About

Wayne Wilson – Travel Journal 101

The bulk of my career was spent in the Museum field where, over the years, I did everything from exhibition design and education programming to artifact care and archival storage and retrieval. After more than 10 years as the Executive Director of the Kelowna Museums in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, I was able to spend more time drawing and painting beginning in 2012. I didn’t quit working, however (I’m not a lay-around-the-house kind of guy). Some museum/heritage consulting work and a new role as the Executive Director of the Central Okanagan Land Trust has kept me busy since then.

Something else I’ve been doing since before I left the Museum work is joining various crews to do long distance wilderness canoe trips. We use 26’ voyageur canoes that hold 6 people, and it has been a wonderful set of trips that has taken me down the MacKenzie River in Canada’s Arctic to the Yellowstone River in Montana, USA – the longest un-dammed river in the lower 48 states!

While I’ve been sketching and painting since high school, it wasn’t until I took that first paddle trip in 2011 that I started keeping what you would call a ‘Travel Journal’. Since that 6-week paddle trip down the Columbia River system, I’ve filled lots of journals that recount the places and people and events that made those journeys so compelling.

My passion now is to get YOU doing your own travel journal.

I quickly learned in the Museum/Archives work that the only people who will ever be remembered are those who wrote it down!!! And I want you to be remembered.

So don’t be forgotten to your children and grandchildren and to even the longer history of your community. Set out to let your dependents know something about you – where you travelled, who you met, what gave your life light and meaning, and where were you when that revelation hit you.

Imagine sitting down with a grandchild 20 or 30 years from now and thumbing through your Travel Journal and showing them the quick watercolour sketches and insightful descriptions you wrote. You will inspire them…..I know you will!!!

Now…..that’s a legacy worth leaving, isn’t it?

Have fun with your Travel Journals! Happy sketching and writing and painting!