To be honest, it was the first thing I did as soon as I decided on taking the trip to Latin America.

I didn’t book a flight yet, I just knew I wanted to start in Buenos Aires, leave in October and quit my current job for good.

For me this was a way to mentally prepare for the change and also see, if I would want to take the step to actually travel for such a long time to a continent far away from my friends, family and my comfort zone.

During the time I was in a quite dark place, I couldn’t work out anymore, because of a diagnosis and working out was always the thing that kept my mind sane. So I needed to shift the focus.

But apart from that the Journal helped me to figure out the essentials like:

• How long do I want to travel for (just an estimate)
• What do I need to think of in advance
• What do I need to take with me on my journey
• What kind of things do I want to remember in a couple years 

For me, keeping a Journal is something that helps to organise your emotions, thoughts and also important appointments or information. It is something that is only for you, to share things you might only want to share with yourself. You can dive into the mind of your past me in a few years and get an idea of who you used to be, what was important to you at the time and what kind of challenges you might have had to overcome.