Preserving Vacation Memories ~ What's your method?
 

Getting ready to take a 2 week trip out West and want to preserve my pictures. Have a 35 mm camera, not digital. Just an average photographer here, no professional experience.<BR>However, when I return home, I want to preserve my pictures forever. (No heaping them in a shoe box this time.) =) <BR>I've made framed collages of other vacations, but want to do something original.<BR>Wondering about any creative ideas other people may use. Thanks for sharing!

Hi Tricia<BR>I have always made scrapbooks upon returning. I date each page with the day we were there, title it and paste the pictures and any memorbilia I collected while there and write a little bit of history. After the book is complete, I title the outside and place it on my bookshelf (after framing one of my favorite pictures for the library table) We love revisiting places we've been just by pulling down a book.

My wife and I make a baby during each vacation. Then, whenever we look at the child, we remember our fun time together. This method gets a little expensive over time, however.

Scrapbooks are definitely the way to go. I save lots of memorabilia that I include with my pictures and I also journal so that there's a story behind the pictures. It's a lot of fun and I get to relive the vacation all over again!

hi CD & Joe,<BR>Thanks for the scrapbooking idea! With making a scrapbook, I could also include postcards, or whatever else would fit that I come home with :) That would really help to tell the "whole story" of the vacation. My extended family members are excited to see pictures of our trip upon our return, so this would be better than a picture album. Also, it would give me something to do when we get home, since I'll be sad that the vacation's over!<BR>Fertile boy: I've got the kids I want, thanks!! (We didn't have to go on vacation to make them either.)<BR><BR>Is there anything specific I should know before I start scrapbooking? <BR><BR>Thanks! Tricia<BR>

What's the difference between a scapbook and an album?

Tricia<BR><BR>I too enjoy scrapbooking and I also keep a trip journal so I can remember the meals we ate (we are big foodies), etc... Visit a big crafts store like Michael's or your local crafts store or search online and they have more scrapbooking ideas and materials than you can imagine including acid free papers for preservation.

We combine the scrapbooking (album) and journal idea. I write a daily journal on a trip and then type it on the computer. I print out one verison that I keep whole, and the other printout my husband cuts up and puts in the album at the appropriate place as virtual captaions for the pictures. It's quite amazing what you forget, and how evocative simple things like what you ate for a meal can bring back a whole day. (It also helps if you go back to the same place--surprising how often you forget where that great restuarant or postcard shop was.)

I also use the method of making a photo/journal album. I've done it for the past several years and its a great way to not only preserve the memories but share your trip with others. <BR><BR>One tip I wanted to share was taking photos of unexpected moments/places. I have found that while the standard monument/charming vista/posed group photo is fine, I really get a kick out of the ones that are kind of quirky. I took a photo of my roommate asleep with her headphones on that we still laugh about. Or photos of a tour guide doing something funny. Those preserve the goofier memories of traveling.

We've made memory boxes for the trips we've taken. We get craft boxes and decoupage the outside with cutouts from brochures, restaurant menus and other stuff. Inside we put the photos plus the other junk we've collected like swizzle sticks, matches, rocks, coins. Opening one up from a past trip is a little like a treasure hunt. And it keeps the junk relatively organized.

I always put our pix in an album with index cards inserted where necessary detailing certain things as needed. I then get a large brown envelope, put all the junk I collected in it, label it as to destination and date then file it in a big box (by date) I keep in the bottom of the closet in the spare bedroom. It makes it nice if you just want to find a brochure or something.<BR><BR>I made a different type from cruises. I put the daily activity paper in then the pix from that island/day and so on.<BR>There is even room in the back for your little charge cards and invitations to cocktail parties and stuff.<BR><BR>The most important thing is to keep up on your pix and not let them lie around for years and then forget all the details of the trip when you finally put them in something.

I buy a large blank journal(with pretty covers) and keep it as a daily journal and put the photos in it from each trip.<BR>That way it is a diary with pictures.<BR>A book for each trip sometimes works better.My last Paris journal is in a book with a photo of the Eiffel Tower on it.

When scrapbooking, just make sure you get acid free paper, etc. The acid in regular paper is what deteriorates pictures. If you have newspaper clippings you want to preserve, photocopy them on a color copier (yes, even if they are just black and white).

I've made 2 trips to Europe and 1 to Hawaii in the past 3 years, and I have made scrapbooks (Creative Memories or some similar method)of each trip. I consider the scrapbooks my souvenirs, so am willing to invest the time and money. I've enjoyed my pictures over and over again and don't have to worry about them turning yellow or falling out of the album!

