I picked up this vintage travel diary on eBay for about $7. I’m not sure exactly when it would have been manufactured, but it definitely dates from an era when travel was quite a different experience from what it is today!

The diary begins with 17 pages of frontmatter, most of which consists of various travel tips. Things like “The most convenient way to carry money is in the form of travellers’ checks or letters of credit,” and “Ship all heavy baggage to arrive at the steamship piers at least 24 hours before sailing.” Throughout the travel tips, there is an assumption that your journey will be by ship, with sections on “seasickness,” “deck sports,” and how to “avoid professional gamblers.” One is advised to “secure a deck chair when obtaining ticket and arrange that the deck chair is placed on the starboard side of the promenade deck when sailing East, and port side when sailing West. Thus you will be facing South all the time.”

There are far fewer tips on air travel, most of which seem either obvious or irrelevant or laughable today: “Stewardesses are at your service on all Air Lines flights.” “Stop-overs may be made at any scheduled stop provided that reservation has been made accordingly and that stop-over is within time limit of passenger ticket.” “Tickets are normally valid for a period of 4 months after date of issuance.” “Passengers using their own ground transportation to the airport are requested to report to the ticket agent at least 20 minutes before departure time.”

The diary then continues with unlined pages with headings for “Itinerary,” “Going,” “Returning,” “Hotels Stopped At,” “Autographs,” “Incidents,” “Side Trips,” and “Memorandum.” Then you have lined pages headed “Places Visited,” with a sub-head for date and place. At the end of the diary are pages for Cash Accounts and Addresses, and a section of world maps.

This diary is completely unused and in pretty good condition other than a spot of residue from a label. The cover is very thick and padded and the page edges are gilded. My only clue to how old it is comes from the list of National Parks, which includes the dates they were established– the latest one listed was opened in 1944, so the notebook must be from after that date. I imagine some debutante in the late 1940s bringing it on her grand tour of Europe, but then being too busy to write any notes about the dances on board the ship and her trips to Venice and Versailles…