Between my dad, Jen, and even our neighbor yesterday, I've dealt with a number of emergency room visits these last three weeks. And it's gotten us thinking about the accessibility of medical information, especially while traveling and during medical emergencies.

So we implemented what we're calling a medical reference document, which basically includes all the important "new patient" paperwork you'd fill out at your first visit with a new doctor.

Avoid annoying paperwork

I had already put together an earlier version of this for my dad, which made it so much easier to check-in to his various doctor offices. Instead of filling out yet another form to verify that everything's up to date, I simply print it off ahead of time and hand back the clipboard with the attachment.

Not only does this save a ton of time and effort (and hand cramps), but it also reduces transcription mistakes when someone can't read my handwriting as I try in vain to squeeze everything onto a blank line that's entirely too short for the information requested. Office staff are initially confused, but often thank me for making their transcription task so much easier.

So that's a handy enough reason to spend the 15 minutes to pull this together.

When an emergency happens

But it was the possibility of dealing with an emergency—especially while traveling—that made us decide we should both have all of our relevant medical information quickly and easily available in a single updated document.

After all, it's hard to remember lots of details when you suddenly find yourself in a stressful moment of crisis, and especially so if there's any sort of language barrier at play.

By having it all in writing, it's much easier to share important information quickly, and it wouldn't take much to use Google Translate to translate it into the local language prior to a trip, too.

Where we keep it

We are now keeping these documents saved in the cloud (which we can access from anywhere, even without our phones), and saved directly on both of our phones (so that we have offline copies available, too).

Anytime something needs to be updated—we get a new prescription for instance—we update it, share it with each other, and save copies of the new version to all the places.

What's on the doc?

So, what information do we include? Well, basically anything that we'd want medical or emergency personnel to know in a critical situation.

So obviously that's the basics, like general demographic and contact information, who to contact in an emergency, allergies, prescriptions, immunizations, major health illnesses, our doctor and other specialists, etc. We also include insurance and pharmacy information, though that's likely only relevant in-country. We even include surgical and family histories, and some other info we might need when filling out medical forms.

If you have unique conditions or things you'd someone to know in an emergency (such as the details about an implanted medical device, for instance), you should definitely customize it for your own needs. If you have any suggestions for something I've missed, please let me know!

Here's a template to get your started

That said, here's a general template you can start with. This is one of those things that is incredibly easy to put off doing, only to regret not having it later. But once you get it all pulled together, it's pretty easy to keep it updated, and you'll have it in case you ever need it.

PDF sample

Here's the template in pdf format, which is the file format we export to our phones.

Your_Full_Name_-_Medical_Reference.pdf

Plain text template

And here's a plain text version that you can edit:

Your Full Name - Medical Reference.txt

Notion template

And if you use Notion, you can one-click duplicate this to your account at this link.

Since we already use Notion for managing much of our lives, we keep the "source" files there, then just export and save the copies to our icloud drive, and then to both of our phones.

tl;dr: I’ve started keeping track of my travels in an interconnected system of notes. This helps me remember more, and to better connect the dots. Here’s a bit more on what that looks like and why I’m trying this.

Update: I've added a bit to this idea. You can read my additions and why I've enjoyed this journaling approach at Digital Gardening for Travel.

Ephemeral Consumption

So much of our daily lives revolves around what I call ephemeral consumption. We endlessly scroll social media, veg out in the front of the tv, and plow through books and documentaries. And by doing so, we ensure that much of the value of what we consume is fleeting. We quickly forget things and don’t get to make proper use of them in the future. Memory is a choice, and too often we don’t proactively choose to remember very much.

There is another approach. It involves some work, but its value compounds over time, making the endeavor more and more useful over time. It is the simple effort of taking some notes about what we learn, and linking those ideas together in an interconnected system.

I’ve started to deploy this strategy in various parts of my life, including in my travel. I spend an outsized portion of my free time and money on travel experiences, so it just makes sense to try to get as much lasting value out of those expenditures as possible.

Some call a system like this a “digital garden” (see below for some introductory links to the concept), though I named my own public version my "Ideas Notebook" (edit: I've since moved this to rscottjon.es and renamed it Public Notes) You might also think of it as a sort of personal wikipedia.

