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How to Keep Your Travel Memories Forever

How to Keep Your Travel Memories Forever

We are firm believers that experiences are worth more than your possessions. Hence why we love to travel. Every travel memory we capture is worth everything. Moreover, travel is truly the only “thing” you can spend money on that will make you richer. From staying in a luxurious castle in Ireland to seeing a herd of elephant chase away a pride of lion in Botswana to hiking the Inca trail to Machu Picchu and much more. These travel memories are things we cherish the most and will remember forever.

Capturing the travel memories that you make during your trip is so important because as you travel around the world and have all of these different experiences, how can you possibly remember each one? It is normal to forget parts of a trip as your mind fills with new travel memories and experiences. So throughout the years and destinations, we have created several different ways to capture every single travel memory possible. From scrapbooking to keeping a journal, creating videos, buying souvenirs, and more. In this post, you are bound to find at least one way to cherish your travel memories forever.

A man lifting a woman on the pier near the ocean.


Full disclaimer –  I collaborated with other travel writers to complete this piece. This post may contain affiliate links. When you click on the link you will have the option to purchase a product at no extra cost to you, but we would receive a small commission. We want to thank everyone for following and supporting us on all of “Our Sweet Adventures.” 



Simple Ways to Save Travel Memories



Take High-Quality Pictures

A simple way to save your travel memories is through high-quality photos. So I recommend investing in a high-quality mirrorless camera. I say a high-quality mirrorless camera because they are lightweight, fast, and truly make a difference in image quality. My travel photos have seen a night and day difference between an iPhone vs. Sony a6000.

This camera will be a one-time payment that will allow you to collect so many images that you will never forget. Moreover, you do not need to spend a lot to get a high-quality camera. You can easily find a high-quality mirrorless camera with a lens and accessories for less than $700.



Upload Photos to Facebook

Surprisingly, one of the easiest ways to remember all of your travel memories is through Facebook. Ever since Facebook created “on this day memories”, it has been one of our favorite ways to look back on all of our travels. Throughout the year, we will have a Facebook memory help us reminiscence the travel experiences we were enjoying on a specific day of the year. Most days the travel memories appear during our daily lifestyle and sometimes we miss the experiences so much, we just book another trip! You have been warned.

So, remember to publish photos with unique captions to Facebook during your trip. It is not just the photo that will ignite those travel memories but also the caption. I recommend trying to write a caption about the things you did that day or share a specific story. Then every year from that day Facebook will send you a friendly travel memory.



Bring Home Special Souvenirs

Our favorite way to savor travel memories is by bringing home souvenirs. For us, a souvenir cannot be generic – it needs to bring back travel memories by relating it to an experience. For example, we have brought back Murano glass grapes from watching a glass-blowing demonstration in Murano, a map of Ireland from our Ireland road trip, and a handmade cheetah from our ethical cheetah encounter. All of these souvenirs have sentimental meaning or experience that relates to our travel memories. So when we look at each souvenir, we can instantly remember those specific travel memories and experiences.

Travel souvenirs of an Ireland map, Venice masks, Murano grapes, and a glass cheetah. Collecting souvenirs is a great way to save travel memories.



Collect Postcards

A fun way to remember travel experiences is by collecting postcards from each destination. You can write special notes and memories on the back of the postcard that relate to the destination. Then you can either send the postcards to yourself while you are still on your trip or just keep them until you return home. Once you are home, place each postcard in an album or on the wall, so you can easily return to it and reread your travel memories.

Several different postcards hanging on the wall with a piece of wood that says "miles of memories".



Collect Sand

This is Adam’s most treasured way to save travel memories. Every time we visit a new beach, we bring a plastic bag or bottle to scoop up sand. Then when we return home, we pour the sand in glass jars and label it with the destination and date. We also try to display them nicely in our house so we can always see the different types of sand we have collected over the years. I have also seen a creative idea to stack each sand by country or continent in a tall glass jar and label accordingly. Then you can see beautiful layers of different sand from several destinations. Just remember to read the laws of every country and airport policies before collecting your sand.



