail about your favorite travel destination. 

11) Describe your most challenging times and how you overcame them. 

If you wish to explore writing about mysteries, the following are some creative prompts about mysteries. 

3. Mystery writing prompts 

1) Ten scientists die on the same day and a Scotland Yard detective is assigned to find out why. 

2) A top bureaucrat starts getting anonymous threatening notes and decides to investigate. 

3) A retired police officer decides to play detective and solve the case of his granddaughter’s death. 

4) A private investigator is assigned to find the truth about a journalist who went missing.

5)  A meteor strikes a village after which people start falling sick. 

6) An archaeologist finds a document about a cursed treasure and decides to find out the truth. 

7) A young boy hears screams from a tower and sees torch lights flashing in the dark. 

8) A factory burns and an investigator finds out whether the fire was caused naturally or intentionally. 

9) A girl inquires to understand why her dog was shot and discovers a shocking truth. 

10) A son promises his mother to uncover the reason behind his sister’s suicide. 

11) A police inspector has to solve the murder case of an orphan who was earlier arrested in a drug case. 

4. Romance writing prompts 

1) A girl falls in love with a video gamer she met in college.  

2) A 70-year-old realizes that he has fallen in love with a woman he met at an old age home. 

3) A man meets his childhood crush after years and tries to woo her once more. 

4)  Two best friends decide to experiment and set up a double date. 

5) Give a love story to a person whom everyone assumes to be a villain. 

6) Pen a romance story with the words affair, flirting, infatuation, and fling. 

7) A man who has a phobia of getting married meets a girl with a similar fear. 

8) Write a love story of two people staying in two different countries. 

9) Two employees from rival companies fall in love. 

10) A paramedic falls in love with a spy whose life she saves. She later realizes that he will soon embark on a dangerous mission. 

11) Write a love story of a librarian and a time-traveler. 

Instead of writing about romance, you might be interested in the science fiction genre. Given below are some creative prompts related to science fiction. 

5. Science fiction writing prompts 

1) Two scientists invent a machine that can control and manipulate weather. 

2) An astronaut flies to the planet Jupiter and discovers alien life. 

3) An archaeologist finds an old book about a magical time travel ritual and uses that ritual to go back in time. 

4) A young boy finds a hidden library of science books and is trapped inside the library. 

5) A science teacher decides to take revenge against the government by performing a dangerous science experiment. 

6) A jailed scientist uses science to escape and prove his innocence. 

7) A science geek creates an AI program that can hack the data of government and private organizations without leaving a trace. 

8) A spaceship is pulled into another universe by an unknown force and aliens are planning to invade the Earth. 

9) A scientist designs a robot that looks and talks exactly like the country’s President and plans to kill the real President. 

10) To reduce population, a crazy scientist makes a deadly plan to release a virus into the air. 

11) A chemistry professor creates a dangerous solution that can massively change the genes of animals and humans. 

If science fiction is not your cup of tea and you love fantasy, here are some creative writing prompts about fantasy. 

6. Fantasy writing prompts 

1) An archaeologist enters a magical world of dragons and is unable to return to Earth. 

2) A tribal girl develops fairy wings and she is later assigned the task to save the fairy race from extinction. 

3) A man discovers a magical dream shop where dreams are sold to change reality. 

4) A musician visits a hidden world and finds a magical flute that can hypnotize people and make them stand still. 

5) A boy finds a small dwarf in his garden who shows him the train to travel to parallel universes. 

6) A woman finds the feather of a rare bird, using which she enters the world of lost secrets. 

7) A college student falls in love with a cursed mermaid and travels to her land to free her from the curse. 

8) An excavator opens a door and arrives in the land where destinies are written. 

9) A man unintentionally awakens a sleeping devil who creates a new world and new citizens to destroy the earth. 

10) A girl realizes that she has the power to control stars and is pulled into a world of demons and monsters. 

11) A fairy falls in love with a human and must convince Fairyland to accept her love and let her go. 

You might also have an interest in writing poems about various topics. For poetry lovers, the following are some of the best creative writing prompts. 

7. Poetry writing prompts 

1) Write a poem about your favorite fairy tale as a child. 

2) Describe an unforgettable memory with your first crush in a poem. 

3) Pen a poem about a stray dog who became your best friend. 

4) Craft a poem about the beauty of witnessing fireflies in the dark. 

5) Explore the sadness of losing touch with school classmates in a poem. 

6) Narrate an incident about a memorable dance you saw in a poem. 

7) Write a poem that has the quote “Tough times never last but tough people do”. 

8) Compose a poem on a special gift you received and its importance. 

9) Pen a poem about your favorite cartoon character. 

10) Write a poem about how a person who passed away inspired you in life. 

11) Compose a poem about a magical land where you wish to go. 

If you love to write on light-hearted, funny topics, given below are some of the best writing prompts for you! 

8. Funny writing prompts 

1) Jot down a hilarious conversation between a madman and a witty parrot. 

2) Create a funny story about how a person is forced to communicate with a stranger who doesn’t understand English. 

