How I use Notion.so as a Travel Log and Experience List + FREE Template Link!

I'm a big believer in lists. The Notes app on my phone is flooded with various lists whether it is for groceries to buy, errands to run, things to check out, and more. I wanted to bring my love for listing and integrate it with my love of capturing life. A simple format to have a list of all of my experiences and the ones I still have yet to check out, similar to a travel log. From amazing restaurants to places I have gotten to visit, I thought the idea to give a quick snapshot to capture all of my experiences was the perfect summary! Since I am new to the Central Florida area, it's especially great to keep track of all the random recommendations from people I meet.

My Notion has a lot of other elements, but today I will be sharing with you my template for my 2021 Experience Log and my Yet To Experience Log. Let me know if you would be interested in knowing more about my Notion set up which I use on mobile and desktop! Now let's dive into a deeper look into my logs.

I have both lists broken up into 3 categories: Places, Restaurants, and Activities. After you duplicate the templates you can change these to whatever you'd like! I think these 3 buckets capture all of the items that I might want to keep track of like a cool thrift store, an ice cream shop, or that random mini-golf place I stopped at that one time. I recommend making the categories match on each list because the whole idea is that you move them from the yet to experience list to the experienced list!

Taking a look at the columns, I cover almost everything you may want to record. The most noteworthy ones that I find to be most helpful are the Google Maps Link (for ease of pulling up directions immediately), the City column (to easily filter where you may be heading for a day), and the Recommendations/Reviews section (to jot down where someone may have told you they have the best cannoli and then to rate said cannoli when you actually visit).

Overall, what I truly enjoy about an indexing system like this is the ease of use. You can filter and sort any of your columns and it is like the Rolodex of where you should go out to eat next! Thankfully, with Notion it is completely free and customizable. If having this list in a program you are already familiar with is important to you, this process is easily replicable in Excel, Trello, or any other table-based program.

If you are interested in viewing the templates I have created and duplicating them into your own Notion.so set up, you can check them both below!

Experience Log Template

Yet to Experience Log Template

Thanks for checking out my Notion setup! What are some ideas you can see for using a Notion template like this? I think there are a lot of possibilities for personalizing a system like this! If you have any questions let me know in the comments below.