The beauty of this approach is that my notes are not static files I never look back on again, but are instead linked to and updated over time as I learn new things or gain new insights. Because they are interconnected, it’s easy to build upon my earlier knowledge and experiences, while making new mental connections. This helps shift tourism from passive consumption to active learning. It's easy to start connecting the dots between places I visit and the things I learn about. And because they’re written down, I can easily revisit them whenever I’d like. Simply put, I don’t forget what I had learned on that trip (or at minimum, much less of it).

What does this look like for travel?

I’m still in the “test drive” phase of using this, so I expect ongoing changes and improvements. Initially, I’ve divided my notes into three main buckets, though rich links connect all these notes no matter where they reside.

Places

First, there are places. Each place that I visit gets its own separate note. This note has some basic information, including when I visited, and some basic journaling about the experience I had there.

If there are interesting facts I learned, or insights I gained, I’ll keep track of them here too. I also add questions raised or things I might want to follow up on. The intent here isn’t to write a full report on the place, as much as it is to capture things that are interesting to me personally.

Here an example from a recent stop at Homestead National Historical Park in Nebraska.

Trips

Second, there are trips. Again, each trip gets its own separate note. This note contains both some basic information (similar to my trip dashboard) about when I went, with whom, and links to the specific places (see above) that I visited.

In addition, the trip note serves as home for my broader travel journaling. Specific experiences are already captured in the places notes, so the journaling here focuses more on the overall trip than on specific destinations.

Themes

Finally, there are themes. This is the most fluid and flexible part of the system. It’s also where the system really shines. I’ll write a theme note when a connection between multiple places strikes me as interesting. Themes help connect ideas, or observations, places, experiences, or even trips themselves.

Theme topics can be broad or specific, so there’s quite a bit of leeway here. One theme might focus on the decline of rural America, another might be observations on the migration of former slaves after the Civil War. Another might be small town ballparks, or roadside attractions along Route 66, or how local craft breweries often reclaim historic downtown buildings. Another theme might connect various trips I’ve taken.

Themes are the heart of the system because they foster mental connections, help you see larger trends, understand concepts better, and possibly even gain insights into yourself. They connect things you already know with the new things you're learning, and they allow you to update your understanding of a topic.

Themes also allow you to add some notes before your trip. If you're doing any research in preparation for upcoming travel, you can capture some of the ideas you encounter in theme notes. For instance, I just started reading a book on Icelandic culture in preparation for an upcoming trip to Iceland. If there are interesting topics I might want to explore more, I can add a theme note for it. Then, when I'm journaling about the trip itself and run across that idea again, I can easily link it to the theme note I had started prior to traveling.

In the screenshot above, you’ll notice several links that point to various theme notes. Here’s a graph view of what that looks like for this specific note:

Initially, themes will be a bit sparse until I visit more places and generate other notes. As my base of notes expands, each of these nodes will connect to multiple places, trips, and even other themes. But even after one trip, I’ve started to see the potential of thematically connecting my visits together.

Stories

Since first publishing this, I've also added another note type: Stories:

Story notes are focused on specific narratives you want to have as separate notes^[1]. For instance, many of my trips often include some interesting story about something that happened. Having that as a separate note makes it more accessible to relive without having to dig through other trip notes. Want to quickly pull up the story about the time you lost your hiking boot off the cliff? Well, there's a note for that.

A side benefit of this approach is that you can reference the general story in the main trip narrative without getting bogged down in all of the details you want to remember in the future; those necessary (but sometimes tedious) details can simply live in the more comprehensive story note instead.

Other benefits

This approach offers three main benefits.

First, I notice that I pay closer attention to where I’m at, and process what I learn a bit more fully. Even in places where “learning” isn’t the primary goal, such as a brewery, I find myself interacting with the place in a deeper way. It’s like my brain knows that I’ll need to write a note about it, so it’s a bit more diligent and more present in the moment.

I’ve also noticed, especially in museum-like settings, that I find myself being more curious. Having a specific place to mark down a few of the “hmm, I wonder” thoughts makes it easier to have them.