3) Write a funny dialogue about a person who says something wrong at the most inappropriate time. 

4) Describe a prank where you created a savory dish that looked like chocolate and made your friend taste it. 

5) Write a humorous conversation between a standup comedian and an angry spectator. 

6) Pen a story about a disaster that takes place because a scientist forgot to add a valuable component to an experiment. 

7) Craft a funny story about a brother who takes revenge on his sister for revealing his girlfriend to his parents. 

8) Imagine a funny situation where a friend tries to copy everything you do to irritate you and write about it. 

9) Write about a funny incident when you received a parcel you hadn’t ordered.

10) Narrate an incident about a funny costume party where everyone was dressed up as different animals.  

11) Write about a comic incident where an aunt asked you to take responsibility for her son while she was away. However, the son ends up in prison. 

9. Short story writing prompts 

1) Write a short story about a ship that mysteriously sank in the ocean. 

2) Pen a short story about a girl who has synesthesia and sees colors around people. 

3) Craft a short story about a mountaineer who decides to climb Mount Everest. 

4) Develop a short story about a road trip gone wrong. 

5) Write a short story about what happens when a government official finds out about a dangerous secret. 

6) Create a short story about a detective who disguises himself and is discovered. 

7) Pen a short story about a businessman with a big scar and a twisted lip. 

8) Write a short story about how a boy discovers a magical wishing feather after which his every wish comes true. 

9) Develop a short story about a blind man who takes revenge for an insult. 

10) Craft a short story about an eagle who saves a jungle from being destroyed. 

11) Write a short story about the last living princess who makes a mark on the world. 

If you wish to explore historical fiction instead, here are some of the best writing prompts for you! 

10. Historical fiction writing prompts 

1) A librarian discovers a shocking secret about the Second World War which can change the future of the USA and Russia. 

2) Write a story about a mirror that talks about an ancient era and reveals a secret about that era. 

3) Craft a tale about a poet who wrote about the Red Indians. 

4) A political leader begins a movement to get recognition for a lesser-known historical figure, resulting in controversy. 

5) An excavator finds a valuable artifact from the Mayan civilization that could affect the world’s future. 

6) A girl realizes that she is the last living descendant of a French queen and must protect a family secret at all costs. 

7) A bureaucrat finds a diary about a man who suffered during the Great Depression and resolves to make amends. 

8) A boy has dreams about the First World War and decides to solve the mystery of his dreams. 

9) A tribe decides to get back a valuable historical artifact stolen from them. 

10) A historian finds out about the most dangerous escape of an American soldier. 

11) A girl discovers a magical portal that transports her to the 18th century.  

Now that you’ve understood what are writing prompts, you can use one prompt daily and start writing. The next step after writing is editing. As providers of editing and proofreading services , we’d love to help you edit and perfect your writing! 

We realize how writing and editing can be challenging tasks. Here are some resources to enhance your writing: 

• The dynamics of Christian book editing and proofreading
• What Is Developmental Editing? A Self-Editing Checklist
• How to Write a Novel in Past Tense? 3 Steps & Examples

Frequently Asked Questions

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Travel Deeper: 15 Thought-Provoking Travel Journal Prompts

Note: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a commission at no additional cost to you. More details are  here .

I kept a journal pretty religiously when I was in high school and college. (Chalk it up to all that teen angst I needed to process.) Unfortunately in my adult life, the consistency of my journaling habit has dropped off.

And while I hope to redevelop that daily muscle in my life, there is one time when I’m pretty good about it: travel.

I saw the incredible benefits that travel journaling brings while I was studying abroad in 2004—I wouldn’t have survived that semester without the ability to process all that I was experiencing emotionally, culturally, and spiritually. (And that time I thought I lost my study abroad journal in my 20s? I was crushed . Having my travel journal to look back on is the most profound keepsake I have of that semester.)

A really beneficial travel journal goes beyond noting what you did each day, though. It challenges you to dig deep, to process through your experiences, and reflect on your reactions to them .

Even if you’re not traveling cross-culturally and it’s just a fun vacation with friends, there’s opportunity for self-reflection when you’re out of your normal environment and spending all your time with new daily companions. It’s a chance to consider how you respond to challenging moments, or to spend time sitting still and thinking about what you want your daily life to look like back home.

Whether you’re looking for study abroad journal prompts for students or some simple journaling ideas for your next vacation, I’ve compiled this short list of travel journal writing prompts for self-reflection to get you thinking more deeply about various aspects of travel and yourself.

I don’t think you need a lot—in fact, you might choose just one (see the second list) and use it daily. I’ve included 15 so that you have enough to choose from without it being overwhelming. Print it out, take a screen shot on your phone, or better yet, physically write the list in the back of your journal so you always have them available (sans technology).

These trip reflection questions will hopefully prompt you to write through the challenging and frustrating moments that travel sometimes brings, as well as dig deeper to reflect on the joyful and life-changing moments.

