BootsnAll Travel Community

Confession: I'm forgetful. One minute, I'll be raving about the monkfish, the next, I completely draw a blank on the restaurant name. For a travel writer, this ain't good. Neither is using "ain't" in a sentence.

My little notebook is my lifeline, as is my camera (snap! there, I'll always remember the restaurant name). I collect business cards, too, for address verification.

Any other methods you've found useful when documenting your travel? Or is everyone's memory a bit sharper then mine.

Guidebooks. I tend to keep all of mine, and they make an easily accessible resource with maps, place names, and other little things that may jog my memory.

Of course, not every restaurant, hotel or place I visit will be in my guidebooks. But they help add another piece to the puzzle.

A notebook is still the most important tool. Pictures might be a close second. Aside from bringing back the obvious concrete details in the pictures themselves, they also bring back a "feeling" for me. That feeling helps me write.

I have a shoebox for every place I have been. Lately this includes every last receipt, leftover coins, maps, admission cards to sights, business cards, contacts, and any other chotchkes I might have obtained along the trip. Mostly for the tax man, but you never know when someone from Boots is going to want to know how much a bus ticket is in XXXXX. That, and more importantly, all of it has the potential to jar your memory in some way.

Christi - I'm impressed that you'd rifle through your box in search of a bus ticket from XYZ for a bootsnaller!

Fortunately I'm a savant when it comes to stuff like that, so I don't yet need to