Section Three – The Daily Logs & Collages
The Writing. When you have your journal open in front of you, there is a left page and a right page.  In my journal, each two-page unit represents one day of the trip.  On the right-hand side, I keep a written log that includes the date, including day of the week and year.  Then I log in order, what I had for breakfast, lunch and dinner, where I slept that night and what the weather was like.  In addition, I include the amount that I paid for each.  Finally at the bottom of the page, I include a paragraph or two on the events of the day.  If the day was very exciting, I leave myself the liberty of using the next page or two or ten.  Always I will start a new day with two pages facing each other. 

 It is what I do to the left-hand side that makes Gary question my sanity.  Before I started keeping my logs, I would attempt to keep flyers, tickets and other scraps of paper as free remembrances of my travels.  Invariably, I would never look at them again, or they would get lost or worse, get in the way when I got home, and eventually be tossed. 

 The Collages.  Now I cut them up and make collages out of them: one collage every day.  Often they are as simple as a map of the city glued into place.  Often they are as complicated as finely cut and trimmed scraps of paper glued onto the page and onto each other.  Recently, I have graduated to multi-layered collages with flaps that open to reveal other information or pictures.  Heavens, you don’t have to get that complicated.  Just gluing in flyers and tickets from museums and shows you attended is worth the effort and remembrance.  Postcards make great fodder; I especially love postcards that feature several images.

 As I tend to complete my collages on the flight home, I have purchased a pair of Fiskars round-ended scissors; you know the type they gave you in kindergarten.  While small, they fit my hands, and because I have purchased a good brand, they cut well.  Most importantly, they ARE allowed through airport security. 

 Additionally, I always carry a glue stick, and those are welcome everywhere.  I have run out of glue so many times, and I always manage to find a glue stick on the road – they must be an international thing. 

I typically complete my logging in the morning.  While I am an early bird and a morning feeder, Gary is not.  It has become a trip ritual for me to wake up early and do my daily logging while I am enjoying a quiet breakfast, and he is enjoying some additional sleep. 
 

Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember and remember more than I have seen.
 – Benjamin Disraeli,
British conservative statesmen & literary figure

Ipanema Call Girl – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil