Who scrapbooks & journals their trips?

[FC7039]

We are just starting to use our trailer. Two trips. Yesterday I was in the scrapbook isle at Walmart. I would have never ever thought I would venture down that row. Our idea is to keep a scrapbook of our trips. Include the park maps, details of the trip, notes of things we may have done, pictures, etc.

Does anyone else do something similar? What idea do you have?

Gene

[sharbours]

That's a great idea, something I always think I'd like to do. I've gotten as far as buying a nice journal and creating a special place for it in the Argosy. I've had it a year now and I think I've opened it twice. I think it's because I have so much fun camping, and I don't want to 'waste' time writing in the journal.

Having said that, I really need to take the time - because when we're planning another trip, it would be VERY helpful if I remembered which site we wanted to have at a particular campground, or what time of the year the mosquitoes are at their worst, etc.

We go camping with a group of friends every Memorial Day. One of them is a master scrapbooker and photographer. She has put together some wonderful scrapbooks for each family, and adds pages every year. I am not artistic at all, and couldn't come close to her skill - but they are beautiful and really help bring back memories!

I hope you do decide to chronicle your travels, and that you will share them with us. Happy Camping!

Sharon

[extiger]

We keep a journal on every trip. Besides the usual date, campground, site #, likes/dislikes my wife includes a story or two that defines the trip. We enjoy going back and reading them as we tend to forget some of the defining items. Like the time we stopped for to go dinner on the way to the campsite. We arrived at the campground and my wife scouted potential sites on foot. She found a couple of likely candidates and asked me to join her. Put the truck in park and hop out. When I got back to the truck (maybe 5 minutes later) I saw the to go bag on the floor and our dog with a big grin! No take out for us that night!

[MrUKToad]

I use a blog, as many people here do, an online journal if you like. Because it's done more or less in real time I don't get to add as many photographs as I'd like - sorting and editing whilst on the road takes a lot of time - but I have a fairly accurate record of our travels so far.

I'm currently in the process of transferring last years blogs into a book (through Blurb.com) so I can give copies to my family, most of whom are not on line. The book project has also allowed me to add a whole raft of photogrpahs that weren't included at the time of online publication.

Click the link in my signature block to see the blog.

[eubank]

Maria keeps some notes on trips. I just keep them as separate folders for pictures on the Flickr account.

Of course, if I don't take any pictures on a trip -- like our last one -- then there aren't many pictures of that trip on the site


Lynn

[JBinKC]

It takes discipline to keep up with a journal. I have “vespers” every evening, downloading pictures, writing in the journal, charging batteries, backing up the hard-drive, going over the next day travel plans, etc. When I get behind, it's tough to remember the poignant moments. I use Windows Live Photo Gallery to organize photos by day which helps jog memories. I use Mozy for hard-drive backups. My parents went on major camping adventures in a VW bus in the 1970s. At 102, my mother regrets not having a journal from their trips, so I use that as my motivator. My kids are pretty blasé about my journals now but their attitude may change decades from now.

[pidget]

I've made a lot of scrapbooks in the past and find it a ton of fun, but it takes a while to gather all of the photos, embellishments, printed materials etc, to put together. Once you have everything its like assembling a puzzle. We have only had our flying cloud for a little over a month but I did start a written journal for the trips we will be taking. Nothing more than a handwritten diary with a couple of pictures, but its nice to read back and remember the details that often get forgotten.

[FC7039]

When I read, I like books, newspapers and magazines instead of the computer screen. Though I do enjoy reading others journals and blogs online.

I do not intend to write a journal, just small notes and highlights.

I am not sure how disciplined I will be in keeping the book, but the thought is to have a central place to gather the things we have and if time permits, maybe rainy days, take the time to organize it.

Things like mentioned before, preferable site numbers, pleces in town that look like they may be a place to visit on a return, people's name you met, souvenirs you may have bought, etc.



With hope, ten years down the road and many mile behind me, I can reminisce.

P.S.

Amussing story,

As we pulled out to go into town, we looped around the campground back to the entrance which was close to our camp site, my wife points out, "hey look, another Airstream just like ours".

[masseyfarm]

I keep a travel log and with the ARC http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...tml#post938938 have good documentation of everywhere we go.
If one travels more than once or twice a year, it is hard to sort events from one trip to another without written or visual records.
However, if you think your records are going to be looked at in depth by anyone other than you and whoever is traveling with you, I believe you are in denial. Your records are really only of interest to those who have been part of the experience.
We use ARC shots for screensavers on the monitor and are constantly reminded of the fantastic areas we have visited in our many travels.
With the trend nowadays to downsize and simplify, many hard copy records are being tossed, so I think each road trip record added to a disc might be easier to store over time than a book.

Same Airstream- at least she is looking, and not watching a video while traveling.
Dave

Originally Posted by FC7039

When I read, I like books, newspapers and magazines instead of the computer screen. Though I do enjoy reading others journals and blogs online.

I do not intend to write a journal, just small notes and highlights.

I am not sure how disciplined I will be in keeping the book, but the thought is to have a central place to gather the things we have and if time permits, maybe rainy days, take the time to organize it.

Things like mentioned before, preferable site numbers, pleces in town that look like they may be a place to visit on a return, people's name you met, souvenirs you may have bought, etc.



With hope, ten years down the road and many mile behind me, I can reminisce.

P.S.

Amussing story,

As we pulled out to go into town, we looped around the campground back to the entrance which was close to our camp site, my wife points out, "hey look, another Airstream just like ours".

