A Complete Guide to Bible Study While You Travel
As a working mama, I travel for my organization... a LOT. I frequently visit schools and districts in my work as a facilitator and project manager for a national nonprofit in the edu-sphere. I am on site an average of six days a month, not including travel time, which means I am gone anywhere from two to twenty days in a single month, depending on the time of year. This means that in order to keep up with any Bible studies or Bible reading plans, I have to take my supplies and materials with me. But traveling with multiple Bibles, concordances, theology books, and a mass of highlighters, journaling supplies and pens just isn't feasible. So over the course of the last two years I have streamlined which supplies are necessary to take with me, and which ones just take up space in my bag.
Whether you travel for work or pleasure, having enough space to pack all of your usual Bible study supplies can be problematic. But along the way, I've learned some tips and tricks to save space and make the most of my Bible study time while I'm traveling. Read on to find my Complete Guide to Bible Study While You Travel.
Bible
1. Choose a small Bible or use just your Bible app.
When I travel, it is difficult to travel with a heavy study Bible. If I am driving to my destination, I will frequently just grab my Sunday morning church bag and take that Bible with me, even though it is a little bit big. But when I am flying to my destination and every ounce matters so I don't go over that 50 pound limit at the airport, I have to be a bit more economical with my suitcase real estate, which means, the lighter the Bible the better! I have numerous Bible apps on my phone, which I love to listen to the audio and use the study tools, but when it comes to actual reading, I am an ink and paper kinda gal. I really just like to hold my Bible in my hands and feel its weight and touch the pages when I read. For that reason, I usually travel with a personal sized NIV Women's Devotional Bible. I've had this particular Bible for about 14 years, so unfortunately it's no longer in print. At 7" X 5" it's small enough to drop down in a purse or backpack when I'm flying.
The Women's Devotional Bible has 260 weekday devotions, 52 weekend devotions, book introductions and a subject index. So while the size is small, it still packs enough extras for some light study. I can listen to the audio of the NIV translation in the You Version Bible app on my phone and still hold my Bible to follow along. I also don't take a lot of notes in this particular Bible so while the cover is a bit worn it's still in really great condition.
Now if you don't need a physical Bible, just use a Bible app on your phone. There are lots of really good apps that you can download for free or cheap that have excellent study resources like dictionaries, maps and concordances. I typically just use apps for all of those tools when I travel, even though I like paper books at home. I also will jot a note in my notebook if there is a concept I want to dive deeper into when I get home to remind myself.
Journal
2. Take a single, thin notebook or journal to jot all your notes and then rewrite them into other notebooks when you get home.
I am the QUEEN of journals and notebooks. I have a notebook, planner, or journal for every aspect of my life. But traveling with a stack of metal spiral notebooks, whether driving or flying, is just silly to me. They are heavy, I can't possibly use every notebook because I am so busy when I am traveling. I learned a long time ago I really was taking so many notebooks with me out of fear that I would want to record a thought or quote and not have the right notebook. Enter Well Watered Women Co.'s Jot it Down Journal. This journal is PERFECT for my traveling notebook. It's thin and light weight, the paper is still thick and smooth so I'm not sacrificing on quality (I'm a bit of a paper snob), and the structure of the page helps me remember just why I am taking each note. I can make a notation on the page to identify where that note should really belong.
Now, when I take notes down in my Jot it Down Journal while I travel, I just spend a few minutes when I get home moving those notes to their appropriate final places. This way, if I have podcast notes, book notes or Bible study notes, each note gets rewritten in its correct notebook for keeps. When I finish filling up a Jot it Down Journal, I feel free to just toss the whole notebook because I have transcribed each note into a keepsake journal already. Once I started this rhythm, I quit worrying about which notebooks to take, which ones to leave and how I was going to physically carry all the notebooks I wanted. I'm free to take along more makeup and less paper.
