The Excursion Notebook

Be it only a short walk of a few hours in familiar surroundings or a longer trip of a few weeks far from home, going on an excursion can be an inexhaustible source of knowledge, of emotions, and especially, of fun.

One great way of getting the best out of any outing is to write an excursion notebook, often called a logbook. By noting any kind of information you feel important during your excursions on a regular basis, you will create a unique document which will help you recall details you may otherwise forget long afterwards. Don't worry about their apparent triviality: keen observation is exactly what makes us learn more about our surroundings whether past, present, living or inert.

Throughout history, excursion notebooks have been indispensible. Think of all the places visited, the people met and the events recorded over the course of time! Ancient or modern, both explorers and travellers from around the world have kept and still keep records of their journeys.

Explorers made entries pertaining to all sorts of information on a daily basis: weather, climate, description of routes taken, geographical highlights (rivers, mountains, streams, islands, etc.), fauna, flora, descriptions of villages, towns, local architecture, inhabitants encountered and their way of life, and, of course, an account of what happened. Some of these logbooks were supplemented by ink drawings and maps, even watercolor paintings. They were not only used to remember specific details, but also to help in planning other eventual travels and evaluate the relevance of doing so. Sometimes they were rewritten in a more literary form and then published.

Even today, with modern technology present in every nook and cranny of our life, an excursion notebook can still be a wonderful complement to the traditional snapshot or video. Creating a travel scrapbook is the best way to assemble or collect paper souvenirs, like postal stamps or cards, bus tickets, show tickets, show programs, etc. Try it and you will see, the excursion notebook will soon become the best day to day witness of your travel adventures, and, later on, a cherished souvenir in itself.