Travel journal and commonplace book

I have been absent for quite a while. Even now I am only dropping in to say ‘hello’ and fill you in on a few things.

In case you have been wondering, I am fine. Yes the past years have been difficult, but I am in a good space, enjoying my new life. I haven’t been here because I got out of the routine of blogging and following what you have been up to. As simple as that.

And I will be absent for a while longer, as I am going away soon for a couple of months. I am so excited! I may do some blog posts…..if I can start to enjoy writing them on my phone. I hope to be more regular on Instagram. That will be the best place to see what I have been up to. (Sorry if Instagram is not your thing.)

Where am I going? Canada, the UK (to visit Terry’s brother and sister-in-law) and then Ireland. My smile is so big that you can probably see it from where you are!

There has been lots to prepare, of course. Fortunately others have done the bulk of the travel bookings. I just pay my money! I still have to book a flight from Ireland to Heathrow to catch my flight home. While there are lots of loose ends to tie up here, I feel that things are under control.

What I want to talk to you about today is my travel journal.

As you know I love to record things. In the past I have always kept a written detailed day-by-day travel journal. This time I am moving away from that. I have been watching Youtube videos of art journalling and they have inspired me to move more to that way of recording. My intention is to keep the ephemera that comes my way ~ tickets, maps, napkins, brochures, business cards, post cards etc etc ~ and use them to build up the picture of the trip. I hope to include some sketches and written notes.

So what sort of note book to take? I looked at quite a few, and thought about making my own. In the end I decided on an ordinary school exercise book. It looks pretty durable, has 64 pages, is a good size and, most importantly is light and not bulky.

Blank pages can be intimidating, so I had great fun over the last few months embellishing the pages. Let me show you some.

These are the front and back covers. The rusty red paper was from a gelli printing session a few years back. The back cover has a page torn from a children’s book on countries of the world. The Canadian pages were very useful. Below that is a cut out from wrapping paper that had the most wonderful old fashioned travel signs, labels and stamps. Peeking through is the conversion table and times tables from the original cover. Doesn’t that bring back memories?

I made more use of the Canadian pages from the kids’ book. By tearing off the corner of the page (and using the torn off bit in other places, like the back cover) I was able to make a pocket, that will be great to house things I may not want to glue in. Then a cut off corner of an envelope makes another little tuck spot. The bear and the leaf came from a sticker book of plants and animals of the world.

This might be my favourite page. I folded a couple of pages vertically and glued the edges to make two pockets. I had a newspaper article about travelling in the Canadian Rockies with this as a feature photo. I cut it into thirds and glued the pieces onto the front of the pockets.

I have doodled, stencilled and printed on pages. The blue circles were cut from the sticky paper around the stickers.

Lastly, a real treasure. I found an old map of Alberta that my parents used in the 80’s when they travelled through the area. (Yes, we are the sort of family that keeps old maps, as well as so many other things!) It is creased and worn and even shows the route they took. It is stuck into the journal so that map will be coming along with me.

I don’t think I will be using this during the day. I see myself cutting, tearing and gluing in the evenings, in those quiet times in hotel rooms. So that means I will need a notebook/sketch book to have with me as I mooch around places, collecting information and ephemera. I have just come across the term “commonplace books” and I think that concept will be right for me.

I am still coming to understand what it is, but basically a commonplace book seems like a more organised notebook. (Have you heard of them? Let me know in a comment.) While the concept has been around for as long as people have been writing things down, I am not sure if they have always been called commonplace books ~ or if it is something we have recently made up and given an Instagram hashtag.

Anyway, the basic ideas seems to be as a place to record things that interest you, fascinate you. People use them for quotes, often organising them into subjects, things to follow up, books to read and so on. The more organised create indexes. It is an idea that intrigues me, and I think I know how I will use it on the trip.

I will take a notebook out and about with me with the headings:

• Things I see
• Things I hear
• Things I am thinking

Those three headings seem to cover everything that will come my way ~ quirky sights and sounds, information, prices, names, quick sketches and so on.

Which leads to the question I still have to answer ~ will my commonplace book also work as a sketch book? Or do I want something that I can tear the pages out of to stick into the journal. Oh, the decisions that weigh on my mind!!

So…. I will chat to you when I get back, and maybe during the trip. In the meantime jump to Instagram. I am annelawson54 or maybe Anne Lawson Art (I get muddled with these things!). Any suggestions about travelling would be most welcome, especially useful tips to deal with long haul flights. It has been about 15 years since I did one. Again, let me know in the comments.

Big hugs to you all.

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I respectfully acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land on which I live – the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung People of the Kulin Nation, their spirits, ancestors, elders and community members past and present. The land always was, and always will be, Aboriginal land.