Journaling about your hike whether on or after a can be a really enjoyable process. The process of spending some time committing thoughts to paper, whether that’s through artwork or writing or both has long been associated with increased mental wellbeing. Pair this with getting out in nature and being active then you are onto a winning self-care routine and wonderful way to save memories.
The UK in particular is full of excellent hikes for all levels making it perfect to start a hiking journal or to create one just for your UK adventures. The unique landscape and culture of the UK will offer you so much inspiration once your out and about.
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Prompts For A UK Hiking Journal
Sometimes you simply need a helping hand to get the creative juices flowing, especially if you have a completely blank journal in front of you. The good news is that being outside is the best inspiration and if you let your mind wander freely something will come to mind. Being mindful on your walk will also help this. Help you notice senseations, sounds, feelings and maybe the fleeting glimpses of little birds. Anything is worthy in your journal. And if you haven’t even got anything to write on yet skip ahead to starting one from scratch below!
1. Weather
There is nothing more British than complaining about the weather so this is a perfect way to start a UK hiking journal. The UK weather is rarely the same across the whole day making it a much bigger prompt that a small weather icon or word. Perhaps the day started off fresh and bright but it clouded over by noon and the wind picked up. Even different sections may surprise you, the warmth of a little sun trap which is worth noting down for a future picnic location or areas that were a horrible wind tunnel.
There are more subtle moments to capture too, such as the way the clouds dance on the hills, the morning mist lifting from the valley or the feeling of the first rays of sunshine warm up your back. Moments like this cannot always be captured by the gallery of photos on your phone and are worth reliving whether thats in the creating of your journal entry aat the end of the day or reading it back in a few years time.
2. Adorable Villages, Cafes And Pubs
Chocolate box cottages are common in rural areas of the UK and these are definitely worthy of a mention in your journal. Pull up a chair, grab a coffee and get writing or sketching the beautiful cottages. You can also rate the food and drink you have at each location knowing you are supporting local businesses too.
You can easily spend an afternoon exploring cobbled streets, sitting in the sunshine overlooking the river and relaxing after your morning hike. Hikes like this are so common that there are several books for this type of walking such as National Trusts 100 Great Pub Walks (Amazon) which are full of route inspiration.
However you record this moment make sure to make a reference to the location and name of the place and cafe. If you are anything look me there are some cafes I consider extra special and have made specific detours on my route just to return to them.
3. Note Other Hiking Routes
There are few places in England that you have the right to roam on the land and therefore there are thousands of marked trails across the country. This means that you can often go for a walk and notice loads of offshoots of other public footpaths and some of them are even established trails.
You may not be able to explore all of them on the chosen route of the day but making of note of them will help you plan future routes, especially where one looks super interesting or beautiful in that direction. A feel for a place is not something you can fully appreciate from the map alone.
4. Conversations Had On The Trail
UK ramblers are a friendly bunch. Once you are past the tourist viewpoints then everyone obeys the hikers etiquette of a friendly smile or hello. Sometimes full conversations will blossom from discussing how to traverse a particular patch of bog. These moments may be fleeting but whether you note how many people you have passed or highlight key moments it is sometime definitely worth remembering in one way shape or form. Some of these moments make you day. For example, I was near the top of high peak in the Lake District and met two fellow hikers in awful weather. The rain was blowing horizontal and when we saw each other we both just burst out laughing at the lunacy that we both decided to hike in this weather. Moments like that are never captured in a photograph.
5. Thoughts and Daydreams
Many hikes in the UK are on nice easy footpaths so other than avoiding the odd tree root you can really let your mind wonder (although still be careful). This is the perfect time to let yourself be with your thoughts. They may be positive, they may be painful healing but many times removing distractions and letting yourself mind release, you will come up with great realisations and ideas. Always worth capturing great ideas before they get lost as you return to the car.
Fantasise about your dreams and enjoy a moment of pure joy whilst you live out a daydream freely in the peaceful countryside. Writing about your dreams even daydreams can lead to new realisations and desires. Some psychologists are now saying you should always allow yourself to dream big as it breaks your brains naturally wants to get in the way, thinking its keeping you safe. Don’t shut it down yet for realism. Perhaps you can work backwards and who knows recording this dream could lead to a new life for yourself.
6. Use Your Senses
Let your inner child out and finally let yourself fully focus on your senses. Write about how the trees felt rough to the touch or how the wind felt against your skin. The way the sun made your soul sing with its warmth on your back. Notice the smells, the pine of the forest, the woody musk or perhaps your fortunate to time your hike with the wild garlic blooms on the woodland floor.
