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Sharing and Caring, Selfie Journaling

Travel journaling is like one long, continuous selfie.  One could argue that journaling is even more self-absorbed than selfies.  Many of us don’t even share what we write.  Even though sharing is caring.

Sharing is also annoying.

Journaling is different from just snapping a stream of photos.  It is observation, opinion and more deeply personal than a mere photograph.

A journal is both introspective and observational.  I tend to look out when I travel.  I often already know what I think so my journal notes are snarky comments, the sketch of the bachelorette party riding the bus, the notes on the bride to be sporting a  tiara in the shape of a tiny penis (for her sake, I hoped it was not to scale).  Notes on the  young women photographing her friend who was dressed in a stunning red gown so to dramatically contrast against the  blinding white marble of the Taj Mahal.  UNESCO as a backdrop.   I couldn’t take photos of these moments, but I could record them.

The journal is the ultimate selfish selfie, in it, you can be narcissistic, opinionated, nasty, wondrous, and on occasion, generous.  Smaller than the additional luggage needed for costume changes, faster than full makeup very morning of a trip in case you need a photo of you and your breakfast, the journal is there, quick and unobtrusive.

I often scribble what annoys me the most, saving me from confrontations but also recording emotions and situations for later use.

Like today.

CatharineBramkamp

Catharine Bramkamp is a successful writing coach and author. She has published over 300 newspaper and magazine articles in publications like Modern Maturity (AARP), SF Chronicle and Santa Rosa Magazine. She was a contributor to two Chicken Soup Books and has published anthologies of her work, non-fiction works and novels. Her work has also appeared in a number of poetry and fiction anthologies. She has experimented with the self-publishing world since 2001. She has published and self-published seven books through companies like Author House, author assist companies like 3L Publishing and through traditional publishers like Write Life. Her poetry collection, Ammonia Sunrise, will be released in August 2011 by Finishing Line Press and her mystery novel, In Good Faith will be released by Write Life in 2011. Catharine holds a BA in English from UCSB and a MA in English from Sonoma State University. She is a 25 year member of California Writer’s Club. She is an adjunct professor for the University of Phoenix. She works with authors of both fiction and non-fiction to make their dream of producing a book come true. For more information on that, visit her at www.YourBookStartsHere.com Catharine has lived in Sonoma County for 25 years and considers wine a food group. She is married to an adorable and very patient man who complains he’s never featured in any of her books. Her grown children who are featured in a few of her books have fled the county.

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