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Journaling on the Camino

Windswept.west

New Member
Hola,
Journaling is something I do to help bring some clarity to my thoughts and I see in other post that a good number of people keep a journal while on their journey. The problem is that I use a standard 9 by 12 inch (23cm by 31cm) sketch book that weighs over a pound (1 kg) and that will be too heavy for the pilgrimage :roll: . So the question is, what did you use on the Camino? Did you send full journals home or carry them?
 
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I'm going to be using my smart phone in conjunction with Evernote (hoping I can figure out the blogging function). I will also carry a small spiral notebook for quick scribbles if my phone dies. I know the phone isn't for everyone but I have to carry it anyway so I want to use it for as much as possible.
 
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I thought about using my iPhone or even a iPad and dropbox to sent it all back with. But there is something about writing, that isn’t there when I am typing. I am less… connected. I guess that is the best word for the feeling. I haven’t taken to blogging yet, maybe I will include that in my training for the Camino. Progress waits for no one. Sabine, Moleskine is a good product I have used them before and I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. Thank you for the reminder.
 
If I didn't have to have it with me I probably would just use a notebook. Last time I was in the US I found the notebook I used when hiking the APR in 2002 and it was interesting to read again. But, carrying a notebook big enough to write in as well as my phone just seems like over-kill. So far the multi-use for my phone is: journal, camera, book, clock, phone (via skype), translator, guide book, business center and several other functions. It's true that you're not as connected when using technology, but I'm on my computer so much that when I try to write with a pen my hand cramps.
 
Vagabondette you have hit on the other issue; a quick calculation shows that an average day of journal (thank you F) would be 22 pages in a 3 by 5 inch book or 8 pages in a 5 by 8. Forty days on the Camino would require the better part of four of the smaller and one and a third of the larger. And that’s if I don’t sketch anything and if the Camino is just an average walk in the park :roll: . At just under an 11 oz (330 grams) for the larger book with a mechanical pencil, I think I’m willing to suffer the weight. An iPad at 2.2 lbs (just over a kg) is possible for some but probably not for me.

I can mail back the completed journals, to keep from carrying them. Would it be better to pick up a replacement journal at a larger city or preposition via mail at various aubergue, if that is even possible? Maybe I am over thinking the weight issues but the mantra of lighter is happier and healthier is ringing in my ears.
 
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Actually, I'm going to be amending my answer. My original plan was to carry my phone and a roll-up blue-tooth keyboard to do my writing. However, after spending several hours last night playing with various apps for my phone I've discovered that the voice->text feature works very well. So, rather than carry a keyboard with me I will carry a small journal and write in that first then dictate my entries to my phone for publishing. I suspect this will be the best of both worlds though, obviously, not the ideal solution.

As far as having *enough* journal space, I can write incredibly small when needed but if not, I would just bring one and mail it when full, replacing it with a new one purchased on the road. Assuming you're doing the CF, you will pass through a reasonably large city on a regular enough basis that you shouldn't have problems finding a replacement when needed if you plan well. You can then choose to mail your journals to your home or ahead to Santiago to be picked up at the end of your camino (though, depending on the speed of the Spanish mail system, this may result in a delay waiting for a journal.
 
Voice dictation, what will they think of next? I am still going to take a journal just to be hard headed on the issue :twisted: .

Vagabondette my hen scratch is near undecipherable at normal size; going smaller sadly is not an option. Yes I am planning an April / May 2013 pilgrimage following the CF. If I mail them, it will be back to Texas.

WW now that is a good looking journal :mrgreen: . Handcrafted paper always is a bit rougher. Sadly ink tends to bleed a bit on some of the handmade papers. Are you getting sharp lines?
 
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Windswept.west said:
Voice dictation, what will they think of next? I am still going to take a journal just to be hard headed on the issue :twisted: .
Click to expand...

lol...not hard headed...traditional. Like I said, if it weren't necessary I'd be leaving the technology at home but I will be gone more than 4 months and I have a business to run so it's not an option. The voice to text thing rocks my world!

Suggest that you get a journal that closes like the one listed above or has a rubber band to hold it closed so you can tuck in receipts, flyers, momentos of whatever sort, without having them fall everywhere.
 


This was actually lighter than the Moleskins?? Really! Will have to check that out for next time. Just out of curiosity..how much did it weigh in at?

Thanks, and have fun planning and getting ready for your Camino! It'll be here before you know it!

Buen Camino, Karin
 
Go with one journal and then buy more in Spain as you need them. It's always a wonderful thing to see what you end up with. And if weight is an issue, you can post the completed ones home. I must admit that for myself a journal comes under the category of essential weight. I write small though to make it last.