Bible Journaling
3. Choose just a few stickers or sticky notes that pack easy in your carry on.
One aspect of documenting my faith that I really enjoy is Bible journaling. While I prefer to be creative in the same Bible for a calendar year, I won't carry paints and brushes, stamps and inks, or dozens of sticker packs with me. Instead, I chose a few Erin Condren (affiliate link) sticker pages I really like and are a universal color scheme and I travel with those. I stick to the hexagon stickers, a little bit of coordinating washi and some of the appointment boxes that come in the back of the Erin Condren Life Planner. When I quit carrying a big Bible and a stack of notebooks, I really didn't feel a need to carry a bunch of stickers with me. My small Bible doesn't really have the space and since I rewrite my notes, I usually decorate my pages and use coordinating stickers during the rewriting. But, on occasion I really want to use just a few stickers and carrying one sticker book and a few extra sticker pages really doesn't take up much space. I can quickly stick these stickers down in my carry on or personal item, like a purse or backpack and I hardly know they're there.
I also really like to use sticky notes. I love all kinds of sizes and shapes, especially if they are super colorful or decorated. But a while back I found two sets of sticky notes that are perfect for traveling! I found one set by Prayerful Planner, which I absolutely love. They are really colorful and there are about four different sizes all in one sticky note book. I also use a set I picked up at a Christian book store during one of my travels put out by Illustrated Faith. I like this set too because there is more white space and the notes are generally a bit smaller than the Prayerful Planner set, so I have lots of sizes to choose from. One travel bonus about both of these sets, is that the books that hold the sticky notes are super flat so they pack really easy in a carry on too.
Pens & Highlighters
4. Only carry essential pens and highlighters that pack easy.
Where I can really get myself into trouble is carrying pens and highlighters. If I spend too much time thinking about it, I get really impulsive and start grabbing ALL THE PENS. Again, too many just isn't conducive to a lot of packing and flying. Instead, I keep on Erin Condren Planny Pouch filled with a set of highlighters and a few pens I really enjoy. Included I have:
Micron PN
Micron 03
Tombow Fudenosuke Hard Tip Brush Pen
Pilot Juice .5
Several Crayola Super Tip markers
White out tape
I opt not to take my "good" (more expensive) highlighters with me anymore because I am always losing them. I do take my good pens because honestly I won't write in my Bible in anything else, and I buy all of those different pens in my list by the box on Amazon. I used to carry so many pens and highlighters with me, but then I spent all my time sorting and organizing the supplies that got all mixed up during the travel shuffle. By limiting my travel stash to just a few essentials, I can actually spend my time on Bible study when I travel and I'm short on time, instead of on supply organizing.
Bible Studies
5. Depending on how much you travel, consider using one of your studies as your travel-
The final thing I had to consider was which study I would take with me when I travel. I participate in Bible studies through my church, online, with She Reads Truth, from the Daily Grace Co., and in a small group of other busy mamas. There is absolutely no way I could carry with me all of my different Bible studies. So I opted to use just one of those as my travel Bible study. I am currently still working through an extra one I picked up at my church. Different adult Sunday school classes use different curricula so I just asked for a copy of the other class' book and I take that one with me. This also helps me really look forward to my travel because I can't wait to get back into my study after I have been away from it for a while. This also means that I just work ahead or try and catch up in all my home studies. I try to schedule a bit of time for the extra study on Sunday afternoons while my family travels. And I've learned in the last year or so that if I end up skipping a lesson or a day here or there, the world will go on. The important thing is that I am spending time with God in His Word, not that I check off every box for every study. I'm really learning to give myself grace in this area of my life.
If you don't have extra Bible studies laying around your church or home, I recommend grabbing one from She Reads Truth, Daily Grace Co., Well Watered Women or Women Living Well. All of these sites have excellent studies I've used in the past and I highly recommend them!
So that's it! That's my complete guide to Bible study while you travel. What travel Bible study tips do you have? Head over to @theprayerfulmama on Instagram and leave a comment with your favorite travel Bible study tip!
Joyfully in prayer,
Addie
**Just a note - the products discussed in this blog are not sponsored in any way. Each product was personally bought by the author - I am sharing them just because I like them. The only affiliate link is the Erin Condren link. When you use the link on your first purchase, you will get $10 off your order and so will I, which I really appreciate!