Thank you everyone for all your support! I love all of your ideas! I was a little worried that you'd think I was paranoid for just not trashing them. I am trying to find a local shredding company - no luck yet - they all seem to only deal with businesses. I've also been looking at shredders (the idea of putting a movie in and doing it makes it seem less painful) but the less expensive shredders (under $200 - and that's way more than I want to pay) all have a 10 minute on/40 minute off cycle (or similar.) I'd be there for years! I live in the coastal hills of California, right next to a state park, so burning them in my (unused for 3 years) fire pit is out of the question during this drought. People do have bonfires on the beach, and I am considering that. I'd like to keep it as personal as possible, and having a bonfire I'd need DH along as a minimum. Hauling all those boxes across the beach doesn't sound like much fun - but dancing around the bonfire does :-) It gets kind of crazy on the beach at the solstice. Another thought is to start tearing them up and putting them in the worm compost - those little guys go through paper fairly quickly. Thanks again - I'll keep you updated!

Patrick Leigh Fermor's journals, turned into books many years after his travels, are magnificent classics. He was a teenager in the early 30s when he walked from the hook of Holland across eastern Europe; two books about that trip were published in his lifetime and the third, put together from his notes, after his death. He also spent much time in Greece when he was older (fought with the partisans there during the war), and wrote a couple of travel books about Greece. Fermor's style and polymathic interests and knowledge make for travel books like nothing you have ever read before. He's been one of my favorite authors for many years. I cannot recommend him highly enough. Rory Stewart has written two terrific travel books also, one about walking across Afghanistan shortly after 9/11 and another about walking through the borderlands of England. Another great writer.

Years ago, someone gave me a hardcover blank “My Garden” journal. It sat there for years and when we moved 5 years ago, I decided to start using it as a record for my new garden. It’s now a hodgepodge of notes from articles/books I’ve read, garden ideas, sketches, things to remember, etc. At the end of each season, I sit down and write my observations from that season. I tell which shrubs I planted, what worked, what didn’t, lessons learned, things to remember for the next year, things I’d like to try, etc. I have to say that I love it because I can look back and see how my garden has evolved and remember small details (like the exact names of plants you purchased and from where) about my garden. At the beginning of each season, I read what I wrote the previous fall and I have a ready made game plan. I love the internet, but there something wonderful about sitting down with a coffee or glass of wine and reading my garden journal. I never have to look around for notes or try to remember where I put things. I do have a small notebook I take with me to talks at my local garden club, but everything else goes into the my journal. If you are an avid gardener, you put your heart and soul into your garden. A journal is a great way to look back (and forward) at all you’ve learned and accomplished. It also reminds you of things you never should do again!

I do journal, in a way. I journal in a planner, usually a Happy Planner mini, which doesn't have much space to write. I write down events, happenings, notes about my health, etc. By using a planner, I'm able to keep track of upcoming appointments and events in one place. Right now, I'm using a MintGreen planner, which I love; it has much more space for writing, and I like the feel of the recycled paper. I wish I could do a real journal like Ali Brown does, and add artwork and photos, but I'm not there yet. A diary and a journal are two different things, or they seem so to me. I never wanted to keep a diary, because it seemed like a place where you would write secrets and your deepest feelings, which is not something I'd want to do. A journal is just a recording of daily, or almost daily events and happening. One thing I like about a journal is that you don't have to write in it every day.