Lastly, I definitely remember more. The “Generation Effect,” which posits that you remember things better if you rewrite them in your own wording, may play a role in this. But it may also be because I find myself revisiting older notes, updating them when I come into contact with new-but-related observations or experiences. So I'm just being reminded of the content more regularly than before.

I’m still early into testing this note taking journaling strategy, but I’m pretty excited about it so far. I’ll report back after more testing.

If you're interested in exploring this idea more, shoot me an email. If you're looking to experiment a bit, check out the free Obsidian app, which is what I use to capture these notes.

If you're interested in how I came across this idea, read this. If you want to learn more about the idea of digital gardening, I recommend this post and this essay.

Quick update: I've been using this approach for several trips now, and I'm quite happy with the results. I've also been experimenting with different workflows to make this more detailed journaling system easier to manage during and after a trip.

I'll write a more comprehensive review and update this post once I'm done experimenting. If you're considering adopting this approach, just jump in and give it a go! Oh, and let me know, too.

Here's an update: Digital Gardening for Travel

This post outlines the username, email, and password "code" system that my wife and I use to manage accounts that we both need easy access to.

"Which login do we use for Netflix??”

If you’ve had this convo with your partner before, then this post will be useful.

Here is how Jen & I have solved the problem of accounts/services that have a single login but that we both need to access routinely.

First, we have a shared email alias that forwards incoming messages to both of our main inboxes. Our alias happens to be tied to a website we have together, but you could just as easily set it up using a free email account and filtering rules too. 

We use this single email address as the main sign-up address for any account that’s shared: Netflix, Hotels.com, Verizon, etc. So any account information gets sent to both our email accounts. We also have a standard—and unusual—username that we use for any sites that require one.

Our password code system

We use a “code” system for the account passwords. This coding system is both easy-to-remember AND generates a unique password for each account. So if your account gets hacked, they only gain access to that one single password (don’t re-use one password at multiple sites!).

The password is comprised of four things: numbers, symbols, lowercase letters, and uppercase letters—and should be at least 8 characters long. This seems to satisfy the password requirements of most sites.

You then construct a “code” that is based on the name of the website you’re logging into, plus a standard set of symbols and numbers. So while the letters change based on the website, the rest of the password doesn’t. You just need to remember the “formula” for the password code to remember an unlimited number of unique passwords, each geared towards a different site.

So if your password code is:

The first two letters of the website name in uppercase + the number “707” + two “$” symbols + the third and fourth letters of the website name in lowercase.

Then your Netflix password would be: NE707$$tf

And your Hotels.com password would be: HO707$$te

And your Verizon password would be: VE707$$ri

See? All you have to do is remember the ONE password code, which in turn gives you a key for each of the unique passwords. There are countless ways to set this up, using different symbols, more letters or numbers, a different order, etc.

However, here are a few recommendations that will help you meet more site password requirements:

• Start with a letter
• Don’t use 4 or more letters of the site name in a row
• Don’t repeat letters or numbers more than 3 times in a row
• Don’t use “1234” or “password” in the code

Now, you may run across some sites that have odd username or password requirements. So we have a couple alternative password codes and alternative usernames that we can use if ours is already taken. 

While we also have all of our login information saved at home, we usually don’t need to look it up. If the normal password code doesn’t work, we simply try the alternative instead.

If you're not keen on using a system like this, you can also use a password app. Our preference is to be able to remember our passwords ourselves and make them easily enterable, however, so we prefer this coding system to a separate app.

Use a free phone number

So what about sharing a phone number for things like store rewards cards? Well, we use a free Google Voice number for that, so that we don’t have to remember whose phone number we use at the grocery store versus the pharmacy and so forth. The number just goes to voicemail, as we don’t want to receive any actual calls there. It's a real number though, so it's accessible if we need it to be.

Google Voice is in the process of ending text message forwarding, but we use a workaround for receiving those important text message login verification codes. It’s a bit trickier, but you can set up message forwarding to your gmail account, and then create a filter rule there that passes the messages along to your shared email address.

So that’s it, that’s the system we use. For any shared account, we know the username, email address, password, and/or phone number we need. It takes a few minutes to set up, but it sure makes things easier in the future. If you have any related tips, or if this type of system has worked for you, let me know.

