Last August, my mother-in-law and father-in-law took our entire family (including all of my husband’s siblings and their partners and children) on a grand Hawaiian adventure. During the days before we left, I made a travel journal to give to them as a thank-you for the spectacular gift.
As we creep towards the summer season of travel and adventure, I thought I’d share photos of the travel journal gift with you.
I purchased a cork covered blank journal at my local craft store. The pages were going to be colorful and detailed, so I decided it should have a simple, blank cover. I counted and divided pages carefully, so that I included a numbered page for each day of our trip along with extra pages for notes, photos, and memories from that day.
As it turned out, my father-in-law decided to welcome everyone to write in the journal. People passed it around, read from it, made notes, and left drawings. It was a nice way to end each day during our vacation. I imagine in the years to come, we’ll love flipping through the pages filled with memories.
We anticipated that my husband and his brothers would be surfing daily. We were right!
Research shows that the best thing we can give ourselves and our children is time spent together. This project fosters family connection, and will capture and preserve the memories of these special times.
I chose to label and draw because it was a gift from me. However, it is a fantastic DIY gift that children can plan and make for others! Or, for themselves!
Part of the fun of making this in advance is anticipating the adventures, foods, sights, and fun that you’ll have on each day. Afterwards, you can reflect on which parts were correct and which parts were very different. Did we see a waterfall on day 8? No! But, we saw one on day 3! Since part of the fun of vacation is in the planning and preparation, this kind of thinking can elongate the experience for everyone.
The farewell tradition in Hawaii is to throw your lei into the ocean with the hope of one day returning to the islands. 
We threw ours in. With hope.
Where will you travel this summer?
