Maps, Brochures, etc.- After a Trip- What to do with them?
 

DH and I are unable to travel as much as we would like but do try to take one big trip a year, in which I research probably WAY too much. I was looking through the closet the other day and noticed my binders from previous trips. In them I have maps, brochures, info on public transportation and so on. With so many places to visit, I doubt that we would ever visit the same place twice. But I hate to throw any of it away.

Does anyone else have this problem? What do you do? We don't have any family or friends who could really use them. I thought maybe the local library but have not checked with them. I also thought that this maybe something that might benefit other fodorites. I'm not sure if this is something that the "powers that be" would allow, but I would be willing to put some stamps on an envelope to send to someone. I know that you have the issue of aninimity and possible addresses floating around, but...anybody have any ideas?

Thank you for any ideas and for all of your great advise in the past!

I keep them close at hand to answer questions here.

But I think offering them to others here is a great idea. This is where we come to talk about travel when the people in the real world are sick of hearing us talk about it. So these are the people who would be most interested in such stuff.

Hi, Seashell!

Concerning old travel literature:

if there is a remote chance that I might re-visit a city then I retain the city map.

as for the brochures, flyers, and such I simply keep them until they get in the way and only then do I discard them. Of course, if I encounter someone who mentions an interest, then I pass the literature along to that person.

I have a file cabinet drawer dedicated to this stuff. If it gets too full, I go through and take some things out. Otherwise, I just keep collecting.

I keep mine in a large rubbermaid container in the back of my closet.

I have a drawer that holds all of my maps and brochures from Italy. It is not a file drawer but rather like a dresser drawer but it is part of my filing cabinet. Some years ago, shortly before I registered on Fodors, I got rid of tons of travel information. With the internet I don't feel it is necessary to keep as much travel information as I use to.

I just toss the old info: print-outs, old AAA books, page copies.

I know I'd be facing the same problem, so I get library books and take copies to toss them later.

As for maps... I keep the newest ones as I know somebody might go there and use them.

If your relatives don't travel, ask on Fodor's, maybe others can use your info. Or you can scan and e-mail.

Probably 2-3 years later not all info will be accurate. Restaurants go out of business, bus routes and schedules change, etc...

I keep maps on my travel bookshelf in a vertical file box open on one side that is meant for storing magazines and journals.
If a brochure or business card or menu is something extra special, I keep it in a nice storage box on my desk. Some details, like websites, I enter into my electronic destination travel file. Otherwise I grit my teeth and toss the brochures--I hate clutter, and as Faina says, the shopping, museum and restaurant information is likely to go out of date. So many places have websites these days, I go there for information when I'm planning a return trip.

We don't tend to return to the same places, so unless we know anyone who might need it soon, we throw out the small stuff. We can get newer ones if we need it later. Travel books we give to the library. ((*))

On the trip, it all goes into a folder/binder for use during the trip. I throw out stuff as we go - directions to hotel, boarding passes, etc.

Free books I cut up before we go - for example, if I am going to San Diego and have AAA California book, I do not haul the entire book with me. The rest goes into the recycle bin.

I have one drawer of a small file cabinet that I put maps, books in - but I weed it out so nothing is in there that is more than a few years old. I know if I returned to that area, I would want more current info.

I use some of my bits in albums or scrapbooks - the rest goes into a big plastic box, under the bed - nothing gets thrown away, apart from the brochures I pick up to places we didn't get around to visiting.

Seashell -- what a good question! I have taken several big trips (Europe - Australia - Alaska - Hawaii) and this is what I've done.

1. I ordered some archival clamshell style boxes large enough to keep a variety of infomation. What to keep?
In a large 2 gallon plastic bag - by trip put in the following:

2. Keep the daily itinery prepared by you or the travel agent. If you have a calender for that time period (use Outlook) write down the cities you were in.

3. If you kept a journal or took notes during your trip keep it here. I have gone to buying a small notepad on which to write down notes - or photo captions for later.

4. Tour brochures - I keep the brochures on the day tours I went on -- take two especially if it includes a map of the places visited. This helps with spelling for photo captions later and on some tours when photos don't turn out -- you can use them in your scrapbook.

5. I have lent out some maps to others who went to the same destinations -- however, after a period of time -- they will be outdated so unless they are really nice maps -- probably not worth keeping.

6. Left over money -- again can be useful in a scrapbook.

7. Travel guides - Fodor's, Frommer's etc can be donated but I have kept mine and it has helped with the scrapbooks details -- and even years later when talking about the trip with friends you can go back and check on restaurant names - shops visited etc. That is why the clamshell box works well -- it can hold a variety of material and still store neatly away in the closet.

I would really suggest a visit to your local scrapbook store and select a 12 x 12 album and pick out one of your trips to scrapbook. Your entrance ticket to the Louve or
Acropolis can be a nice sovenir to place in the album. Today's scrapbook paper can make even a so-so photo look great (trim out the unwanted scenes). Believe me, the time and effort you put into your album will be rewarded with pleasure received in years to come and the vacation memories it restores.

Put what you want to keep permanently in a scrapbook (one that you might actually read sometime) and get rid of the rest. It is just clutter.

Don't be like the woman cleaning expert Don Aslett found in one of his audiences. He would routinely ask the audience what the most worthless item they had in their purse. One woman had a bra for a dairy goat! To make matters worse, she had never owned a goat!!

I will admit to still having the 1970 Fodor's Europe on my bookshgelf.

I have one of those 3 drawer plastic mini dressers that I refer to as my travel box. I keep all of my brochures, printouts, and information separated by destination and held together with binder clips. When I'm done with a vacation, I throw away things that were specific to the vacation like my budget spreadsheet, hotel confirmation, etc., but I keep destination information until it's just too outdated.

I'm glad to know that others have a similar system. I don't feel so weird now.

Since I rarely return to the same place I usually toss things as I use them. This includes travel books. It lightens my suitcase coming home.

If you are certain you'd never use a given map again, you could use it as wrapping paper. I've done that with my flight charts and it's an interesting conversation piece.

I think it would be especially nice if you are giving a travel book as a gift for instance.

Agree the internet has made keeping a lot of that info unnecessary - and info changes quickly also -
usually I pare it down to a general map, usually keep the one guide book that ended up being my bible for the trip with my notes all scribbled everywhere, I do one trip report for my files, which are on my laptop, so I can always access info like lodging, air, where we went, what saw, etc.

If I know someone who might be going, I pass it along. A few times on Fodors, someone is going where I've recently been and if they want to share their email, we have and I've mailed them a packet of up to date maps, etc that would have been helpful to me prior to arrival.

Otherwise, I give them all to the local school or nursing homes. =-

School - for the kids to use for art projects, geography projects , whatever ! The teachers sometimes use them for bulletin board decor too.

Nursing Homes - for the recreation room to decorate their bulletin boards.