Traveling is one of my greatest passions and if I could do it all the time, I would. But since I can’t, I do everything in my power to capture the memories I have on my trips. Over the years, I’ve tried many different ways to preserve the moments I’ve had while traveling and although I haven’t mastered it fully, these are a few of my favorite ways!
Make A Scrapbook
This is probably the most commonly used method of capturing or preserving your travel memories but it’s still worth a mention. Scrapbooking is great because you can make it the way you want to. It can be hard if you want an elaborate book but you can also make it simple if need be. Personally, I’ve made a scrapbook that took me seven months to complete and another one that took me a week. You can do whatever you want and get as creative as you want to. My favorite scrapbook I’ve made was for my parents. I wanted to give them a thank you gift for all the great adventures they allowed me to go on while studying abroad so for each big event or day, I wrote them a short little note of what I did and why I’m grateful for them and at the end of my study abroad, I put each of the notes on a page surrounded by photos of my travels and adventures. I’m excited to look back on it in the years to come to see just how fun it all was.
Create A Magazine
If you are an expert with Word, this is the one for you! I haven’t tried this one on a “professional” level but I’ve seen Tik Toks and they look amazing. Some people use InDesign and Word to create a magazine full of photos and “articles” describing the adventures they went on. This can be a cute way to collect them and display them on your coffee table as a conversation starter or decor and if you are a writer, it’s a great way to get some writing practice in. I haven’t actually printed one out but I look forward to doing one for my upcoming trip to California!
Collect Postcards
You could go in many different directions with this one but the moral of the story is to get a postcard at every city/country you go to. Some people just stop here and that’s fine! You can put them in a cute box to look at later or collect them to use them as greeting cards for people. That is a fine way to do it but personally, I love to add a challenge and make it a crafty experience. I haven’t made the ultimate project yet because I’m still in the process of collecting the postcards but once I’ve gotten settled into a house, I plan on making an art piece full of the postcards I’ve collected. Sort of like a collage of the places I left my heart kind of thing. On a smaller scale, you can always just have a postcard wall to display your memories.
Keep A Travel Journal
If you love to write or journal, this is the perfect one for you. I am an avid collector of journals but one of my favorite ones is my travel one. You can do a mix of entries from photos, day in the life, favorite restaurants, highs & lows, ticket stubs and so on. Just fill the journal with all your memories and adventures and you are set. You can also decorate the journal in any way that you want. You can also find a good amount of entry inspiration on Pinterest but this could also be a mini scrapbook type of vibe as well.
Start A Blog
Another option if you love to write is to start a blog. It’s way more simple than you think. I created mine with WordPress and pay a monthly fee but you can get a free version or find other website creators for free like Wix. You can write for yourself or possibly gain a following along the way to make it more impactful but either way, it’s a great way to keep track of your memories and to look back on in the years to come. You can also create a Facebook or Instagram for travel posts and each post can be like a blog post full of your favorite moments.
Decorate A Box For Photos
This is a way to make a “time capsule” full of all the photos you took on your trip. From film photos to Iphone photos, this is a great way to not only preserve your travel memories but to make a decorative piece for your home. Grab some paint and a blank cardboard or wooden box from a craft store. You can paint the box with just the name of the country or trip (example: “Spring 2022”) on the side of the box so you can stack them on a shelf for display in your room/house. Another way to go about this is to thrift a suitcase and make it a decorative piece to hold all your photos and mementos from traveling.
Gather A Bowl Of Knick Knacks
When you are traveling, it’s so easy to find a tourist trap of a souvenir shop. At these shops, be sure to get a small (and I mean the smallest thing they sell) knick knack and once you get home, put it in a bowl. As you travel more, the bowl will fill up and be the cutest coffee table piece and conversation starter. Imagine, a bowl full of mini clogs from Amsterdam, a glass piece of candy from Venice, a lucky coin from Ireland and so on. It will fill up before you know it and holds so many memories. This is such a unique way to capture your memories.
Take Some Videos For A Vlog
Taking photos is one way to capture your memories but if you take videos, you can create a compilation video at the end. Whether it be landscape format for Tik Tok or horizontal to make a short film, creating a video is a great way to catch the candid moment while traveling. You can pick good music to go along with it to set the mood. It can be funny or sentimental, whichever way you want to represent the trip you took, this is a great way to capture the memories.
These are only a few ways to capture or preserve your travels so do whatever you wish. Whatever way you choose to capture your travel memories, just be sure to take lots of photos and to take it all in. Traveling is such a special pastime and your trip will be over before you know it.