Travel Journal Prep

Part of the fun of travel is the anticipation...don't you think? I certainly do!
I go crazy getting ready to travel and then I fling myself on a plane and collapse.

I like to work on my travel journals  in stages--the pre-boarding stage (prepping the travel journal), the in-flight (in the country) stage and the after-party (when I'm back at home).
I start off by collecting ephemera before a trip as soon as I know where I'm going...
I filled up this plastic box with all kinds of good stuff -- vintage postcards, maps, language books, stamps....

Let the playing begin!

I hunt and gather stuff on my own but I also have good friends who give me things too. JU found a stash of old currency for me to play with. They are on the euro now...

$1 at the library book sale -- a great book of etchings -- including several of places where I'll be off too....

Vintage postcards from eBay and a cool stamp.

I found a few dictionaries and language books at the book sale to cut up and glue in...

Travel journal taking shape....arranging things on the inside front cover....

I covered both my big journal and a mini in a vintage map....this little one gets tucked into my bag for notes on the go and the big journal stays in the hotel rooms.

Found at the paper ephemera sale I went to in September...$1 also. This is definitely going into the travel journal.

Vintage postcards and stamps.

What cool writing! I am sure not going to be able to read any of that tho....

And I was very, very good and I prepped all the pages with watercolor wash. That took quite a bit of time but it will be nice not to face all white paper.

On the road I will write in it, paste as much stuff in there as possible, leave room to add some photos when I get home and I plan on hinging some pages into the journal because I just know I'm going to run out of room.
My travel journal and photos are always my most favorite souvenirs from every trip. I am thinking of various little arty projects on the go -- like bring a large size coin envelope booklet and collaging the pages and filling the sleeves with ephemera right while I'm away....and how about writing a vintage(or new) postcard every day and then punching holes and putting them on a ring when I get home?
What do you think?
When I travel I am out and on the go a lot but I love working on my journal with a coffee in the morning to start the day or maybe a bit in the evening before dinner. 
And, since dinner starts at 10PM in one of the spots I am going to I think I will have some time to create before going out.

Now where am I going?