SUMMER is a great time to journal, and summer vacation provides more time for writing as well as opportunities for new experiences, observation, and reflection. Whether your vacation is a month-long excursion to an exotic location, a staycation, or camping with family, these prompts will provide new ways to think and write about your summer.
- What type of vacation did you choose this year? What values influenced your decision? For example, did a desire for adventure lead you to a particular activity, did you travel back home this year because family connections are important, or did you seek out a spiritual retreat? Freewrite for 10 minutes about the values that affect your vacation and are taking precedence at this time in your life.
– - Get up extra early one morning during your vacation. Find a place to sit comfortably and watch the sunrise. Write a full description of what you experience, including all your senses — what you see, hear, smell, and feel (physically and emotionally).
– - Pay attention during the day to people and conversations around you. Capture one of those conversations in your journal. (It’s okay to approximate the dialogue.)
– - Who is with you on your vacation, and what types of interactions are you having with them? Write about these relationships and how they do and do not change during this concentrated time together. If you’ve chosen to be alone during your vacation, write about your relationship to yourself.
– - Describe one extraordinary experience you have had during your vacation. Why is it extraordinary? What affect does it have on you emotionally? What does it make you think about for the future?
– - Describe one ordinary experience you have had during your vacation. Why did you choose to write about this particular experience?
– - Take a leisurely walk, being particularly aware and alert to your surroundings. When you return (or before your return, if that works better), write about what you noticed and how you feel. Use colored pencils and/or sketch some of the things you saw. What insights come to you as you write?
– - What are the favorite parts of your vacation? And what do you wish you had time to do more of?
– - Have any parts of your vacation disappointed your expectations? If so, describe what happened and how it was different from what you had hoped. Looking back, do you think your expectations were realistic? What would you have done differently?
– - Did parts of your vacation exceed your expectations? What happened and what made that activity or event or interaction exceptional? How did it make you feel, and what are the ways in which you could hold onto those feelings?
Feel free to share your responses to any of the above prompts — or additional ways you have written about your vacations past, present, and future.
Great prompts, Amber. I intend to use them in August when we drive north to see my sister in Washington. I’ve written about a Washington experience before. My sister and I had gone whale watching. I was surprised by my reaction to the Orcas. I’m glad I took the time to write about my experience.