Last modified on March 12th, 2022 at 10:18 am

10 Best Reasons Why You Should Have A Cycling Travel Journal

“I’ll remember that.” We’ve all said those words to ourselves at some point, but then we think back later and we just can’t recall the exact sights or the feelings that we had when we were traveling. Instead of forgetting everything though, it’s as simple as writing a few things in a cycling travel journal as you go along. With just a little journal, you’ll have so many memories to look back on later!

PRODUCT REVIEW

If you’re looking for a cycling travel journal, look no further than one of these Blank Books. Pick out a pack of 6 or 12 depending on how much writing you plan on doing, and slip it into your pocket since it’s a great travel size. These books are durable too, with a hardcover and plenty of space for all of your writing, drawings, or even some scrapbooking. 

Since they’re stitched and not stabled, the binding is durable and the pages will stay completely secured together. With 32 high-quality, thick pages that you can use any writing implement on, you’ll love your journal for traveling.

Best Features

  • The pages are heavy so markers or paints don’t bleed through

  • They’re nicely sized for any activity

  • You get a lot of journals for the price

REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD HAVE A CYCLING TRAVEL JOURNAL

Why would you ever need a travel journal? There are a lot of reasons why travel journals are a good idea, and why you might want to bring one along on your journey.

Plan Your Trip

Even before you begin cycling, keeping a journal is a great way to help you plan your route and your desired destinations. This means that it’ll be a great help when you’re out there, and you might only need a few notes to get you where you want to go.

It's Easy to Forget

It’s easier to forget than you’d think. Amidst all the excitement of traveling and seeing new sights, you might not remember the sights and smells or how you felt or even the color of the sky. Just a few words can do a lot to jog your memory later when you read that travel journal.

Better Than A Camera

When traveling, we tend to think that a photo will do it all. But snapping a photo from your phone or camera doesn’t have the same impact as writing it down. Using a camera gives us part of the picture, but the written word captures the feelings of the event. 

As you cycle along, take a few moments to take some notes, even if they’re just place names you want to recall.

Slow Down

Especially when you’re cycling, you’re moving pretty quickly. It wouldn’t be surprising if you forgot a few details just because you were speeding along so quickly. That’s why a traveling journal is so great: it allows you to slow down and take in what you’re looking at. 

This means that you’ll be able to live more in the moment and better connect to your experience and your destination.

Organize Your Thoughts

There are so many things you might want to remember. From your destinations, your favorite restaurants, and  your favorite people, having a journal will help you organize your thoughts in a way that you couldn’t normally do in your memory.

Practical Information

Keeping a cycling journal with you is a great way to keep practical information with you from addresses to names. Having all of this information readily available will be amazing when you finally want to think back later on what you saw. 

Of course, you might need that information during your trip as well. From the name of a hotel to the person you don’t want to forget, you might need that information somewhere down the road.

An Anchor

It can be overwhelming to go from place to place, even if you’re only traveling on your bike. You won’t remember everything, and you might even feel like the world is moving too quickly for you to process. A journal is a great way for you to anchor yourself and to experience your emotions in the process. 

Use your writing experience to absorb information and soothe your thoughts. Writing is a great way not only to anchor your experience but to anchor you to something too.

Learn About Yourself

You can learn a lot about yourself just by writing a little bit in your journal every day, depending on how you’d like to use your journal, of course. As you learn about your destination and write down little notes about what you’re seeing, having a journal can help you keep your thoughts and emotions together while gaining some new insights.

Some Company

If you’re cycling alone, you’ll like the comfort you can gain from having a journal to write your thoughts in. Use your journal as a way to keep you company, or as a way to have a little time alone if you’re cycling with others. It can be your haven when you want time with just your thoughts.

Stress Relief

After you’ve cycled a long way or over a tough path, you might have built up a little stress. Or maybe you’ve even struggled with a flat tire or bike problem. Either way, it can be stressful, and that’s where a travel journal can be a big help. Use it to connect with yourself and to calm down when you’re having a bit of a hard time.

Use Time

Let’s face it: there might be bad weather that suddenly comes up that you can’t bike through. In this case, you might need to waste a little time before you can start your journey again, and there’s no better usage of your time than to write a little bit in your journal. Make sense of any situation just by taking a minute to write.

Sharing the Experience

If you’re traveling with someone else, you both can share a journal if you feel comfortable. By sharing a journal, you’re more likely to keep writing with the other person encouraging you and can interact with each other to build off of your previous entries. 

You might even want to share an “open” notebook between your group—like you’re having a conversation with everyone through notes and doodles.

As A Souvenir

After your trip, a cycling journal is a perfect souvenir to bring home with you. Even if you just tuck it away in a drawer or your basement and don’t look at it for years, that journal is a beloved souvenir that will remind you of the physical experience of your trip. 

All you’ll need to do is flip through it to remember where you were and what you were doing, and the sights and smells when you wrote in it.

Helping Others

When you get home, having all this information available to you will be great for anyone who needs travel tips or information. Just having the practical details can help lots of people plan trips as fun as yours was!

TIPS TO ENJOY CYCLING MORE

Whether you cycle casually or want to eventually work with a more experienced group, it’s important to enjoy what you’re doing.

So when you get out there, don’t get caught up in comparing yourself to others. If someone’s going faster than you, don’t feel bad about how hard you’re working. Only focus on yourself, and maybe ride alone if you’re getting distracted by riding with others. The same goes for if you’ve been cycling somewhere very busy and loud and you want to switch to a quieter route. Commute along a quiet route to get more in tune with your thoughts.

Try stopping along the way too. You don’t have to go from A to B nonstop. Instead, stop by a coffee shop and have a snack or a conversation. Relax before you resume your ride. Not everything is about stats after all. Don’t let stats and data distract you from having a good time out on the road.

You can even have a good time doing something simple like setting small challenges for yourself. Challenge yourself to race your friends or to get to your next location faster. Add a little bit of fun into just cycling around—by writing in a great journal too!

CONCLUSION

A travel journal for cyclists is a great way to engage with your trip and have a great time out on the road. Pick one up to slip in your pocket and take along with you wherever you go, and use it to have a nice time in nature. Even a few words a day will be a great way to have a little fun while exercising too.