Looking for how to keep in touch with your friends when you’re all going in separate directions? Start a traveling notebook!

My excitement for the project is through the roof. The last year has brought so many changes. One of my best friends moved across the pond to England, I moved across the country to Edmonton, another started full-time teaching, and another got married.

It’s been a year of big things. And it’s been amazing.

With all of us being so far apart now, we wanted to come up with something to keep us all linked and help us keep in touch.

Enter our traveling journal.

Inspired by the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, the whole concept is for us to document whatever happened in our lives, in our respective places. To share interesting facts and exciting stories. And to receive awesome mail every so often.

It started in England and made its way over to me to get decorate the cover and add whatever my heart desires. Now it’ll be on its way to the next location. We’ll just keep passing it around and documenting and sharing, and soon it’ll be full of so many memories. It’ll eventually show the wear and tear of traveling miles. It’ll have so many stories written on its pages.

But mostly, it’ll be filled with so much love.

This feels like the perfect way for us friends to keep in touch while we experience these new, big, and exciting life changes.

Traveling Notebook Guidelines:

We came up with some parameters for our notebook, just to give us some direction:

1. Return to the next person within 5 days
   • This is so we’re forced to document in the moment, rather than “wait for something cool to happen.” The emphasis of this journal is supposed to be just simple everyday moments.
2. Include something extra for the individual you send it to, ie. a separate card, little gift, picture, etc.
3. Write a couple of pages about your day; include where you are when writing it, new and exciting tidbits of info, etc.
4. Ask any individual (or all!) a random question they must answer
5. Doodle! .. or cut and paste, or staple, or sew. Get creative!
6. You don’t have to keep the same rotation going – send it to whomever you want!

Materials needed to start your own traveling notebook:

1. A notebook – we used this one, but any will do. Make sure it’s light, and can easily fit in a lettermail envelope to keep postage down!
2. A pen
3. Craft supplies, stickers, anything fun you want to include.
4. A fun mailer. Decorating the packaging made receiving the notebook in the mail that much more exciting!

One of my favourite parts about this project is the fact we’re sending actual mail! I love mail! How about you? Do you send actual mail anymore these days?