These travel journal prompts will get your kids thinking about where they are, where they’ve been, and where they’re going!
Maintaining a travel journal is a holistic way to encourage worldschoolers to maintain their writing skills, record their experiences, and reflect on what they’ve learned in a meaningful way.
These travel journal prompts inspire thoughtful experiences abroad.
“What was I expecting, and what surprised me?”
I love, love this idea for a two-part journal entry.
Before you head to any new destination, encourage your worldschooler to journal about what they expect to find. What will the buildings look like? What about the food, music, local clothing?
When you’re trip is nearing its end (or after you’ve been there for a while) ask them to write about how the place in their mind was different from the reality they experienced.
Language barrier stories.
If you’ve been in a country where you don’t speak the language for more than a few days, you’ve likely run into a language barrier “situation.”
Write about an incident when you were misunderstood, or you misunderstood someone else. It might be funny, or frustrating, or both!
Food comparisons.
Getting kids to try new foods while you’re traveling can be challenging.
But the more connected kids are, the more likely they are to be open to new experiences.
Try getting your worldschooler to write about foods they’ve tried. Have them list recipes they want to look up of foods they’ve enjoyed, or describe local ingredients that are new to them.
Encourage them to be honest: “The fish market was super stinky!” or “I’m afraid to try meat when I don’t know what it is” is a totally normal (and understandable) reaction.
Creative Storytelling
If you were to write a story set in this place, what kind of story would it be? A fairytale? An adventure story? Or even a dystopian sci-fi thriller?
Write a short story set in the place where you are. Focus on unique features of the landscape, buildings, ect.
Culture quirks.
What are some unique cultural features of your current location?
Maybe your worldschooler has never been expected to take her shoes off before entering a place of worship. Or that in some cultures, the entire meal is eaten with the hands!
Encourage your child to be observant and write down some cultural differences. What would it be like if she did the same thing in her country? How would people react?
What is it about this place that is not on the Internet?
Sometimes, it seems like the entire world is on the internet.
But some things never make it there.
What’s something about this place that you can’t find on the internet (or, at least, the English-speaking internet?)
Suitcase swap out.
What’s something you packed but didn’t need? If you could swap it out for something you didn’t pack, what would it be? And what does what you wish you brought with you say about what you didn’t know before you came?
For example, if you wish you’d packed lighter clothes or an umbrella, how was the climate different than you expected it to be?
I hope these travel journal prompts for worldschoolers inspire your kids to write more and think more on your journeys. Enjoy!
