To journal, or not to journal is not the question!  Journaling is of course, every bit as important as adding photos to your page.  For me, the questions are:  Do I want everyone to read my personal thoughts, even the casual viewer?  Do I think my handwriting is "good enough" for the world to see?  If I choose to hand write, will I have enough space to say everything?  And if I write by hand, who'll be my spell-checker?
     Not to fear!  I have answers.  If I have something really personal to say, I hide it.  Or if my handwriting is kind of off one day, I hide the journaling.  Play Peek-a-Boo.  Sometimes I use library pockets, which I love, and journal on the tag.  Or maybe I'll add a pocket and tuck my journaling in it.  Another option is to make a card and attach it to my page, and hide the journaling on the inside.  This is also great if you have a lot to say, so you decide to journal on the computer.  When I'm working in a regular album, I make slits in the page protector to accommodate such hiding places.  If I'm working on a mini-album, I usually print my photos onto white cardstock, so I don't worry about page protectors. 
     Here are a few samples of how I've hidden some journaling.  This is a mini-accordion album that I'm working on.  The purpose of this album is to show how times have changed from when I was young, in the 60's and 70's.  Thinking back, I'm amazed at how different things are, and the more I  think about it, the more difference I see.  Anyway, back to the journaling.
Here's a page that has a small gate card on it.  The style of this album is collage, so I made the background by scanning mementos, and added the ribbon with the " buckle" with a Velcro closure.  I had to go on the Internet for the package front for the sanitary belts.
On another page, I wanted to talk about gum wrapper and pull tab chains.  For this, I made a small envelope and tucked my journaling card inside.  I added letter brads, which I distressed on the envelope flap (Gotta love that jumpsuit, eh?). 
     For this next page, I wanted to write about bottle cap pins.  Since I had the bottle cap paper, it was a no-brainer to just distress it and use it for the background.  I used a real bottle cap for the title, and made a flip up card for the journaling.         
     Probably one of the easiest ways to hide journaling is to "tuck a tag" in or under either a photo or embellishment.  On these examples, I hand wrote everything.  Usually I'm not so adventurous-but I know that if I didn't have examples of my mom's handwriting, which is so very unique, I'd be sad.  So, for my children's sake, I'll use the computer a little less often.