Transcribing My Grandfathers journal.

The point of this Trip Around the World project is to share my Grandfather’s journal. This is a fun project for me. I love history and any time a personal twist can be added all the better.
As best as I can I’ve tried to transcribe this document without editing it. Now I am the last person in a position to complain about spelling and handwriting, but I want you to realize that this project is not as simple as say, compiling Facebook statuses into a journal.

I usually need to go over each entry about three times. The first I just read, then I transcribe, then I wait a few days or hours before comparing my transcription with the journal and hope that I’ve managed to decipher it correctly and often that last read through I can figure out some of the more difficult words.
Reading a person’s handwriting is a skill that improves with practice, but even with practice I still come across things that I have a hard time figuring out. It does not help that I’m not always familiar with the places he is describing and he often uses unfamiliar spellings for many places. The two scanned examples will let you see some of my challenge. You can click on them to see a larger image.
The first is November 26 and the second is the conclusion of December 10 and the start of 11.
Enjoy.

REG

lhg edited and approved.