“My Trip” Diary 1974-1978
For a long, long time, I have kept travel diaries. The oldest one still in my possession is a dedicated travel pocket diary (9 cm x 15 cm, 90 leaf, left: cover, “My Trip”; right: excerpt) given to me by my grandmother in 1974 to record the 74/75 two-month New Zealand round tour in.
It was this diary that prompted me to take all the holidays I could and re-live part of that tour in 2009, and not just take a few days off for the conference I was invited to.
“My Trip” Diary 1974-1978
Now, a 15 year-old doesn’t write much in his diary, but there was enough there for a moderately successful reconstruction – I didn’t stick to it strictly, as I had other things I wanted to do as well (i.e. the Milford Track). Even some of the motorcamps – to judge from the kitchen inventory – had been around back then (both countries went decimal in 1974, so that °F on an oven is a sure sign of its vintage), and many were as near as dammit the places we must have stayed in. Not having any of the pictures that I took, I was able to recreate some of these; but 30 years of absence takes an indisputable toll on your memory.
Diary entry Jan 23-24, 1975
Since then, diaries of various sorts have been kept. The original diary was later continued for the summer holidays 1976, and Germany ’77/’78, but then A4 stiff cardboard note books begin appearing. After 2004 the format changes to A5, and fairly soon to the Clairefontaine series, with their seductively smooth paper (below left); I have a whole heap of them to demonstrate to students what free-writing is. Then an interlude at A4 size, and a change in 2010 to the reintroduced Moleskine series whose paper is also deliciously smooth, and at off-white a little easier on the eye; at first a 19.2 cm x 25 cm volume (below), then the more portable 13 cm x 21 cm size. For this trip I will continue with the smaller size for the tramps, where size and weight will be at a premium, and start a new larger size journal for everyday use.
Diary entry Feb 19-20, 2009
Diary entry Sep 26-27, 2010
The structure has matured in the course of all this. We start with the day of the week and the date, and then the day’s itinerary; then the weather, and finally, the accommodation, with all details, including the price. Writing is on the right side only, leaving the left for later additions and comments. Then the diary proper begins (right: excerpt; left: cover). I am still in two minds as to whether to detail the photos I’ve taken; contra says that with all the GPS data I should be able to reconstruct where and when I took them; pro says the story behind them counts.
Diary cover (Moleskine)
On the longer tramps from Denmark to Italy in 2011/12, the diaries were kept on the computer, which had to be dragged along to deal with the photos. But, once back, they seem now strangely inaccessible, and I really should redeem them onto paper and indeed, into book form, to leaf through at will on warmer or colder evenings.