Handmade Travel Guide — Bangkok & Samet Island

At some point I began making handmade travel booklets for my trips, and before I knew it, I had created quite a number of them. The quality doesn’t necessarily “upgrade” every year in terms of technique or content, but in my own way, I enjoy turning my anticipation for the upcoming journey into words and pages as I prepare.

This trip was to Bangkok — a city I’ve visited many times — but with one difference: we would also be going to the resort beach of Koh Samet. With that in mind, I made the cover from PET plastic cut from an A4 clear file. It holds up reasonably well even in the rain, and best of all, I can slip in the free map from the airport so I can check it without even opening the booklet.

Another small improvement this time was switching from staples to thread binding. It’s a personal preference — I wanted to be able to open the booklet as close to the edge as possible. The contents are personal, so I won’t publish everything here, but I’ve included a few photos for those who might be curious. Unlike commercial guidebooks, it may lack accuracy in some areas — but the ways to enjoy a trip are infinite, and as long as it fits us, that’s what matters.

The memo pages are essential in a handmade travel booklet. The way I use them most often is by asking the person sitting next to me at a restaurant to write the name of their dish in the local language — then later, I simply point to that word when ordering at another place.

For the weekend market — an essential part of any Thailand trip — I always bring copied maps. The place is so huge that I need them to remember which shops I want to revisit and to keep track of where I am.

Maps are absolutely necessary, so I gather them from free distribution sites or cut and paste pieces from maps I’ve bought before.

The travel info and packing list aren’t very useful once I’m actually on-site, but I include them anyway as fundamental reference material.

And once we arrive, one of the first things I always do at the airport is pick up a map at the information desk. If I slip it into the back of the clear cover, I can check it instantly — which is incredibly convenient. If it includes street names in the local language, it’s even better for showing directions to a taxi driver.