Turn Your Currency into Jewelry

When we leave a new country, we always keep their currency coins. Sometimes we ask for change just to keep the currency as souvenirs. One reason we keep the currency is to see the difference between every country’s medium of exchange. The other reason we keep currency is to turn it into a beautiful piece of jewelry. Mariamor Designs does a fantastic job turning our currency into a travel memory necklace, bracelet, and key chain. I love this unique way to save travel memories because you literally get to wear your experiences. Furthermore, when people see your currency jewelry it is a great way to share all of your travel stories! You can custom order your foreign currency jewelry here.

A hand holding foreign currency turned into a beautiful bracelet from Mariamor Designs.




Creative Ways to Save Travel Memories



Create a Scrapbook

Scrapbooking is one of the best ways to make your travel memories last forever. You can easily organize and build up a portfolio of every travel experience all while making the scrapbook look incredible. It is very easy to find the perfect scrapbook. You can buy a scrapbook from several different online stores. There are even specific ones that are designed for travel memories. Then the creative aspect comes from making all of your scrapbook pages look fun, special, and unique with different stickers, background pages, cutouts, and more. Essentially you get to recreate your favorite travel memories on paper by sticking your photos and writing little descriptions into your scrapbook – it’s all up to you.

In addition to being fun, I find creating scrapbooks very therapeutic – before you know it, one scrapbook will be full and you will be moving onto another! So by the time you are old and grey, you should have a bookshelf full of scrapbooks filled with travel memories.



Create a Photo Book

If creating a scrapbook seems too daunting, you can also make a photo book of your travel memories. The photo books are all created online through different companies. Two of the most popular photo book companies are Shutterfly and Snapfish. All you have to do is pick your photo book cover and design. Then you upload your travel photos and place them into your photo book, write little descriptions, and hit publish. Viola! After a few days, your photo book will be delivered to your doorstep and you can read and share it with family and friends.

An open photo book of a woman sitting near a rock.



Create a Piece of Art

When you are traveling, you will have so many opportunities to get creative to capture those special travel memories. One unique way is by channeling your inner Claude Monet or Van Gogh by painting or drawing what you see and experience around you. Even if you are not the best artist at the moment, it’s something you can work on. During our travels in Europe, we came across quite a few people who would draw and watercolor their travel memories. Their work was stunning and inspired us to try as well.

A beautiful hand drawing of a cathedral in Venice to save a travel memory.

Some people prefer to draw or paint electronically, such as on their Mac or Apple device. You can find out how to draw on Mac computers by following this list. Once you get going and practice the technique of painting and drawing on an electronic device, you will create a masterpiece in no time. So have a little go, and see whether you prefer this or freehand drawing. 



Write in a Journal

Another creative outlet to save travel memories is by writing in a journal. As a travel writer, I have always enjoyed writing about my experiences abroad. In fact, my first journal was back from my high school graduation when my grandfather took me to Spain and France. I wrote in my journal every day and even as I read it ten years later, those travel memories come flooding back to me. So I definitely recommend writing in a journal during your trip because it is the most rewarding way to remember all of your travel memories.



Create Fun Videos

For those who need to feel as close to living in those moments again, I recommend creating videos. All it takes is capturing a few minutes, if not less, of different travel memories and editing it into a full video. You can capture videos by a digital camera, drone, GoPro, or even an iPhone. Today, there are so many different apps and software that can turn anyone into a Hollywood director. Personally, I use iMovie and love it. Once I add in all of my videos, I can easily add different transitions. Then I download my full video and get to rewatch all my favorite travel memories anytime I want!

A white drone flying in the air over the ocean capturing travel memories.



Create Travel Shadow Boxes

The last creative way to save travel memories is by making a shadow box. We mostly make shadow boxes for destinations with a lot of tickets. So if you visit a museum, go to a concert, or take a guided tour, hold on to those tickets. When you return home, you can print out photos from your trip or of a map and place everything neatly in a shadow box. Then you can display it in your house as a decoration. It is an easy way to fill your house with decorations, showcase to your guests, and always look at to remember your favorite travel memories.



I hope I have provided some new and creative ways to save your future or past travel memories. It is never too late to start any of these ideas and I promise they are all worth it! To reiterate from the beginning, every travel memory is worth everything. So make sure you save them by creating or bringing back something special.


Jogi Prajapati

Monday 11th of November 2019

Turning Currency into Jewelry is a great idea. I will try it next time

oursweetadventures

Saturday 16th of November 2019

Yeah, contact Mariamor Designs to create yours!