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Dave Fox

   

  Taught by a bestselling travel author, professional writing and life coach,                    and former website editor for Rick Steves' Europe.

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  Taught by a bestselling travel author, professional writing and life coach,                    and former website editor for Rick Steves' Europe.

The stories we collect when we travel are some of the biggest tales of our lives. We get to keep those stories for a lifetime – if we can remember the details. Journaling about them in a travel diary, helps keep our memories vivid. 

Most travel diaries fizzle, however. By day six of a big trip, people struggle to recall what happened on days three, four, and five. They return home with mostly blank pages, or bland writing that fails to capture the full spirit of their travel adventures.

What’s the tool most people use to document their travels? A camera. Nearly everyone brings a camera of some sort on their vacations. Yet there is so much we can't frame in a photograph that we can capture in a well-written travel journal – all of our senses, the unique emotions we experience in unfamiliar places, the tales we hear from people we meet, challenges we overcome, that sense of wonder we feel as we travel through foreign environments, and so much more. You can also journal in tandem with your travel photography to tell the stories behind the photos. 

So if travel journaling is such a powerful tool for remembering our trips, why is it a struggle for so many people? There are two common frustrations many travel journalers express:

  • It’s hard to find time to write in the middle of an exciting vacation.

  • Their writing falls flat. They are having some of the biggest adventures of their lives, yet their words are merely step-by-step accounts of their days. Their writing fails to capture the full scope of their adventures.

This course will help fix both of those problems.

You’ll learn how to splash bold and vivid details into your travel journals – quickly – so you maximize your time for exploring and your writing won’t gobble up precious vacation time.

You’ll also discover writing techniques that enhance your experiences, making you more aware of your surroundings as you travel. And you’ll learn fun and efficient ways to write, so that travel journaling doesn’t feel like a chore in the middle of an exciting trip.

This lively and informative workshop includes 75 minutes of video lessons and set of supplementary readings. Best-selling travel author and humorist Dave Fox teaches you how to write boldly and adventurously as you explore the world. You'll write vivid accounts of your trips, gain a deeper awareness of your surroundings, and keep your memories alive and bright for years to come.

This course is for you if:

  • You've tried writing a travel journal in the past but you want to do it better

  • You've never journaled about your travels before and want to do it right the first time

  • You haven't managed to get much written on previous trips and want to write more – in ways that bring you deeper in touch with your surroundings and make your journeys more exciting

  • You haven't journaled about past journeys and you wish you had. (There's still time to write about trips you've already taken – even if you think you can't remember the details. This course will show you how. )

  • You're an aspiring travel writer who needs help spotting and collecting the "raw footage" that will make for great travel tales later. (My follow-up course, “Travel Writing: Explore the World and Publish Your Stories,” teaches you how to transform your on-the-road travel journals into tales for others to read.)

  • Your travel plans have been cancelled due to Covid and you want to relive your past adventures.

So sign up today and get ready to write, and travel, like you never have before – with an enhanced awareness of your journeys and an ability to write about those trips in ways that will keep your memories bright for years to come.

“Dave Fox understands how journaling can help that great trip become a candy jar of memories that you can dip into for the rest of your life."

Rick Steves, PBS TV host and author of Europe Through the Back Door

Also check out my other courses on Udemy:

  • Travel Writing: Explore the World and Publish Your Stories

  • Deep Travel: Have Adventures No Guidebook Can Tell You About

  • Professional Humor Tricks for Writers, Speakers, and Other Misfits

  • The Writing Mind 1: Defeat Writer's Block & Write Confidently

  • The Writing Mind 2: Overcome Distractions & Get More Written

Enroll now

What's inside

Learning objectives

  • Bring destinations to life with rich details.
  • Splash those details quickly into your pages so journaling doesn't gobble up your precious vacation time.
  • Find times to write that don't compromise your opportunities for exploring.
  • Weave together your "outer" and "inner" journeys, using unfamiliar places as backdrops for self-discovery.
  • Elude your "inner censor" and write with confidence.
  • Explore alternative journaling techniques that add an extra dimension of creativity to your travel diaries.
  • Learn how to recall details you thought you had forgotten from past trips, and bring those memories back to life with your words.
  • Use your "rough draft" journals as a springboard for writing more polished travel tales. (a follow-up course on how to write travel tales for publication is coming soon!)
  • Gain a deeper awareness of the world around you so that journaling enhances your travel adventures rather than seeming like a chore.
  • Discover how to write extraordinary travel journals that keep your experiences vivid in your mind for a lifetime.