Buen Camino,

Andy
 
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Vagabondette I found the voice recording app on ITunes app store, downloaded it, and on the first try it worked. A ninety nine cent solution and three minutes of my life well spent. It even handles the Texas twang. How do tell if a Texan is lying? If you can see his lips move he’s lying. :lol:

Karin the nearest Barnes & Noble is 20 mile but they say they have them. I will head over there tomorrow.

Andy I am a little worried about walking around in large town but I will be motivated so it will be done.
 
Windswept.west said:
Andy I am a little worried about walking around in large town but I will be motivated so it will be done.
Click to expand...

Wandering around in the afternoon or evening is wonderful and the towns are full of people doing it. And I always found Spanish people to be courteous and helpful. Enjoy!

Andy
 
I plan to bring a very small note pad combo of lined and unlined paper which I custom made with a light leatherette cover which closes with a hair-elastic and holds a fine .05 pen.
That way, I can sketch a little, write a little. Will buy a larger format if I find I need it.

Buen journaling!
 
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A friend writes her journal into her small notepad and sketches on a small sketchpad, then uses her smartphone with the 5MP camera to photograph the notes and sketches. The photos of the notes and sketches are posted to herself when she has wifi, she also uses Dropbox and the voice recorder Apps. She uses the smartphone to take pictures for posting into her blog; and also has a local SIM so that the smartphone can be used as a normal phone for phoning and texting.
Rather a roundabout way of doing things but satisfies her urge to write and sketch. To each his or her own.
 
I was wandering how much the transferring cost of Dropbox through a smartphone. If anyone will share your experience I would appreciate your input.
 
Windswept.west I prefer Evernote to Dropbox. Just a thought.


Dave
 
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Hi,
I use 20cm x 14 note books they provide plenty of space for journaling and little micro sketches. I slip them into an old leather cover that keeps most of the damp at bay and also provides a slip space for any other bits and pieces I pick up. I send one journal home as it becomes full -but this takes a long time. And as I approach the end of one I have a new one sent out to me en route. This has served on the CF (only needed one and some other little scraps when the journal was drying out a few times) and it's serving well as I journey down through Germany and across Switzerland.
Writing at the end of the day is such a pleasure and if you're walking off season, or on one of the more solitary routes, it also give you a pleasant focus for those evenings alone in the shed/hostal/fire station/gite etc
N
 
the cost of syncing dropbox or evernote depends on how much data you have. but, you can also do it using wifi so it's free.

dropbox is pretty much just a file folder like you'd find on any computer that you can add any kinds of files to and they sync to wherever else you have that dropbox account set up.

evernote is a software system that allows you to write/clip notes and file them in virtual folders. with evernote if you want your data available while offline you'll have to use the paid app.
 
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WW,
You asked this question
what is the difference between Evernote & Dropbox? And what are the advantages
Click to expand...
and would point you to the following website:
http://nerdgap.com/evernote-and-dropbox ... love-both/

Free edition of these Apps are available for you to use, free does not mean cheap cut down versions but they are powerful enough to do most work for a 40 day journey, Dropbox also has an automatic downloading of Camera Pictures feature, not mentioned in the website, this feature can be turned on or off.

We use this to seamlessly transfer all new pictures from my camera card, as soon as you slip in the camera card it downloads all the newer photos into your Dropbox without your doing anything else. You can turn this feature off and start the process again with a click of the mouse,it is extremely fast as it does not reload pictures which have been loaded into Dropbox previously. It does not leave a copy of data in the computer drive.

The answer to your question can be found by trying out these two free Apps for at least a few weeks due to its many features, there is nothing like a hands on experience, unfortunately for those technically challenged these two Apps are adding more and more features to their already large range of thing it can do at a rapid pace Although it is a techno geek's dream it is easy to use with a very short learning curve.

We are fortunate that this forum is also evolving at a rapid pace as well, not so long ago technological question would have been flamed off this amazing helpful and friendly forum. Thank you Ivar.
 
Thank you all for the your comments and expertise. I now have both apps on my phone & tablet. Returning from a trip I shared all the photos with my family (in three cities) using dropbox. Drag, drop & done. Yes that easy. Evernote seems to be working as well.

So I have a simple solid way of getting the pictures off the phone and safe at home. Now to solve typing. There is VDictation app which will take about 20 seconds of dictation and push the text to one of several programs. Very accurate & quick but requires a connection to talk to its server. So a minor hang up. Voice recognition typically has a huge storage requirement so cloud based is effective.

Again thank you.
 
 
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The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
I used the Day One app for my journaling; it has an email function, so you can send copies out whenever you have wifi access.
 