Self-Reflection Journal Prompts

• What are my initial feelings about being here: curiosity, frustration, joy, awe, sadness?
• What smell(s) have stuck out to me?
• What was a challenging experience I had? Why did I respond the way I did? What did I learn about my personality, values, or home culture through this?
• What has sparked my curiosity? What has fascinated me here?
• Describe a memorable interaction or conversation I’ve had with someone who lives here. (What were they like? What did I learn about this place or culture? Why did the interaction stand out to me? What do I want to remember about them?)
• What sound(s) have stuck out to me?
• What is something that has surprised me about this place/culture?
• What is different about me while on this trip (positive or negative—am I more adaptable, irritable, spontaneous, disorganized, peaceful)? Why do I think that is?
• What were my expectations about this place? How is the trip comparing with my expectations?
• One quality I really appreciate about someone I’m traveling with is….
• What will I be glad to leave behind from this trip?
• Is there anything I want to do more or less of when I get home?

Recommended Reading: How to Deal with Frustrating Travel Experiences

Daily Travel Journal Prompt

• What’s my Kodak Moment from today—that experience, image, or feeling I don’t want to forget?
• If I had to describe today in one word, what would it be? Why?
• If I had to tell a 5-minute story about one thing that happened today, what would it be about? (Credit for this idea goes to storyteller Matthew Dicks. I highly recommend his TEDx Talk on this topic—check it out below.)

Travel Photographer | FAA Certified Drone Pilot

Naomi is the coffee-loving, crazy-about-Latin-America writer and photographer behind everything here. She's guided by curiosity and a belief that every place has a story to tell–whether it’s through the intricate details of nature, history that has shaped a culture, or the people who call a place home. Learn More

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Write a Good Travel Essay. Please.

Kathleen Boardman

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Editor’s Note: We know that many of you are looking for help writing travel experience essays for school or simply writing about a trip for your friends or family. To inspire you and help you write your next trip essay—whether it’s an essay about a trip with family or simply a way to remember your best trip ever (so far)—we enlisted the help of Professor Kathleen Boardman, whose decades of teaching have helped many college students learn the fine art of autobiography and life writing. Here’s advice on how to turn a simple “my best trip” essay into a story that will inspire others to explore the world.

Welcome home! Now that you’re back from your trip, you’d like to share it with others in a travel essay. You’re a good writer and a good editor of your work, but you’ve never tried travel writing before. As your potential reader, I have some advice and some requests for you as you write your travel experience essay.

Trip Essays: What to Avoid

Please don’t tell me everything about your trip. I don’t want to know your travel schedule or the names of all the castles or restaurants you visited. I don’t care about the plane trip that got you there (unless, of course, that trip is the story).

I have a friend who, when I return from a trip, never asks me, “How was your trip?” She knows that I would give her a long, rambling answer: “… and then … and then … and then.” So instead, she says, “Tell me about one thing that really stood out for you.” That’s what I’d like you to do in this travel essay you’re writing.

The Power of Compelling Scenes

One or two “snapshots” are enough—but make them great. Many good writers jump right into the middle of their account with a vivid written “snapshot” of an important scene. Then, having aroused their readers’ interest or curiosity, they fill in the story or background. I think this technique works great for travel writing; at least, I would rather enjoy a vivid snapshot than read through a day-to-day summary of somebody’s travel journal.

Write About a Trip Using Vivid Descriptions

Take your time. Tell a story. So what if you saw things that were “incredible,” did things that were “amazing,” observed actions that you thought “weird”? These words don’t mean anything to me unless you show me, in a story or a vivid description, the experience that made you want to use those adjectives.

I’d like to see the place, the people, or the journey through your eyes, not someone else’s. Please don’t rewrite someone else’s account of visiting the place. Please don’t try to imitate a travel guide or travelogue or someone’s blog or Facebook entry. You are not writing a real travel essay unless you are describing, as clearly and honestly as possible, yourself in the place you visited. What did you see, hear, taste, say? Don’t worry if your “take” on your experience doesn’t match what everyone else says about it. (I’ve already read what THEY have to say.)

The Importance of Self-Editing Your Trip Essay

Don’t give me your first draft to read. Instead, set it aside and then reread it. Reread it again. Where might I need more explanation? What parts of your account are likely to confuse me? (After all, I wasn’t there.) Where might you be wasting my time by repeating or rambling on about something you’ve already told me?

Make me feel, make me laugh, help me learn something. But don’t overdo it: Please don’t preach to me about broadening my horizons or understanding other cultures. Instead, let me in on your feelings, your change of heart and mind, even your fear and uncertainty, as you confronted something you’d never experienced before. If you can, surprise me with something I didn’t know or couldn’t have suspected.

You Can Do It: Turning Your Trip into a Great Travel Experience Essay

I hope you will take yourself seriously as a traveler and as a writer. Through what—and how—you write about just a small portion of your travel experience, show me that you are an interesting, thoughtful, observant person. I will come back to you, begging for more of your travel essays.

Take Notes in a Cute Journal

Keep track of all the crucial details- and even the ones you might forget, in a durable and refillable journal.

More from SmarterTravel:

• Genealogy Travel: How to Find Your Family Tree
• The Essential International Packing List
• 9 DIY Ways to Upgrade Economy Class

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