handmade travel journal

This fall my brother went on a three-month backpacking trip through Europe. Before he left I made him this homemade journal to document his travels. Below you see the journal with a few sweet photos he took in Europe.

Most of the pieces of this project were things I reused or got second hand. I made each of the covers from re-purposed stiff board. Using some National Geographic maps, I covered the fronts with more modern day maps of Europe and made end sheets out of ancient maps of the same areas of Europe. The idea was that he could mark his route on the outside maps. He did, though in the end he traveled to some areas not included on the cover, so the cover is not quite a complete record of his journeys.

The pages inside were blank (to allow for sketching or writing) except for some sheets of Europe photos from National Geographic magazines.

Finally, I got the journal Wire-O bound, which allows the journal to lie open flat and is very durable. At the end of the journal I added an envelope to store tickets and mementos that might otherwise be lost. The elastic around the cover is anchored in under the final end sheet: just another touch to keep the journal together.

My brother's bedroom walls are now a collage of maps, ticket stubs, etc. from his three months in Europe--a great idea.