Nature Journal Notes

Columbus day is right around the corner and for many of us this means packing up the car and taking a short trip somewhere to enjoy the long weekend. With this change of scenery brings an opportunity to make new observations in our nature journals. Sometimes, a new perspective is exactly what we need to revitalize how we look at our surroundings.

Not going anywhere this Columbus Day? Don't despair, use the below prompts as an excuse to find somewhere local that you haven't explored yet! This can be as simple as turning down a new street on a walk, or perusing google maps for a conveniently located green space. Regardless of where you end up, hopefully you'll take away some tips and tricks from this post that you can use in your next journal entry!

As always, the prompts below are inspired by Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E. Roth's Keeping a Nature Journal or Clare Walker Leslie's The Nature Connection.

1. Prepare a Vacation Nature Kit!

Bring a designated container or box with you on your adventure that is completely dedicated to collecting awesome nature finds. Pack it with anything collectable that catches your eye so you have some intriguing finds to show your friends when you get home. 

​With your collected objects, you can create a curio cabinet. A curio cabinet is a cabinet filled with curiosities! Before having public museums, individual collectors would invite guests over to their homes to tour their curio cabinets that were filled with interesting finds from all across the world. You, too, can create your own display for guests to look at when they visit your home.

As you are looking through and curating your collection, jot down notes and observations about your objects. What caught your eye? Is there anything you notice? What does this object feel like? Be sure to note where and when you found your item as well. A large part of creating a valuable collection is giving your valuables provenance. When you show your "loot" to friends and family, you want to be able to give them as much background information as possible about your fascinating finds. 

Curation: The action or process of selecting, organizing, and looking after the items in a collection or exhibit.

Provenance: The beginning of something's existence; something's origin. In the case of a cabinet of curiosities, where your object came from and how it came to be a part of your collection. 

2. Explore Different Forms of Expression

Do you have a particular style that you stick to when writing in your nature journal? Why not use your vacation as an excuse to try something new! This vacation doesn't just have to be for you, it can also be for your journal. Give yourself a break and experiment with expressing your observations and feelings in new ways!

Rather than sticking to what you know, challenge yourself to step outside of your comfort zone. If you are a nature journalist who prefers detailed sketches of what you are looking at, consider making written observations instead and vice versa! Never drawn a cloud before? Now is the time to do it! Who knows, you may stumble across a new technique that perfectly captures what you are trying to portray in your journal. Have fun with your observations!

3. Replace Your Photos!

Challenge yourself to put away the camera and capture your vacation with your journal instead. You may find that using your journal to record your surrounding wildlife and even personal moments, will help you to remember specific details and note what's important about your experiences.

Do your best to describe in detail your surroundings, where you are, and what has been happening. Imagine that someone is going to find your journal in 100 years and it's the only way to know what your experiences and observations were during this vacation. By replacing photographs with journaling, you may be forced to document things that you haven't had much practice with. Possibly family members, different types of animals, or new perspectives of the natural world. Seize the moment and use the opportunity to grow your skillset!
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If you are traveling with friends or family members, ask them to contribute to your documentation as well! You can keep a group journal in which everyone can record their observations in their own unique styles. Children can also participate! Encourage younger travelers to keep journal pages of activities that they participate in or things they observe. At the end of the vacation, have journalers share their pages with the rest of the family/group.