Sight is a simply one and hopefully you will be met with magnificent views but pay particular attention to the small details. They way the clouds cast shadows over the hills or the smallest flowers in the hedgerow. If you are in the woodland, look up. Notice how the crowns of the trees dont touch but sway in the breeze.
Listen for the rustle of the leaves or a little critter in the bush. The birds chirping away and the repetitive plod of your own footsteps. If you know what you are looking for then taste the bounties of the countryside. In many cases blackberries in Autumn hedgerows are easy to identify but if you’re not confident then do not eat anything!
Adding these details to your hiking journal can add a whole new dimension to the journal instead of it becoming a route plan. Unless thats what you want it to be!
7. Use It To Plan And Record Expectations
Dates, times and routes are all things that be added to your journal. Whether you print out maps or images or take up pen and paper, journals can be really useful in collecting a range of information, even the car parking fees. Maybe you expect the hike to be beautiful or a peaceful river walk. Perhaps you don’t think it will be the best one or a bit challenging. Recorded expectations can help you mentally prepare for the challenge.
8. Use It To Collect Rubbing Or As A Scrapbook
Collecting rubbings is not something for children anymore. Bring along a sharp pencil as you want a long edge to create the definition or crayon if you rather than feel out the textures on your paper. That could be the bark of a tree, the rough stone on a trig point. I have done it before with foreign currency but anything you find could also bring your walk to life in your journal.
9. Reflect On The Hike
Once your back off the hills, maybe grabbed yourself a coffee its time to reflect on the hike. You could document it factually but especially if you noted down your expectations it would be an interesting way to see how they compared. Maybe the walk surprised you and was better than expected views or perhaps it was harder than you realised or you weren’t feeling it. Every feeling is valid, positive and negative and its a very good way to capture your growth.
10. Get Creative- Draw What You See.
Draw the first thing you see at a set time, at a lunch spot or the best wooden bench you have found. Draw the first thing that draws your eye. Sheep in the field, rainy cloud in the distance. The blade of grass at your feet or even your flask in your hand. Sometimes we get so hung up on drawing the best image that we don’t actually draw or paint at all. Even some abstract squiggles will get the creative juices flowing and you can perfect later.
Using Pre-made Hiking Journals
Sometimes you simply need some structure and pre-made journals are prefect for that such as this hiking journal (Amazon) available as soft and hard cover. Simply fill out the boxes and answer the questions. They often do have some free space for more fluid writing too or simply bring along some additional paper for when the mood strikes. There are plenty to choose from and many offer some sample pages to have a look but they are often more of a trail logbook which might not suit everyone.
Perhaps you already journal and just want a different avenue but if you need some more inspiration of how to start including the way I journal then carry on reading below!
How To Start A Hiking Journal
Firstly you need to decide what style you are going to go for. What do you feel you want to create? Are you going to be just writing so a lined notebook would be perfect? Or you more artistically inclined and need a watercolour sketchbook.
Commonly the journaling all rounder is the dotted journal and this is the style I use for mine. The dots give you just enough support to write in a straight line but also isn’t so instructive that it obstructs any drawing and is helpful to create different sections and boxes.
You also do need to find a journal that you enjoy creating in. I have tried a few other the years and I have found it is worth investing in quality, and that for me is nice thick paper.
So my favourite journal is the Yop and Tom dot grid journal and I have brought several of these over the years. It’s a hard back which is useful when you do not have a flat surface to write on. The vegan leather is smooth to the touch and it lies flat is which very useful trying to maximise both pages and create double page spreads. The paper is lovely and thick at 160gsm which is useful for other media’s, ensuring that they do not bleed through. It also comes with handy paged numbers, and dot guide (this is a lifesaver if you like creating boxes) and back envelope which I found useful for keeping postcards and tickets in whilst travelling.
As much as I loved the notebook and have loyally used that notebook for several years I have had to adapt my journalling as the main downside of a beautifully made notebook is that it is heavy and bulky. So right now I am currently using a A5 Filofax (Amazon) with the dotted page refills (Amazon). So why have I given up my beloved notebook jounral?
My main reason for the switch is for size and weight as I travel and hike with my journal. Filofax in of itself is bulky, more so than the notebook, however, you can take the pages out of the Filofax. I then place these pages (usually I have created the design that I write in before I travel) and place them and a few spares into a fold over cover A5 clipboard (Amazon) to protect the pages. This then slides nicely down the back of my bag.
It is also nice that I can take pages I want to keep and keep them in the Filofax rather than copying them across when I fill the notebook, but the compromise is that although the Filofax feels lovely, the Filofax paper is thin and you need to bring several to write on to make it feel nice and anything other than biro will bleed through. It also helps if you want to rearrange pages such as hikes in different areas such as separate taps for England, Wales and Scotland. You could trial using alternative paper and a hole-punch, but I have yet to try this.
