Travel journals vs. travel blogs - Essay Example

? Travel journal versus Travel blogs Travel journal versus Travel blogs Introduction A travel journal is a record made by a traveler. It is a record of the daily events and occurrence in the journey. It resembles the dairy, but does not contain the personal information written in the diaries. Dairies contain personal information and what occurred during the day. In some writings, the diary is named and may be seen as a close friend of the writer. The diary is Latin word diarium meaning a daily allowance focusing on daily thoughts and events (Kovach and Rosenstiel 78). Dairy is personal and contains information that may be vital in the publication of information. Such writing such as Gulliver travels is dairies explaining the travel of the owner of the diary and the situations encountered in the travel. A travel journal is a diary in some way because it can be used to document life events, but not in a daily sequence as the dairy is arranged. Travel journal is a document that is used in the recording of the travels across the states, country and the world. Travel journals have been used to highlight the nature of the travel. Travel journals offer the opportunity to share travel experience by highlighting the main events in the situation (Hirst and Patching 90). The success of journals depends on the ability to combine the travel experience and personal perception in the writing. Blogs are a form of diary presented in the digital or online format. They may be termed as online dairies, journal or blog. Travel blog enables the sharing of travel information of the writer with friends and others who can access the site. Blogs are the latest platform for personal information sharing, but also offer an opportunity to share information across the populations. Compared to travel journal blogs are digital presentation of the information by the traveler and may be accessible to others via the internet. Travel journal, on the other hand, presents a situation that allows for writing to be presented on a hard copy that can be accessed by a restricted number of audiences. Travel blogs are becoming the most intricate part of the modern society. The traditional old travel journals and diaries being digitized to be accessible by interested people around the world. Travel journal can be made from composition books through redesigning and the change of the cover presentation. However, the major issues in the design are the information in the journal and not the design (Beverly and Thomson 67). To develop the travel journal, the writer must be a traveler with a passion to travel around the world. The success of the whole journal depends on the experience of the writer during the journal. The journal is used to record the significant events and issues that occur during the travel. As stated earlier journals are not the daily recording of the actions of the traveler, but focusses on the significant events or the crucial issue that the writer want to put across to the audience. The success of the travel journal depends on the encounters and the level of fascination connected to the writings. This paper is going to cover the Palmer’s journal of travels over the Rock Mountains, 1845-1846. Palmers Journal of travels over the Rock Mountain 1845-1846 The Early Western travels authored by Palmer cover a journey through the rocky mountains of the western world slightly after the resettlement that occurred in the era. The journal addresses various issues that the traveller met in the society. Among the vital issues addressed are the social issues affecting the society after the resettlement? The volume focussed is volume 30 of the travel journal. The focus on the volume is the travel in the western part of the US, and the content involves the travel to Columbia among other issues (Berry). The travel indicates the value of technology and other related issues in the travel. During the time of palmer travel, technological advancement in the sectors of transport and navigation was not clear. The social problems of the journey made the whole travel difficult for the traveler. The content of the journal highlights the problems faced at the travel time. Issues such as hunger and thirst couple with bandit attacks during the travel are highlighted. The focus of the journal covers a wide range of issues because of the various challenges encountered. Palmer’s travel journal was based in the travels with the American continent with the focus being on the journey to Colombia from the US. The first travel was to Oregon State. The journal highlights the reasons for travel and the nature of the Oregon territory at the time. Oregon territory was held in joint occupation by the United States and Great Britain and was seen as an area that protects the rights of the immigrants because of the greatest public enlightenment that occurred during the presidential campaign of the 1844. Emotional issues such as separations are addressed in the journal. The decision to leave the family was not an easy decision in the context of emotional stability and success. Palmer records that he suffered in imagination pain of the anticipated separation and power of the family ties in personal life. The content of the journal is similar to personal diaries because the author addresses each day events in a straightforward approach. The arrival in Indianapolis is recorded in a date format with the actions taking place each day being recorded separately. The benefit of the travel journal is the ability to record the events on a daily basis making the whole process easy to follow and comprehend. The day to day recording of the occurrence highlights the accuracy of the journal. Palmer records the challenges met in the travel with absolute clarity and focuses on explaining the various issues by use of footnotes in the journal. The explanation of the various terms and issues using footnotes expounds on the travel. The minor actions such as purchasing of items which feature in the dairies are found in the Palmer traveler journal which illustrates the comprehensiveness of the journal in describing the journey across America. The success of the journal can be illustrated by the issues addressed in it. The journal covers all the necessary issues in the travel journal. The travel journal facilitates the development knowledge and understanding of the nature of the society during the travel duration. The content of palmer’s travel journal illustrates the power of travel journals in creating and image of the social issues and injustices existing in the society at the time of travel. The travel journal illustrates the development of various issues both in technology and other issues that may affect the society in a different way. The success of the journal is based on the step by step explanation of the journey. It is clearly closer to a personal