Here's something a little bit different..........

My first true solo "camping trip" was not a canoe trip but a backpacking trip to Isle Royale. When I got off the boat they handed me a one page "survey" and a teeny pencil.

Almost immediately I felt a desire to express myself and did so using the survey. People marvel when they see a weeks worth of journaling in teeny tiny print on both sides of the survey in between the questions they had posed.

From that point on the journaling has become an important part of every trip.......solo or group. The writings have become a treasure to me as they allow me to re-live the trip in infinitely more detail than otherwise. The word cues allow me to retrieve memories that would of otherwise been lost.

I find it fun to do as well. It's like you are writing a story and are waiting for the days events to unfold and then you are able to acquire the flavor of the particular events and put them to paper. If not in a hurry that morning and want that extra cup of coffee out comes the pen. Sometimes it might be in the evening especially if I have a bobber out but always at night in the tent with the headlamp I will be jotting away. Add a few pics and the keepsake is irreplaceable. Every couple of years I will go back through a trip and it gets me excited for the next one.

Try journaling on your next solo [smiley=thumbup.gif].