One of the best things about family travel are all the priceless memories you create throughout the journey! But do you ever wonder what might be the best way to save and treasure these experiences? How do you best organize them in a way that allows you to reminisce, preserve and share your travel memories with others?
We’ve come up with 13 ways you can save your family travel memories creatively and enjoy them for years to come! All of these projects are kid friendly too! Make it a family affair, have the kids help, reminisce on past travels, and create new memories all at the same time.
1. Create a mason jar display.
Mason jars are one of the best DIY items ever! Grab some from your local grocery or craft store and fill them with items from your last family vacation. We suggest sand from the beach, souvenirs purchased from local vendors, rocks from a park the kids played at, or wristbands from the resort! Make sure to add a tag or label and include the destination and month/year of travel!
2. Money, money, money…MONEY!
For family vacations that took you abroad, keep some of the foreign money and coins to frame and display at home! Use alphabet stickers to include the city or country that you visited. Ta da! You’ve created a beautiful memory! Did we mention that currency from other countries is GORGEOUS?! And kids love looking at it too!
3. Save your travel memories in ornaments.
We love this idea! You can purchase inexpensive clear, empty ornaments from most craft stores. Fill an ornament up each year with rocks, leaves, sand, shells, etc. from your travels! Make one for each trip, or combine all the trips from that year together into one ornament. Either way, you’ll be thrilled to unpack your ornaments each year and reflect on all of your family vacations from years past! PS…label these too!
4. Snail mail makes a good travel memory.
This is one of our favorites and something the kids can definitely participate in! Mail yourself/your household a postcard from wherever your family travels take you. When you get home, you’ll instantly have a memory waiting for you in your mailbox! Save all your postcards in a cute storage box or add them to memory books.
5. Save your tickets for a collage.
Don’t toss out tickets from your family trips! Museum tickets; bus or airplane tickets; outdoor adventures or tours; theater and performances! Whatever it is you and your family experienced while traveling, make sure to save those tickets. When you get home, create a collage with the tickets to frame or laminate.
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6. Create a timeless shadow box.
Shadow boxes are a great way to combine all of the trinkets and items collected throughout a trip! Have your kiddos pick out 1 or 2 items they love. Add some aspects of nature. Add a photo or two. You’ll treasure this box o’ memories forever.
7. Travel journals are an easy way to preserve family travel memories.
Before leaving for your trip, give everyone a journal to be used throughout the family adventure. These journals can be used to write down memories, quotes, funny things that happened along the way, drawings or sketches of the trip, and more! You’ll love “reading” down memory lane as you browse through the journals post vacay.
8. Photo books on photo books on photo books.
There are SO many resources online that allow you to create custom photo books for all of your family vacations! You can keep them simple or add themes and designs; whatever you choose, it’s an awesome way to preserve your trip! Place them on your coffee tables to share with guests and they’ll act as a great conversation starter. Oh! These are great Christmas gifts too! Gift them to everyone who went on the family trip! Here’s a few of our favorites: Shutterfly, Mixbook, Chatbooks (download the Chatbook app and create books from your phone too!).
9. Spend quality family time together creating a scrapbook.
Sometimes you need a vacation from your vacation, right? Why not take some time to decompress post travels, and create a scrapbook together with your kiddos? They’ll love doing some arts and crafts while remembering all the fun they had.
10. Make a custom calendar using pictures from your trip or trips.
Many of the platforms that create custom photo books also have options to create custom calendars. So why not preserve your memories by using photos from your vacations to create next year’s calendar! PS: this is another great Christmas gift idea – grandparents especially love this!
11. Map it!
Have you ever looked at a map closely? They are beautiful! Use maps of your travel destinations and incorporate them in all of the above! Pro tip: cut out the cities you visited in the shape of hearts for added aesthetics!
12. Another map idea to preserve family travel memories.
Get a huge map of the world printed and framed, and mount it on a wall in your house that your entire family spends quality time in (living room, family room, office, etc.). Use push pins to mark places you’ve traveled to as a family! (Or star stickers if you have little helpers.) Before you know it, you’ll have traveled the world.
13. Passport Stamps – don’t forget!
If your family travel plans take you abroad, you’ll have to bring your passport. Not only is this required for departure and reentry, but it also serves as a great way to preserve your travels. You get a stamp for your visitor’s visa and stamps from other countries are super neat! Your family’s passport will become a story book full of your past travels.
We hope you are inspired to save your family travel memories in a creative way! Do you have an idea we didn’t list? Share it here!
Kaylee Garcia is the mama to one sweet boy and one sweet girl, and wife to an awesome husband. Kaylee and her son (he’s only 4!) have completed over 20 trips via air travel (thank you, Alaska Airlines!) on over 40+ airplane rides! They love sharing travel tips with other families since they’ve learned a lot in the last 4 years. Kaylee enjoys spending time with family, researching baby gear, and exploring the Pacific Northwest.
Good write up. Well written
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We have saved coins in a jar & cool tickets in a shadowbox. Looking forward to trying out a few more on this list.
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Memory jars!
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