# Do you regret not keeping a journal or diary? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 5, 2016, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regret-not-keeping-a-journal-or-diary/765094 "2016-09-05T12:56:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2016, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regret-not-keeping-a-journal-or-diary/765094/21 "2016-09-13T14:01:35Z")
Who says I don’t? ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regret-not-keeping-a-journal-or-diary/765094/22 "2016-09-13T14:19:31Z")
Not a daily diary type thing, but I have some really off the wall stories I’d like to compile sometime. There have been some real life WTF moments. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regret-not-keeping-a-journal-or-diary/765094/23 "2016-09-13T16:39:38Z")
I kept a journal (guys don’t have “diaries”) during most of my college years. Half-a page every day, always the same length and style (starts with the date). I discovered that I was self-editing and stopped after graduation. I haven’t looked at them since I stopped, and I’m not sure if I want my kids to read them - I know I don’t want to read theirs! I got married shortly after college, so I guess my wife is my journal now. We gave my mother a series of calendars for Christmas each year, where she kept short notes about who visited, doctor appointments, trips and the weather. When she died I asked for the calendars, thinking I could compile the notes and share with my siblings, but it’s a tremendous job. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regret-not-keeping-a-journal-or-diary/765094/24 "2016-09-13T17:55:35Z")
I’ve had a journal since 1995. Wish I’d started sooner, though. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regret-not-keeping-a-journal-or-diary/765094/25 "2016-09-14T23:51:56Z")
I’ve had a journal since 1993, updated sporadically at times. Computers and cloud storage have aided the process greatly. About ten years back I recovered early versions of my journal from a Hypercard stack :eek: and integrated it with the rest of it. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regret-not-keeping-a-journal-or-diary/765094/26 "2016-09-15T00:17:54Z")
No–don’t leave a paper trail. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regret-not-keeping-a-journal-or-diary/765094/27 "2016-09-15T02:31:28Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > I have considered it but I just don’t have the discipline to do it. I have such a bad memory for dates that I often wish I had a way to reference back. . . . Yeah, me too. I kept a vacation diary for one of my best-ever vacations (a week in the Bahamas! Whoo!) and…I’ve never looked at it since. It serves no purpose at all now, and very little purpose then. I take a lot of pictures, and keep them in both physical and digital albums, usually with explanatory file names. (I’m a big fan of self-indexing file names, like “2003-09-18 Carlsbad Caverns.”) My photos are all the “diary” I need. (FWIW, I just took my first-ever selfie today. I’d never indulged in that bit of egoism before.) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regret-not-keeping-a-journal-or-diary/765094/28 "2016-09-15T09:33:02Z")
No. In fact, my sister kept all my old post cards and letters I wrote while traveling, and it is downright embarrassing to look at them when she gets them out. I never take pictures when I travel. I’m just back from five weeks in Africa, and I did not take a single picture. I rely on my memories, which can shift to keep up with my hopes. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regret-not-keeping-a-journal-or-diary/765094/29 "2016-09-17T09:56:09Z")
> [@appleaday](#): > > I’ve kept a journal off and on (more off than on) since even though it could be a bit of a problem if the wrong people got ahold of it! This is exactly why I keep mine. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regret-not-keeping-a-journal-or-diary/765094.md?page=1)