Syllabus

Introduction
Ready for Take-Off!

After each section, we'll have a short quiz. Don't panic! These quizzes will be quick and painless! Some questions might seem obvious, but answering them anyway helps solidify the key concepts in your mind. And if you miss a question, seeing the correct answer will help you catch any important points you missed in the videos.

Read more
Write Fast! Write Big!

One of the biggest enemies of great writing is perfectionism -- which often comes cloaked in insecurities about the way we write. Learn how to reframe your thinking about why you journal so you write with confidence and come home with pages soaked in rich memories.

The most common struggle travel journalers encounter is finding time for writing in the middle of an exciting trip. A big part of their problem, however, is they're not making the most of the time they do have. Perfectionism and a lack of focus can hinder us from writing our most exciting material. In this lesson, you'll learn a powerful technique to help you get to the point and splash tons of detail into your pages -- quickly. You'll write more and you'll do it fast so you stay on track with your adventures.

You want to write down everything that happens on your trip ... but you don't have time! You're on an adventure! In this lesson, you'll learn how writing your travel diary is a bit like making a Hollywood movie; you must trim away some of the details and zoom in on the most riveting scenes.

How's it going so far? Let's review some of the key points we've covered in section two.

Details! Details!

Often, our most exciting observations are buzzing on the fringes of our awareness. Bringing those observations into our writing requires learning how to shift our focus from sense to sense. In this lesson we discover how to bring our more subtle observations to the forefront of our mind so that we capture the hidden stories in our journeys, and become more aware travelers as well.

Throughout this course, I'll have a few optional writing exercises and supplementary readings. In this first exercise, it's time to take a mini vacation!

On the last night of my second trip to Vietnam (before I lived in Asia), I used the “Scan Your Senses” journaling technique as a launching pad for a post on my travel blog. While you don’t need to journal about all of your senses, in this blog entry, I did, followed by a recap of some of my trip’s highlights. Here's what I wrote....

There's a reason some journals fall flat while others sizzle. A few simple tweaks in the words you choose can transform your writing from bland to brilliant. If you've ever felt like your journals weren't capturing the full spirit of your journeys, it might be because you're making a small and common mistake that holds people back from writing their most exciting details. In this lesson, you'll learn what that mistake is -- and the simple way to fix it.

Woohoo! You have now completed half of the sections in this workshop! Let's see how you're doing!

Travel Journaling for Self-Discovery

When people write diaries at home, they often explore their thoughts and emotions. Travel journalers, on the other hand, tend to focus on the external world. In a foreign place, it's easy to fixate on what's happening around us, so that we fail to notice what's happening within us. But traveling to exciting and unfamiliar places in the world can also carry us to exciting and unfamiliar places in our own minds. Writing about your so-called "inner journey" can lead you into some of your best stories. It brings you a richer understanding of the significance of your travels, and it can be a big source of self-discovery.

Your Inner Censor is a little creature who patrols your mind, trying to "protect" you from your own writing. Most Inner Censors are hyper-critical. They stand in our way and squash our words. Is your Inner Censor holding you back from writing your boldest material? In this lesson, we discover how to sneak past our mental gatekeepers to get at what we really want to write.

Say goodbye to your Inner Censor, once and for all, in this fun, three-part exercise.

Now, onto our section four quiz!

Journaling Outside the Box

Most people journal along a simple timeline of their days, writing about their experiences in the order they occur. This is a nice, simple way to organize our travel diaries, but in this lesson, we explore some fun, alternative techniques that will add a more creative tone to your journals.

To help you get started on some theme journaling, I rattled off (at breakneck speed) a few sample themes and topics we encounter when traveling. Here is that list, in case you didn't catch it all, along with some additional themes suggested by students.

Here's a quick example of the "Verbal Snapshot" journaling technique, excerpted from my book, Globejotting: How to Write Extraordinary Travel Journals (and still have time to enjoy your trip!)

Travel can be a frustrating passion. For most of us, it's not the sort of hobby we can do all the time. But journaling about your travels when you're at home can help satisfy your cravings to be out and exploring.

In this lesson, we talk about journaling before and after your trips. You'll explore your travels from fresh angles. And... if you have past adventures you wish you had journaled about, I'll teach you a trick to put yourself back in those moments. You'll be amazed how details you thought you had forgotten -- even trips you took years ago -- will come flooding back once your words start flowing.

In section five we've covered some creative, alternative journaling techniques. Let's see how creative you are!

