why yes, i DID make a hawaiian travel book!

how kind of you to ask! it's not done yet, mostly because as soon as we got home i was back into deadline city, but i figure i'll show you the "bones" of it now and the finished product later.

i've said this before and no doubt i will again, but BY FAR the most crucial step for me actually KEEPING a travel journal whilst on vacation is to make a dedicated book for it before we leave. bottom line--for me--if i haven't put in a bit of time & work already, i am not sufficiently committed, and in the fun chaos of traveling and the less-fun chaos of re-acclimating when we get home, my good intentions evaporate. so i make a cover and cool pages in advance. (ali e. has been talking about her "december daily" this week and she calls this bit her "foundation".) i made a plain chipboard cover, and two different digital collages, for my date and theme pages; i printed one of the yellow ones for each day of the trip and one of the white ones for each potential sight i thought we'd take in:

(paper: color splash kit by deviant art for somerset digital magazine; brushes: travel clusters #1 and messy stitches, both bykatie pertiet, designer digitals)

this time i actually made two different digital collages for my date and theme pages; i printed one of the yellow ones for each day of the trip and one of the white ones for each potential sight i thought we'd take in. i saved them as .jpgs, and you're welcome to share them. (email me if you want .pdfs instead!)

(paper: notebook paper pack, katie pertiet, designer digitals; brushes: travel clusters #1, katie pertiet designer digitals; mermaid's treasure box kit, mystique, o'scraps)

each night of the trip, i spent about 15 minutes or so writing down an outline of what we did each day. this, in my opinion, is another CRUCIAL thing--to write it down on the day! because the details FADE! it can be a list, it can be narrative, it can be just notes if you like. you could even do this bit on your computer, but i like to write in the book; because again, i have a long and glorious history of starting --and abandoning-- travel journals. the more i write IN THE BOOK, the more committed i become to the project!

while we were in hawaii i acquired plenty of fun things to put in the book. some were purely decorative, like this FAB vinyl sticker:

most were the sorts of ephemera one collects whilst travelling. when it comes to ticket stubs, stickers, takeaway menus, business cards and other small bits, i like to get them right in the book, preferably when i write the day's summary.

big things become their own pages. i just punch holes, and in they go:

medium-sized things like postcards and brochures can go either way, and when i'm not sure what i want to do, i'll often put them into the 1-gallon ziplock bag i bring with me, so i can decide later. but most things go right in, because watching the book *GROW* is one of the best bits!!!

when we got home, nearly everything i've shown you was already DONE. i spent a few hours last weekend finishing up the "writing bits". because while i really have to do the daily pages on the fly; the themes and sights sometimes need a bit of time to percolate inside my head, if i want to write about not only what we did, but also what we impressions we took away with us.

i have a few more bits and bobs i'm considering adding, and of course i need to make the cover. (which is my favorite part, so i always save it for last!) i'll come back when it is done and show you the finished product!

ciao for now, darlings!

♥♥♥