7 Creative Ways to Preserve Family Travel Memories

One of the greatest things we can do for our families is not just explore the world with them, but proactively create family travel memories for each trip. While this adds an extra bit of planning, preserving the memories we capture during family vacations doesn’t have to be laborious. Remember that every trip is unique. Every family member will be a part of this vacation at different stages of life, which makes preserving the details of that trip priceless. Here are seven creative ways to share the precious time we spend traveling with our family.

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1. Display small items in a jar

Jars can provide an amazing way to keep track of those special travel moments. While we all want to visit the major attractions like Taj Mahal and Disney World, sometimes it can be a ticket from that spontaneous visit to an outdoor concert or a napkin signed by a French artist in a café that reminds us of the unique time we spent with family. She’s Crafty gives some easy-to-follow tips for capturing those moments.

2. Preserve sand in jewelry

One of my favorite travel memories as a child was whale watching and the amazing things we would see while on the beach. I was not only in awe being up close to these mammoth creatures, but even more by the sandy beaches surrounding the area. How much greater would those memories have been if I had taken some sand from those beaches and turned them into a necklace pendant? Dune Jewelry will create custom jewelry using the sand that you mail into them. Next time a family member mentions the warm sand, scoop some up and turn it into a lasting memory.

3. Turn leftover money into art

How many times have you boarded the plane, only to find several foreign bills and a handful of coins still in your pocket? Instead of dropping that leftover money in a drawer where it is forgotten, Apartment Therapy suggests turning that money into a display that tells the story of your family trip. This can turn into a fun family activity! Spend an evening transforming that money into works of art. You can frame them, or create a journal with pictures next to the foreign money to create a lasting memory.

4. Bring a wooden keepsake box along on your trip

If you’re always meaning to create a scrapbook after your trip, but then never get around to it, this tip is for you. Before your trip begins, decorate a wooden keepsake box with words and images associated with the destination. Then, as the trip goes on, throw in ticket stubs, loose change, shells, and other items you accumulate. When you get back, your keepsake box will be ready – no extra work required.

5. Give each person a travel journal

The act of writing can often create a more robust memory family vacations. Want to create more exciting journal entries? Provide each family member with their own pages to document the most valuable and personal parts of the trip to them. Here are 10 great travel journals to choose from.

6. Frame items from your trip

Place photos, tickets, and passes into a frame, then add a title that describes the destination and occasion for travel. Look for unique, hand-made frames at eclectic furniture stores, fabric shops and second-hand boutiques to make these family travel memories even more special.

7. Master the art of storytelling

Think about that last family travel adventure to an amazing country. Maybe you had a guide during one or more parts of the trip. Why not also be your own guide as a way to preserve your vacation memories? When planning that next family vacation, make sure you include resources to verbally share each step along the way. Use your phone (most cell phones have both built-in microphones and cameras these days), a small recorder or other convenient recording device and speak about what you value as you go through each day of your trip. What did you see? Did something exciting, different, or weird happen? Talk about it. Describe the facts and share how you felt. You can add photos if you like, but sharing the spoken word preserves that family memory in way like no other.

How will you preserve your family travel memories?

An important part of planning any successful family trip should include finding ways to preserve your family travel memories. These tips can help you get started organizing this part of your trip in easy yet effectual ways. Some tips may take just a moment to integrate into your vacation plan and others a few minutes more. However, the few minutes you take to implement one or more of these tips will yield a lifetime of benefits for your family now and for generations to come.

by STAFF CONTRIBUTOR