diary explaining the issues of the society and the travel issues in all instances. The history of the areas visited is also explained in the journal. The key events that put the towns on the nation’s history map are highlighted by Palmer. The Palmer journal illustrates the development states and the power of local authorities in the whole process of governance and security provision. The media at the time is also highlighted such as De Smet’s Letters, which is a local publication of the journal or notes of William Gilpin. The success of the journal depends on the ability to synchronize events and develop a complete picture of the journey. The Palmer’s travel journal content creates a chance to illustrate the importance of recording the travel events. The success of the travel journal is based on simplicity and personal touch on the events. The language usage in the journal depends on the level of study and proficiency in the language. The language usage in the journal indicates the level of understanding and education of the writer. For Palmer’s travel journal, the language used is complex indicating the level of education of Palmer as well as the understanding of the society. The journal is elaborate and defines issues that could lead to misunderstanding of the journal. The content of the journal is clear with everyday event presented with absolute clarity as well as the nature other supporting evidence. The traditional travel journal had to be authenticated using travel documents if it involves travel across countries. Copies of visas and other documentation were added on to the journal to illustrate and prove the authenticity of the document. The travel journals similarity with the personal diaries make the travel journal by Palmer is viewed as a diary and not a travel journal had various advantages compared to the personal diaries. Personal diary cannot be shared or given to others because it contains private information and the information may be construed to offer different meaning (Berry 34). However, travel journal contains only the information the client wants to share with others. Therefore, it is a document focussed on information sharing and guidance to other future travelers. The Palmer travel journal has a lot of information about the country including some vital information of the star past events of the various towns and cities visited by Palmer. Palmer description of travel is vivid with his focus being on the nature of things as well as the development of understanding of the challenges met in the travel. The content quality of the journal is high especially in volume 30 of the dairy. The success of palmer travel journal in an era with technological challenges is based on the zeal of the writer to present account of the daily occurrences in the journey. The journey of palmer does not involve around the world travels but contains the vital picture of interest and success (Allan 78). Travel literatures either a blog or a journal brings a whole new experience in the study of travelling. The journals gives the readers to see what the author saw and feel how the author felt. The journals presentations are often genuine review about paces and do not only just contain positive review of visited places. Travel literature is important because it provides introspective information as seen and felt by the author. This kind of work is sometimes known as travelogue or itinerary. Travel writing sometimes intersects with essay writing. This often happens the author tries offer tips about a particular place or its people. The author provides tip for aspiring visitors of such foreign land on which particular sites or areas to visits. The tip gives the reader a general view about the people as well. Literary journals can also take a humorous perspective where the author uses a lot of humor in the process of making their report on different travel experiences. Travel blogs The difference between travel blog and travel journal is made on the basis of the medium of presentation. Travel journal employs the use of print format while the blog uses online services. The success of the whole blogging process depends on access to internet services. According to Beverly and Malaval, online presentation offers the opportunity to present issues in an open and clear way. It is easy to update a travel blog compared to travel journal. However, travel journal offers a hard copy of the document and can be kept for reference and blogs may be lost with the changes in the online platform. However, travel blogs are the current issues used in recording the experience of travelling and adventure. Blogs are easier to manage due to the ease of accessibility and the simplicity in setting up. The first travel blog was initiated in 1995 and since then, the use has been on the rise. To succeed in the entire process of blogging the blogger must develop interest and develop the necessary skills for the whole process (Benioff). Travel blogs are increasingly being used to spread the information on the success of the travellers and other relevant information. Information sharing by use of blogs has increased significantly and the travel blogs are becoming one of the most successful platforms for the sharing information. The success of the blog process will depend on the writer’s creativity and the magnitude of the travel. In the current world where countries are well organized and obtaining of travel document is easier compared to the traditional animosity. In addition, the countries are not worse off in terms technological advancement. Travel blogs are the future of travel journal because they are easier to use and the community is focused on using online platforms. Searching for a holiday destination used to be very hectic experience. Those seeking holiday destinations were confined to three sources of information which were travel books, brochures and travel books. Brochures and travel agents had vested interest so, relying on them was not such a god thing. Guidebooks which were generally compiled from different travel journal were not updated regularly. This made it really difficult to get balanced and up to date information on about holiday destinations not quite easy. Thanks to the digital revolution all these challenges were overcome. The travel blogs or internet diaries are easily accessible to thousands of people. They contain up to date commentaries from travels who give very candid and up to date reports on various holiday destination. Something that was not possible before the digital revolution. Travel blogs also enable individuals to follow a person’s account during a year’s travel, global navigation or expedition something the travel journal cannot do. One can follow the traveler through update to date uploads of pictures, video blogs which make the literature more interactive compared to the literature journals Conclusion