“My Secret Diary”: How Guillaume Uses PYM as a Private Photo Journal While Visiting 121 Places a Year
When we looked at PYM users who keep a private photo journal and visited the highest number of locations in one year, one story kept standing out. In a single year, Guillaume and his wife lived, worked, and wandered through 121 different locations—without taking a plane, and without ever really “settling” in one place.
This post is part of our complete guide to photo journaling apps.
But what makes his story truly special isn’t just the number of locations. It’s how he chose to remember them. While most people share their lives publicly on social media, Guillaume has been quietly building something else for almost a decade:
“It’s my secret diary.”
This is the story of how Guillaume uses PYM as his private photo journal, what his 121 locations made him realize about his life, and why his friends are secretly thrilled when they make it back into his PYM timeline.
👉 Want a space like this for yourself? Get the PYM private photo journal app (free)
A Quiet Private Photo Journal Ritual in a Loud Social Media World
Guillaume has been using PYM for almost 10 years. In a world where everything is shared instantly, he wanted something different.
“With social media today everything is always shared with everyone, but I felt I wanted something just for myself, a personal space and this ‘secret garden’ feeling is what makes my PYM so important to me.”
PYM isn’t his public feed. It’s his inner space. Every photo he takes inside the app is part of a story only he fully knows. That’s what gives it weight:
“This also makes the people I take pictures with very special people I will remember forever and makes each picture so special.”
Instead of posting for likes, Guillaume documents to remember.
What is a private photo journal?
A private photo journal is a space where you save one honest photo and a few words for yourself – not for social media. In PYM, your private photo journal lives in a calm, private photo diary app that’s for your memories first, with everything private by default.
How Guillaume Uses PYM Daily
For Guillaume, PYM is not about documenting everything. It’s about documenting what matters.
He uses PYM as a:
- Daily ritual – one photo, one moment, one entry in the diary
- Relationship map – the people who appear again and again in his timeline
- Anchor in movement – a way to feel grounded even when his surroundings change every few days
His friends are part of the story, too:
“The people I’ve met once and the ones that appear every week on my PYM photos… they constantly remind me to take our PYM photo of the day together every time we’re around because they love it too.”
What started as a private habit became a shared tradition—without becoming public content.
Why Capturing Moments Matters
Guillaume doesn’t just record where he’s been. He records the journey he’s gone through, emotionally and mentally.
“It reminds me of the journey I’ve been through and all the things I’ve learned and managed to accomplish in the past years.”
His PYM timeline holds everything:
- The peaks
- The quiet days
- The people who passed through for a moment
- The ones who keep showing up
He doesn’t try to hide the “boring” days either.
“It also reminds me that some days are more boring than others but that’s what life is made of…”
That honesty is what makes his private photo journal feel real. It’s not a highlight reel. It’s a life.
The Wake-Up Moment
Guillaume and his wife have been digital nomads for the past 5 years. They knew they moved a lot. But seeing the number “121 locations” inside PYM made everything suddenly clear:
“I hadn’t realized we move that much. Seeing 121 locations makes me understand that we move every 3 days on average and that this year we haven’t stayed in one place for more than two weeks.”
PYM turned what felt like “we’re often on the move” into a concrete picture of their lifestyle.
And it sparked a deeper reflection:
“It got me questioning about why we move so much and got me understanding that our curiosity is what drives us to constantly go to our next destination with the usual huge excitement…”
Curiosity is the engine. PYM is the logbook.
And through that logbook, Guillaume can see how consistent that pattern of movement really is.
Digital Nomads… Without Planes
One detail in Guillaume’s story that quietly says a lot about his values:
“…and all this without taking the plane in the past 6 years.”
No direct flights.
No hopping continents in a few hours.
Instead, they choose slower, land- and sea-based ways of traveling—letting the journey be a meaningful part of the story, not just a bridge between destinations.
Their next plan takes that even further:
“Our next destination: crossing the Atlantic on a sail boat without having ever sailed before. I wonder which destination PYM will tag us on when we’re in the middle of the ocean!”
That one sentence holds everything:
- Curiosity
- Courage
- Adventure
- And a bit of beautiful madness
And of course, PYM will be there, quietly recording the days before departure, the faces they meet, the ports they leave, and the moment when the ocean becomes the whole horizon.
A Diary Built Around People, Not Posts
For Guillaume, PYM isn’t just about places.
It’s deeply about people.
His favourite thing about the app says it all:
“My favorite thing about PYM: taking a PYM photo with people I haven’t seen for years and hearing them say ‘oh you still do that? so cooool!’ and seeing their huge smile to be happy to be part of my diary again!”
That one recurring moment:
- Reuniting with someone after years
- Taking a photo together
- Adding it to the same private photo journal he’s kept for a decade
It turns a simple picture into an emotional thread that runs across years. And the people around him feel it too. They’re not just in a random gallery—they’re part of his personal story.
What PYM Offers to People
PYM is a daily photo journal app that turns one honest photo a day into a private timeline you’ll actually look back on. Guillaume’s story reflects what we see again and again with long-time PYM users:
- They don’t just want another social feed.
- They want a private, meaningful record of their lives.
- They want to see the journey, not just the highlights.
PYM has grown into that space for people who want:
- A private photo journal instead of another social feed
- A way to see their journey over years, not just highlights
- A calm place to save photos that actually mean something
But numbers mean nothing without stories like Guillaume’s—people who quietly build a decade-long diary out of small, consistent moments. If you want to follow some of his public challenges and adventures, you can find him on Instagram at @kokogichallenges.
If you’re curious about the concept, here’s a simple guide on what a photo journal is and why it matters.
Start your own private photo journal with PYM
- Free on iOS & Android
- Private by default – your space, not a social feed
- One photo a day, reminders included
👉 Download the PYM private photo journal app
PYM is rated 4.5★ and used in 163 countries by people who want a private, honest record of their lives.
How to Start Your Own Private Photo Journal
Wondering how to start a private photo journal of your own? You don’t need to be a digital nomad or visit 121 locations a year. You only need three things:
- One photo a day (or whenever it feels right)
PYM nudges you once a day, or you can backfill when life gets busy. - A few words about the moment
Add a short caption so future-you remembers how it really felt. - A place that feels like your “secret garden”
In PYM, everything starts private. You choose what (if anything) to share.
That’s exactly what PYM is designed to be.
- A calm space in a loud online world
- A place where your life is the focus, not your performance
- A timeline that reflects you—your people, your seasons, your questions, your courage
Next time you meet someone you haven’t seen in years…
Next time a “boring” day quietly moves you…
Next time you realize, “This is a moment I don’t want to forget”—
Open PYM.
Take the photo.
Write the line.
Ten years from now, like Guillaume, you might look back and think:
“This isn’t just an app. PYM is my private photo journal — my life saved, held, and remembered.”
Guillaume’s nomadic travels also inspired our complete guide to turning trips into printed books: Create Your Travel Photo Book — one shared album, a travel map on the first page, printed by FUJIFILM.
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