Many people arrive in the UAE planning to stay for two or three years and end up staying for ten. In that time you will visit desert camps, old neighbourhoods, mountain towns and islands, celebrate national holidays, and watch the cities change around you. A travel journal helps you keep more than dates and place names. It preserves the small details you will forget first: the price of a karak tea on a winter morning, the name of a favourite abra station, or what your first sandstorm felt like. You do not need to be a writer or an artist to start one. You just need a simple system you will actually keep up.
Choose a Format You Will Stick With
The best journal is the one you use. Think honestly about your habits before you buy anything fancy.
- A paper notebook: Good for tickets, pressed items and quick sketches. Choose a size that fits your day bag so it travels with you.
- A notes app on your phone: Easy to update on the metro or in a taxi, and simple to search later. Add the date and location to every entry.
- A photo book or blog: Works well if you take a lot of pictures and want something to share with family back home.
- A mix: Many people keep quick notes on their phone, then write a fuller paper entry at home once a week.
Whatever you choose, keep everything in one place. A journal split across five apps and three drawers is a journal you will stop using.
What to Record Beyond the Obvious
Place names and dates matter, but they are the parts you could look up later. Try to capture the things only you noticed. Write down who you were with, what the weather was doing, what you ate, and one conversation or moment that stood out. Note first impressions too, especially in your early months. What surprised you about daily life, work, food or the pace of the city often reads as the most interesting part years later.
A short entry is fine. Five honest lines written on the day will mean more in five years than two perfect pages you meant to write and never did. If you miss a trip, write what you still remember within a week and say so in the entry.
Keeping Photos Useful, Not Just Numerous
It is easy to come home from a weekend in Hatta or Fujairah with 300 photos and no story. After each trip, pick your best ten or fifteen pictures while the day is still fresh, and delete the near-duplicates. Add a caption to each chosen photo in your journal: where it was taken, who is in it, and why you kept it.
Photograph ordinary scenes as well as landmarks. Your local supermarket, your street at sunset, the view from your balcony and the coffee you drank every Friday will show how life actually felt. Back up your selected photos in two places, such as a laptop and a cloud account, and rename files with the date and place so you can find them later.
Saving Tickets, Cards and Small Paper Memories
Paper items fade fast in heat and humidity, so store them out of direct sun in a dry folder or envelope. Useful keepsakes include boarding passes for regional trips, museum and event tickets, Nol card receipts from early journeys, hotel keys you are allowed to keep, and handwritten notes or cards. Write the date and a one-line reminder on the back in pencil before you file each item, because a ticket alone rarely explains itself a year later.
Be selective. Keep the ticket from your first desert trip, not every parking receipt. A small, meaningful collection is easier to store, move and enjoy when you eventually leave or change homes.
A Simple Weekly Routine
Set aside fifteen minutes once a week, perhaps on Sunday evening, to tidy your journal. Move phone notes into your main journal, choose the week’s best photos, and add anything you forgot. Once a month, read back a few older entries. This is often what keeps the habit going, because you can see the value building up.
At the end of each year, write a one-page summary: favourite places, new foods, trips you would repeat, and places still on your list. Over several UAE years, those yearly pages become a clear, personal record of a chapter of your life that photos alone could never tell.