Whether your goal is relaxation, exploration, or cultural immersion, the act of traveling is about having great and unique, even life-changing, experiences. It’s common for many people to want to preserve memories so they can relive those experiences in the future and share them with others.
The most obvious way to do so is by taking photographs, but perhaps you don’t want to bring a camera where you’re going, or you want some other, more unique ideas for capturing the moments that make a vacation special. Here are a few ideas and how you might go about them:
Writing It Down
Keeping a journal on hand for your vacation is a wise and valuable idea. Even if you don’t fancy yourself a writer, it’s a great way to capture your thoughts and feelings in the moment, to create a vivid memory of the experience while it is happening. We recommend using an actual pen and paper and writing longhand– it’s easier and more practical on a vacation, and using a tactile, organic medium may help you remember the sensory details of your experiences better.
Postcards and Other Memorabilia
Starting a collection of meaningful souvenirs or other items is a great way to build fond memories of vacations. There’s no limit on what you can collect or how. You can collect the same type of souvenir at every place– postcards are great for this– or you can choose individual items at each stop, something that has a unique and special meaning to the location where you collected it.
Scrapbooks
Finally, you can use a scrapbook to put all your memories together and organize them. If you have writing you’ve done, photos you’ve taken, or souvenirs and other mementos you’ve collected that can be pressed onto a page without being damaged, you can scrapbook. It’s up to you how you want to organize it: chronologically, by location, or by theme are just some examples. You can make your scrapbook tell a story, and the story it tells is totally up to you.
If you’re dealing with items that can’t be pressed into a scrapbook, you may want to try a shadow box. These can help you frame and arrange the souvenirs from your vacation in a pleasing way, one that will also function as a decorative item and conversation piece when you’re finished.
We hope you take our suggestions for creating and preserving memories on your next vacation. Your friends at AffordableTours.com are always available to help you plan it when the time is right.