- On the Move Pages
- Cafe and Market Pages
- Coast and Seaside Pages
- Mountains and Nature Pages
- City and Architecture Pages
- Keepsakes and Letters Pages
- Background Papers
- Lined Writing Pages
- Frequently Asked Questions
A travel junk journal works best when each page holds one moment instead of a whole trip at once: the train ticket, the cafe table, the one postcard you actually bought. This kit gives you 25 scene pages built around different places and small trip moments, 5 seamless background papers for pockets and covers, and 6 lined writing pages for the notes that belong next to the pictures.
Print the set on heavyweight paper, at least 170gsm if your printer takes it, so paint-like colour does not show through when you glue photos or tickets on the back. Use the best photo setting your printer offers and trim each page to your journal size before gluing anything in. The sheets print full colour and edge to edge, ready to cut, fold and paste straight into a travel album.
Using these images: free for personal projects such as printing, coloring, cards, journals and gifts. Handmade items that include them may be sold up to 30 pieces per design. More than that is commercial use and is not permitted, and neither is selling or sharing the images themselves or passing them off as your own. Please ask before any other use.
On the Move Pages
Rail travel gets its own page: a folded paper ticket, a stamped boarding pass and a strip of landscape glimpsed through a window sit together on painted tracks.
Tape a real boarding pass stub to this one, or write the flight number and gate yourself if you kept no paper. A luggage tag glued at the corner holds the destination name in your own handwriting, which reads better years later than any printed label.
Pair this one with the Stripes And Stitching background from this set: cut the map page into a rough circle and mount it onto a square of the striped paper for a postcard look.
A dotted line, a compass rose and a small car sit over the painted route, leaving room to mark the towns passed through that day.
a worn bus ticket, a torn corner of a city map and a small coin sit over a painted cobbled street, enough detail for one unglamorous but real leg of the journey.
Cafe and Market Pages
The usual mistake on a cafe page is cramming in every napkin and sugar packet from the trip. Keep just one receipt, one cup and one small pastry, and let the painted table do the rest of the talking.
Read more ideas for this setting in 12 Watercolor Parisian Building Paintings That Belong in a Travel Journal.
stacked crates of fruit, a bunch of tied flowers and a hand written chalkboard price sign fill this stall, with a woven basket tucked at the front edge.
Glue a real gelato napkin or wrapper here if you kept one, tucked along the bottom edge under a strip of washi tape.
Painted tubs of gelato in soft colours line the shop window, with a hand written flavour sign and a small outdoor table beside the door.
Write the smells and sounds of the market here rather than what you bought: grilled skewers, a drum beat, paper lanterns swaying. Pair this page with the Scattered Postcards background to carry the warm colour across the spread.
Coast and Seaside Pages
a wire postcard rack filled with painted cards, a striped beach towel and a small ice cream cone sit along a sunny seafront promenade.
Good for the journal keeper in the family who loves a quiet coastal evening rather than a crowded beach day. A single lighthouse, two small fishing boats and a coil of rope sit along the shoreline for her to glue a tide chart or ferry ticket beside.
a scatter of shells, a starfish and a small glass jar of sand sit on painted driftwood, a page built for the shells actually gathered on the walk back from the water.
What question to ask yourself on this page: what sound comes back first when you think of that pier, the arcade bells or the gulls overhead.
Write the answer along the bottom edge, under the painted string of fairy lights that frames the arcade front and a line of striped deck chairs.
Mountains and Nature Pages
a wooden window frame looks out over painted pine trees and distant peaks, with a mug of tea and a pair of binoculars resting on the sill.
The usual mistake here is listing every trail you ever hoped to walk. Pick the one you actually finished, and let the signpost carry just that name and distance.
A worn wooden signpost, a walking stick and a small trail map sit together against a painted hillside of wildflowers and scattered rock.
a spread picnic blanket holds a loaf of bread, a wedge of cheese and a small bunch of wildflowers, set against a painted meadow and far off mountain ridge.
Place this page across from the Night Market Lanterns page in your journal and the two warm light sources, fire and lantern, echo each other nicely across the spread.
A small tent, a crackling painted campfire and a trail of sparks rise toward a sky dotted with stars.
City and Architecture Pages
a brass luggage cart, a bellhop’s cap and a bouquet on the front desk sit inside a painted marble lobby with a sweeping staircase behind.
Five minute version of this page: skip the candles and the floor tiles, keep only the stained glass window and one lit taper, then add the detail back in later if there is time.
a tall stained glass window glows above a row of lit prayer candles and a stone archway, with a painted checkerboard floor stretching beneath.
a cluttered balcony table holds a glass of wine and a small telescope, looking out over a painted skyline of rooftops and chimney pots at dusk.
