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It was nightmarish this past weekend for travelers venturing into the New York City airports. A high-octane storm blanketed areas of the Northeast during the peak of the holiday shopping and travel season. More than 800 flights at the three major New York City Airports were canceled.
Yikes! Scenarios like this past weekend can be hellish for travelers. Stranded for hours and sometimes days, makes packing for the unknown challenging. This is especially true given the limitations on what can be carried onto airplanes and checked at baggage counters.
What do travelers need? Matt Gross, author of the New York Times' Frugal Traveler, believes travelers need to lighten up:
Waste is the antithesis of frugality, and unnecessary belongings can make travel more difficult than it already is.
A gift that takes up very little space, would be a breeze to get through the scrutiny of airport security, and something east to carry would fit the gift-giving bill.
I asked a master adventure traveler, and the author of Black Smoke, Margaret De Wys, what she always takes with her when she travels. Her response was, "A journal to write in." She says:
Using a journal when traveling sharpens writing skills, keeps track of ideas and places traveled. Journaling provides an emotional release, and it helps one relax during stressful travel situations.
Whether creating a journal for the culmination of an eco-globetrotting trip to save the world, or a place to store the utterances and frustrations of a day spent in an airport in a snowstorm, giving a handmade journal is a thoughtful personalized gift.
6 DIY Green Travel Journal ideas:
Decorate the covers of DIY journals with eco-friendly found artifacts such as: grasses, bamboo, coins, shells, seeds, handmade paper, maps, scraps of fabric and travel finds.
1. Make a moleskin-type journal using recycled paper and faux-leather or an eco-friendly fabric.
2. DIY Photo Journal tutorial. Can be made using paper made from sugarcane fiber and reclaimed paper, with inner pockets for storing loose papers, a spine that opens flat for drawing and writing across pages.
3. A store bought journal with a handmade label cover.
4. How to publish your travel journal.
5. Sew together a basic journal.
6. How to hand sew a linen journal.
Want to take a journal on an eco-vacation? Read on:
Green Gift Guide: For the DIYer
5 Eco-Travel Newsletters
How To Travel Green For The Holidays
Planes, Trains, Automobiles (and Buses): Which is the Greenest Way to Travel Long Distance in the US?