Compared to travel journals blog offer opportunity for the readers to comment on the journey of the traveler and highlight the situation and the interesting issues in the journey. The success of the blog is dependent on the level from the travel but the situation is different if the travels or journey is to already cover areas of the world. The tradition travel journals offered an opportunity to develop understanding of the world at a time when civilization and industrialization was poor and current technology did not guarantee faster travels. The success of traditional travel journals is on the ability to record articulately the situation of the events encountered during the travels. The traditional travel journal did explain the nature of the world at the time of travel. The current travel blogs are a representation of the traditional travel journal but use a different platform for the presentation of the idea. Ideas and events shared on the platform help in building the understanding of the world. Travel journals are different from blogs because of the platform and method of presentation. The presenting of information on the blogs is different from the travel journal because of the simplified approach employed in the whole process (Kovach and Rosenstiel 167). Blogging and journal preparation are steps vital in storing of information for future reference. The palmer’s travel journal of 1814 -1815 is an example of how effective the journal can be used to store information on various issues in the society with the main focus being on the nature and occurrences during the time. Travel journals offer better and personalized information on the adventure with the main focus being on the personal objective of the travels. The success of travel journal depends on the author's ability to develop and choose the necessary issues in the travel. The success of the travel journals and blogs will still depend on the traveler and his focus. Travel blogs and travel journals can be used academically with a high degree of success will be achievable through digitization and the development of the online travel blogs (Benioff). The creation of travel journal employs the use of accuracy in reporting as well as developing the entertaining storyline that facilitates the development of interest in the adventure. The adventures of people across the world could be entertaining if presented in the first person format such as in diaries. In view of this fact, travel journals offer the platform for first person presentation of the occurrence. These journals can be viewed as part of academic sources if the travel can be verified. The travel recorded in around the world in 80 days can be entertaining if presented in the travel journal format which allows for day to day presentation of the adventure leading to a better understanding of the travels. The success of the travels and recording of events is made possible when the travel journals are written. However, several challenges exist in the whole process of data collection during travel. Most travelers do not record the daily occurrence and may record them after a week or so making the loose the necessary information. Travel journals are vital only when they are accurate information about the travel, but if the accuracy is not guaranteed they miss the vital aspect to which they are made. The success of the whole journal process is tied to the work of the author and not any other writing as such it should be precise and accurate to ensure that it is successful understanding. Travel journals have been used in the past as information past, but the current situation does not consider them as part of academic source due to the nature of the current academic standard. Blogs are considered personal and, therefore, may not be considered part of the academic sources. Blogs can be used to present personal information as well as academic information, but the level information sharing may be substantially reduced in the process. The success of the blogs can be achieved by acceptance and technological changes. The digitization of the travel journals has allowed the acceptance of travel blogs. Travel blogs are vital in the current online usage in academic documentation. Current online platform and study make Blog better for the online learners. The success of the blogs will depend on the network and the support given onto the blog. Online access of the information depends on the power of the platforms of information sharing. The information on the blog can be accessed faster and are better placed in the learning process. The travel journals and blogs are important in journalism and history because of dissemination of information. The success of the articles written by travelers is based on the success of information sharing and storing. The success of the blogs and journals is still in under research based on the various issues affecting the creation of the travel journals and blogs. The blogs offer a chance of writers to share with insight the predicament and the success of the whole process. However, in the current set up travel blogs are the way forward because of the ever increasing use of online tools in the society. Blogs are currently the platform doe sharing of thoughts and opinions. Despite their usage, in information sharing, blogs are not considered as academic source and therefore cannot be cited as part of academic documents. Printed travel journals are viewed as books therefore can be cited as sources of information (Benioff 90). Travel journals written in the 18th and 19th centuries have been considered as the best source of information for the social issues of the era. The social issues of the era can be seen in every travel journal. Issues such as social injustice and insecurity were illustrated in the journal using the personal experience. However, the blogs are the new platform for sharing travel information. The success of travel journal depends on the ability to present information with a personal touch. The success of the journal in the future depends on the acceptance of the new platforms of communication. Reference Allan, Stuart. Journalism: Critical Issues. london: McGraw-Hill International, 2005. Benioff, Marc. "Welcome to the social media revolution." 12 May 2012. BBC News. 24 October 2012 . Berry, David. Journalism, Ethics and Society. London: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, 2008. Beverly, Macy and Teri Thomson. The Power of Real Time Social Media Marketing:How to Attract and Retain Customers. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2011. Hirst, Martin and Roger Patching. Journalism ethics: arguments & cases. Oxford: Oxford University press, 2008. Kovach, Bill and Tom Rosenstiel. The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know And the Public Should Expect. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007. Read More