Vacations are a wonderful thing, a time to relax, explore, and enjoy the wonders of the world around you. Once the vacation is over though, it’s back to home and the real world. While cameras are a wonderful invention and taking as many pictures as you can to document the experience is highly recommended, a few months later you’ll look at that picture of a street corner and wonder why that was important to you.
Here are a few ways to be sure to capture every memory, every detail, and all the stories of your vacation so you can remember your adventures long after you return home.
1. There’s an app for that
There are many great apps for sale that will help you document your trip. You can keep track of the places you go with a GPS marker and add pictures, video, and notes to each place. Some apps will automatically document what the weather was like while you were there!
Apps are available that will allow you to take your photos and add an overlaying caption in a multitude of fonts, edit photos to look just how you like them, or take more professional-looking pictures that do not need as much edit time.
2. Postcards galore.
Every day of your vacation, purchase a postcard and write a synopsis of what you did that day, then mail them to yourself. Or, there are apps that will let you make a postcard with your own pictures as you go along your vacation and will send them for you. When you get home, you will have a picture timeline of where you went and what you did. Put them in a photo album or frame them to display.
3. Collect mementos.
Along with other souvenirs you’ll purchase throughout your trip—key chains, t-shirts, shot glasses and spoons—also keep any brochures, flyers, or ticket stubs you acquire. They will help you remember activities where photography wasn’t allowed, and compliment photos you were able to take in your scrapbook, photo album, or journal.
4. Travel journal.
A travel journal is a wonderful way to keep track of all the wonderful details of your vacation. Keep it functional as well as reminiscent by writing out your intended itinerary in the front, along with any important phone numbers, confirmation numbers, and addresses of hotels and attractions. In the back, write down addresses of people you’ll want to send postcards to along with phone numbers you might need back home.
Use the middle to record what happened. Take five minutes each night to recap your adventures and any fun/silly/scary/memorable moments. What was the weather like? Did someone say something funny or profound? What was your favorite and least favorite part of the day? Record everything you can—your memory is never as good as you think!
5. Video journal.
Keeping a video journal is a great supplement to your writing journal, or can just be a great souvenir of your adventures. Take a video of each step of your journey and at every stop. Take individual interviews of everyone in the group to learn what their thoughts on events were, what their favorite part of the day was, etc. You can always grab some aerial stock footage once you get home to get the scenery between shots.
So what do you do with all your pictures and memories once you get home? Have a party! Get your travel group together, whether it was a family vacation or a group of friends, and go through the pictures together. Keep a recorder or notebook handy so you can make notes of other’s memories and details you may have forgotten. Have everyone help put together the finished product—write on pages next to photos, put the photos into sleeves, edit the video you took, decorate—and enjoy reliving your vacation with the people you shared it with!
Author Byline
Candice Harding enjoys writing about the great products and technology she finds online such as “5 Ways to Take Your Vacation Home with You”. When she’s away from the computer, and not traveling, she loves riding her bike and exploring the outdoors. For more information on stock footage, visit Art Beats.
