TRAVELING IN STYLE : SIDE TRIPS : Personal History

A trip diary is part souvenir, part ledger--and part autobiography, recording where you’ve been and what you’ve done. For travel diarists who prefer an established diary format, the H. Savinar Luggage Co. makes its own handsome black leather cover to hold the excellent 100-page Preference Travel Log inserts, which include sections for schedules, expenses, lodging and dining notes and telephone numbers. The cost, including log, is $24.95. For a less-structured travel diary, it’s hard to beat the German-made Beinfang’s Note Sketch books (pictured, left) at Flax art supplies stores. These lightweight, wire-bound, 64-page pads come in two sizes, at $5.15 and $7.25 respectively. Sketch a landscape or tape those Paris Opera ticket stubs in the blank area at the top of each page, then jot impressions on the lined spaces below. H. Savinar Luggage Co., 4625 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles; (213) 938-2501. Flax, 10852 Lindbrook Drive, Westwood; (213) 272-5351, and 8801 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Westchester; (310) 641-7995.