Travel memories – we all love to ‘return’ to our journeys. It is like traveling back in time, to these places, moments and feelings. It might be a magnet, book or used ticket that will remind you of those days. Or maybe simply a fragrance, taste or a known face. Memories can be hidden in things you can touch and also captured in simple, yet unforgettable, moments. And in case longing is there, we can ‘return’ back.
So, for moments like today and for the lifetime: how to capture travel memories so that they can stay with us? How to convert moments or keepsakes into a virtual ‘return ticket’? I am sure that we all come back from our journeys with different ‘treasures’. Tell us, after reading it all, what is your one.
MILES OR SMILES?
In the last months most of us traveled back in time to our favorite destinations and moments. Social media suddenly got full of throwbacks and flashbacks! Did you join this journey too? What helped you to ‘teleport’ yourself back in time? Was it a picture or a bill found at the bottom of your bag?
Since I was a child, I was encouraged by my parents to travel. They used to repeat to me that what I will see and experience, no one and nothing will take away from me. It is one of the biggest life’s treasures.
And what I noticed is that once back, especially the initial days, I am unable to share these moments. Maybe on one hand overwhelmed by it all or maybe the ‘story’ is just too interesting to share it all at one go. And maybe that’s the magic of travelling, that sometimes, unless lived and experienced, it might be difficult to pass all the emotions of that journey. That’s why very often I would rather grab hands of people I love and return to many places together.
Undoubtedly, for me it is about smiles. They are the key ingredient of travel memories. As much as I love shopping (psss… My Better Half, you can skip this and move to next part of the post) and bringing something from each place (lately: useful keepsakes, I really try!) it is all about captured moments. Simple moments. And one more time: smiles, shared smiles. Of course, miles matter too. I would love to visit all the countries of the world. But if it was only about miles and numbers I would have not returned to some countries multiple times, really many times.
My travel smiles memories are unlimited, just to name three:
- Sitting in India by the road, on a little bricks’ fence and sipping 10 rupee (~$0.13) tea or rather chai and having best time ever.
- Making an advance booking for dinner at Burj Khalifa in Dubai for My Better Half birthday celebration to find out at the reception of the place that I confused the dates ?
- Telling my parents to pack small suitcase with winter clothes (yes, that’s a challenge in itself) but not letting them know where we are going and only before boarding gate – give them tickets for ski jumps contest in Oslo.
How about you? Is it miles or smiles?
WHY WE TRAVEL
Number One: As life is too short.
Find more reasons below.
TRAVEL MEMORIES ON PAGES
When I was traveling back from Mumbai last year, at the airport I saw a new book “The Art of Making Memories”. It caught my attention so much that I read part of it already on the flight back home. Referring to the research on happiness, the author explores what can we do to create happy memories and be better at remembering them. Moments that will influence who we are.
Meik Wiking shares 8 ingredients for happy memories:
- Harness the power of firsts. Seek out novel experiences and make days extraordinary.
- Make it multi-sensory. Go beyond sight. Memories can also have sounds, scents, touch and tastes.
- Invest attention. Treat your happy moments like you would your date. Pay attention to them!
- Create meaningful moments. Make meaningful moments memorable moments.
- Use the emotional highlighter pen. Get the blood flowing.
- Capture peaks and struggles. Milestones are memorable, but the struggle to reach one is unforgettable.
- Use stories to stay ahead of the forgetting curve. Share stories. Do you remember the time we … ?
- Outsource memory. Write, photograph, record, collect. Be Marie Kondo’s arch-enemy.
What I love in the book are happy memory tips. Yes, I skipped pages to read them in advance as they are so great and truly inspiring.
Once a year, go someplace you’e never been before.
Make plans to visit new places – be it an exotic destination or the park across town.
Chase mangoes.
New and memorable experiences also come in the form of food. Make sure you take your taste buds on trips, too.
In case you have already read “The Art of Making Memories”, how about “Every Mile a Memory”? Another great book, purely focused on travels’ memories! From Great Britain via continental Europe, Morocco, Turkey to India.
According to Partha Sarthi “travelling in the twenty-first century is not only about check-ins, posting selfies or writing status messages with hashtags. It is about visiting places one may have only read about, seen in movies or heard about; it’s about standing on a landmark and feeling something extraordinary; it’s about refreshing memories and making new ones.”
Evidently, that’s the way memories can be captured! So don’t wait and create new ones too!
COLLECTING MOMENTS
Certainly, some of us prefer to collect more experiences and moments to return to. Limiting material memories as much as possible or maybe making a balanced combination of both. Each approach is good, it is about our personality and individual approach. For this reason, select what works best for you!
For example, I love travel scratch maps. And you? Some ideas below.
TRAVEL DIARIES / JOURNALS
DIY TRAVEL SCRAPBOOKS / MEMORY BOOKS
SCRATCH MAPS
TRAVEL MEMORIES APPS
Day One Journal: ‘Will keep track of every chunk of your memory in a convenient and secure way… and it’s versatile too. It can be your calendar journal, memory journal, travel journal and it’s great for both men and women.’
Postcard Maker: ‘Show your beautiful photos with a personalized Postcard. Send a custom postcard to friends and family – even while you’re still on vacation.’
PicToMagnet: ‘Convert your Photos into Instagram / Facebook / photo magnets. Wait no more. Eternalize your memories in beautiful photo magnets.’
TRAVEL KEEPSAKES
I do not know a person who would not return from a travel with at least one keepsake. Chocolate or photo! And yes, keeping photos aside – I try to limit keepsakes as much as possible, even if my love for them continues ? Discover some of the ideas below! I might create destination boxes from my travels.
DESTINATION BOXES
PHOTOGRAPHY / PHOTO WALL
Do you know a person who travels without taking a single picture? ?
POSTCARDS
I love these, I still keep on bringing postcards from every single place I visit!
SOUVENIRS, SOUVENIRS & SOUVENIRS
Magnets, t-shirts, flags, mugs, figurines are among many items that we can bring from our travels. Without a doubt, ladies have two favorite ones: handbags and shoes! ?
BLOG
That’s my favorite lately. I get many questions lately. Yes, blog takes a lot of time, for me most of the evenings. But when the post is out… I feel so good. To remind myself of the special moments. To travel back. In short, try it too!
Moments that matter, no matter the memory.
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