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“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” –Mark Twain
It’s fair to say Americans these days feel the same way about travel that Mark Twain did in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After more than a year of being couped up at home, more and more people are pulling up anchor, hoisting their sails, and getting ready for a much-needed great adventure.
According to Forbes, daily TSA screenings at America’s airports are up nearly 1000% in 2021 compared to data from 2020. Transparent, a vacation-rentals data company, reports that the national average nightly rate for Airbnb rentals in July and August is up over 20% from a year earlier, indicating significantly increased demand.
But if getting away from home and seeing the world again is suddenly the new hot thing to do this year, so is a new appreciation for an activity we all once took for granted.
“If there is one lesson I learned from 2020, it is to never take the gift of travel for granted,” wrote Diane Newcomer, a travel columnist for the News Star newspaper in Monroe, Louisiana. “The pandemic made me realize travel is a privilege — not a right — and, as such, it can be taken away at any time.”
Now more than ever, people want purpose in their travel, to make meaningful connections, to broaden their horizons, to better understand the world around them. In short, they want to make memories that last and resonate for years to come.
But how does one keep alive those memories of a memorable trip? Thankfully in this digital age there is no shortage of creative ways to keep those good times from fading into oblivion.
One of the most obvious ways to keep a record of your travels is to take lots of pictures. Digital photography has never been easier or more convenient and even amateur photographers can look like pros with little effort.
Taking endless photos, though, has its downsides. We’ve all taken hundreds of photos of places we’ve been to only to forget about the photos because we simply have too many of them on our phone or computer.
One of the more popular ways to preserve those travel memories is to select a few of your best pictures, print them out, and then create a scrapbook of your trip. Gather up items like boarding passes, a coaster from a favorite bar you visited, a bus ticket, loose coins or bills if you visited another country, and combine it all in a ring binder or purpose-made scrapbook. Not only will you have a blast creating the book, but you will have a memento you will be proud to show your friends and family.
Another fun version of the scrapbook is something called a shadow box, essentially a 3-D scrapbook. You have to be a bit more selective with a shadow box because you only have one canvas to display your collection. But the multi-dimensional effect will no doubt prove a show stopper when people visit your home.
If you don’t have the time or energy to dive into scrapbooking, you can always let others do it for you. Blurb.com offers self-publishing tools that allow anyone to upload their best photos and create their very own photo books, magazines, wall art, e-books and other items with the click of the mouse.
The company offers hundreds of ready-made templates so you don’t have to worry that you don’t have design skills. You can print one copy of your professionally designed photo book for yourself, or you can print multiple copies to send to family and friends.
You can also try your hand at making a movie of your trip. Take short videos of the different places you visited. Then try out some online video editing software like Canva or Wevideo where you can upload your favorite clips and easily organize them. You can add music and text to make a short movie that you can post on your social media.
Another popular way to preserve your travel memories is to go old school. Keep a written diary of your travels. Put aside a few minutes every day while you’re traveling to describe some of the interesting things you did that day, some of the people you met, your impressions of people and places. It may not seem like much when you’re writing it. But when you look back and read your diary in total, you will be amazed at how it all comes flooding back in vivid detail. And if you want to share your daily thoughts with others, you can always start a travel blog online.
Scent and sound are two senses that are extremely evocative and offer great ways to preserve special memories.
“It probably sounds silly, but I like to wear a different perfume for each trip,” said Sarah Von Barge, a life coach and consultant whose blog advocates for the benefits of travel. “Scent is directly related to memory, so it’s a great way to ‘set’ the memory of your trip – every time you wear that perfume, you’re back in Mexico eating ice cream while you ogle the tumble-down mansions in Merida. I also like to create country-specific playlists and hunt down local music while I’m traveling.”
So as you prepare to hoist your sails and venture out into the world again with newfound purpose, don’t forget to keep a record of it all. Then you will truly have memories that last a lifetime.
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This content is brought to you by Hannah Madison.
The post With Travel Numbers Up Significantly In 2021, Travelers Look For Ways To Preserve Their Special Memories appeared first on The Good Men Project.