If there is one word that best describes the
Au Pair stay, it's
travel. Going abroad for a while, learning a new language,
meeting people from all over the world, visiting new countries are exceptional experiences that we would like to
never forget. In the digital age we are living in, it's very easy to take beautiful
pictures with our phone and keep those memories forever. But what can we do with all of these memories? In this blog post, I share with you some creative ideas to preserve your travel memories!
Make travel boxes
If the organization and sorting of your souvenirs and photos are not what you prefer, then making
memory boxes of your travels is the best thing for you. You can find a box that is already decorated or a blank box that you can decorate as you want. You can paint it, put stickers, photos or just write the name of the country you visited. There are plenty of ideas on the internet and
Pinterest is a good place to find them!
Inside these boxes, you can put the
pictures you took on your trip. There are portable printers that allow you to instantly print photos from your phone.
By clicking here, you can find recommendations for 5 suitable portable photo printers, but there are even more! There are also
applications to print your photos. You just need to select the photos on your phone and order them from the app. Then you'll receive them at home and the quality is usually quite high!
In addition to the pictures, you can put in the box all the little things you like to bring back from your travels. For example, I like to keep flight or train tickets, I also bring back transport tickets, receipts, postcards, stamps, change, fridge magnets, small maps, and other small items bought in souvenir shops!
Write a travel journal
If you enjoy writing, then you should hold a travel journal. If you have feelings and experiences that you want to keep to yourself, write them down in your journal. You just need to get a notebook and write down everything that comes to mind. At the end of each day, you can take a few minutes to write down in a rough draft how you felt and what you discovered during the day. And later, when you have time, for example on the plane or on the train, you put your notes in order in your journal.
To make your
journal look cooler, you can write in different colors, stick pictures in it, draw, etc. And if you learn another
language, maybe even the language of the country you've just visited, you can write your journal in that language! It is always a good practice to write in a foreign language and you will learn a lot of new words.
Create a travel scrapbook
Scrapbooking is a very popular way to keep memories of your trips. This is an activity that needs time but it’s worth it. It's very similar to holding a travel journal, but even more
creative! You're completely free to do whatever you want with it. You can write, stick photos, draw, decorate with stickers, use decorative materials, etc. It's also an opportunity to incorporate new recipes you've discovered or even memories with people you've met. Once again, you can find many scrapbooking ideas on the internet! You can find some examples
by clicking here.
Become a blogger or a vlogger!
Due to the development of the internet and new technologies, it’s becoming easier and easier to share our
experiences online. Many people have created a
travel blog or a youtube channel, so why not you? It might not be the easiest way to keep your travel memories because it takes a lot of work and time, but once you’ve done it, you can only be
proud of it! Also, there are a lot of resources online to help you understand how it works.
If you enjoy telling stories, share your photos, inspire people that have the same interests as you, and interact with them on social media, then you should
create a blog. If you want to know more about blogging, you can
check the blog post we wrote about it!
You can also make
videos and share them on Youtube or even on Instagram! It's one of my favorite ideas to preserve my travel memories because, in videos, you can
feel the emotion of the moment even more, and, in a while, you'll be able to also remember sounds or details that you might have forgotten. You don't need to have an expensive camera or to be a professional for that, your smartphone is everything you need to keep memories videos!
We are aware that it’s currently not possible to travel due to the current
Coronavirus health crisis and that we are advised to
stay at home but wouldn't it be the occasion to look back at your travel memories? You can also use these ideas for your future travels!
Feel free to share in the comments about how you keep your travel memories, maybe you can inspire others.