This project blossomed out of the exchange between bloggers who share one common concern: cancer. If you have read the many beautiful, angry, touching, bitter, honest, caring, inspiring words, then you understand the virtual community that has been built and the value of that support. Unknowingly we have inspired one another with our words and honesty on our blogs. We have found a connection with one another and shared our hearts, our fears, our tears, and our laughter with one another. What if we could take our words, thoughts, even pictures, one step further?

How can we capture this in something other than our archives? How can we get these words into the hands of other people who most need to hear them? Through these questions "traveling hope" has become a reality.

The idea is to send several journal notebooks out to people and have them each enter a journal entry in written words or pictures (or both). Then each journal is sent off to another person and it continues until each journal is full, at which time the journals are returned. The Traveling Hope Project is open to those who have been touched by cancer: survivors, caretakers, family members, medical professionals, etc. The intention is to create a traveling exhibit to bring awareness to cancer. This is intended solely to be used to bring awareness. No one will ever profit financially from this project. The hope is that someday we can have the journals bound and copied and distributed free of charge to cancer patients.

Please consider joining this project. Share your story. Leave a legacy.


1. Email your name and address to me. I am the only person who will ever see your address. Your address will not be published, revealed, sold, or made public in any way.

2. You will receive by postal mail one journal and a stamped return envelope.

3. Complete your journal entry. There is no format to your entry. Your entry may hand-written, you can include a photo or a drawing, you can decorate your page or you can leave it plain. Your imagination is your limit. You may use several pages or just one. If you don't like your hand-writing you can always print it out from a computer and adhere your entry to the page.

4. You decide how much of yourself you want to reveal. Sign your name or use your "pen name;" add a blog address or email if you choose or don't; include your location or simply leave it anonymous. It is completely up to you. Confidentiality will be respected.

5. Return the journal in the envelope provided. Updates will be provided from time to time. As journals come back, pages will be scanned and posted here.


Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can I participate if I am not from the US?

Absolutely! This project is open to anyone who has been touched by cancer. Geography is not a problem. If you are from outside the US, you may have to provide the postage to return the journal.

2. What should I write?

This project hopes to unite those who have been touched by cancer for healing and learning from each other through sharing our experiences. What you write is entirely up to you. I just ask that it come from your heart and be true to who you are and your own personal experience as a patient, caregiver, medical provider, etc. You are basically free to write/draw whatever you desire, provided your entry does not deface or alter the notebook or others' entries.

3. How much time do I have?

Several people have expressed an interest in the project. In order to keep the project moving smoothly, please be sure to place the journal in the mail in one week. You will be notified by email when the journal is being mailed to you. If the timing is not right, we can send it to the next person on the list and come back to you.

4. Do I have to use a special type of pen?

Whatever writing implement you choose should be legible and not cause deface or damage the other entries in the journal.

5. Can I use paint or other art media?

If you are going to use paint or felt marker, to be on the safe side, why don't you complete your entry on a separate piece of paper then mount it to the page in the book using an acid-free/archival-safe glue or tape (you can find this in a scrap booking section of a craft store). Be as creative as you wish, but keep in mind that these books will go through some wear and tear through the mail and with all the handling.

6. Can I add pictures?

Yes! You can add photos or drawings if you wish. Again, be sure to use acid-free/archival-safe materials to mount them into the book.

7. What about my privacy?

The reason why this project is different from other community journal projects is because your privacy is very important. Therefore, you will receive and return the journal to one person. You are not asked to forward it to the next person on the list because no addresses will be released to anyone else. All names and addresses will be kept confidential and will be used solely for this project. Participants have the option of using their real or fictitious name in their entries.

8. What if someone write something inappropriate?

Traveling Hope reserves the right to remove pages or not to post scans it deems inappropriate, racist, pornographic, generally offensive, or illegal.

9. How much space can I use?

Each participant can use the space that is needed to adequately tell his or her story. Just keep in mind that this a community journal and there should plenty of space left for others to be included. One to two pages seems fair, but it is not a hard and fast rule.

10. Are you accepting donations to support this project?

Thank you for a desire to support this project. No donations are being actively sought at this time; however, as time goes on the postage will add up. If you ever want to include a few stamps in the return envelope, it will be a nice surprise.

11. How soon will I get the journal?

When you sign up, I'll give you an idea of when to expect a journal to be mailed. If there are unexpected delays, I'll try to keep in touch with you. Please be patient as this is only a project. I also have a job, a family, and a life that also need care.

12. If you publish this, will we get any royalties?

This project was not started with publishing or financial gain in mind. The whole purpose of this project is to reach out and connect people who have experienced cancer. It is our intention to someday duplicate and bind (is that publishing?) the journals and distribute them to cancer patients at no cost. Hopefully, that will become reality. In order to do that, it may be required to receive a grant or sponsorship to fund the project. At this time, copyrights to material contributed to the Traveling Hope project are retained by the author/creator of the project; however, every contributor will be recognized for his/her contribution. Should the project ever become published, proceeds will be donated to cancer research.


The purpose of Traveling Hope is to create a community journal for those who have been touched by cancer. The original journals may become part of a traveling exhibit to bring awareness to the human side of cancer. It is also the intention of Traveling Hope to copy and bind (is that publishing?) the journals and distribute them to patients at no cost. If you participate in this project and include your name, your name will always be included with your journal entry. You will always receive credit for your work. This is a project of love and will always remain as such. However, the world as it is, forces me to include the following legal notice. Thank you for understanding.

By submitting writings and/or artwork to Traveling Hope, you grant Traveling Hope and its assigns a perpetual, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, distribute, and otherwise exercise all copyright and publicity rights with respect to that submission at its sole discretion, including storing it on Traveling Hope servers and incorporating it in other works in any media now known or later developed including without limitation published books. If you do not wish to grant Traveling Hope these rights, it is suggested that you reconsider submitting writing and/or artwork to this web site or creating a journal entry in one of the journals. Traveling Hope reserves the right to select, edit and arrange submissions, and to remove information from the Traveling Hope web site at any time at its sole discretion. No image from this site may be used for any purpose without expressed written authorization, with the exception of posting an image as a link to this site.