Along with taking photos of the family during vacation, a great way to preserve the memories is by keeping a travel journal.  If you plan to put your photos into a scrapbook when you return home your journal will be an invaluable tool in helping you recall the details of your trip.

The Journal

You can purchase a travel journal or simply use a notebook that is a comfortable size to carry or slip into your purse or pocket. A spiral bound book helps you keep your pencil handy and several paperclips will be useful for attaching receipts, ticket stubs, etc.

What to Record

Be as detailed as you like, but of course, include places visited, prices paid, new friends made and sights seen along the way.

On one trip I included some uncommon road and town names that we passed by and funny billboards we spotted.

These Road signs gave us a chuckle!

On another, each family member made up limericks about the places we visited and things we did - I recorded these in my journal and now they are in our scrapbook - a fun memory!

 Just one of the limericks we created.

You might want to include those "OOPS!" moments - when you got lost, or the rain spoiled a plan, or you had a flat tire, or lost your room key. All these memories will be fun to recall (after the frustration has been forgotten!)

Record things family members say (over & over & over). On one of our trips we didn't take our bikes and our younger daughter's response EVERY time she saw a bike rider was "We could be doing that RIGHT now!" We still tease her about that one now and again!

Next time we took our bikes!

Including these little extras in your travel journal and scrapbook pages helps you recall what fun being together really is!