I was gifted my first Bullet Journal on my last day of work as a Director of Marketing. I was proud of my position and finally felt that I was working for a company that valued me. However, I could not deny my dreams for traveling the world. My husband had just graduated with his Master’s degree and we were looking at what path we would take for our future. We had talked about traveling New Zealand, a lot. It looked like the perfect time had finally presented itself. While I would miss my work family, I was so excited for this next adventure.
Before leaving for New Zealand I sat down with my sister-in-law, who was already an avid Bullet Journal user, to help me setup and design my journal for my year of travel. Here are some of the things we came up with, and things I added, for my year of traveling New Zealand.
Travel Map
This is my favorite spread of my bullet journal! I created an outline map of New Zealand, with space to fill in the places we would visit. I made notes about what we did at different places, and just personalized it to our travel adventures!
Travel Bookshelf
I was excited to use this year of travel to catch up on my reading. My husband and I are guilty of buying more books before even beginning to read the ones we purchased previously (raise your hand if this is also you).
We packed some hard copies of books. Some that had been sitting on our shelf for years (check out my book review of Bad FeministBad Feminist) and a couple of books to re-read because a good book is one you read more than once! We also bought new books for our Kindle.
You can find several different styles of bookshelf designs online (i.e. Pinterest). Here is the layout my sister-in-law came up with for me. It was simple and I loved it!
I also added in a tracker for Podcasts, but found that I did not use this page as much as I thought I would. I mean, I definitely listed to a ton of podcasts, just did not track all the episodes that I listened to.
Habit Tracker
For long-term traveling it can be hard to keep to certain habits. I found this true for some of my mental and physical health habits. I do have an app on my phone that I use to track my goals and habits – but I also found my Bullet Journal helpful too!
We were working and living in Blenheim. Being stationary for a few months let me reset and get back into a routine. I found this time to be great to focus on my healthy habits, and try out some new ones. I planned a whole month of meditation and used my Bullet Journal to help track my progress.
I kept a weekly habit tracker as well for small, daily habits I was trying to cultivate.
Journaling
I tried several different methods for writing about my traveling. At first I tried to set a certain time to journal, but found that writing at the end of my day or after a big adventure was the best method for me. So I just make sure I had enough space to dedicated to writing.
I would put a section in my weekly planner for a journal prompt. At the beginning of my trip I left the pages blank and wrote, or doodled, as we traveled around. The main point is do what feels right for you and documenting your adventures.
Customizing for Your BuJo for Adventure
The best travel Bullet Journal will be customized to your own needs and experiences. I set aside a couple page spreads for certain travel experiences we were planning for New Zealand: such as our WWOOF volunteering, rock climbing adventures, and touring winery and breweries, and pages to document any new terms or slang learned and cultural experiences we had:
I plan with the leftover space in my journal to print and paste my favorite images from our travels. This way it can act as a scrap-book that I can show to friends and family.
I hope I have been able to offer some inspirational ideas for your our travel Bullet Journal. Don’t forget to get out there and engulf yourself in the culture of the place you visiting! I am sad that my New Zealand travels have now ended, but my travel Bullet Journal is a perfect way to reminisce about the adventures had.
Do you use a Bullet Journal? Do you plan on using one for your travels? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
If you enjoyed this post please Like, Comment, and Share!
Thanks for reading!
journeytotheshire.wordpress.com 
Leave a Reply