How to Avoid "Empty Notebook Syndrome"

We've talked about how to write fast, but that still doesn't answer the question, how do we find time to write in the middle of an exciting trip? Now that you've learned all of these exciting writing techniques, it's time to slay the time dragon that can make it so challenging to squeeze writing time into your days. Journaling should enhance your travels, not pull you away from your adventures. In this lesson, you'll discover how to find time to write without compromising your time for exploring, and you'll learn some fun motivational techniques so you don't run out of steam along the way.

We wrap up our travel journaling adventure with a recap of what we've covered so the things you've learned stay solid in your mind. And Dave tells you how to reach him if you'd like to learn more. Coming soon: A follow-up course in how to transform your travel journals into tales you can share with friends and family, post on blogs, or publish professionally.

Wheeee! It's the final quiz of this course! Let's review what we covered in section six!

Good to know

Know what's good
, what to watch for
, and possible dealbreakers
Provides a structured approach to record and preserve travel memories effectively
Guides learners in capturing vivid and immersive travel experiences through writing
Empowers learners to overcome writer's block and enhance their travel writing skills
Taught by an experienced travel author and coach, Dave Fox, known for his expertise in travel writing
Suitable for individuals with varying levels of travel writing experience, from beginners to aspiring travel writers
Offers a combination of video lessons and supplementary readings, providing diverse learning resources

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Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Travel Journaling: How to Write Extraordinary Travel Diaries with these activities:
Explore the National Geographic website for travel inspiration and tips
Provides a wealth of resources, articles, and multimedia content to spark your travel curiosity.
Show steps
  • Visit the National Geographic website
  • Explore different sections of the website, such as Travel, Photography, and Adventure
  • Read articles, watch videos, and view photo galleries related to travel destinations and experiences
  • Take notes or bookmark articles and resources that resonate with your travel interests
  • Use the website's search function to find specific information on travel destinations or topics
Read and summarize “The Art of Travel” by Alain de Botton
This book shares many insights into traveling, exploration, and seeing the world.
Show steps
  • Purchase physical copy or access online copy of the book
  • Plan to set aside dedicated time each day to read the book
  • Prepare a separate notepad or document for taking notes and recording key insights
  • After completing each chapter, summarize the main ideas and insights in your own words
  • Reflect on how the insights from the book may apply to your own travel experiences and goals
Review course syllabus, schedule, and instructor information
Acquaints the student with the pacing, structure, and expectations of the course.
Show steps
  • Obtain syllabus, schedule, and instructor contact information
  • Read and review syllabus to understand course goals, grading policies, and topics to be covered
  • Note important dates and deadlines from course schedule
  • Contact the instructor if there any questions or concerns regarding expectations
Four other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all seven activities
Daily Freewriting Practice
Enhances the fluency of your writing and helps you find your unique voice and style.
Show steps
  • Set aside a specific time each day for freewriting
  • Choose a prompt or topic related to travel experiences
  • Write continuously for the entire time without stopping or editing
  • Review your freewriting and identify areas for improvement
  • Repeat the process daily, experimenting with different prompts and topics
Start a travel journal or blog to document your travel experiences
Provides a dedicated space to capture your travel memories, reflections, and insights.
Show steps
  • Choose a platform or format for your journal or blog
  • Set up your journal or blog with a title, description, and any desired customization
  • Start writing regular entries, documenting your travel experiences, thoughts, and discoveries
  • Share your journal or blog with friends, family, or a wider audience
  • Use your journal or blog as a platform for reflection and personal growth
Join an online travel writing community or forum
Connects you with other travel writers and enthusiasts to share experiences, ask questions, and get feedback.
Show steps
  • Search for online travel writing communities or forums
  • Join a community or forum that aligns with your interests and goals
  • Introduce yourself to the community and share your travel writing aspirations
  • Participate in discussions, ask questions, and provide feedback to other members
  • Attend or host virtual writing sessions or workshops
Become a volunteer mentor for aspiring travel writers
Provides an opportunity to share your knowledge and support others in their travel writing journey.
Show steps
  • Contact writing organizations or programs to inquire about volunteer mentoring opportunities
  • Prepare materials and resources that you can share with your mentees
  • Connect with your mentees regularly, provide guidance, and review their writing
  • Attend or host workshops or events to share your expertise with a wider group of aspiring travel writers
  • Use your platform to advocate for the importance of travel writing and supporting emerging voices

