Your trip in one book. "Travel notebook" will enrich your trip from before to after.

Why does Ms. Yanagisawa keep travel notebooks? We asked her to show us some of the wonderful travel notebooks she has kept so far, and she told us about their appeal and hints on how to make them.

Traveling solo to various parts of Asia. The best part of traveling is experiencing the lives of local people

Mr. Yanagisawa's hobby is traveling, and he has written many books about travel. First, we asked him about the roots of his love of travel.

Yanagisawa: "My first trip abroad was when I was in sixth grade. Influenced by my parents who love to travel, traveling became a hobby for me as an adult. I especially love traveling alone, and before the COVID-19 pandemic, I would go abroad up to seven times a year. Whenever I thought I had some free time at work, I would often just grab a ticket and go on a trip at the last minute."

Due to the impact of COVID-19, it has become difficult to travel abroad, and Yanagisawa says that he has a growing desire to travel. We asked him about his solo travels in the past.

Yanagisawa: "I like Asian folk art tableware, and in the past I often traveled to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, etc. in search of kitchen utensils and everyday items. Most of the everyday items in my home are things I bought while traveling. I also always visit markets, bookstores, art museums, and cafes, no matter what country I'm in. Supermarkets and convenience stores are also fun. I like to see how local people live their everyday lives, rather than just seeing packaged things for the tourist spot."

Your very own guidebook. A "travel notebook" that grows with every trip.

Yanagisawa-san makes a "travel notebook" every time he travels. He makes one notebook for each trip.

Yanagisawa: "I started keeping a travel notebook so I could record my trips. I write down my schedule, belongings, and clothing beforehand, and then when I'm there, I make notes about the places I've been and the things I bought, and stick maps and shop cards in it. Memories of travel tend to fade over time, but having a physical record like this allows me to look back on them later, and because I often go to the same cities multiple times, it's really useful as my own personal guidebook."

So what inspired you to start keeping a travel notebook?

Yanagisawa: "It all started when I went to France on my graduation trip as a university student and made a notebook with maps pasted in it. Smartphones didn't exist back then, so paper information was the most important thing. I pasted lots of maps in my notebook and wrote down the names of places I wanted to go and shops. Even after I got a smartphone, I still kept that habit and continue to make travel notebooks."

If you often make repeat trips like Yanagisawa, it is very convenient to have all your previous information in one place. Another reason why Yanagisawa writes travel notes so frequently is because he is a solo traveler and likes long trips.

Yanagisawa: "I like traveling alone, and I stay at least one to two weeks, so I have plenty of time, which may be why I continue to keep a travel notebook. I write about what happened today and my future schedule while relaxing with a cup of tea at a cafe."

Yanagisawa says he uses his free time while traveling to enrich his travel notebook and his trip.

Yanagisawa: "By the way, I don't like to pack my schedule too tightly when I travel. I usually just decide to go around this area today. I have a rough idea of cafes and shops I want to go to, but if I lose interest along the way, I can easily change my plan. I think one of the charms of traveling alone is being able to change your plan on the spot."

Tips for making a travel journal that doesn't require any special tools or skills

Now, we will be teaching you how to make a travel notebook. First, we asked Yanagisawa to show us the tools he uses to make his travel notebook.

Yanagisawa: "I use A5 size grid notebooks from MUJI. The size and thickness are just right, so I've been using these for the past few years. I think saddle-stitched notebooks, rather than ring-stitched ones, are easier to write in. The stationery I use includes pens, stamps, sticky notes, masking tape, etc. Since I often need to rewrite things, I use the Frixion series, which allows you to erase all the writing, including pens and stamps."

Before traveling, when writing down your schedule and what to bring, you write it on sticky notes and stick them on the paper. Sticky notes are convenient because you can re-stick them if your plans change, and you can easily find them by changing the color of the sticky note each time you move to a new accommodation. You can use masking tape to stick shop cards and tickets that you receive while traveling.

Yanagisawa: "I also put stickers from products I buy while traveling on my notebooks, or stamp things at train stations and tourist spots, and write everything down in my notebook. I also like to go to stationery stores when I travel, so I sometimes buy stickers that represent the atmosphere of the place and stick them in my notebooks. This way, I can record things and make the pages of my notebook lively and cute. Recently, I've also been printing out small photos I take while traveling on sticker paper and sticking them in the margins of my notebooks. It's easier to remember things like what I ate clearly when you see a photo of it."

The trick to keeping a travel journal is to not write too much and to just focus on recording.

So, what are the steps and tips for recording in a travel notebook?

Yanagisawa: "I use sticky notes to write down things like my schedule, what to bring, and souvenir list that I've decided in advance on the first pages. Another tip is to decide on a format for the pages you'll use to write during your trip. I decide to use one spread per day, and write the date on a sticky note. I also use those pages to write down information about shops that I've researched."

During the trip, he divides each day into morning and afternoon, writing down the events that happened that day in chronological order. In addition, he only writes records in his travel notebook; he never writes a diary.

Yanagisawa: "My travel notebooks are all about recording. I only write about the places I went to, the time, what I ate, how I got there, how much I spent, and a few brief impressions. If I wrote a diary, I would be too embarrassed to reread it when I want to use it on my next trip (laughs). Plus, if I had to include lengthy impressions, writing itself would be a burden."

By the way, I keep notebooks not only when I travel abroad, but also when I travel domestically and on business trips.

Yanagisawa: "I use a notebook for business trips, and divide it into sections with index stickers to record everything. Even when I'm on a business trip, I take a walk around the hotel in the morning and find my favorite coffee shop and write it down. It's also useful to simply look up information about souvenirs you can buy at the station and write it down in advance."

I actually made a travel notebook for a one-day weekend trip.

Our editorial team also created a travel notebook, taking into consideration the tips taught by Yanagisawa. The destination was a two-day, one-night trip to Yokohama. As it is a famous tourist spot, there are many opportunities to see information about Yokohama on TV and in magazines. However, by researching places we want to visit and things we want to buy as souvenirs on our own and putting them together in a travel notebook, we were able to discover charms of Yokohama that we didn't know before. And it made us even more excited about our trip to Yokohama.

By creating a travel notebook, you can get a firm grasp of information about your destination, increase your sense of excitement before the trip, and make your trip more fulfilling. Rather than just looking up information on the internet or in magazines before your trip, writing it down will actually be useful information when you are there.

As you collect more notebooks, your "travel skills" will also increase.

When asked about the benefits of keeping a travel notebook, Yanagisawa says it can also help improve your travel skills.

Yanagisawa: "For example, mark the items or clothing you brought that were really useful, and cross out the ones you didn't need. Also, make a note of things like the temperature, so you won't have to worry about what to wear the next time you go. By looking back at the records in your travel notebook, you'll be able to use what you've learned on your next trip and make it a more fulfilling one."

People who travel to the same area multiple times, like Yanagisawa, improve their travel skills by recording their experiences in a travel notebook after the trip. And of course, in addition to learning more, another attractive feature is that you can look back on your travel notebook and reminisce about your memories at any time.

A travel notebook like this, filled with everything about a trip, will make your time before, during and after the trip more fulfilling. If you're thinking about going on a trip, why not try making one? Don't overthink it, just try making one by imitating Yanagisawa. As you travel more, your travel notebooks will grow, allowing you to enjoy your travels more deeply and forever. This is a book that travel lovers should definitely make.