April 26, 2018
After we’ve returned from a family trip and emptied bags, started the laundry and made a grocery run for staples, we like to sit back and savor the trip a bit. I typically ask my girls to share 3 highlights (which is helpful when friends and family ask too – they have their highlights ready to share!) but it is also important for me to find ways to document those highlights. I like to make sure they (and I) remember where we went and some of the sweet magical moments that are easily forgotten – to remind us to laugh about some of the mishaps we encountered along the way and inspire us to plan our next trip together. I like to do this through pictures, stories and activities that recall their memories and share their experiences. Here are our 5 best ways we do this with our kids:
1. World Pin Map
Several years ago, we ordered a colorful world pin map to document our adventures. After much consideration on how to use the map, we decided that the rule for our family would be “a pin goes in when all 5 have been” so that everyone could participate in the post trip pinning. We love looking at the map both as we’re planning trips and during the post-trip ceremony of placing new pins when we return. This year we also received a scratch off map which could be used similarly or here’s a coloring map that could be used as well. This is a fun way to track our journeys around the globe. There are also beautiful pin maps of the U.S. or National Parks if you are mostly focusing on domestic travel.
2. Travel Journals
Before bigger trips like our recent holiday trip around Europe for three weeks, I always buy my girls a new travel journal. There are tons of options to choose from for kids – some have writing prompts, coloring pages and activities included, but my favorite is a simple Strathmore Mixed Media sketch book. There are several sizes available – I like the small (5.5 in. x 8.5 in.) books. The paper is thick watercolor paper (perfect for markers, pencils or watercolor paints), the spiral binding is strong (no matter how rough the kids are with it) and it allows kids to lay the book flat or flip over the page easily.
Before we leave for a trip, I let them color or collage the front of their journals to their heart’s content which gets them excited about the trip too. The journals are also helpful during the trip to pull out at the park if they simply want to sit and paint (my girls have fond memories sitting in the gardens by the Eiffel Tower and painting several years ago), pull out at a restaurant to keep them occupied while we wait for food, or I’ll create a custom scavenger hunt for them in their journal to use at a museum or during a long car or train ride. Then, after we return from the trip, we spend evenings finishing up the journal – coloring or taping pictures we printed out from the trip or adding journal entries or highlights. Sometimes I’ll even write some questions for them to answer about the trip in their journal and we’ll work on them during long flights home or on evenings when we’re back home.
In fact, last January, we got stuck in a blizzard for a few extra days in New York so one night at the hotel, we pulled out our travel journals and the girls worked on them for hours. Long after the trip, my kids show their journals to everyone and they are an amazing keepsake that everyone cherishes.
Travel Tip: I also pack colored pencils – since many museums only allow pencils to be used inside – markers, washi tape, a glue stick and a small watercolor pallet and brush in a large ziploc bag with the journal to add ticket stubs, pictures, drawings or brochures that we gather along the way. The ziploc bag is waterproof and also used as a catch-all for items to be glued or taped in later.
3. One Line A Day Family Journal
If your kids are too young for a journal or it just seems like too much, try a One Line A Day book and you can jot down a one line memory from each day of the trip. Then, you’ll be able to look back on the highlights of your trip. You could also create your own book for the kids to write one line in or let them draw one picture a day of something they saw or did.
4. Photo Book, Poster or other Photo Project
We love Social Print Studios photo posters – we still have one hanging in our dining room from a trip to France and Morocco nearly 5 years ago. We also love the giant engineer prints from Parabo Press that we use to display some favorite travel pictures. The calendars from Artifact Uprising allow you to reveal a new trip picture each month – perfect for remembering moments throughout the year. There are tons of options for photo printing that allow you and your kids to showcase pictures and stories from your adventures.
Travel Tip: remember to hand your camera or phone for your kids to take pictures too. It’s fun to see things from their perspective and also ensures that you are in some of the pictures too!
5. A Family Travel Collection
A great way to document years of vacation memories together is to start a family travel collection. This can be as simple as collecting key chains, snow globes or holiday ornaments from each family trip. You can also get more creative. An avid traveling family I know collects photos of stop signs in other countries – it is a familiar image but fun to see in different languages. My sister-in-law collects refrigerator magnets from her trips that I love seeing all over the side of her fridge when we visit – and I know her kids love it too. A collection can be even more special or specific to the child if you tie it to a personal passion: a soccer-obsessed friend brings back a soccer jersey from every place they visit, another friend’s daughter has a charm bracelet wherein she adds a charm from each location. Yet another collects patches that are then sewn onto a canvas bag when they get home. The options – & memories – are endless.
(Related: When I was growing up, my dad traveled A LOT for work and he would always bring me back a spoon from each trip – the kind you find in gift shops and airports. I have amassed about 40 spoons from all over the world. I have a spoon from Singapore, Bangkok, Israel, Argentina, Australia and Moscow, to name a few. Admittedly, I wasn’t thrilled about this gift and accumulating collection at first. But now I kind of love it – in all of its quirky, eccentric and randomness and every once in awhile I still purchase a spoon on my travels in honor of this memory).
How do you document special trips with your family?
