Remembering Your Trip

One of the best things about going on a trip is coming home to tell your friends and family about it. Everything is fresh in your mind while you gather everyone around to look at the small screen on your digital camera, because you haven't had time to unload them from your memory card yet. Inevitably, as the months and years pass, those memories start to fade. While you may forget the small details, I want to help you remember the most important things for years to come so you can pass down your experiences to children and grandchildren.

The first way to save those memories is to keep a journal during your trip. Whether you write a little or a lot, take time every night to write down the highlights. If you're too tired or don't have enough time to write every detail, get down the stuff you don't think you'll remember later. Then, when you have some free time while waiting for a train or traveling between cities, write about the other details before you forget. I love going back through my old travel journals and reading about experiences I've had. It's a good way to relive the trip and also take note of how much you have or haven't changed.

The next step to remembering your trip happens when you get home. Whether you are creative or not, you should have a place where you keep your photos, ticket stubs and any other trinkets you collected to remember your trip by. Whether you spend time making a large scrapbook or collect everything in a decorative box, you will be happy you have those objects and memories to look back on in the future.

I have made a list of projects you can try after your next trip, but check out my Pinterest board for even more clever ideas.

1. Make a scrapbook

2. For a smaller project, make a shadowbox for each city or country. I made one for each city I visited during my trip last year and now they are hanging in our library.

3. Make a memory book. My roommate made these books to keep all of the maps, brochures, ticket stubs and other knick knacks she collected during our trip. She bought these cardboard boxes in the shape of books from Michael's craft store for around $5 each. She painted each a different color and used stensils to write the names of each city.

4. If you're not into scrapbooking, a regular photo album is a great idea too. Print out your photos and put them in an album, or upload them to a web site that will help you design the album digitally such as Snapfish or Shutterfly.

5. If you don't have a lot of photos from your trip or you didn't have time to write down your experiences during your trip, write about it after. You will have had time to reflect on everything you saw and have more time to get it all down in writing.

6. Blog! If you have access to the Internet while you are away, keep your friends and family updated while you are traveling! 

7. Another way to remember your travels is to collect one specific thing from each location. If you already collect something you can add to your collection with objects from around the world. For example, some people collect shot glasses, magnets, postcards, etc. Even if it's something silly you picked up at a tourist shop, if it's special to you, that's all that matters!

As memorable as your trip may be, it is likely you will forget some details as time goes by, so it is important to save as many of those memories as you can. If you have another idea or project to share, leave it in a comment below!

For the fun fact today I want to introduce anyone not familiar with the work of Joseph Cornell to his Cornell Boxes. It's not too big of a stretch to say that Cornell is the father of modern day scrapbooking and collages. His collages were made of found objects, prints, letters and more. Picture the pages of an I Spy book and you have the general idea. However, he displayed his objects in boxes, similar to the Wunderkammer (wonder cabinet) which was popular in Europe during the Renaissance period. These cabinets were also the precursor to the modern day museum. Cornell used the artistic process of assemblage, also used by Robert Rauschenberg and Marcel Duchamp, during the 1930s-60s. So if you made collages when you were younger using cut out pictures of your friends and those speech bubbles you can buy with funny sayings, you have Joseph Cornell to thank.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy creating memories during your next trip!

-Sam