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This post explains how I organize my From Idea to Adventure trip planning database in Notion. Below, I give you a video tour of my own system, and a short tutorial video of how to set up your own. I am planning on releasing a template version of my system soon at some point (sorry!), as well as a free series of emails to walk you through setting up and using your own version. Hop on the email list for those (see subscribe form below).

If you use a Travel Dashboard like me, you probably use some digital tool to chart out your trips. Not just when you might take them, but your itinerary, who is joining you, and all the other relevant details, too.

I use an app called Notion for this. The free version is sufficient, it works across devices, and also allows for easy collaboration. Notion can be hard to describe; it’s sort of a cross between a note-taking app, a nested database system, and a personal wiki. Because it’s so powerful, it can be a bit intimidating at first. But it's actually pretty easy to use.

My wife and I chose Notion for our Travel Dashboard because it was easy to bring together all of our travel related information: the seasonal trip brainstorming pages (since replaced by the system below), our quests, our Adventure Maps and Adventure Files, our travel budget and trip costs, Life Block Planning, as well as other planning and reference docs. It’s all in one single place, accessible to both of us.

Since then, I’ve rethought how we do our trip planning and built my own travel calendar database instead. It may sound complicated—ugh, a “database” sounds boring and tedious, right?—but it really does make things so, so much easier.

From trip idea to upcoming adventure

The best part of our From Idea to Adventure system is that it does most of the work for you.

You enter some basic trip ideas, whether they’re shorter day trips or longer international adventures, and add a few tags to note which season it works in and whether it’s a short or longer trip. Then, when you run across something useful for that trip, like a blog post, you simply add it to the trip idea using Notion’s simple web clipper. Just a couple clicks saves the page right to your trip.

We add all of our available weekends to the calendar, so we know when we're free. Then, it's just a matter of choosing which trip ideas to add to which free periods.

This is where the system really shines. Because this whole thing is a database, you can easily use custom views to show you just the relevant entries.

For instance, to plan a trip for the July 4th holiday weekend, I simply select the “Summer long weekend trip ideas” database view I set up, and bam, there’s a list of our existing destination ideas.

After choosing an idea, I just add the dates to the trip entry, and it now shows up as an upcoming trip (as opposed to just being an idea we saved). Now that it’s an upcoming trip, I add a few status tags (like “make reservations” or “invite”) so we can see what still needs to be done at a quick glance. One more click loads my long weekend road trip template, which includes all the sections I use, including a default packing list, other more detailed tasks (like turn down the thermostat when we leave), and a dedicated place to upload digital tickets and reservation confirmations.

Each of these trip entries can have countless things nested within it. You could have table databases to lay out your daily itinerary and keep track of expenses, and a place to embed a custom road trip map if you make one. You could have sub-pages dedicated to your travel journaling. Or it could just be a mostly blank page with a few quick notes. It’s all up to you, how detailed you want to be, and what the specific trip requires.

Because each of these trip entries are in this larger database, you can also have custom views for various statuses. I have one view that shows me all the trips where I still need to make reservations, for instance. We have another custom view set up to show us all the long weekends we still have available to plan a trip. We have other views to show us which group trips we’ve talked to friends about, but haven’t quite scheduled yet.

And once the trip dates pass, it automatically moves off the “upcoming trips” view and into the “archive” view, to help keep things tidy and uncluttered. And because we use these trip entries to aggregate all sorts of info about each trip we take—including the final expense tally, links to our photo albums from the trip, our travel journals, and so forth—each of these entries becomes its own Trip Dashboard. And so we also have a view set up to display the trips where we still need to complete these items.

And as you’d expect, having our travel history archived like this is an easy way to implement my Return on Adventure (#BetterROA) system.

A quick tour of my own From Idea to Adventure system

Here is a short, rather informal walk-through of my own system. I've made some additional modifications since then and plan on recording a more detailed screencast in the future.

How to build your own

While I am planning on releasing a template for this entire system—get on the email list for that—you may want to get started building your own right now. So I also recorded an abbreviated tutorial below, which shows you the basics of the main database.

Set up trip templates

Skip the videos, get on the email list instead

If you're not into building your own, don't despair. I'm working on improving and releasing a free template you can steal for yourself. (note: not sure when this will happen)

Hop on my email list below to get notified when it's available.