Welcome!
Create a More Vivid Journal
Foreign Culture as a Backdrop
The Outer Journey
The Inner Journey
Elude Your Inner Censor
Speed Journaling
Pre-, Post-, and Re-Journaling
More Journaling Techniques
Motivate Yourself
Mind Travel
Foreign at Home
Retire Your Inner Censor
Theme Journaling
Pre-Journaling
Post-Journaling
Re-Journaling
Upcoming Classes
Class Outline
Books for Journalers
Dave's Words
Dave's Travel Tales
E-mail Dave
Davethefox.com Home

 

 

Pre-Journaling

By Dave Fox

Our journeys begin long before we leave home. Once we begin dreaming about a trip, our adventure has already begun.

Anticipating an upcoming trip can feel exciting. It can sometimes make us feel anxious — either because there are things we are nervous about encountering, or simply because we are antsy to get where we are trying to go.

Think for a moment about a trip you would like to take — a place you haven't been before. It can be a trip you are actively planning, or a place you dream of visiting some day far in the future. Journal about what you expect to find. Here are some questions to get you started, but if other things come to mind, by all means, write them down too!

Why do you want to go there?

What are you looking forward to?

Is there anything you are nervous about?

How do you think this trip will change you?

What are some of the things you are doing in anticipation of your trip?


In the travel journaling classes I teach, people sometimes tell me they try to travel without expectations. In a sense, this is a positive, non-judgemental approach. But realistically, we all have some expectations about what we will find once we arrive at a new destination. If we didn't, we'd have no desire to go there in the first place.

Journaling about our expectations helps us understand our reactions to a place once we get there. And it can be a wonderful outlet for the restlessness we feel before departing.

 

 

On Sale Now!

Globejotting:
How to Write Extraordinary Travel Journals (and still have time to enjoy your trip!)

Dave Fox's new book, Globejotting, teaches how to write more exciting and insightful travel journals... and how to simply find time to write when there's so much else to do during an exciting trip. Read Chapter One online for free, and order your autographed copy here!

Find Out More

x
On Sale Now!

Getting Lost: Mishaps of an Accidental Nomad
Winner of the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Book Proposal Contest


"When you travel, things go wrong." That might not sound like uplifting advice, but in this hilarious collection of stories about mishaps in faraway places, Dave Fox proves otherwise.
Find Out More

"Dave Fox's writing is hilarious. It's rare to find a person who has such unique stories to tell and can write about them to boot."

-- Tim Bete, Director of the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop

 

 

© Copyright Dave Fox