One of my favorite things about our road trip and summer adventures is our travel journals. We’ve done different kinds of journals over the years, but I’m excited for this year’s because I put a lot of thought into what I know my kids will love and set them up with creative tools to make the experience of journaling more inviting. This past year, Lainey really got into journaling as a creative tool—not so much deep dive writing into all her feelings (although I hope that comes) but more a creative collection of thoughts and ideas she noticed in the world: cutting out fun things she liked and gluing them in her scrapbook, making lists, collecting quotes, compiling affirmations, etc. The open-ended scrapbook approach kept her busy for hours. This year’s travel journals are similar in that they’re very open-ended—blank books and all the fun things a kid would want to write, draw, cut and paste things they see, taste, hear, experience and collect as they adventure. Everything fits into a pouch (I used paint pens to write their names) to keep them organized and make them easy to transport. I found these wet dry pouches in the Dollar Spot at Target, but these are similar and the same size.

I bought these Soft Cover Spiral Notebooks. They come in a 3-pack, so it worked great for my kids (I ended up buying an additional one for me). They’re the perfect size—a little smaller than a regular school notebook, and they’re unlined so great for scrapbooking and art. To build some excitement for the trip, I’ll have the kids decorate the covers of their journals the night before we leave.

Inside Our Pouches: colored pencils, good journal pens, kid scissors (for cutting things to scrapbook), fun travel themed stickers, double sided tape, glue stick

I found stacks of Michigan travel brochures on eBay for a few dollars as well as some Michigan tourism magazines that include places we’re visiting. They have a lot of great things the kids can cut and scrapbook. I distinctively remember a road trip we took out west when I was maybe 12 years old. My friend Tisha and I collected free travel brochures everywhere we went and cut them up to document our trip. We even made dioramas with them when we returned home.

Another fun addition to travel journals is photos.  We’ve bought a couple of kid-friendly cameras over the years, and my current favorite is the Canon Ivy. I find the picture quality is better than the Instax, and I really like the Zip instant photos with the peel-off paper if you want to turn them into stickers. The cameras are great for kids to take their own pictures. Even better, you can use your phone or iPad to take photos and print them straight from the phone with a Portable Bluetooth Printer. I have the Polaroid one (I don’t think they make it anymore, and the ones left on Amazon are more than double what I paid for), so I linked the comparable Kodak one. These are great because you can use editing apps to adjust brightness, contrast, etc. before you print photos so you’re really getting a good quality photo.

As for what to put in the journals, I try and encourage the kids to be as creative as they want—no rules! They can draw, make lists, write, cut things up, etc. In case they get stuck though, I taped this list of fun journal prompts in the front of their journals:

TRAVEL JOURNAL PROMPTS
1. Describe/Journal the things you brought on this trip
2. What you ate today (write a menu description for it)
3. Rose & Thorn (best part of the day and worst part of the day)
4. Something new you learned
5. A funny thing that happened today
6. A funny quote someone said
7. Somebody you met or saw today
8. How you made someone feel good about themselves today
9. What happened today from the perspective of your stuffed animal
10. An interview with someone you’re with
11. Write a pretend postcard to a friend in your journal
12. Write a review of restaurant/hotel/Airbnb
13. Look up three Sherwin Williams paint color names. Write about today—you must include those three descriptions.
14. You are creating a travel advertisement for a place you visited. Write the advertisement in your journal. Sell it!
15. Make a Pirate’s Treasure Map of where you are. Label all the good places!
16. Journal “How To” Instructions for someone, detailing something on your trip (example: How to annoy your sibling in the car, How to enjoy Sleeping Bear Dunes, How to catch a fish, How to make the perfect s’more, etc.)
17. Make a list of animals you’ve seen on your travels
18. Draw favorite outfits you’ve worn on the trip
19. Make a list of travel tips based on your trip
20. Write a review of your Uber driver (Daddy)
21. If there was a bestselling book based on this trip, design the cover of the book
22. Research a place you visited and journal 5 facts you learned
23. Design a T-shirt for a place you visited or the state you’re in
24. Journal a list of the 5 best souvenirs to bring home
25. Journal a guide for the “Best Day Ever” on this trip
26. Journal a list of Best Smells/Worst Smells on this trip
27. Make a soundtrack for your day. What songs would you include?
28. Today, find something for each of these and document (either words, drawings or photos) what you find: SOMETHING BLUE, SOMETHING GROSS, SOMETHING COLD, SOMETHING DELICIOUS, SOMETHING SHARP, SOMETHING PURPLE, SOMETHING SAD, SOMETHING THAT SMELLS GOOD

Even though we’re using blank books for open ended travel journals this year, I can’t write a post about travel journaling without including a couple of my favorites for more structured journals.

