How I'm documenting our year abroad.

I have tried and failed to keep a daily journal. I have purchased beautiful books and set aside a time each day to curl up in my own space and scribble away, recording the events that impacted me that day. A few days in to the journal, I skip a day. I tell myself it won't matter; it's just one day, I can catch up. I never do.

Then my journal writing becomes a chore, it's something I "should be doing" rather than something that I want to be doing. I am not invested in the outcome and it totally shows! Reading back through my journals, I cringe and want to throw them away. There is nothing of substance in them. Day after day where all I have written is: 'nothing much happened today, same as yesterday' - I might as well have not written anything.

Don't misunderstand me, I love recording my life. I have just realised over time that a daily journal does not work for me. If it works for you, fantastic! Keep doing what you're doing; keep recording. If, like me, you feel bogged down by the pressure of having to write daily, that it sucks the life and soul from the project, it's time to shake things up.

I am a visual person. I love to take photographs and (without trying to sound big-headed) I think it's something I have a talent for. For this reason, I use photographs to record my life. I am also fully aware that photographs on their own are not enough - I am the queen of looking back at photographs and not remembering when it was taken. For me, a few words should accompany the photographs. I try to pick out a story that goes along with the photograph; something that adds detail to what is actually happening.

Project Life is something I have been able to stick with for the last two and a half years. Slipping photos in to photo pocket pages and compiling an album. I knew that I wanted to prioritise documenting our year abroad. It will be a year of experiencing new things, discovering new places and making new friends. Moving to Vancouver I was limited in my weight allowance. Packing all your belongings in a suitcase weighing under 23kg is difficult enough (I failed) without adding craft supplies on top. With this in mind, for our year abroad I have switched over completely to using the Project Life App with the intention of creating a photo-book at the end of the year.

For the first two months of our year abroad, we were on opposite sides of the world. I got My Handsome Man to message me the photos he had taken, and have been able to create pages for each month in England and Vancouver.