ode to junk journaling

hello, fellow wanderers! 

miss think-a-lot here. i'm so excited to share with you my ode to junk journaling! i have been junk journaling for over a year now, and it just turns me into a creature of pure joy. the idea is rather simple, but for a potentially hopeless perfectionist like me, it has been quite transformative. i'll get back to that in a bit. first step is to gather a bunch of things that would normally be overlooked or treated as junk. think travel guides, brochures, receipts, business cards, old newspapers, flyers, used-up wrapping paper, packaging material and whatnot... i like to do this while traveling in particular as there are just so many unique things that i run into! i carry a cute little pouch with me to collect all these items, so they are all in one place when i do my junk journaling. i also have a box of letters i cut out from magazines and newspapers. 

next part is the best part. you mix and match, cut and paste, glue down anything you like, and see where it takes you... now, if you are like me and when you get some fancy supplies you can't bring yourself to use them out of fear of messing it up, this is a wonderful exercise. knowing that this is a junk journal lets me use the material freely while enjoying the process, instead of worrying about the preciousness of it all. on top of that, being away from a screen and taking my time with all the bits and pieces lets me slow down and unwind. then, at the end, i have pages full of memories to look back on and remember. it's like a little archive of life, with random items from life! so if anyone's in search of a new hobby, hear me out, this might be what you're looking for! i sometimes add in some stickers or washi tape, which technically aren't junk, but hey, that can be our little secret...

here are some random pages i made over the last year. this one is from when i traveled to adirondacks for a few days. sometimes i like to jot down little notes about places i want to remember later, like a cute cafe or that restaurant with amazing burgers o( ˶^▾^˶ )o

this is from my trip to paris. i used the paper bag my croissant came in, along with some of my tickets. i cut out the pictures from an airport magazine i found while waiting there. 

here is one from a rather mundane weekend. i used a pasta box, a business card, price tags and a few other things. looking at it now, i remember that weekend i took myself out on a little solo date and did a little shopping. 

phew, so there it is! i talked about it, and i feel much better... i haven't had the chance to go through all the things i collected this summer yet, so it is very likely that i'll share more of these along with my travel entries in case you'd like to follow along. 

do you keep little bits and pieces from your travels, too? what's your favorite way of keeping little memories? can't wait to hear about them!

till next time <3

-ana