I usually pick out my best photo from each vacation and ahve it tattooed on my body so I will have it forever. For poetic irony, I put my best sunset photo right near where some say "the sun doesn't shine".

Hi Tricia<BR>Regarding scrapbooking: I start as soon as my pictures are developed. If I don't, I forget where some of the pictures were taken. I start by making a stack of pictures and memorbilia for each day and each location visited and then work on one location at a time. Also I've learned that no one loves those pictures like me and my husband. Your parents and children will enjoy them almost as much....But others do not...So, I hand them the scrapbook, if they ask to see our vacation pictures, and then walk away. If I stay by their side, I talk too much with "too much information" making it boring for them. They'll ask questions if they want.

She it - take it to I Village, ladies.

We take lots of pix, and place them in albums, usually on rainy Sunday mornings. To complement that, we haul back tons of wine from every location, and many evenings we drink the wine and reminisce. When the wine runs out, and it always does, then it's time to TRAVEL again.

Thanks everyone for the excellent ideas! <BR>I would not have known to purchase acid free paper.<BR>I also had already planned on keeping a journal. Combining the journal entries w/scrapbooking sounds great.<BR>Once again, I appreciate all of the responses. Tricia

I don't have a digital camera, or a photo scanner either. However, when I get the pix developed, I get them developed on a floppy disc. This way my photos can be e-mailed or made into cards and take-up very little storage space (good news for us apartment dwellers).

If you keep them in boxes, make sure they are acid free boxes. BTW, the reason you photocopy in color stuff - newspaper is extremely low quality paper & full of acid. By copying IN COLOR, it's printed on quality, long lasting paper and the image is much better than a B&W copy.

we focused on very grand memories. Nothing says don't forget me like a family hike on Kauai. <BR><BR>Have kids read before the trip always focus on learning while on the trip. Father on our trip had a serious science background so look at the stars, water, foliage was always something more than a look at the stars, , water, foliage. Kids this year volunteered for projects on everything from Pearl Harbor to endangered species on Hawaii. Very proud that a nephew not even on the trip did a paper on the ancient Hawaiians was inspired by talks with relatives. Ok this relative but I am still proud. Started out with holiday paper on beaches in Maui ended up talking about Kamehameha, fishponds and the overthrow.<BR><BR>Back to retaining memories on trip. …Think the learning focus instead of a lets hit the beach and kick back has kept the memory of Kauai alive for the kids on our trip although we did do a lot of kicking back. Then again the family time all together will keep the memories alive for you.<BR><BR>I can remember family treks across Pennslyvannia looking out the window at beautiful gorges with rivers . No photos just breath taking memories of views while others slept. Having pictures taken always sort of detoured us from the fun we were having as I remember. Just think a family focus on the trip incorporated with learning is a good way to have your child remember trip.<BR>Just a thought

We didn't use a digital camera on our trip to Europe last summer, but we had the best pictures scanned and made a slide show from them, hooking the laptop up to our television (my husband is a techy). Now, I can select a new picture every once in a while and use it as my desktop on my computer. Today it's a beautiful picture of my daughter walking down a wooded path in Scotland. <BR><BR>You can email them too, and make really nice greeting cards from them at marthascards.com.

Sarah,<BR>I couldn't agree with you more! Learning while on vacation is always a priority for us. I have scheduled two "tours" while out West, and have made sure that the groups are small (no more than 8 people) so that we can hear the group leader well and absorb all that we learn! I've been reading my ninth grader's Earth Science book (yes, I admit I need some refreshing)~ lots of information & photos of Arches National Park, Vermillion Cliffs, Bryce Canyon, etc. I've also purchased many books on the Southwest. (My oldest son said when I showed him a picture of the Canyonlands in Utah, and I quote: "That can't be real, it must be a print, someone drew that". Being from the Northeast, I think the kids will be blown away by the landscape. Can't wait!<BR>

You can also share your photos online. <BR><BR>The new National Parks Scrapbook is an interactive, online forum for travelers to share their photos and memories of America's majestic national parks.<BR><BR>The posted photos will be shared with Congress as evidence of the public's appreciation and concern for these precious places. <BR><BR>Check it out at www.americansfornationalparks.org/scrapbook

Over the years we have learned the hard way, along with all the great ideas above, videos work well too. If we stay in a very nice motel, we video the room, with the motel name and area in the narrative. Sometime you want to return and remember the hotel/motel. We do this for bad ones to so we know wehere to avoid and why. Takes about 2 minutes to do this. We began this when we could not recall the great motel in Holbrook, AZ. Plus on more than one occassion, I have taken pix without film and lost many a pix to this, duh.<BR>We also videoed a few minutes of my son's first plane trip, from the plane's window as we flew over the Rockies. His friends that had never flown were amazed.

