The Complete Travel Memory System (Before, During, After Your Trip)
You take 500+ photos on vacation.
Then what?
Here's my system for actually preserving travel memories—from planning through creating the photo book.
Taking a mirror family selfie at TeamLabs Borderless in Tokyo, Japan
In the “Art of Making Memories” by Happiness Research Institute CEO Meik Wiking, novel experiences create a significant, memorable impact. That is often why traveling to a new place feels so memorable – it’s the power of firsts. Be careful to outsource all of your memories to your camera roll though – take some time to also be fully present in moments with the people around you. When you’re feeling really happy and want to “capture” the moment, according to Wiking: “Take notice of the input from all your senses – is there a unique scent, sound, texture or taste? Work that into your long-term memory.”
Below is some things to keep in mind before, during, and after your trip to take it through your lens and into something tangible at the end.
Before your trip
1. Decide what you want to remember
Not everything—what matters for THIS trip?
Examples: Kids' reactions? Scenery? Food? All of it?
2. Prep your memory tools
Clear phone storage (make room for photos)
Bring voice recorder or journal
3. Set up a system
Create a trip album in your phone
Decide: Will you post on Instagram during or after?
During your trip
1. Capture intentionally (not everything)
The photo-taking impairment effect: Taking too many photos actually impairs memory
My rule: Take 10-20 photos per day max (forces you to choose)
2. Add context in the moment
Voice memo about what the day was like (iPhone Voice Memos will transcribe what you say and you can copy it later)
Quick brain dump in Notes app or add a caption to the photo itself in iPhotos
Don't wait—you will forget
3. Daily micro-curation
5 minutes each night: Heart your favorite photos
This makes "after" and what you want to share so much easier
Consider whether you need to pull the phone out every time
It’s tempting because it’s so accessible now to want to take a picture of everything. But that doesn’t mean you’ll actually remember more.
After your trip
Honestly, timing is flexible here. Sometimes I’m really good about doing something right away (and that’s the ideal), but sometimes I need some time to recover and think through ways I want to remember the trip. It also helps to have some time in-between so the photos themselves can be viewed a little more subjectively and often easier to cultivating the final results.
1. Week 1: Organize
Create album in phone if you haven’t already: [Destination][Year] Ex. "Japan 2024"
Add to cloud backup
Delete obvious bad photos
2. Week 2: Curate favorites
Pick 10-20 best photos per day
Add any additional context you remember
Voice memo or write down what your overall key takeaways or moments are
3. Week 3-4: Create something
Option 1: Quick a travel book – but which platform should you use?
If you want it done fast: Chatbooks
If you want heirloom quality: Artifact Uprising
If you’re on a budget: Shutterfly
If it’s writing heavy: Blurb
Option 2: Printed favorites for frame/fridge
Option 3: Add to annual family book (do later)
Option 4: Trip collage
How to utilize the scaps
I personally love saving tangible momentos from a trip – the ticket stubs, scraps of paper, stickers. But it’s not great if it just sits in a box for years until it’s eventually thrown out. Here’s how I utilized these memories to create a collage.
And what about video?
This is an entire topic in itself that I’m honestly still unraveling. But one huge caution – don’t film all your videos for your social media. What I mean is, if you want your videos to truly be a family shared video and your target audience is for your family to enjoy, filming vertically is not the best format. Take the videos that you want to hold onto for your family horizontally.
Then, if you have a smart TV, you can use airplay to play directly on the TV, or an app like iMemories to make the videos accessible.
Eventually, if you’re able to, put the trip together in a comprehensive video ~ 10 minutes max.
In conclusion
Changing habits, especially when it comes to memory keeping of a trip you don’t want to forget, can be really difficult. So if it’s hard, just focus on one intentional change you want to make on your next trip that helps you be the most present in the moment of all of it.