Go! Travel Journal
This is such a great journal for little kids who need a bit more prompting. It’s so well designed and includes so many creative prompts for documenting every fun aspect of visiting new places from what to pack to good things you eat.

I Was Here Travel Journal from Chronicle Books
This one is great for older kids, teens and adults. Includes great prompts for recording the details and discoveries of your trip, a pocket to store ephemera, graphic pages for notes, etc.

Now, we just need to hit the road so we can start documenting our travels. We’re so excited!

We are home from Michigan–although the older I get, the more I realize home means a lot of different things.

We are home from home, settled back into our routines, comforted by the simplest things we missed–my favorite coffee mug, the way the steering wheel turns in my own car, lighting the candle on my desk when I first wake up, the familiarity of my kitchen and our beds and the whir of the dryer from the laundry room late in the afternoon before Brett comes home. But home is also what we left–where I grew up, where my family will still be enjoying summer for weeks to come–tall pines and scenes of lakes and docks and a sky that stays lit long into the night as if it knows Midwesterners have too much to enjoy in one summer day.

I like loving two places–where we live with the ocean and the palms and the friends and family we couldn’t wait to return to, and where we long to be in the summer and again in the fall when we see pictures of golden tree lines and hear descriptions of what the cider mill smelled like and how the air is just cold enough to wear a sweater. I’m thankful we get to enjoy both.

There are some massive impressive lake houses on my dad’s lake, and yet this little blue cabin tucked in the woods is one of my favorites.

I figured the best way to neatly package a labyrinth of Michigan moments into a blog post would be a wrap-up of ten favorite things I love about a Michigan summer. We do a pretty good job of exploring hidden corners of Michigan, and I can definitely play tour guide when it comes to places we’ve been; but keep in mind Michigan is large, full of so much goodness, we’ve barely scratched the surface. The upper peninsula, for example, is a playground of picturesque beauty we haven’t even begun to explore yet. And there are still so many experiences we haven’t yet enjoyed on our Michigan bucket list (like sleeping in this light house–can you even?!). That said, if you’re considering Michigan for summer travel, DO IT. Head north (although Detroit is fun too!). The Great Lakes are where the spell begins. My dad’s cabin is in Lewiston, Michigan–a very small town with several lakes. It’s great because it offers us a landing spot for the summer where we enjoy calm, quiet lake life away from tourism; and yet it’s drivable for day trips to the most beautiful sightseeing landmarks–Sleeping Bear Dunes, Mackinac Island, Petoskey and Harbor Springs, Leland, etc. With that said, my top 10 Summer Michigan treasures:

1. Sleeping Bear Dunes and Glen Arbor

I haven’t seen a Sleeping Bear Dunes photo yet that really does it justice, but something happens when you’re up there on those dunes looking out on the water. It’s breathtaking, and there’s a reason Good Morning America awarded it THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE IN AMERICA a few years back.

We stay for hours, and no one gets bored. We drive the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive up to Overlook #9 where we set out a blanket and snacks and drinks, and the kids climb and jump and explore. There’s also a Dune Climb entrance where you can start at the base of a dune and then walk trails through the dunes all day.

Whatever the case, you cannot explore Northern Michigan without visiting the dunes. The sistering town Glen Arbor complements the dunes with its northern charm and unique location gift of being snuggled between two of Michigan’s most beautiful lakes–Lake Michigan and Glen Lake (turquoise waters!). The whole town feels like a summer movie–the shops, the bookstore (it’s a log cabin), the little bars, the kayakers on the river, the ice cream shack, the art galleries, the side streets. It’s all glorious in that this-belongs-in-a-coffee-table-book kind of way.

Some Glen Arbor favorites: The M22 store (and outdoor bar), Riverfront Pizza (so good! and super cheap soft serve ice cream with toppings), The Totem Shop, Andersons IGA (upscale little grocery with good wine), Cherry Republic (go to the Wine Tasting room!), The Cottage Book Shop, Boonedocks, Imagine That, Cottonseed Apparel, Bay Lavender Trading Company.

Our view from the Riverside Pizza dock where we ate dinner and watched the kayakers.

2. Ocqueoc Falls

New to our Michigan trip this year, we were completely charmed. “Don’t tell anybody about this,” my niece instructed, “This is too good to be shared–needs to stay a secret.”

The falls are the perfect height for climbing and exploring, and yet there are pools throughout deep enough to wade waist-deep through and a small little pool even deeper to jump. We brought wine flasks and snacks and wished we would have arrived earlier so we could have stayed longer. And it’s in the middle of NOWHERE (we drove an hour through mostly empty roads to it), so it feels like a good summer secret.

