Plan With Me: Travel Bullet Journal Setup

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Hello Planning Mashers!

Summer always feels like a time for an adventure, and what can be more adventurous than traveling.

So it’s a perfect time to explore the world and record everything in a travel journal. Join me as I set up a travel Bullet Journal for my next big adventure.

A big adventure awaits, and of course, I want to be prepared. This for me means creating journal pages to keep it all organized.

Moreover, I want to remember all the moments from the upcoming big trip. 

Altogether this means a travel journal, and this time I know how to set up one properly! Here are all the pages I used, and I’m sure you’ll find those useful for your own travel journal.

There is a plan with me video at the bottom of this post, so feel free to scroll down and give it a look.

Moreover, I have some travel-related printables in the Resources Vault, so head straight there and find them in the “Other Printables” category.

If you’re not a part of Planning Mashers yet, make sure you sign up in the form at the end of the post and get access to a fantastic community and TONS of freebies for your BuJo.

This post may contain affiliate links. They will be of no extra expense for you, but I receive a small credit. Please see my Disclosure for more details. Thank you for supporting Masha Plans!

Journal

As you probably know from my Guide To Travel Journal, I prefer to have a separate journal for my travels, so the same goes for this one.

For this setup, I’m using a Filofax journal I received as a gift from FLB Group, and I’m really happy I chose it.

The pages are large enough, but the journal is pretty light. Plus it’s so convenient that you can take the pages out! You’ll see below I really made use of it.

The journal comes with lined paper, but they send me dot grid paper and colored dot grid paper (I’m still not sure how to use those beauties). So it’s perfect for a travel journal – any time I feel like journaling I can just switch to lined paper.

The paper quality is pretty good, I did a pen test, and there was no bleeding and it’s only Pentel Touch that was a little bit of ghosting (you can see it better in the Plan With Me video at the end of the post). 

I think this might be a good journal to try for also any beginners since the paper is pretty good, and the structure will allow you to play around and redo pages all you want!

If you’re looking for more recommendations for journals, check my post 13 Best Bullet Journal Notebooks.

But I’m diverging; let’s dive in and start our setup!

Travel Pages

The first thing I did was create a list of pages I needed. I like doing it; that’s how I make sure I didn’t miss anything.

Of course, it’s not that important for a journal like Filofax, because you can always go back and insert the missing pages.

But generally, it’s a pretty useful practice so I recommend giving it a try. Yes, I’m talking about planning our your planning pages…..

Cover Page

For the cover page, I started with something very simple, just to note the place and dates when we are going. But actually half through I remembered that I wanted to make it a quote page.

Thankfully, in the Filofax journal, it’s not a problem, so I just created a second cover page I ended up loving!

For the quote, I chose, “It’s Time For A New Adventure”. This resonates with me so much, especially this time.

The thing is, that this isn’t as much of a trip as it is a move. After 8 years in China, I’m leaving for good and moving to Bolivia.

This really is a fantastic adventure, and it’s both scary and exciting. 

I decided to take it easy, and on the way, I’ll make several stops (in Mexico and Peru) just to chill and enjoy the change.

Countdown

The next page is a countdown until the X-day. I always have a page like that – it helps to keep the excitement and bring joy every day!

This time it also has another purpose. I have soooooooooooo many things I have to do before I leave that having a countdown page is helpful for keeping track of the time. Honestly, it flies so fast!

Travel Expenses

After posting about 13 Creative Ways To Use Washi Tape In Your Bullet Journal I decided to try using more washi tape in my setups, and one of the ways I did it is the hollowed-out lettering of this header.

This page is here to keep me accountable for my spending. I love being in control, and I also know I can go pretty crazy with shopping, so this will be useful.

Flight and Hotel Info

It’s always helpful to have your flight information handy, especially if it’s so many flights! This works great in the Filofax journal because, if needed, I can just take out this page and use it for a reference.

I decided to go pretty simple and record all this information in the form of a boarding pass. When you check my Plan With Me video at the end of the post you’ll see this was super simple to draw, and I personally really love how it came out.

I did have some space at the bottom, so I decided to add our hotel info there. I’ll just stay in one hotel in Mexico and no hotel in Peru, so it was just the perfect amount of space for that.

To Do and To See

This trip isn’t really about sightseeing. We decided to make this detour on our way to Bolivia to take a break.

Preparing for a move to a new country after so many years in China is a bit stressful and draining, so the little Mexico, and Peru detour is more about just taking a break and enjoying myself.

Personally, I never took a flight so long, and I have no idea how I’ll be feeling after that and with all the time difference. So I decided I won’t be doing a detailed itinerary here and will concentrate on doing what I feel like in the moment.

Therefore I created this page with a list of all the things we might want to do and see (and EAT! I’m so excited about the food!). This is our reference sheet, so once we’re up and ready we can just check it out and decide what we’d like to do next.

I know I know, I misspelled every Spanish word I could! I’m still in the process of learning, so go gentle on me, pretty please.

If you guys have any recommendations, I’d always appreciate those – let me know in the comments! We’re spending a few days in Mexico City and a day in Lima

Packing List

Please, bear in mind that this packing list isn’t just about a few days, this is our moving countries packing list, so it’s huge!

I decided to divide it into two parts. On one side, I’ll write everything to put in carry-on and all the documents (oh man we need sooo many documents!). 

You probably noticed that on this side, I added little drawings inside the luggage, symbolizing what I’ll put there. Well, at least that is what I’m thinking of putting there.

Yes, my carry-on will be all my BuJo supplies. They are very precious to me, and as far as I know, most of them can be taken on a plane, so I’m keeping them close to me! At least, that’s the plan.

On the other side, there will be just a usual list of all the things divided byy category of the item.

I realize I might need more space once I was done. But it’s ok; with this notebook, I can just add a page right next to it if I need to. So convenient!

To Do Before Leaving

This is something I always have in my travel journals. There are always things to prepare for the trip, things you want to finish before leaving on vacation.

Of course, this time, we have a much more extensive list than usual. That’s why I decided to leave as much space as possible for writing. Therefore as a little decoration, I only used washi tape.

Daily Logs

As I mentioned in my travel journal post, it’s important to prepare everything possible in advance, including your daily logs.

When traveling, it’s pretty likely you’ll be too much into the moment to spend time on any setups. It’d be so much easier if all you needed is a black pen to write a few sentences with your impressions.

My daily logs are pretty simple. On one side, I gather all the information needed for the day – what’s our plan, where can we eat, what are our expenses, and so on. 

The first day is a bit different; it has space for useful information and things to do upon arrival.

That’s because it’s the first day, I’ll arrive in the afternoon, and really all I need to do that day is settle down.

The other side of the daily log is for my daily notes – my impressions, emotions, most exciting moment and so on.

Since it’s a whole page, there will be enough space there to add any pictures as well.

If you don’t feel like setting up your own daily pages, I have a free printable for you in the Resources Vault. Make sure to give it a look.

If you don’t have your access yet, join Planning Masher in the signup form at the bottom of the post.

This is pretty much it for my travel journal setup this time. There are, of course, many other pages you could use for yours, so make sure to check them in my post on Travel Journal Page Ideas To Plan A Perfect Vacation.

Plan With Me Video

Finally, time to share my travel journal setup. I tried to use as few supplies as possible and make it pretty simplistic since that’s usually the look I’m going for in my travel journals.

All setup took me maybe an hour and a half, and I know it will save me so much time preparing for the trip!

Have you ever had a travel journal? Let us know in the comments below!

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