6 Creative Ways to Preserve your Holiday Memories

photos and other memory documents
by Anisa // 2 Comments

Travel is all about the experience and you want to make it last as long as possible.  You will come back with a bank of memories to last a lifetime and want to preserve them in a way that works for you. 

There are many options available, and in this post, Sam will share some creative ideas for creating mementos that are as original and personal to you as the holiday that inspired them.  

Sam is obsessed with scrapbooking and loves to record her travel memories in scrapbook albums.  She keeps hold of all her ticket stubs and grabs other unique travel memorabilia to add to her albums as well.  When she’s not traveling you will find her in her craft room. 

Find out more about Sam here and keep reading for her suggestions on ways to preserve travel memories.

Note: This post contains affiliate links.  Please see disclosure for more information.

How to Preserve Your Travel Memories

When you travel usually you want to discover new things, feel alive and learn more about yourself.

Traveling is also about collecting treasured memories. While it may be easy to get lost in the moment, it is important to record your travels, so you can look back and enjoy them when you get older. You may also want to share your adventures with your children and grandchildren.

Here are five ways to cherish the memories and document your travels for posterity:

Create a Scrapbook for Travel Memories

5 Creative Ways to Preserve your Holiday Memories
You can make a travel scrapbook.

Creating a good old scrapbook is a wonderful way of preserving your holiday memories. It’s like your travel memories photo album, but better! 

You may include photos that you have taken over the course of your trip, together with anything else that you have collected, be it maps or train tickets. Even the most unremarkable things that you may collect during your trip like receipts will seem fascinating a few months later.

In addition, you can briefly describe the places you visit or any interesting things that occurred when you were there. We also love using our Cricut die cutting machine to make some personalized travel embellishments to suit the theme or destination for our album.

There are really no rules when it comes to scrapbooks.  You can make it the way you want, and that makes it a great option to personalize your memories.  Anytime you want, just get out your scrapbook and it brings back fond memories.  It can be a fun way to travel without leaving home.

Collect Fabric Badges to Sew onto Your Backpack

5 Creative Ways to Preserve your Holiday Memories
Badges can help you remember special times from your trips.

Another cool way of preserving the memories of your journey is to collect fabric badges, flags or emblems and then sew them on to your backpack. You can also sew them on pairs of jeans, sofa cushions or even hoodies. Various national parks and other famous landmarks provide badge-shaped patches that can be used to decorate various kinds of fabric in your home.

You could choose to either hand stitch them or to make it easier, why not use a great beginner sewing machine to stitch them on properly.

Make a Travel Video to Capture the Memories

Videos capture real footage from your travels and it is easy to use them to record your experiences because you can use a smartphone if you do not have a video camera.

Videos are more entertaining than static photos when it comes to telling the story of your travels and you can incorporate some music in order to bring it all to life. You can record short clips of a certain place or the activities you discover which you can watch again many years after your journey.

To avoid being overwhelmed by the massive number of videos and photos that you take home after your trip, you can consider condensing all your media files into one video. This will shorten the videos and enhance their dynamism and effectiveness.

If you are an ardent user of Snapchat, you can capture the memories and record your journey using the 1 Second Everyday app. This app captures the minute details that you may forget.  For example, the frizzling treats offered by street food vendors in a town abroad or local fruit sellers calling out to you to buy their fruit on the beach.

Turn your Social Media Photos into Magnets or Mini-Albums

5 Creative Ways to Preserve your Holiday Memories
Re-purpose those Instagram shots into posters and more.

If you are social media junkie, chances are that you have tons of photographs uploaded on social media pages on a platform like Instagram or Facebook.  Just having the photos on the social media platform helps perserve the memories, but you might want to take it a step further.

Instagram allows you to create a variety of posters, physical frames, photo strips and mini-albums. You can also use software like Foxprint or portable printers such as the Polaroid zip to make photo magnets and stickers of your classic memories that you can use to decorate your fridge.

Create a Travel Blog to Record your Stories and Photos

5 Creative Ways to Preserve your Holiday Memories
You can document your travel memories in a blog.

Starting a blog is another interesting way of recording your traveling experiences. The blog can be a simplified summary of the day, a diary of memories, or a comprehensive listing of what you saw and did.  It’s your website so do what makes you happy.

When writing your blog, you will also get a chance to upload photos of your experiences so your holiday memories will never fade away. It is also a fantastic way of sharing your travels with family members and friends.

For some inspiration, check out this great list of travel blogs.

Use a Digital Photo Frame

You could also invest in a digital photo frame (sometimes also called a digital media frame) to display your photos without the need of a computer or printer.

Nixplay has a few different options that will work nicely.  You can upload your photos through the website or the app.  Then your photos are stored in the cloud and the frame will randomly display your memories.

Click here to check out the Nixplay Frames in the US.

Click here to check out the Nixplay Frames in the UK.

Is Preserving Travel Memories Worth It?

Yes, not only are albums, blog, videos, and souvenirs a great way to hold on to your holiday memories for longer, they are also great ways to help reduce the effects of post-travel depression.  It helps to stay busy when you return after a trip. 

You could also consider these travel-themed home decor ideas.   It will remind you of your travels even when you are at home.

When you are feeling down, you can escape with your travel memories.  Think about the good times you had and hopefully that will bring a smile to your face.

Perserving your memories can be a creative outlet that allows you to reminiscence on your great trip.  

How do you preserve your holiday memories?

-Sam

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travel souvenirs with text overlay how to preserve travel memories

Expert Tips for Your Preserving Your Travel Memories

  • Take as many photos and videos as possible.  You can always delete what you don’t like.
  • Save as many documents, ticket stubs, and other documentation.  You never know what you will want to use in your scrapbooking.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means we will receive a small commission for some purchases made using links in our blog with no additional cost to you.  Please be assured we would not promote any product unless we believe that our readers will also benefit.  The commission does not influence the editorial content of this site.

Last Updated on January 26, 2022

About the Author

Anisa is an experienced international traveler with extra pages in her passport and stamps from 41 different countries across 5 continents (and counting). She was born and raised in Texas. After a 13 year stint in NYC, she moved to England to live with her husband.

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