Many people have their own reasons for traveling. My personal reasons consist of helping people and expanding my knowledge of the world. Whenever I am in a new country, I often write in my journal. The pages in my journal consist of a recap of that day's events. Such recap would be the name of the places I've been to, the people I've met, and the feelings that I've experienced. Some people do not have a physical journal that they write in, but they use other outlets like Instagram, Twitter, or a blogging platform to journalize their travel experiences. There is no correct way to journalize your travel. However, I am just sharing my understanding of my method. Journaling happens for me at the most random times. Whether it be driving several hours in a bus or laying down at night after an exhausting day.
Putting words on a page was very hard for me at first. Writing is definitely not my strongest suit, but I take pride in telling stories. My beginning entries were very short; they were just unorganized scribbles on a white page. Overtime though, I kept at it and the writing just took off on its own. It was like my writing just told its own stories from my thought process during a specific incident to the smiles of those around me.
Writing in my travel journal is very personal to me. In a way it is therapeutic. When I am in a new environment with so many impressions happening at once, it is very hard for me to slow things down. Sometimes golden moments just pass by me and I cannot recollect the memory. Therefore, writing in my journal slows those moments down to the point where I can sit down months afterwards and reminisce on them. I write to remember why I went to these countries and reflect on how these events helped me grow as a person. For instance, most of my takeaway from Peru and Ecuador with MEDLIFE has been that health disparities in impoverished countries will probably last till my children's lifetime unless we take measurable actions solving it.
