I've been exploring for around 3 years now and a few months ago, I started logging my explorations with quite some detail. I started partly because a friend, The Viscount Andrew Dalton, logged his escapades as well.

Details I include in each log are:

• Date
  
• Time
  
• Additional Explorers
  
• Places Visited
  
• Entry/Exit Points
  
• Reason for Exploring
  
• Anything New There?
  
• Additional Notes
  
• Security Incursions
  
• Caused any Incident Report?
  
• Drinking Beforehand?
  
• Personal Injuries?
  

I know that many explorers document the places they visit by taking pictures and that there are some that post on the Journal thread. But I was wondering if any others log their expeditions. If so, what details do you record?

I'd actually like to read a few of your entries if you'd like to share. If you do post them here you could always leave out the names/ point of entry, etc. But that would be pretty cool to go back and read through them later in life.

I personally like the "anything new or different" idea. I know a few people who frequent one or two local spots and know the places inside and out and it's always interesting to follow them through and see what has changed from day to day, month to month, and year to year.

I keep a list of places I've been, places that are now demolished that I never went too, and places I want to go. I'll record how many times I've been as well but beyond that and photos, I don't usually keep track of much else. Although I guess when I write blog entries I cover the "additional explorer" and "date" points as well. Security incursions are easy enough for me to remember without documenting them but I usually write about those too. Long story short, I tend to document location, date, additional explorers, security incursions and internal/external building details with blog posts.

The logs I've been keeping have location, date, time, purpose, whether I was noticed/caught, people who I was with, POE, and notes. So pretty much the same as you minus a few things. Anything new seems like a good idea though, so I think I'll add that.

On a similar note, do you keep a log on locations? I currently have one that has name of the location, address, Whether it has cameras/guards, security notes, POE, and general notes. I find it's pretty useful, since that way when returning to places, I can remind myself what to watch out for by reading over it.

I do this as well. I have a very well-organized system of keeping track of locations. I create a write-up of each location with details about the history of the location and the exploration itself. Included are important dates, chronological order of uses/names for the building, date of exploring, points of entry, any hindrances like guards or people around, locations of nearby buildings and roads, the weather, etc. I also write a paragraph or so about my personal experience including things like minor injuries, anything odd I saw/heard/smelled, any people I encountered or talked to. I also create a hand-drawn map of each location afterward including each room of the building and what it was likely used for. In a larger building, a school for example, I might not label every single classroom, instead listing an entire classroom wing as "classrooms." But places like the gym, locker rooms, swimming pool, cafeteria, library, etc. will absolutely be on there.

For CatAndTie:



Depending on my mood, the Notes sections gets crazy sometimes.

On a similar note, do you keep a log on locations?

Since I write my logs in excel, I can filter locations, dates, and names. As for history of that particular location, I don't have that ... yet. ;) Currently they are findings that are in the moment, so when I filter a location, I can see when I found a new thing and if that location is gone forever.

chronological order of uses/names for the building

This would be nice to add if I continue to expand my explorations to abandonments.

Well that's certainly a lot more detailed than I'd like to get. I love that you have a section for pre-ing.

That's very in-depth! I hate to think how detailed mine would be if I got around to making one like that.

I like to keep all mine organised, but not that organised...

Posted by phoenix7 Drinking Beforehand?

Yes.

I keep a log of locations with the name, address of building, address of parking, POE's (or potential POE's), description of the size of the site, and any other relevant information (security, ect.)

I really want a mobile app that has a map that I can put my locations in. I'm sure there is one I just haven't bothered to search for it.

I've been using google my maps to keep track of where I've been and the status of buildings (also since I can't access the database here), but I'm not sure how good an idea that is

Posted by mookster I like to keep all mine organised, but not that organised...

Most of the places I go are active, so sometimes, when a little change occurs at a location, I can indicate that in the logs and see how active a place is when I review several entries. Also, the "Anything New" section always the bulk of the entry.

Posted by MeesterPanda I've been using google my maps

You could go real old school and use a large map on a corkboard, jk.

i love this idea! I would love to see more peoples logs especially exact date if it's within Statute of limitations.

I primarily use Google maps. I set up multiple layers (urban/rural/recon) and use a simple code for each location (U1, R2, etc.) along with basic POE/security-related comments. I then add the location code to the metadata of the photos so I can easily find out where a photo was taken (I'm forgetful like that). That way I can avoid putting location info in metadata that might end up on Flickr.

Posted by MeesterPanda I've been using google my maps to keep track of where I've been and the status of buildings (also since I can't access the database here), but I'm not sure how good an idea that is

I used to use Google Maps, and it used to be great.

Then they made an update, and it was fucking TERRIBLE and I stopped using anything, altogether, while floundering around, looking for something usable that would preserve all my existing work. (I update to kml from time to time. It's not a great backup, but it's better than nothing.)

Now, My Maps works pretty well again, and I've happily re-implemented my maps, updated some controls, and have been able to do all sorts of good stuff, again.

Mad props to Google for making their maps app usable, again!

You could go real old school and use a large map on a corkboard

This seems really fun to me for some reason. I can just imagine a giant map with hundreds of red, blue and every other color pins connected with threads and holding hundreds of hand-written location notes to the wall...

As an aside, I once laid a UE log in a chateau in France.

I maintain a log on google calc, also my two friends, who I mainly urbex with, have privileges to it. Just some basic stuff: security, PoE, where the place is, how big it is, how long would it take to explore it, is it interesting and misc notes. The main purpose was to have a quick way to decide where we could go if we all have for ex. 3h to spend.

I hadn't heard about mymaps before, I will definitely check it out.

Drinking Beforehand: Drinking During

Posted by Ansion Drinking Beforehand: Drinking During

Can't forget the very important Drinking Afterward as well. So important that sometimes we forgo exploring completely and skip straight to that critical task!