For those of you stumbling across my site, my name is Brittney Nichols, also known as Brittspickss and the Founder of The Express Travel Journal.
Brittspickss came to life because I can't remember a time when I wasn't obsessed with food. Ever since I was a toddler (and eating other kids leftover cupcakes at birthday parties) food was always on my mind. My parents continue to remind me that I would stop at nothing to ensure my plate was the biggest at every meal.
Now, in my adulthood it has been a way to connect with new people, be the go-to person for recommendations, and currently, has taken me international. Speaking of international, travelling is also something that has always been a big part of me. Since I was in grade ten, I have always been saving for my next big trip. Whether that was with friends, family or travel groups, I knew I wanted to see as much of the world as possible.
But how did this turn into Brittspickss? As mentioned above, I love sharing recommendations and delicious food I find with my community, so it felt right to start a TikTok account. My journey started in Halifax where I lived for seven years during University and had my first full-time job as a Field Marketer at Red Bull. I swear I had tried every restaurant and coffee shop in the city, so I wanted to share my favourites with the community. As I started to see success, and was beginning to grow out of Halifax, I knew I wanted to do something bigger.
During Covid, no one was able to travel (for obvious reasons) and so post-grad my partner and I didn't get to do the classic backpacking experience everyone looks forward to before starting their career. With Halifax getting old, and us looking to start a new chapter we decided to take the money we had been saving and book a one-way trip to Japan.
But, how did this lead to The Express Travel Journal? On every adventure I have gone on, I have kept a journal. In my daily life I could never upkeep this habit, but when I am travelling I like to document my favourite places I visited, ate, stayed and record all the amazing people I met.
I started shopping for my next travel journal to bring on my trip and realized there was nothing in the market that I liked. Blank pages made it too easy for me to ramble on and made it hard for me to find anything when looking back or trying to find recommendations. Additionally, every prompted journal was too scripted and specifically curated for certain situations.
After days of searching I knew I had to make my own. I did some research and asked around, brainstorming with friends that loved to journal and those who never thought of bringing a journal on a trip. Overall, this is what I found; everyone wants to remember their travels and there were four main themes; food, memories, accommodations and people.
For the first two months of my trip, I used the prompts I wanted to have in my travel journal every day, each week making minor adjustments, ensuring that every prompt had a purpose. After lots of love and numerous editions, The Express Travel Journal was brought to life.
This journal is for travellers, made by travellers. The Travel Express Journal allows you to store weeks worth of trips, whether that means 25 individual ones, or one big one. I hope you enjoy this journal as much as I do, and it helps you keep memories close to your heart forever.
Minutes a day, memories for a lifetime. The Travel Express Journal.
PS. Follow along on this blog and my TikTok & Instagram at brittspickss for all food and travel recommendations as I continue my six month backpacking trip across SE Asia!