Many of us take a lot of photos when we go travelling, and a lot of those photos never actually leave our phones. At best we might upload a couple to social media, where they’ll quickly get buried by the timeline. And the same kind of thing happens to physical mementoes. Tickets, maps and postcards often end up in a drawer once you get home, and never see the light of day again. As such, if you want to preserve your favourite travel memories, it’s a good idea to be intentional about it. Pick out the photographs and objects you want to keep and decide what to do with them while you can still remember the names, dates and places behind them. Here are some tips to help:
Pick the photos and items that mean the most to you
Start by carefully picking the memories you most want to preserve. Be selective – don’t save an entire camera roll! Instead, choose photographs of specific people, places or days. Personalised photo printing can turn those images into prints for a wall, shelf or album. Add a ticket, map or handwritten note if it records something the photograph does not.
Create a travel memory wall
If you have the space, a travel memory wall is something that will help you to relive treasured memories every time you walk past it. Choose one wall and measure the available space before ordering prints or frames. Lay everything out on the floor first so you can change the arrangement without making holes in the wall.
Use photographs as the main element, then add a few items from the same trips. For example, you might frame a train ticket beside a photograph from the journey or put a restaurant card next to a picture taken there. Write the location and date on a small label if the photograph does not make the connection obvious.
You can also build the wall gradually. Leave gaps for photographs from future trips rather than filling every available space at once.
Make a travel scrapbook
A scrapbook is a great place to keep paper souvenirs. Use it for train tickets, museum passes, boarding cards, menus, receipts, postcards and photographs that you do not want to frame.
Arrange pages around individual days or places. Put a museum ticket beside photographs from the visit. Add the receipt from a memorable meal next to the name and address of the restaurant. Write down details you may want later, including dates, street names and the people who were with you.
Skip elaborate decoration unless you enjoy doing it. The photographs, notes and original items will be enough to record the trip – trust us!
Use your old maps
Keep maps that show routes or places you visited. Mark a walking route, circle the street where you stayed or add the date beside a particular stop. Frame the map afterwards if you want it on display.
For a smaller piece, cut out the relevant section and mount it with a photograph from the same place. You could also put sections from several maps into one frame and label each with its location and year.
Remember, do not cut up a map you may need again. Scan or photocopy the relevant section instead.
Make a memory jar
Use a jar for small objects that will not fit comfortably into an album. Shells, coins, entry wristbands and other small souvenirs are all good candidates for a memory jar. Add the destination and date to a label.
Keep the contents specific to one trip. Do not fill the jar simply because you have space left. Choose objects that you can identify later and discard packaging, duplicate tickets and anything with no useful connection to the holiday.
Always remember to check what you can legally bring home before collecting natural materials such as shells, stones or plants. Many countries have bans on taking certain things out of (or into) national borders.
Keep a digital travel journal
Create a document or note for each trip and record details and moments that make you happy as you go. Save hotel names, restaurant addresses, ticket information and routes alongside your photographs.
Write down specifics rather than a daily account. For example, you might record which entrance you used for a walking trail, what you ordered at a restaurant, or the name of the small town where you stopped for lunch. Add the information on the same day if possible, while the memories are fresh.
Include links and booking details if you expect to return. You will then have your own record rather than having to search for the same information again.
Use the souvenirs you bring home
Decide what you will do with a souvenir before you buy it. If you buy ceramics, textiles or household items, choose something you can use at home. You are less likely to lose track of a bowl in the kitchen than a novelty ornament stored in a box.
Apply the same test to souvenirs from previous trips. Take them out of cupboards and boxes. Use the practical items, display the pieces you still want to see and clear out anything you have stopped caring about.
Label what you keep
Dates and place names disappear from memory surprisingly quickly. So, write them down now.
Label the backs of printed photographs. Add dates to scrapbook pages and maps. Put the destination and year on boxes or jars. For digital photographs, add them to named folders rather than leaving them among thousands of unrelated images.
You do not need to document an entire trip – just try to record enough information to trigger those happy travel memories.