Travel memories speak volumes. But you needn’t compile volumes to keep them.
© Joyce McGreevy

How to Keep on Keeping Travel Keepsakes—and Still Enjoy the Trip

Keeping a travel journal is something that some people enjoy doing and some people wish they enjoyed doing. If you’re in the latter group, you probably own one or more beautifully bound journals, the sight of which filled you with travel inspiration—initially.

Then came the journey, and despite your best intentions to create a travel keepsake, your journal sputtered to a stop.  Why? It’s often about how we view the travel journal—that most non-stationary of stationery objects—before and during a journey.

In the anticipatory period before departure, the blank pages of a journal are an invitation to adventure and a promise of keen observations. There will be aha moments! There will be rich descriptions!  

Even the most dogged travel journalist needs time to savor the joys of the journey.
© Joyce McGreevy

But during the journey, something shifts, and you can’t keep up with keeping a journal:

• The little book that seemed so charming has become a chore master. It silently berates you from the hotel nightstand for “failing” to provide a daily, in-depth account of your travels.
• Or you really, truly want to record a specific travel experience—only to discover that you’re contending with clichés, grappling with grammar, or hating your handwriting. In short, you had more fun filing your taxes.

Are there easier options?

Yes, thanks to quick ‘n easy travel keepsakes that “journal” the journey as you go. Yes, you can capture a sense of place without mastering plein air painting,  and you can bring home meaningful souvenirs without impacting your FICO score.

Oh, I see:  The ideal travel keepsake is one that happens on the go and adds to the joy of the journey. Here are some ideas:

1. Scale back.

Did sketching the view from the Eiffel Tower prove a tad challenging? Consider making “postage stamp” art instead. In that journal you’re carrying around, divide a page for the day into small squares about an inch wide. Draw a quick sketch or trap a word that reminds you of the place or person or the feeling you had in the travel moment.  These one-inch square sketches focus on a single set of the details of the day as you live them. Add the date and your location, and you have a travel keepsake that didn’t keep you from your travels.

Don’t love every quick-sketch? Make a “patchwork” page of your favorites.
© Joyce McGreevy

2. Make audio postcards.

In one of the most poetic scenes of the Academy Award-winning film “Il Postino,” a postman records sounds of his village that inspire him. A quick tap of your cellphone’s voice recorder is all it takes to collect audio “postcards” of your own: a muezzin’s call to prayer in Istanbul, street music in Berlin, a lion’s roar in Botswana. Voice-recorder apps automatically tag the date and location, so just add a personal note, and send or save your audio postcard.

From bells in Bruges to a river in Tongariro, sounds enhance travel memories.
© Joyce McGreevy

3. Save what you savor.

When you’re enjoying a travel moment, squirrel away a reminder. Maybe it’s a menu from a restaurant with a few tasting notes in the margins. It could also be a map section, a business card, a shopping bag,  or a food label. Back at home, remember the tastes of your trip as you make a culinary collage for your kitchen. Or, along the way, spill out your treasures onto a flat surface, arrange them in an interesting way, and create a digital collage (no glue stick required!). Then:

• Snap a photo of your collage.
• Re-use or recycle the paper.
• Voila!—a portable keepsake minus the baggage.

The digital-only collage lets you “keep” items that won’t fit in your suitcase.
© Joyce McGreevy

4. Love it? List it.

Those moments at the end of a travel day are the perfect time to sum up the day in less than 3 minutes. Keep it light and breezy. Invite your travel companions to join in, if you’d like, and collect:

• an “Oh, I see” moment: Sunflowers turn their faces away from the sun!
• people you’re glad you met and why: Annamieke translated the Flemish menu.
• a phrase that sums up the day’s adventures or mishaps: Good thing we took the “wrong” train!
• new foods you ate: brunost (Norwegian brown cheese); simit (Turkish bagel)
• new words you learned: Blagodarya! (“Thank you!” Bulgaria); Comme c’est beau! (“How beautiful!” France)

At home, use your list to recall details:  Norwegian vafler med  brunost were
surprisingly nydelig (delicious). The cheese reminded me of caramel!
© Joyce McGreevy

Keep Keepsakes Simple, for Keep’s Sake!

You don’t have to be crafty or write volumes to create travel keepsakes. Just let your observations and experiences be your guide. Each time you write, draw, list, or photograph to collect a travel keepsake, you’re preserving a precious travel memory that evokes the joys of the journey.

Find out more! Consult our curated and creative list of easy-to-use apps that help you gather audio, photographic, and print keepsakes in one place and build on them from there. Also find our round-up of the best online sites, books, and classes for creating, organizing, and displaying your travel keepsakes after you’re home. Download the free PDF:

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