When you first start journalling try not to get bogged down with having the prettiest pages or best equipment. A journal is unique and personal to you and it will inevitably evolve with you.
You can also count more unconventional methods of keeping a journal such as use of Strava. It records all the key information and route so simply add some photos and some personal antidotes from your time and you have a digital journal. Keep it set to private and no one else needs to know about it unless you choose to share it!
But there are many digital journals now, whether you choose to create your own layout in a word document or simply keep notes or voice notes on your phone there is always a way to keep one. Some digital notebooks such as the Kindle Scribe (Amazon) allow you to handwrite on a digital screen. Small and compact with more features than a regular notebook too with many downloadable templates to suit your needs and style. You can even have several types on the go at the same time.
Should You Take Your Hiking Journal On Your Hike?
This completely depends on your personal preference and style. If it is a day hike I usually don’t take my journal and will fill it in once I’m back at where I am staying and yes that has included a tent before.
If you want to create artwork and have moments writing in nature then you can absolutely take what you need with you. All you need is some paper and pen. Whether this is a journal notebook or even a scrap of paper (which is how I started many years ago when I first dappled into travel journalling).
You will find that taking your journal with you will challenge your creative process especially if you are creating artwork. Your limited palette will force you to focus on the medium at hand and that could simply be 1 pencil.
If you want to add colour, children’s pencils are a good bet. They may not be a nice as artist ones but the small ones can easily fit into a small tin along with a small rubber and sharpener. Or even consider getting a travel kit and slide a few favourites into there.
For those painters among you, you can get travel sets such as Winsor and Newtons pocket watercolour set (Amazon) or collect a few individual wells of your preferred colours and pop them in a tin and get a watercolour brush pen (Amazon) where you can refill the tube with water, saving you on carrying a separately water bottle to get started immediately when the creative juices flow although your regular brushes will still be small enough to pack in a travel case to protect them.
For all paper based journals, ensure you have a waterproof bag to put them in such as dry bag, unless you have a waterproof notebook. These are good for work if you need to record things in the rain but are not very nice or write with and you will need pencil to keep writing in the rain. Otherwise hard backs are good for keeping the pages protected and straight, but bear in mind where you pack it so it doesn’t get bashed by your water bottle for example.
If you choose to keep a digital option then you will have some access on your phone (although hiking is for getting away from the distractions on your phone!) then you will not be taking anything extra. For those who choose to take a digital notebook on a difference device ensure you have a good case to stop any damage and a dry bag.
Why Should You Keep A Hiking Journal?
I am a big advocate for journalling. The benefits of journaling are well documented now with claims of reducing anxiety, clearing the mind and fostering a greater sense of awareness and well being.
When applied to hiking not only do you get the benefits of being physical active and in nature you compound these by reliving and processing it in a journal. When we take photographs, especially to post on social media it is nearly always paints a perfect picture when reality is that you may be cold, wet and exhausted!
In a journal whether it’s an amazing hike or type 2 fun you can freely express how you felt. It’s also a wonderful way to highlight what stood out for you where a photography may fall short. This could be the feeling of the first rays of sunshine or the relief of seeing the car at the end!
Another aspect of hiking journalling specifically if you are solo hiking is that people underestimate how hard it can sometimes be to be alone with your thoughts. Whether your mind comes up with a great idea or if you need to work through some hard feelings all of this is really valuable and writing or drawing about how you feel can be hugely beneficial to capture ideas or the process of healing.
If nothing else it creates a beautifully personal collection of raw adventures which are worth revisiting to bring a smile back to your face. In my journal (as I choose to do it daily) I created a little calendar at the back where I record the highlights of the month. This will include hikes but also for myself any worthwhile experience such as meeting friends or events. It gives me the dates to look back and find the highlights or to find the hike on my Strava feed again!
For those who want to improve there hiking whether this is through challenges such as greater distance or ticking off Munro mountains it is a great way to collect these memories and ensure you keep progressing on any targets you wish to make. It also may benefit you down the line should you wish to gain courses such as mountain leader which require you to collect certain data as proof of competency of being in the mountains so jounralling can also be a practical response if you want to include technical details and your own response to it.
Conclusion
Creating a hiking journal even in the UK is easier than ever. You can create your own from huge varieties of notebooks and organisers or opt for a tailor made one. Simply remember that it doesn’t have to be Pinterest pretty, it will still be beautiful and meaningful to you. You will adapt and develop your own style of what matters to you over time, highlighting what UK hiking means to you.
