Creative Ways To Remember Your Travels

Traveling is an amazing thing. It opens our eyes up to new people, new food, new ways of life. Traveling can make you realize that you never want to stop discovering – or possibly that you’re happiest when you’re right at home. Two summers ago I had the great fortune of traveling to over a dozen countries in one trip. Lots of people love to collect souvenirs or to have their pictures taken in front of famous monuments or gorgeous landscapes as a way to remember the trip – not me. At the beginning of my trip, I just so happened to take a photo of my little striped backpack with the Swiss Alps in the background, and that’s how it all started…

Travel Backpack

I now have almost 20 pictures of this little guy chilling in different places around the world. Every time I look at one of these photos, I remember exactly where I was and how I was feeling. I remember who I was with, what the weather was like – sometimes, even what I was wearing. It’s such a fun reminder of where I’ve been and all that I experienced while I was there. Here are some other fun ways to remember where you’ve been. How do you remember your travels?

Create a book of pressed flowers

Pressed Flower Book

I love the idea of having a book of pressed flowers – each flower from a different place you’ve been. Just pick a wildflower whenever you’re in a new place, close it between two pages in a book, and let it dry! On each page you can label where the flower was found and maybe include a little blurb on how you’re feeling right at that very moment.

Have a trip song

Road Trip

The next time you go on a trip – especially a road trip – make a point to listen to a certain song at least once a day. Whenever you hear that song, even years after you’ve returned, your mind will go shooting back to those days on the road and all of the beautiful memories you created during that trip.

Start a rock collection

Rock Collection

Similar to the pressed flower idea, it would be fun to collect a tiny stone every time you visit a new place. When you come home, you can put your rock collection on display, arranging them altogether in a pretty pattern. It would be so cool to see the collection of rocks together as one, with each piece representing a different experience, a different emotion, a different time, and a different part of the world. It would also be amazing to watch the collection grow over the years.

Discover and collect new recipes

Cafe

One of the best parts about traveling is all the different kinds of food you’re able to try. It would be awesome to bring back a new recipe with you every time you visit a new place – even if it’s just a quirky grilled cheese you ate at a café in California. Every time you make that dish, your mind will be brought back to that very afternoon in that very café with those very people you first enjoyed it with.

Take note of the little things

Travel Journal

A travel journal is an excellent tool to use because putting your thoughts into words can really help you to feel certain emotions and reflect upon your experiences. It can be a tough task to keep up with, though, as I’ve seen for myself. I love the idea of keeping a small notebook with you whenever you’re on a trip, and – instead of documenting your trip in depth – just taking little notes whenever you feel so compelled. Little notes about little things that may otherwise go forgotten, like: “The clouds overhead are forming the shape of a castle” or “The sweetest elderly man just told me I was beautiful” or even “I just spilled an entire cup of coffee all over my dress.” Looking back on the little things will make your memories much more vivid – and meaningful.

What little things do you do to remember your trips?

Click on images for sources; top image source.

More inspiration from BLDG 25!

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Hannah
11 years ago

I love this post! Thanks Brigette!! Another idea is to buy a pair of Toms and write the names of all the countries on them that you’ve worn them in. It’s a great conversation starter too.

11 years ago

I love all of these! My hubby works as a medical traveler, so we travel A LOT, but it also means that we must travel light and home base is 2000 miles away. We have tons of digital photos and each year I make a slideshow of our favorite moments from the previous year and we watch it together on our anniversary in January. Once we are settled they will all go into book form so we can pull them out and pour over all the memories.

11 years ago

:) Postcards. Collected postcards of each city I visited in Spain.

11 years ago

What a great post!

I LOVE to travel too, especially road trips. They’re my fav. A travel journal is a great idea! Also, i’d make a book out of it too. Like print the most memorable photos into one book.

I recently took a road trip to Salvation Mountain like in the movie Into The Wild and posted all of my 100+ photos on the blog.. if you’d like to come by and take a look :) From one adventurer to another.

xo,
http://blog.sisiliapiring.com

11 years ago

this year my boyfriend and i picked up and moved, via roadtrip across the country from philly to san fran. i always keep a travel journal. i also find myself searching for the perfect keychain at all the crazy gas stops. and for christmas i took the battered, beat up, Cracker Barrel map we used of the good ol USA ~ and took a needle and red thread and sewed our route, putting a small heart at each end and framed it. i hope he likes :)

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11 years ago

I have always kept a little notebook with me when I travel, even as a kid. It’s so nice to read back through what I did on those trips and relive those awesome moments. Only trouble is to take the time to write a bit in between those moments : )

Julia
11 years ago

When I was younger I would buy a stuffed animal for each place we stop. When I went on a cruise to Alaska I brought 2 animals (a dog and a cat) when I came back I had 5 more (a bear, a baby seal, and 3 dogs) One from each stop and I can remember every place. My brother does something similar but he gets pocket knives. They r really cool.

liz
11 years ago

When my boyfriend and I take our long distance motorcycle trips in the summer, I keep a diary and then make a book when we return with not only the photos but the info I jotted down each day. After a couple of weeks on the road, it is diffciult to remember where you were on any particular day. Also, I have an old Army backpack I use on these trips and I started collecting pins from different states we visit and attaching them to the backpack…just started this year, so still have lots more to collect!

jen
11 years ago

Hi! Where did you get your backpack from? I love it!

10 years ago

Thanks for including the link to the closet backpack station. I actually created this for a client last year, and she still uses it for her 4 kids. What you can’t see

in the picture is that the top shelf actually goes around the inside corners. Mom has a bin on one side and Dad has a bin on the other. These top bins hold

out-of-season necessities for each member of the household. The matching bins below store their shoes. Even the 2-year-old knows which colored bin is for her to put

her shoes in!

8 years ago

Very cool ideas! So many different ways to remember the places we’ve been. Especially into collecting recipes. We always try to do a local cooking class in the different places we go and bring the recipes home with us at the end of the trip. Can’t seem to figure out how to cook it again properly though!

If I could add one more way to remember your travels I’d say the Traveller Collective Clip and Country Spacers. It’s a pretty unique way to document the places you’ve been while reminding us how lucky we are to be travelling in the first place! Best part is with every purchase, you help bring clean, safe drinking water to those in need! It’s about really believing that travel is a privilege, but clean water should never be!

germaine
7 years ago

I’m not sure pressing flowers is the best idea when crossing borders, in case of some seeds or invasive microbes getting free – but I do love looking at the difference in foliage everywhere I go, it’s fascinating!