You could simply keep a diary of your travels. For speed and economy, take any notebook. Paste the cover of a map of the country and its name and the year or date. Number all the pages in the top right hand corner. Add lines for an index on the inside front cover or head the first two pages index and write down the page numbers in the left margin.
If you are really efficient, or think you will be rushed later, use a Filofax or loose leaf folder and in advance note the days or destination as a heading. for example, I knew I had a trip booked to Halong bay in Vietnam at the end of the week. It was no trouble to go half way through my notebook and head a couple of pages with Halong Bay and the three days, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
You might contrast your expectations with what you actually find. Write down your expectations. Because when you arrive and find you were wrong, you either forget what you thought or are too embarrassed to admit the misconceptions.
Conversation and Dialogue
Local dialect
For example:
Conversation In India
A woman with a baby knocks on the window when we are in a delay at the traffic lights. She appears to be begging. I do not speak her language. I point to the driver.
I do not open the window. So she steps forward and holds her hand out begging for money and addresses the driver.
He shouts at her.
I ask my translator, "What did the driver say?"
The driver had said:
"I work for a living to feed my children. I'am not giving my children's money to you. You go and work to feed your children!"
Singapore flag for notebook.
In Singapore
"Since young I go there. Cannot. ..., la."
Misunderstandings and Miscommunication:
In Corsica I was knocked down by a car and had multiple injuries. I was flown by helicopter to hospital.
In the Corsica hospital I struggled to make myself understood. the woman in the next bed didn't no say a word. I later discovered she could not speak because she had had an asked for a radio. "Un radio." They gave me a radiography, an X-ray.
Phrases used at weddings
Stories told at weddings (eg 'My brother (the groom), threw me out of the window and I broke my leg,"- story from best man which I heard in a best man's wedding speech, which I surreptitiously recorded and actually heard at a wedding!)
Another system is to plan a series of events or types of writing. For example:
Tragedies and dramas.
Road accidents you pass and the comments of the people you are with.
Plane crashes,
Murders,
Local newspaper events.
political conflicts
religious rivalries
funerals
inquests
memorials
wartime museums
cemeteries
Comedy and Happiness
Celebrations
Birthdays
Engagement parties
Weddings
Honeymoon couples
Romantic Restaurants
Sunsets
Dates
Excitement
Fireworks
New Year
Descriptions
Transport
Mountains
Rivers
Seaside
Buildings
Temples
offices
Poor homes
Opulent homes
local architecture
Later, a week later, a year later, years later, your notes will come in handy.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. I have many more posts on destinations and events. Please share links to your favourite posts.
If you are really efficient, or think you will be rushed later, use a Filofax or loose leaf folder and in advance note the days or destination as a heading. for example, I knew I had a trip booked to Halong bay in Vietnam at the end of the week. It was no trouble to go half way through my notebook and head a couple of pages with Halong Bay and the three days, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
Vietnam flag for notebook.
Conversation and Dialogue
Local dialect
For example:
Conversation In India
A woman with a baby knocks on the window when we are in a delay at the traffic lights. She appears to be begging. I do not speak her language. I point to the driver.
I do not open the window. So she steps forward and holds her hand out begging for money and addresses the driver.
He shouts at her.
I ask my translator, "What did the driver say?"
The driver had said:
"I work for a living to feed my children. I'am not giving my children's money to you. You go and work to feed your children!"
In Singapore
"Since young I go there. Cannot. ..., la."
Misunderstandings and Miscommunication:
In Corsica I was knocked down by a car and had multiple injuries. I was flown by helicopter to hospital.
In the Corsica hospital I struggled to make myself understood. the woman in the next bed didn't no say a word. I later discovered she could not speak because she had had an asked for a radio. "Un radio." They gave me a radiography, an X-ray.
Phrases used at weddings
Stories told at weddings (eg 'My brother (the groom), threw me out of the window and I broke my leg,"- story from best man which I heard in a best man's wedding speech, which I surreptitiously recorded and actually heard at a wedding!)
Another system is to plan a series of events or types of writing. For example:
Tragedies and dramas.
Road accidents you pass and the comments of the people you are with.
Plane crashes,
Murders,
Local newspaper events.
political conflicts
religious rivalries
funerals
inquests
memorials
wartime museums
cemeteries
Comedy and Happiness
Celebrations
Birthdays
Engagement parties
Weddings
Honeymoon couples
Romantic Restaurants
Sunsets
Dates
Excitement
Fireworks
New Year
Descriptions
Transport
Mountains
Rivers
Seaside
Buildings
Temples
offices
Poor homes
Opulent homes
local architecture
Later, a week later, a year later, years later, your notes will come in handy.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. I have many more posts on destinations and events. Please share links to your favourite posts.
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