This diary written by Emily L. Warner Johns documents the places she lived, the different countries she has traveled to, and other personal aspects of her life.

Emily L. Warner Johns lived from 1861 to 1951. Warner Johns married Henry Ward Johns. She was the mother of Mabel M. Johns and Helen Johns Kirkland, a journalist and photographer during the World Wars. Warner Johns traveled with her daughter Helen Johns Kirkland, and her son-in-law, Lucian Swift Kirkland, to the locations described in the diary. Other related members of the family include H. W. Johns, E. L. W. Johns, Emily L. Johns, and Sara L. Chapman. 

The Diary of Emily L. Warner Johns describes her travels around the world from circa 1885 to 1950. She documents her experiences in India, Egypt, Palestine, Alaska, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, China, Italy, Algeria, Norway, Portugal, and various other locations. She also lists the year and the location of where she lives from 1885 to 1941. The dates are listed up until 1950, but the locations are not listed after 1941.Within these entries, she notes when someone has died in that same year. The last entry of the journal is written in 1949 and she includes a list of housekeepers she employed from 1947 to 1949. Accompanying the journal is an essay titled "My Literary Autobiography," written by Mabel M. Johns, Warner Johns' second daughter. There is also a short list of people in the Johns family that include their names, birthdays, their age at their time of death, and their death dates, including Emily L. Warner Johns'.