Whether you travel or stay home this summer, why not make a summer journal? A journal makes a wonderful keepsake that will be fun to look at in the future. It will help you recall so much more: happy and sad alike, special days and ordinary ones.
A journal is like a diary, but not so personal. The journal is made to be shared with others. It is a lovely way to share your summer memories with family and friends and to save them for others to see later.
Decorating the cover:
Decorate the front cover of your journal with a border of summer things, (beach balls, swim suits, popsicles, watermelons, sunshine, tent, canoe, a fish, etc.) The cover of your journal should have the date in large decorative letters, but you may want to save space to add a photo or drawing of the main event or circumstance that the summer brings to mind. So wait until the end of the season to fill in the front center of the cover.
Inside the front cover:
Put your name and photograph in the front along with the date. Choose a photograph that you really like and one that is colorful, bright, and fun. Now choose one of the summer items from your cover border and make an entire border of that one item around the edges of that page. As you go along make a border for each journaling page. Try to match the edgings with something that happened that day or some event you wrote about.
The journal pages:
Choose colorful ink pens like gel-pens to write each entry. Decide whether you will write every day or every week. Daily entries are easier to keep up with because they can be short. Here is a list of topics and starter ideas:
Vacations and Travels:
- Where you went
- Where you stayed
- What you saw
- Where and what you ate
- What you did and what you saw during the day
- What you did and what you saw at night
- Who you saw
- Who you met
- What was really scary, strange, unusual, bizarre, exceptional, beautiful, or funny
- Write about any interesting people—artists, musicians, actors, sports figures, politicians, or artisans you met
Favorites of Summer:
- My favorite place
- My favorite activity
- My most unusual experience
- My happiest moment
- My most impressive accomplishment
- My saddest moment
- My strangest experience
- My most valuable memory
- My most embarrassing moment
- My favorite friend
- My favorite meal
- My favorite song
- My most lovable pet
- My most memorable sight
Just:
- Just for kicks
- Just for fun
- Just for memory’s sake
- Just the funniest
- Just because I care
- Just because I had to
- Just for family
- Just for a friend
- Just in time
- Just work
- Just a mistake
- Just for me
- Just beautiful
- Just so sad
- Just wonderful
- Just delightful
- Just amazing
Use any or all of these topics or ideas and get your journal going. Summer seems to be so fast and even wonderful vacation days are lost in the business of them. As you go along, add a few small keepsakes to your pages to help decorate and also to add variety and break up long sections of writing. For example, the ticket stubs from movies, museums, ball games, concerts, plays, etc.
Postcards are easy to find of any place you might travel. Add a few of these especially of your favorite places. Brochures and area magazines offer pictures and lettering of places you might have visited. Pick up some of these on outings or trips. Later cut things out to add to your journal.
Include prices of things. In the future when you or someone else reads the journal, you can compare how the prices have changed. Mention brand names, specific names of places and people. Rather than saying "I saw a bird," name the bird or at least describe it in detail. What kind of car—make and model did you ride in? Where was the park? What kind of tent did you camp in? What kind of show or toy was it? Pretend you are born fifty years from now. What would you want to know about a person growing up in this earlier day and time? Put these sorts of facts into your journal.
Make your journal personal and be certain to keep up with it. It would be sad to lose your work. It should be kept safe, dry, and clean. Protect it while traveling by putting it in a waterproof book bag or in a plastic tub or bag. Have a great adventure whether home or away making a summer journal.