Career center

Learners who complete Travel Journaling: How to Write Extraordinary Travel Diaries will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:
Travel Blogger
Travel Bloggers share their experiences and insights about travel with their readers. The Travel Journaling course may be useful for this role, as it will help you to develop your writing skills, learn how to capture the details of your experiences, and gain a deeper understanding of the places you visit. This course may also help you to develop your creativity and your ability to tell stories.
Travel Writer
As a Travel Writer, you would be responsible for writing engaging and informative content about travel destinations. The Travel Journaling course may be useful for this role, as it will help you to develop your writing skills, learn how to capture the details of your experiences, and gain a deeper understanding of the places you visit. This course may also help you to develop your creativity and your ability to tell stories.
Travel Photographer
Travel Photographers capture the beauty and essence of travel destinations through their photographs. The Travel Journaling course may be useful for this role, as it will help you to develop your observation skills, learn how to capture the details of your experiences, and gain a deeper understanding of the places you visit. This course may also help you to develop your creativity and your ability to tell stories with your images.
Travel Guide
Travel Guides lead tours and provide information about travel destinations to tourists. The Travel Journaling course may be useful for this role, as it will help you to develop your knowledge of travel destinations, learn how to communicate effectively with tourists, and gain a deeper understanding of the cultures of the places you visit.
Travel Agent
Travel Agents help people to plan and book their travel arrangements. The Travel Journaling course may be useful for this role, as it will help you to develop your knowledge of travel destinations, learn how to communicate effectively with clients, and gain a deeper understanding of the travel industry.
Journalist
Journalists write articles and stories for newspapers, magazines, and websites. The Travel Journaling course may be useful for this role, as it will help you to develop your writing skills, learn how to research and gather information, and gain a deeper understanding of the world around you.
Author
Authors write books, articles, and other forms of literature. The Travel Journaling course may be useful for this role, as it will help you to develop your writing skills, learn how to tell stories, and gain a deeper understanding of the human experience.
Historian
Historians study and write about the past. The Travel Journaling course may be useful for this role, as it will help you to develop your research skills, learn how to analyze and interpret historical documents, and gain a deeper understanding of the world around you.
Archivist
Archivists preserve and manage historical documents and artifacts. The Travel Journaling course may be useful for this role, as it will help you to develop your organizational skills, learn how to care for and preserve historical materials, and gain a deeper understanding of the past.
Therapist
Therapists help people to improve their mental health and well-being. The Travel Journaling course may be useful for this role, as it will help you to develop your communication skills, learn how to understand and empathize with others, and gain a deeper understanding of the world around you.
Social Worker
Social Workers help people to overcome challenges and improve their lives. The Travel Journaling course may be useful for this role, as it will help you to develop your communication skills, learn how to understand and empathize with others, and gain a deeper understanding of the world around you.
Counselor
Counselors help people to deal with emotional and mental health issues. The Travel Journaling course may be useful for this role, as it will help you to develop your communication skills, learn how to understand and empathize with others, and gain a deeper understanding of the world around you.
Teacher
Teachers help students to learn and grow. The Travel Journaling course may be useful for this role, as it will help you to develop your communication skills, learn how to engage students, and gain a deeper understanding of the world around you.
Museum curator
Museum Curators oversee the collections and exhibits of museums. The Travel Journaling course may be useful for this role, as it will help you to develop your knowledge of history and culture, learn how to care for and preserve museum artifacts, and gain a deeper understanding of the world around you.
Librarian
Librarians help people to find and use information. The Travel Journaling course may be useful for this role, as it will help you to develop your research skills, learn how to organize and manage information, and gain a deeper understanding of the world around you.

Reading list

We've selected 14 books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Travel Journaling: How to Write Extraordinary Travel Diaries.
Serves as a guide for writers who want to incorporate travel experiences into their work, both fiction and nonfiction.
Although this book more philosophical look at travel, with a focus on self-discovery and personal growth, it may be of interest to those who want to explore the inner dimensions of travel.
Blend of travelogue and memoir in which the author explores the science of happiness around the world.
Is more focused on the transformative power of travel and how it can help us face our fears and challenges.
For those interested in long-term or budget travel, this book provides practical advice and inspiration for hitting the road.
This classic work on the essay form can be helpful for those who want to improve their writing skills, particularly in the area of descriptive and reflective writing.
For those who are serious about pursuing travel writing as a career, this book provides practical advice and guidance.
This classic novel of the Beat Generation captures the spirit of travel and adventure.
This memoir by the iconic revolutionary leader provides a unique perspective on travel and social justice.
This satirical novel explores the lives of young people working in the tech industry in Vancouver. Although not directly about travel, it offers insightful commentary on the modern experience of living in a globalized world.

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