Keeping your travel memories alive

Most of us travel in search of new experiences, so we end up creating fantastic memories. But before you know it, they start to fade. Unless that is, you do something to actively keep them alive. Here are a few suggestions to help you to do that.

Print off some of your photos

For most people, looking at photos triggers memories. The more you do it, the more you remember. So, stock up on printer cartridges and photo paper, then sit down to edit and print off a few of your favorite shots. Framing some of them and putting them up around your room or home is a great way to constantly remind yourself of your favorite travel moments. Plus, of course, they are a great way to decorate your home.

Share your memories with others

Talking about your travel experiences is also a good way of keeping the memories alive. Meeting up with the people you traveled with is fun and always triggers conversations that remind you of some of the great times you had together. If you can’t do it in person, meet up via video. 

Sharing your photos with friends and family gives you another chance to reinforce your memories of your travels. A canvas print of you in front of a beautiful sunset or scenery would make a nice gift for your parents. They will love receiving such a personal gift and are highly likely to want you to tell them more about that trip. 

Leaving reviews on TripAdvisor and other sites and answering questions on travel forums is worth considering. Doing so enables you to help others. It also gets you to think about your travels and remember the good times you had.

Read your journal or travel log

Hopefully, during your travels, you kept some sort of note of your adventures. Be sure to get them out now and again and enjoy them. It’s a shame to let them simply gather dust. 

If you did not keep a journal at the time, consider creating something now. It won’t take long to print off a few photos from each trip and put them into a photo album along with a few notes. Plus, a few mementos, for example, old travel tickets if you still have them. You will be pleasantly surprised by how much more you remember when you sit down quietly to do that.

Re-experience the culture of your favorite places

Attending cultural events in your home country is a fantastic way of re-igniting memories. It is not difficult to find immigrants getting together to celebrate some of the special events that are popular in their home countries. If you enjoyed celebrating the Chinese New Year while traveling there, head to your nearest Chinatown on the appropriate date and experience it again. The memories will come flooding back. 

Failing that, track down a restaurant that is owned by people from the country you enjoyed traveling to. There is nothing like eating a dish you discovered on your travels, which has been cooked traditionally, to remind you of what a wonderful time you had.

Holding on to memories of your best travel experiences is fun and uplifting and is good for your mental health.