Holiday Gift Guide 2021: The Best Journals And Notebooks For Travelers

A blank notebook is the perfect companion for any adventure. Keeping a journal empowers a traveler to capture how the sights, sounds, tastes, and other sensory experiences of their journeys made them feel at the time. It also is a good place to preserve mementos like stickers, airline tickets, and important receipts. A well-chosen blank book is a thoughtful gift for any frequent traveler, so consider which one of these journals would be the best fit for the globetrotter you love.

With its colorful, stunning cover image by artist Aimee Stewart, this foiled journal depicts a wonderland of books on its cover. It pays homage to the fantasy worlds that books provide if we only dare to open one and let our imagination soar. It looks and feels luxurious, but it’s also sturdy and practical. With lined, blank pages, two ribbon book markers, and magnetic closure, the blank journal is well-designed. It also includes a pocket at the back for things that travelers collect along the way like airline tickets or menus. Shop Now: Flame Tree Publishing, $12.79

Levenger got many requests for vegan leather products, and they outdid themselves with the reveal of their LevTex leather alternative cover of this fold-over journal. The sturdy cover holds up to the wear and tear of frequent travels. It has conveniences such as pockets for index cards and a pen loop. The journal has 60 annotation ruled sheets of archive-quality paper, and it takes refills. It comes in a gift box which makes it easy to wrap and present to the traveler in your life. Shop Now: Levenger, $69.50

Mark Twain once famously wrote about how travel destroys prejudice and bigotry. It also is a great path to self-discovery, and this charming Know Yourself Better Journal is a great companion on one’s travels to help inspire further introspection. It’s also a great journal for those who preferred guidance when keeping a journal instead of looking at a blank page. Author Gretchen Rubin shares questions and insights that are inspired by her other work in the journal, too. Shop Now: The Happiness Project, $24.99

This pack of two high-quality lined journals were designed to be easily used by frequent travelers and those who are always on the go. The 6” x 8” blank notebooks are portable in size, and their strong covers hold up well even when one just tosses them in a suitcase or purse. Each journal has a hardcover and 96 sheets of lined, acid-free paper. Each journal also has a ribbon bookmark for easy, quick writing right where you left off. Shop Now: Arteza, $13.99 at the time of publication

Beautiful designs on the covers and spines of these journals make this gift set really stand out. Each cover features a different travel-themed work of art by Wendy Gold, and the journal spines showcase inspirational words like discover, imagine, and explore. The 96-page notebooks are small which makes them an especially good choice for travel. Shop Now: Wendy Gold Studios, $13.99

With all the beautiful sights and wonderful tastes that frequent travelers get to experience, the adventurer in your life is probably thankful for many things! We can all be more grateful, though! This gratitude journal from Papier allows you to customize it with one’s own travel photos on the front cover. The guided journal is undated so the giftee can start it any time, and it offers daily prompts to help the reader savor the good things in life and benefit from the many benefits of a regular practice of gratitude. Shop Now: Papier, $26.39 at time of publication

With all the planning and organization that goes into a great vacation, frequent travelers need a great planner. It should be sturdy enough to take on their adventures with plenty of room to write down the things they experience along the way. This planner from Bright Beta Co. fits all those requirements. It has space for weekly and daily planning in addition to journal prompts throughout the book. It also has pages for journaling and flexible dot grid pages for the giftee to use however they’d like. Shop Now: Bright Beta Co., $40

Faber-Castell’s mint green notebook is a small and sturdy choice for travel. It’s only 4.1 inches wide and 5.8 inches high, so it can easily fit into even a small purse, and it’s easy to whip out for notes during any type of travel. The journal has 194 pages of squared paper. It includes a pen holder so that the giftee can keep a pen close at hand for journaling, and it has a bookmark that make it easy to get to where the giftee left off when they last wrote in the notebook. Shop Now: Faber-Castell, $15

Here’s a journal that was created to help empower people to live a better life. The three-month guided notebook is undated, so a traveler can start it any time. They may even choose to start the journal to commemorate a new vacation. It has convenient to-do lists that can help travelers accomplish tasks before a planned trip, and it also has guided prompts throughout to inspire reflection. It has extra pages for notes and journaling, too. Shop Now: Harlow & Grey, $33