My favorite way to document memories for my kids (especially before they’re remembering the whole trip on their own) is to create a travel journal, just for them. This relatively simple task becomes an incredible keepsake your child can keep forever.
When creating our travel journals, I wanted each to serve as a keepsake for the child, meaning one per child, rather than a shared family journal. I used the first page to write a letter to each of my girls with a message about the joy I have found in travel and why I want to share travel adventures with them. I discussed the reasons I hope travel will be a part of their lives as well. The world opens up to us in travel, and it certainly helps us understand each other a little better. A huge bonus is that we also get to sit in the wonder and awe of so many beautiful places, learn about other cultures and languages, spend quality time together with fewer distractions, and so much more.
I wanted the journal to be small enough that we can travel with it if we want to (but really, so far I have placed the pictures into the journal once we’re home). I selected a size where I could include a couple quick-print photos on each page. My plan (and the way I’ve done it so far) is to have 1-5 pages for each trip, depending on the destination (and the number of jaw-dropping pictures). I purchased a tiny printer to be able to print photos either on the go or right at home. However, I wanted the ability to print pictures that I took on my phone, rather than on a separate camera. If this feature is not important to you, an Instax polaroid-style camera with a travel case could be a great option.
Instead, I purchased this Kodak photo printer. Don’t forget film refills (one option here, and another here). One feature I love about this printer and photo paper is that the ink supposedly will not dry out if the printer is left idle for a while (I haven’t really tested this feature yet). The other thing that drew me to this product was that the small pictures you print have a sticky backing (peel and stick), perfect for entering into the photo book without additional tape or glue. They stick permanently. The feature I like less is that the pictures are not perfectly true to color. While it does a pretty good job, they are not a perfect match for the coloring in the pictures as I take them on my iPhone. Since I will make other family travel photo albums, this isn’t a deal-breaker for me. The point of this journal is not high-quality photos (though I love when I can do that)… the point is documenting where we went and their ages and stages at the time.
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I purchased custom travel journals on Etsy. I love the covers and the size, but one feature I would change is having no perforation on the pages. I do like that they have lined pages, because I’m outlining a very very simple version of our travel itinerary (cities, favorite activities), but this is also something you could opt in or out of. Etsy has a lot of nice options for personalized journals, some with a travel theme (like the ones we chose).
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Creating the journal can be a joint activity between parent and child, a fun tradition to complete while on the trip, or a craft you do on your own after each trip to share as a gift to your child later. I’m completing ours with my girls’ involvement, and now that my oldest can write, I’m having her write in the name of the city (as I spell it for her) to have a fun way to see her writing evolve as she ages… a way to freeze the moment in time to correspond to her age at the time of the trip. You could also eventually enter pictures they took while on the trip.
However you choose to go about it, creating a fun keepsake for your children lets them have a single place to keep their travel memories. Highly recommend! Happy journaling!