Scarlett, i get doubles of all our pics; the first set goes into the photo album, the second set is divided between our kids books.

Some pics i'll frame (as sourvenirs, i buy customized frames from places we visit)and then some pics end up on the fridge or on my office bulletin board.

But i still have many that go without a home

We too have boxes of pics waiting to be put into albums. The ones that are album leftovers, are either thrown away if they are really bad, or stay in the envelopes, taking up space.

We have made several collages and recently bought a huge frame that holds I think 42, 4" x 6" pictures. It will take years to get it together and so now we also have this very large frame taking up space.

We keep our albums out of sight ... I hate going to someone's home and being forced to look at their pictures - usually family birthdays or anniversaries. How many times can you say 'what a cute litte boy he was'. The kid is probably 25 now, with kids of his own.

But you must keep a couple of those photos of your son when he was a little cutie, preferably with few clothes on , in case his new girlfriend/wife comes to visit:lol
I keep telling myself that someday we will move and I will have to either drag all these boxes of photos with us or do something with them now...maybe I should take advantage of this latest snow and start working on this project!
Or maybe I will just sit here all day and chat

re: extra photos...
I slip them in the album pockets, BEHIND the good ones. You can't see them, but you can pull them out of the pockets and peek at them if you want to. But the REALLY bad/blurry ones get thrown out.

My problem is my spouse. I am meticulous when it comes to packing.
My husband ALWAYS complains that we have too much. I could have one bag, and then it would be too heavy. However, he expects that I have EVERYTHING he could possibly want packed. In other words bring everything but somehow make sure he doesn't have to carry anything.

He is terrible at packing for himself. I usually have to nag him for each trip, "did you remember to pack your whatever" and then checking to see that he did in fact pack what he needed.

I have had to put things in his suitcase such as dress shoes, saving him the embarrasment of a suit with sneakers. Well one trip he got an attitude about how he was a grown man and did not need me to tell him what to pack. Well.... he spent four days in the same pair of socks. Had to wash them in the hotel sink, he has not complained about my help since. We are taking a trip in May and I know it will be the same old thing, I will have one suitcase and one carry-on for myself and one suitcase and a backpack for my daughter. Not bad for a week, but oh the complaining he will do!!

As I said before, my husband does the actual packing and then we both complain about how much we took ... when it is too late. He is also great about carrying most of it. I carry what I can, but he is like a pack mule, shoulders, arms everything has something on it. Fortunately he is very strong.

We have friends who travel constantly. The husband refuses to carry anything other than his own stuff. Knowing that she will be carrying her own things, she packs very very lightly and for a three week European trip, she gets it all into her carry-on and probably has room to spare. She emails her packing list to me sometimes two or three weeks in advance, and everything is usually packed and ready to go a week before they leave. Unbelieveable.

I have no real packing pattern - anywhere from 2 weeks ahead to 45 minutes. If it's 45 minutes, I have a pretty good list in my head before I start.

After some long, painful trips, I have gotten so I travel very light - never more than a regular sized carry-on, and maybe a tote bag if it's an extended trip. I went to my college reunion with just a tote bag for 3 days.

Unfortunately, my son and I had to travel to a funeral a couple of weeks ago. We got by with the carry-on and the tote bag between us. I've had to buy a T shirt once when I just took a totebag. Otherwise, I've never run out of clothes.

I'm ashamed to say that I've not gotten around to putting pictures in an album for the last 19 years.