I was thinking of picking up a couple of small notebooks for my Camino journal. The thought was to have a ziplock baggie in my backpack with my notebook, some airmail paper (letters home), a couple of pens, and stamps. I find that writing a journal while traveling helps aid in making sure those memories last. i recently found my journal from when I lived in England, and I think I should have written more and more often. I bought a 120 page spiral-bound notebook and only filled about 1/4 of it in the six MONTHS I was there. I am determined to write more often while on my Camino. The journal will also help me compose blog entries for posting when/if I can find a computer.

Buen Camino
8) Wandering "writing is good for the soul" Christian :arrow:
 
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I purchased a Rite in Rain http://www.riteintherain.com/ and carried a waterproof pen. I carried these in my belly bag, always accessible. Journaling helps me recall how I feel, thoughts, funny moments, as well as the scenery along the way. If you enjoy keep a journal, by all me do.

Once home, the journal can help you relive the journey.
 
An update. I have been using a voice dictation program that requires the use of a network to support the heavy lifting of moving from voice to text. Not too helpful on the trail but great at home. Love Dropbox and its ability to also move pictures and documents without a great deal of time from me. Evernote is also good.

WanderingChristian I will also be bagging my moleskin. I love the physical act of writing.

K-fun I owned one. Great pen. Thanks for the link

Lail
 
thank you everyone. I am now more confused than every. When in doubt though, stick to what you know. My notepad, pen/s & dictaphone are it.
 
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The majority of these posts are about the mechanics of writing a journal, but no-one has written about the NEED to write a journal.
 
There will no doubt be many responses on what people use for their journals, I'd like to share with you what NOT to do... I learned the hard way!!
- I had a small notebook (4 inch by 2) just to jot down notes, and I was going to get one on the Camino with a shell theme; they sell lots of things on the Camino, but journals are far and few between
- I collected a series of napkins on which I scribbled notes
- I sometimes wrote my daily notes AFTER drinking wine
- I wrote great one liner thoughts on the back of receipts

When I got home, ready to collect all my thoughts, well written one liners, and great musings I found out the following:

- NOT dating my thoughts and musings at all times made it difficult for me to remember where I was when i was so inspired
- Writing notes AFTER wine drinking made my handwriting somewhat cryptic at best of times
- A too small journal bought with the intent to be replaced by a larger one was often WAY too small to write comfortably (hence, resorting to napkins and receipts)
- Receipt papers fade over time and manipulation - - words were "erased"
- Napkins don't hold their fibers very well

All tongue in cheek of course, but final outcome - - a myriad of thoughts (half of which were not put into context, thus - quite mysterious!)... my memory and my online blogs helped me keep some level of thoughts consistency but I missed out on some truly original and brilliant wording...

This time around, given my aim is to eventually write a book, I am bringing a small recorder capable of recording up to 140 hours on two double A batteries. Granted, the task of compiling and choosing what to keep and what to discard will be monumental upon my return, but to me this will be my best way to record the level of details needed to create a book.

Buen writing and Buen Camino!
 
I've been pondering this too and have decided to bring my very lightweight and small digital recorder on my Camino this May and June. It has a ton of memory and I can easily record my thoughts as they pop up. If I can remember to state the date and locations, that will be even better. Writing in a journal seems laborious and I speak much faster than I write.
 
Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
I am bringing a 120 page no. 11 school exercise book, post it back and buy another when it is full. Now, will I use pencil or biro????
 
wellaway said:
I am bringing a 120 page no. 11 school exercise book, post it back and buy another when it is full. Now, will I use pencil or biro????
Click to expand...

I started with an HB pencil, but found it was smudging a bit and so switched to biro!!!!!
 
Get a Spanish mobil number + data while on the Camino
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billbennettoz said:
The majority of these posts are about the mechanics of writing a journal, but no-one has written about the NEED to write a journal.
Click to expand...
As with most things, there are umpteen different opinions about whether a journal is a useful tool and, if so, whether it is best to have a written or spoken record.

On previous holidays I had taken a few notes about what I'd seen or done. However, the Camino was the first time that I had truly kept a journal. There is a world of difference in the two ways of recording your experiences. My Camino journal wasn't concerned so much with what I had done (otherwise every day's entry would say "today I walked"), rather it was full of the thoughts and feelings that emerged as I walked. The very act of writing clarified so much and I found myself writing things I didn't know that I knew.

It was such a positive experience that I now keep a journal at home. I write in it regularly but not every day. Often the words seem to come of their own accord and I've learnt a tremendous amount from and about myself just by recording my thoughts in this way.

So, for me, a journal has to be in written form. The beautiful Paperblanks range for home use and, in the interests of keeping the weight down, a lightweight terribly practical exercise book for the Camino.
 
I'm really not fancy when it comes to journals on long trips. I bring an 80-page lined exercise book ( one of the smaller-sized ones) and a pen. I carry it in a Ziploc freezer bag to keep it dry. Cheap, light, easy to carry or send home, very easy to pick up new ones along the way.
 
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