Keeping track of sensations, sights, sounds and atmosphere as you go along will help when you write the story later, but taking notes and gathering background materials in the midst of your adventure isn't always convenient. Packing a few key items helps. Use the tape recorder to capture sounds, such as music or a crowded marketplace, that will help you relive the experience later, when you are ready to write about it. If you've got a tough laptop computer, bring that too, but not in place of notebooks. Bring extras of everything and plastic bags to protect your notebooks or to store small items you pick up along the way-such as grass and leaf samples, beer labels and receipts.
Travel reporting is a great training ground for the underrated art of scribbling.
The back of an airplane ticket is the perfect place for a string of adjectives describing the tarmac and fog at the airport. A notation on the back of a receipt for a soda jogged my memory of the vendor who sold it to me. A few words to a song can evoke the smell or atmosphere of the place where you heard it. Keep all your receipts, whether you're intending to use them for reimbursements or not. The names of the places where you stopped can trigger your memory.