[Stubird]

We just got our new 23D' international, so haven't gone on a trip yet. But when we do, I plan to take my Macbook Pro. On iphoto you can make books, slideshows etc. as you go along. The program also include a map which will mark your adventures and then the map will be in your professional looking book. Cheaper and less time consuming then a scrap book. Plus you can order more then one book. Or perhaps you want a calendar of your trip you can look at every month. Check it out, you can also make different size books.
Happy Trails!!!!

[silver 67]

We've kept a "ship's log" since our first trip in Moby. They have come in handy when we have been trying to remember the name of "that great campground near the lake in (whatever state)". I only scrapbook our caravans, because there are more pictures of our friends and no so many of "Now, what was the name of that mountain?" kind of pictures.

[sempi2]

Must say that when we bought our A/S I started keeping a journal. Then as is normal, didn't get more writing done. I have a big bag with all of the dates we went to places and where we stayed, so I guess you have inspired me to get that bag out and try to recall some of the adventures. One thing that we have talked about recently was to keep notes on where we've stayed, but also time of year, weather info, stuff about bugs etc. Since my husband is a flyfisherman, he would also like to keep notes on the water levels, fish runs and what flies the fish are biting. Thanks for the little nudge to get me back to reliving our trips. Susan

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, my scrap book or journal is on this forum. My Blog is about things that I have done to better my Airstream. My travels are documented in the "On The Road" section of this forum and it's called, "Bob and Lee's random trip". I try to make an entry every night about what happened and where we were that day. I post pictures and tell a little story about our trips. Sometimes we don't have WIFI and a few days later, I post for the missing days.

[Chief]

We like to re-live the experience, so I have been making videos for years. It all started 28 years ago, when our daughter was born and I purchased a Sony Betamax camera and portable recorder. Equipment has gotten better since then, and my skills have improved a bit. It takes time to piece it altogether, but it sure is nice to insert a DVD and enjoy the trip, rally, etc. all over again. I tell everyone that I'm doing it for when I get so old that I can't remember where we have been.

I have a few parked on my YouTube account (ForumChief1) at the moment: http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhee

The latest/best is the January Canopener 2012 Rally, in which I used a new HD camera and iMac for editing.

Chief

[ZoominC6]

We keep old fashioned three ring binders on each and every trip complete with campsite data, photos, email stories etc. I admit that it's very "old school" but we like carrying the notebook full of printed out information while we travel and add to it as we go. Upon returning home we edit and then file away for reference if needed for future trips in the same direction or to the same locations. This system works well for us even though the books take up space on the library shelf. With eBooks, we seldom purchase books to add to the library anymore so why not add these journals?

[webspinner]

We keep a slim 3-ring binder that goes with us on every trip. I have a "Log" section with information from prior trips (maps, campground confirmations) that might come in handy again. At the front of that section is a form I made where I write one line for each place. It includes Dates, Number of nights (for easy tallying later), Place (park, event, etc), Details (campsite number), and Notes (so I can say "Oh, that was the year when..." or "Next time we should try for site #27 with the better view"). Having a single list makes for easy reference.

My camera is my journal. I'll take pictures of signs, of ordinary things that will help jog my memory, of things that will remind me of a story about the trip, of the people I saw or met there. I also take pictures of us and of the scenery. I don't write a journal since I tend to lose momentum with writing.

Lately, we've started a Tin Pickle Adventures blog that covers both trips and renovation projects. It's a tough call sometimes which one brings us the most pleasure. We think about our upcoming trips when planning and doing improvements and we enjoy those improvements when we travel. The blog lets us share progress and pictures with friends. Each entry can be backdated, so even though we've only been working on it a month, the blog gives the events with the dates as they would have been.

[Erik Olson]

We tend to write things online in blog and email form. It is an efficient and easy alternative to keeping a journal. That said, I love having a book to look at on the table and my kids, who all have their entire photo history kept on hard drives, are fascintated with the photo albums from our own childhoods.

In light of what is happening at Kodak right now, I think it is timely to recommend their excellent book creation service if you have a lot of pictures you'd like to move back into a more analog "interface".

We took the kids to France in 2005 and my wife surprised me with a scrapbook printed by the good people at Kodak. The quality of the book (and how they tuned-up my Nikon D50 images) was amazing, given the price for a one-off bespoke work. Real binding, a die-cut front cover and the highest-quality paper really showcase my photography, which can be a bit hit-or-miss. You can easily add text, captions and other things if you are feeling "scrapbooky". Save it online as a work-in-progress until you're ready to have it made. Can't say enough good about Kodak and the resulting product!

We have since created a few of these for grandparents and other important people, who we might value a bit more than our numerous Facebook photos can communicate.

[TCHURCH]

Hi,

We journal our trips and have designed a travel journal.

Check it out at http:/etsy.com/shop/CabanaArts (my wife's shop)

I know you will like the design!

Thanks,
Tony

[redwoodguy]

I scribble into a journal, and paste small pictures here and there into it. I know if I don't, the dates and places will get quickly mixed up. "Didn't we go there last January?" "No, you fool, it was March!" Me and Pidget are doing that all the time.

It's nice to have the basics recorded. And it travels easily and I don't have to plug it in or charge the batteries.

[FC7039]

Originally Posted by redwoodguy

I scribble into a journal, and paste small pictures here and there into it. I know if I don't, the dates and places will get quickly mixed up. "Didn't we go there last January?" "No, you fool, it was March!" Me and Pidget are doing that all the time.

It's nice to have the basics recorded. And it travels easily and I don't have to plug it in or charge the batteries.

My goal too is to keep a written log. I think the blogs online are good, but I have yet to plug in the Mac when traveling (only two trips). Plus, I want to save the park brochures, winery brochures, and other phyiscal items gained while traveling.

Simple notes of events are enough, I am not a writer and the intent is for memory purposes and not entertainment.

And it's the trailer's log, so it belongs in the trailer.