I was introduced to the wonderful world of scrapbooking when I was a young teenager, thanks to some amazing youth leaders. I loved going to the craft store with my mom and purchasing cute paper, buttons, cut-outs, and knick-knacks to cutesy-up my pages. I would spend hours creating attractive layouts, filled with pictures of my family, friends, adventures and travels. I loved sharing my creations with anyone who would pay attention to me, being able to relive exciting memories and plan for future ones. As I got older and my free time all but disappeared, I had to get a little more creative with how I was going to keep track of my travel memories. I struggle with keeping a travel journal and still haven’t figured out how to coerce a camera crew to follow me around for free, so I’ve had to figure out a few different methods for preserving those precious travel memories. As much as I like to think that I’ll remember everything I see, the sensations that I feel, the smells, tastes, and wonderment…it’s just not a reality. I’m human. I forget things.
I have been on some pretty epic adventures like this one, this one, and this one, with more to come, and as a hopeless romantic at heart, I need sure-fire methods to keep my travel memories alive. After a few years of experimenting with various ideas, I’ve found that there isn’t one cookie-cutter, magic method that works for every trip, every adventure, every time. Since every journey is unique, keeping track of those travel memories sometimes require specialized treatment. Here are a few of my favorite ways to keep track of my travel memories and how they’ve blessed my life:
#1: Digital Scrapbooking
This one shouldn’t come as a shocker, seeing as how I love to scrapbook. I started using an online digital scrapbooking company quite a few years ago and haven’t looked back. I travel with a cell phone and digital camera, so why wouldn’t I take advantage of using an app or website that was quick and easy? I can create my own designs, add as many pictures as I want, write as much or as little as I want, organize the books all I want, the list goes on and on. Quick weekend trip? I can make a small 10-page book. 2-month long move overseas? Hardbound mega book that lives on my coffee table. The possibilities are endless. And the best part? Since most digital scrapbooking platforms like Shutterfly are online, I can edit, create, and order from anywhere I can get internet access!
#2: Printing Pictures
The online digital scrapbooking service I use often offers free picture printing for up to 101 prints. Um, yes please! I have a bulletin board above my desk at work that I will pin some of my favorite pictures to, reminding me of the fun times I’ve had and that adventures are yet to come. And when I let my niblings look at my pictures, I can rest assured that the copies they’re holding aren’t the only ones floating around…so there’s no need to be picky about fingerprints and smudgies!
#3: Travel Blog
You don’t have to be a professional travel blogger to start an online blog to keep your memories alive. There are so many resources to record your travel memories, making it easy to share with friends and family members across the world. I write myself little notes for later, or utilize the voice memo app on my iPhone and record my thoughts, feelings, and sounds to be transcribed and brought to life later. The best part is you can keep your blog personal, real, and pretty much do anything you want with it. The sky’s the limit!
#4: Crafts
Every now and then I’ll get on a kick and have a “craft-ernoon” session. You know those ridiculous crafts that you see littering your Pinterest feed? Yeah, I’ve tried a few of them. Some work, some don’t, but the point is that they’re fun to make (for the most part), and are a unique way to preserve and display my travel memories. This particular craft was easy to make: take any Mason jar you have lying around the house (mine were covered in glitter), fill it with sand and shells from a beach that you’ve visited, and wrap a picture of you at the beach around the inside. Done!
From left to right:
- Newport Beach, California
- Trunk Bay, St. John, USVI
- Magen’s Bay, St. Thomas, USVI – also decorated with a bracelet that says “St. Thomas, USVI”
#5: Smashbooks
Thanks again to Pinterest for introducing me to the wonder of Smashbooks. A Smashbook is basically a blank journal that you paste photos, tickets, bottle caps, foreign currency, or anything else you might collect from a trip. There’s no real order to the Smashbook and it can look a mess at times. Think of it like a bullet-journal where you quickly jot things down, smash pieces of stuff into it, and doesn’t require a lot of planning. You can either use a book you already have, along with some cute tape, paper clips, stickers, etc., or you can purchase a Smashbook kit, complete with everything you’ll need. I purchased one of these before a girl’s trip to San Francisco and it was the best! Not only were we all able to add stuff to the book, but we wrote down quotes we heard, inside jokes, and receipts from our favorite places. The benefit for us was that we could all contribute, not just rely on one person. The downside? We ended up with just one…but it was mine, so yay me!
So those are my favorite ways to preserve travel memories! I know there are endless variations and even some that I have yet to try, but the bottom line is this: preserving travel memories is the best way to keep those adventures alive. There’s nothing better than triggering a happy memory to relive, learn from, or just enjoy revisiting in your restless mind.
How do you preserve your travel memories? Do you enjoy searching through old travel memories?
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