Just an update: I found a Creative Memories consultant in my area. Purchased lots of great stuff & have finished my southwest vacation scrapbook. Scrapbooking gives one the opportunity to tell the entire story. I'm very pleased with the results and thank all who responded w/this excellent idea! <BR>I've shared the scrapbook w/family & friends ~ all who live in upstate NY, and who have not been west of the Rockies. It's such an incredible part of our country that it was easy to put together a great album, working with such great pictures!<BR>Andrea: thanks for the website. I checked it out and enjoyed looking at all the pictures from our National Parks. Tricia

We take lots of 35 mm pictures and besides the sweeping scenic photos and close-ups of family, we're sure to include a blue bird that hung around our cottage, San Diego t-shirts hanging in a store window, kites, artwork that captures the flavor of a city, and so forth. In the album, it's important to use only the best photos, as you don't really need four shots of your daughter with Mickey Mouse (unless the sequence is interesting - like showing her crying, then happy). Edit yourself! I recently discovered an inexpensive way to include enlargements of striking photos -- Staples! Go to their copying center and they'll make a full-color enlargement on photo-quality paper. Those work out especially well for scenic shots.<BR><BR>Pick up brochures and postcards (of shots you could not take) along the way. As you assemble your scrapbook/album, clip illustrations from the brochures to fill in the information and add artwork to your layouts. I've also added maps showing our route and a box listing interesting facts - about the gigantic Edmonton Mall for example.<BR><BR>During the trip, I keep a journal and paste the daily diary entry with the pictures for that day, breaking the information down into "chapters." On one trip, I had each family member "rate" some places (1-4 stars)and included them in a box. Years later, it's fun to see what we each thought -- teenager hated/parents loved the Icefields Parkway in Alberta but loved/Mom liked/Dad detested Edmonton mall, e.g.. I also mention what we ate, or silly or upsetting things that happen, as details evoke memories. <BR><BR>I love planning trips, taking them and re-living them through our albums, which my husband's coworkers ask to see after each trip.

I would strongly suggest going to a Creative Memories party to get a handle on how to present your pictures attractively. However, purchasing their brand of products is unnecessary. There are many other products out there that are just as effective at a much better price. I also found that they placed far more emphasis on the STUFF that they put on a page than the pictures or memorabilia. The consultant I met went on and on about this picture she had used. My opinion of the picture was that it was a bad picture before and after she cropped it and should have been thrown away.<BR><BR>Many people who are into this type of photo album are deep into cropping. Personally, I prefer to crop the picture with my camera lens, removing extraneous stuff BEFORE the picture is snapped. That leaves pictures with everything important.<BR><BR>My opinion of these photo/scrapbook albums is this: you want to remember and highlight the activities of the vacation. Not have 2000 little stickers on the page detracting from the memories.

After rereading sluggo's post, I need to add something. Leave room to write stuff. Identify where you were, who's in the picture, what was happening, funny stories, etc. This is the stuff you'll forget in years to come. By adding it in writing on the page, it'll make the album more precious in years to come.

Man, you people go all out. Half the time we forget to even bring a camera.

*G* I don't. My fun is in taking the pictures! But I've been trying to motivate myself into organizing them.<BR><BR>I did however start a photo album for my in-laws to organize about 90 years of photos as a 50th Wedding Anniversary present.

Hi S,<BR>I couldn't agree with you more.<BR>I purchased the tools and the albums from Creative Memories, but I've found better deals out there for paper, pens, letters, etc. I also agree with you about the whole sticker thing. I'm one who thinks we should let the picture tell the story. I journaled on each page w/facts of each National Park, what hike we did, our elevation, the temperature, etc. I also purchased pocket pages ~ you can slide all your maps, postcards, & whatever in clear pockets to store. <BR>When my husband took the finished vacation scrapbook to work, a co-worker commented "I'm not going to learn something from this, am I?" Too funny.<BR>Anyway, thanks for the tips.