See 15 Watercolor Japanese Street Scene Paintings Full of Lanterns and Cherry Blossoms for a different take on the same quiet alley idea if your trip leaned east rather than west.
Painted wooden shutters, a hanging plant pot and a bicycle leaned against the wall fill a narrow alley lit by one hanging lamp.
a shelf of small painted souvenirs, a snow globe, a tiny flag and a postcard stand, sits in a cramped shop front with string lights overhead.
Keepsakes and Letters Pages
This page is built for a window: cut a flap in the paper passport cover so it opens to reveal a boarding pass glued underneath, a small fold-out moment on an otherwise flat page.
A worn passport, a boarding pass and a strip of small flag stickers lie across a painted wooden desk.
Write this one as an actual letter home, even if nobody ever reads it but you: start with where you are sitting right now and what you can hear. A half written postcard and a stamp rest on painted lined paper, ready for the rest of your own handwriting.
tea-stain the edges of this page before gluing in a real pressed flower under a small square of wax paper, so the paper itself looks as travelled as the flower does.
Good for the traveller in the family who keeps every coin from every country out of habit rather than plan. A small coin purse, a folded banknote and a currency exchange receipt sit together, ready for the real coins to be taped on top.
Background Papers
a leather luggage tag, an old fashioned hotel room key and a folded hotel receipt lie over a painted suitcase lid, closing out the keepsakes section of the kit.
Small vintage postage stamps in dusty rose and sage repeat edge to edge. Use it as a pocket lining behind the Postcard Home Letter page, a cover wrap for the whole journal, or a mat behind a travel photo.
Overlapping postcard shapes scatter across the page in a loose repeat. Good under a trip photo, as the inside cover of the journal, or cut into strips for a pocket edge on the Souvenir Shop Shelf page.
Rows of small ticket stub shapes repeat in a quiet grid. Use it behind a photo of a train or bus, as a pocket lining for loose tickets, or as endpapers for the whole kit.
Narrow ticking stripes run the length of the page with a thin stitched line through the centre of each band. Works as a cover wrap, a mat for the Road Trip Map page, or a pocket lining that reads as luggage canvas.
Lined Writing Pages
Small round travel stickers, the kind once pasted onto steamer trunks, repeat in a loose scatter. Use it as a cover, a pocket for the Currency and Coin Collection page, or a mat behind a departure photo.
A thin border of small suitcases and luggage tags frames ruled lines down one side. Use it for a day by day itinerary, a packing list, or the names of everyone you travelled with and why each one came along.
Corner sprays of small stamps and envelopes frame the ruled lines. Write the addresses of people you wish you had sent a postcard to, a draft letter to next year’s trip, or the full address of the place you most want to go back to.
A band of small fork and spoon motifs runs down the left edge beside the ruled lines. Write a menu of every meal worth remembering, a recipe you want to try to recreate at home, or a list of foods to order next time.
A light frame of tiny map pins and dotted routes surrounds the ruled lines. Write a list of every place visited in order, a short letter to next year about where to go next, or directions back to your favourite corner of the trip.
A scattered border of small shells and starfish lines the bottom edge beneath the ruled lines. Write a packing list for the next coastal trip, a note about the best beach of the whole journey, or a tide of small memories from one afternoon.
What to Do Next
Print the full set, trim it to your journal size, and start with whichever page matches the trip freshest in your memory, the rest will fill in around it. For more ideas on the junk journal format itself, see Junk Journaling: The Complete Beginner to Advanced Handbook.
Frequently Asked Questions
What paper works best for a travel junk journal kit like this one?
Heavyweight matte paper, 170gsm or higher, prints the colour cleanly and holds up to glue and tape without buckling. Cardstock works too if your printer feeds it. Thin copy paper will wrinkle and show through once you start pasting tickets and photos on the back.
What printer settings give the best colour for these pages?
Choose the highest photo or best quality setting your printer offers, and select the matte or heavyweight paper type if that option exists. This keeps the soft watercolour washes from printing too light or streaky, especially on the seamless background pages where even colour across the whole sheet matters most.
What size should I print these pages for my journal?
Print at standard letter or A4 size and trim down to match your journal, or use your printer’s scale to fit setting to shrink pages for a smaller travel notebook. Keep every page the same trimmed size so the kit sits flush when glued or bound together.
Can I glue real tickets and photos directly onto these pages?
Yes, a plain glue stick or a thin layer of craft glue holds paper tickets, receipts and photos well on the heavyweight stock. For anything bulkier, like a fabric tag or a thick pressed flower, add a small strip of washi tape or a fold of paper to make a shallow pocket instead.
What should I colour or write first on each page?
Start with the lined writing pages since they need no extra decorating, just your own handwriting between the ruled lines. Move to the scene pages next, adding real tickets or photos where each one suggests it, and save the background papers for cutting into pockets and covers last.