Why are all of your traveling friends talking about their new travel journal app?
Try to picture this situation. You just came back from an amazing experience working remotely on a beach, or from the best holidays of your life. You took tons of pictures, notes, and small souvenirs to show your journey to family and friends. But then, recreating what you lived suddenly becomes a tricky task. And you feel your family and friends won’t ever be part of your adventures.
If you ever felt you were missing a way to bring your dearest ones with you or share your journey, an online diary might be what you’re looking for. Here are some travel journey apps to use if you want to share and remember your adventures wherever you are:
A Few Things to Consider Before Choosing Your Travel Diary App
When it comes to journaling, ‘how to do it’ is very personal. While for some people, it’s more about collecting pictures and memories, for others, it’s about writing down feelings and impressions. If for you is a private moment, for your best friend is a way to share adventures with family and friends in real-time.
So, when you choose the best travel journal app for you, don’t look just at functionalities. Think about why it is vital for you to record your journey, and what you will do with it in the future. For example, trying your first van experience, you’ll detail every step you take. While if you’ve been traveling for some time, you’ll only include the most important things. When browsing among the best travel journal apps, these are a few things to consider:
- Cost: Most travel journal apps have a free basic subscription. If you work with photography or video making, you might consider premium options to store more material or customize your edits. Some travel diary apps have specific options for image and video integration. On the other hand, the basic subscription is great for holidays and private diaries. Just remember that some functionalities might require a regular fee.
- Ease of use: In the same vein, if you are on holiday, you might prefer a less customizable app, easier to learn and set. Most travel diary apps allow you to create feeds for your family and friends – maybe downloading the same app for free.
- Reliability: No one wants to lose data and pictures because a cheap app crashes. So, if you have to do it, do it well!
5 Best Travel Journal App to Document Your Journey Online
- Day One Journal
- Tripcast
- Bonjournal
- Penzu
- Esplorio
Day One Journal
Source: Day One Journal Press Kit
Day One Journal is for those who don’t like to endlessly fill papers with feelings and thoughts. This travel journal app has a Twitter-like interface to capture moments of your journey. Connecting its functionalities on your phone or laptop, you can collect these memories with pictures, locations, and staps of your traveling.
For: iOS and Android
Fee: Free basic account or Premium account ($34.99/year)Pros Cons Encourage journaling even with quick thoughts and impressions;
Voice commands for those who don’t like typing or are busy with their hands.Some functionalities can be intrusive;
Sharing options are tricky, making the app more suitable for private digital journaling.
Perfect for: This journaling app is ideal for those who struggle with long writing or don’t like diaries. You can save your thoughts with audio messages or short sentences, like on Twitter. Finally, the app is meant for personal journaling, and it’s perfect for those who don’t like to share personal impressions.
Tripcast
Image source: Tripcast
With Tripcast, you can share your online travel journal on a private feed for
friends and family. While you travel, the app uploads your pictures on a map, and your home people can comment on your adventures. And if you are traveling with a friend, you can create mutual albums to share with others.
For: iOS and Android
Cost: FreePros Cons Option to create a diary with fellow travelers;Functional and user-friendly feed. Tricky to share photos with friends without the app;Once again, it’s a trip journal app for private journaling.
Perfect for: Tripcast is ideal for backpackers. First, you can connect pictures with your location. Second, you can create a joint album with fellow travelers. If you are looking for a fun way to make connections while traveling, this journaling app is great to connect with others and create albums with your memories.
Are you a backpacker? Check out these ideas on what to pack for your next trip!
Bonjournal
Image source: Bonjournal
Bonjournal is the best travel journal app to share pictures without Wi-fi. You can select and set your photos offline, creating private posts and tags on social media. As for Tripcast, you can share your stories only with app users. But you can print your online traveling diary even for those without a smartphone!
For: iOS
Cost: FreePros Cons Offline usageOption to share a printed version with friends and family Minimalist design Initial blank page without many guidance
Perfect for: This journaling app is one of the best solutions for those who are traveling to a different continent or move across cities. Often, Wi-fi in hostels or hotels is weak, and it’s expensive to use personal data. So, Bonjournal is ideal to work without Wi-fi, and you can print your album when you are back home!
Penzu
Image source: Perzu
With Penzu, you can organize posts into categories as a private diary. And, you can connect posts with locations. The trip journal app allows sharing your posts via mail or publishing with a link for others.
For: iOS and Android
Cost: From free to $49.99/year (Penzu PRO)Pros Cons Offline usagePost categorizationCustomizable (Premium version allows handwritten fonts) It’s a trip journal app for private journaling, sharing options are tricky
Perfect for: Penzu is probably the best one for writing lovers. You can write endless posts on a digital notebook, and organize your thoughts based on location, dates, or traveling topics. If you work as a writer, and sometimes you need a moment to write down thoughts for yourself, this journaling app is the best to write a digital diary. Penzu also works offline. Unlike the others, you can customize functions and layout based on your taste – so, it’s also ideal for those who like playing with interfaces and pictures!
Esplorio
Image source: Esplorio users’ journeys
Esplorio is on of the best travel journal apps to share your moments with family and friends. If you want an easy but functional app, Esplorio allows you to map out routes, automatically checking the visited places using pictures to create a journal. The design doesn’t impact your battery, and you share your content if you want to change settings.
For: iOS
Cost: FreePros Cons Offline usageThe app doesn’t impact your battery, even with GPS Less customizable Social media integration
Perfect for: Explorio is one of the best apps to go on holiday. Easy to use, it has several automated features to help you create an interactive album as you travel. This journaling app is a great solution to organize your trip memories as you go, without effort – while you enjoy new places and experiences.
Wrapping Up
App journaling might not be the best solution for everyone. However, it’s an easy and creative way to share moments with your home people or create a digital album of your favorite trip. As we said, the best travel journey app depends on what you want to remember your trip. Whenever you choose, it’s time to pack and share your adventures!
