?why keep a journal

I am walking on the VDLP at the moment. I can recommend keeping a journal so that memories come alive years after you jave walked (we walked the camino Frances 7 years ago and still delight in talking about people and places and refer to our journals if necessary.
For those with a certain flair, there is the opportunity to write about your experiences and perhaps to get published.
at very least, it is invaluable to record experiences and note changes in albergue status etc, so that you can inform those organizations which produce our wonderful guide books (they are always in need of updates).
I feel committing something to paper helps you to think about some of the wonderful experiences and why each day is so special.
We even record all our meals and the wonderful people we meet (locals and fellow pilgrims).
Writing each day becomes part of our pilgrimage experience......sleep, eat, walk , wash, observe, interact, and then make sense of it all in our journals.
There is also the added benefit that it improves our Spanish, as we are recording new words and phrases each day (locals are keen to help with Grammar and we are always keen to ask questions. C and C

For the sheer joy of reliving the memories. In the evenings tiredness overcame me and I didn't keep a diary. Two years on I have been asked to talk to the University of the Third Age in a local town of my Camino experiences. I have had to sit with my photos and relive each day, remembering the fabulous countryside, people and their kindness, dogs, emotions, physical pain, food, the pull of something I can't explain that got me to Santiago, the list goes on. While I have recreated the experience, writing it now doesn't seem the same.

Take a pencil and paper with you, you won't regret it.

Cheers Rose Louise

I think that keeping a record of the C depends on what you want to record and why. there are many sorts. You could for example, put together a scrapbook of photographs and all the bits of paper that we accumulate on the way, receipts, tickets, maps, etc. We did that and it is a great aid to memories and very useful in showing people who might want to do the C. It is also a great source of information. The only disadvantage is the fact that you have to carry all the bits of paper along, I generally just chuck them into the bottom of the rucksac and then when I get the photos printed back at home, sort them out by day. A scrapbook is a semi-public record, both in terms of what you record and what you show to people afterwards

A journal is more private however, recording not only what happened but maybe how you felt and what you did . A very useful daily framework for a journal is 'What Happened, So What, Now What' if you want your journal to be a record of your learning and maybe changes.

Another way of course is to simply photograph a lot, if you are a good photographer or maybe even record your impressions and the sounds, some people like sounds or images more than written words.
It may be that your decision as to what/how to record might depend on why you are going to the C. Is it a travelling adventure or a voyage of self discovery? Ask yourself what do you want to record and why and then maybe the how will become clearer. Personally I found I wrote much more on my first two week stint on the camino and by my fourth visit, I was writing very little though there were still things to work out.

Anyway do what ever feels best and change it if you want, there is no obligatory way to do this
Buen Camino