3. A Rainy Day

Because we do so much adventuring in the summer, I welcome the rainy days that invite us to dive into some of the quieter things on our summer bucket list–doing puzzles, writing post cards, reading books, watching Parent Trap, baking cookies. There’s something enchanting about rainy days in Northern Michigan–all the trees that soften the sound of the rain, the smell of a storm on a lake, how quickly it gets cold, giving us a chance to wear the sweatshirts we packed.

Or we’ll head to the small town theater a half hour away, coming back after a few hours to my dad’s grilled cheese and tomato soup and our pajamas laid out (warmed in the dryer, of course). Every summer, I’ve been fortunate to tuck away at least one middle-of-the-night storm when I wake up in the bunkhouse, alert just enough to make note of the blessed fact that I am sleeping in a tiny cabin in the woods and it’s pouring outside.

4. “The Other Lakes”

Michigan is, of course, known for its Great Lakes which are truly impressive, but I love all the little lakes in between. You can’t swing a stick in Northern Michigan and not hit a lake–any lake–and the smaller lakes are better for swimming and fishing and independent kid exploration. In just my dad’s tiny little town–population 1,392–there’s West Twin Lake, East Twin Lake, Tee Lake, Snyder Lake, Big Bear Lake, Little Bear Lake, Wolf Lake and Spectacle Lakes.

Smaller lakes can also offer cheaper places to stay and are great locations for quiet summer lake days.

I love our memories on this lake. Like Pontoon Breakfast Day where my dad prepares and packs up the most amazing breakfast right down to the coffee carafe and whipped cream topping, and gives the kids all chances to wear the captain’s hat while they drive the boat in their pajamas.

5. Traverse City

We’ve always stopped in Traverse City as a midpoint to some of our other destinations, but this year is the first year I went beyond the tourist Front Street and beach area, although we did really enjoy Little Fleet, a family friendly food truck park, for lunch. This year, we drove toward Old Mission, down the strip of land between the arms of Grand Traverse Bay, and Traverse City charm exponentially increased. The view! The wineries! The produce stands! The farms!

We found a little lavender farm, wandered through its barn full of dried lavender bouquets, picked cherries straight from the trees, ate lavender ice cream, brought home lavender tea and candles and handmade soaps and promised we’d never visit Traverse City again without driving this stretch of heaven.

6. Lake Parks

Where there is a lake, there’s a park; and we’ve made it our mission to swing on as many swings we can find overlooking a lake.

7. Mackinac Island

We’ve been singing the island’s praises for years now and wrote a whole post dedicated to it last week, but I can’t make a Top 10 List without including it. There’s something to be said about making the effort to get on a fairy and leaving everything behind to enter a place with no cars, stunning views and true summer cottage living. Summer magic.

8. Inhaling Nature

Yes, we have beautiful nature in Florida too, but Michigan’s summer nature is simply intoxicating, an irresistible invitation to slow down and enjoy it. The wildflowers (they’re everywhere!), the birch trees, the birds, the dirt roads, the water, the rocks… Lake Michigan’s shores are covered with the smoothest stones you’ve ever seen. I collect so many to bring home.

There are so many hidden roads and faraway highways up north lined by forests like I’ve never seen anywhere else. The tallest trees, all lined up–rows and rows of them–with sunshine seeping through and spilling out in a way that is so enchanting. I always want to pull over, walk in and get lost but also I don’t want to be a national headline.

9. Familiarity

Perhaps this is my favorite of all–that we’ve come back to this same place summer after summer, and all its magic is now part of my kids’ childhood, part of them. I’ve offered other summer explorations to them, but they get upset just at the suggestion. It’s like coming home to them, and they’re perfectly content to repeat the same experiences in the same place.

They’re subconsciously stockpiling goodness that will cushion, comfort and guide their future experiences. These night swims, these bonfires, these cold sweatshirt mornings with Poppa’s pancake breakfasts. They’ll tell their kids about them someday, and there will be generations of Michigan lovers to come–I am sure of it.

10. Coming Home

It’s sad to leave a place you love, especially after a month of so many wonderful experiences…

…but I love the reflection that comes in the closure and the excitement of returning to our home and our life here. We cannot have Michigan summers without real life the rest of the year. The juxtaposition is what makes it so good.

Now it’s time to tuck our new souvenir mugs in the cabinet, drop our favorite summer photos in our family album, break out the cherry preserves and lavender lotion we brought home, and move forward toward all the good that is in store.

Back to School posts coming!