How Should I Document My Travels?

08.07.07 | 8:37 AM ET

Dear Rolf,

My fiancée and I are embarking on a six-month trip to Asia and I have one big question: What is the best way to document a long trip? I tried carrying a laptop for a weekend trip, and it was burdensome, to say the least. Can I count on myself to go to Internet cafes and be disciplined enough to document my trip thoroughly? Overall it just seems so much easier to log the trip on a small laptop, but your mantra has always been to pack light and leave the gadgets behind. What do you think?

—Nick, San Francisco

Dear Nick,

Documenting your journey is really a matter of personal taste. Some people use pen and paper journals, which double as scrapbooks, and are a good memento of the experience. I haven’t done this in ages, however, since (in addition to the fact that these can be lost) I type much faster than I write, and I like to have my material easily transferable and easily backed up.

That said, I keep hand-written notes when I travel, on small plastic-bound notebooks that fit into my pocket. Then I use these notes to write travel stories or remember details.

I might recommend getting a very small laptop (with wireless card), if you don’t mind the expense. That way it’s not physically cumbersome. The only drawback is the psychic one, since you don’t want to spend all your travel time farting around on your computer.

My final thought is that, as you imply, Internet cafes are everywhere in Asia. They can be a good alternative, if you don’t mind tapping in journal entries in noisy rooms full of people. Just save your journals (and photos) as blogs or e-mail drafts.

Again, it’s just a matter of finding a personal preference—and not letting your journal/computer suck away all your prime travel time.

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