Documenting your travels is a great way to make sure you remember them forever. When you’re back home, you can reflect on how you documented your trip and recall fond memories. It’s also a way for you to share your travel experiences with others if that’s something you want to do. However, you might want to ensure that documenting your travels doesn’t get in the way of actually enjoying them. You don’t want to be so focused on taking photos that you’re not stopping to look at what you’re photographing. If you’re going to document your travels without it taking over your trip, here are some things you might want to do.
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Take Photos Sparingly
Taking photos is one of the best ways you can document your trip. People have been doing it for a long time, and it can help you preserve your memories. But if you’re always behind a camera, it can distract you from other things. To avoid this, try to take photos sparingly. Get out your phone or camera for a few minutes to capture something, take photos of the people you’re travelling with (or just yourself), and then put them away. Ensure you’re not constantly taking photos, or you could miss something important because you’re too busy behind your camera.
Take Videos
Recording videos is another excellent way to document your travels with your camera. You could capture some short videos to post on social media or edit clips together to create a little travel film when you get home. As with taking photos, try not to spend too much time recording. One thing that might be a good idea is to take a portable tripod on your travels. Then you can set up your camera to record while busy with other things. You can get compact tripods that won’t take up much space, so they’re easy to carry.
Use Social Media
Social media allows you to keep in touch with people while you’re travelling. You can post updates, share your experiences, and talk to your friends and family. You might create a separate account or page that you can use to share your travels. It’s a good idea to allow your friends and family to follow your adventures. Be sure to check how to share content from the device(s) you’re travelling with. Find out how to post on Instagram from Mac if you’re taking your MacBook with you. Check how to upload videos from your phone to Facebook before leaving for your travels.
Keep a Travel Diary or Journal
A travel diary or journal can be a more personal way of documenting your travels. You don’t have to share it with anyone else if you don’t want to. It’s also ideal for writing when you have downtime instead of intruding on your other activities. You can use it to decompress at the end of the day or write in it when you have a quiet moment of downtime in a cafe or while waiting for a travel connection. You can share it with others if you want, but you don’t have to.
Write a Travel Blog
A blog can be best if you want to keep a travel diary but share it with other people. You can post updates that tell people about what you’ve been up to so they can follow along with your travels. It’s easy to set up a blog on whichever platform you use. You can then create text-only posts, or you can add photos or even videos to supplement your writing. Don’t feel like you have to write super long posts, though.
Take Souvenirs Home
Souvenirs can give you something to keep from your travels. When you think of souvenirs, you might think of things like keyrings or bookmarks, but a souvenir can be anything you want it to be. If you feel traditional souvenirs are just clutter, you can look for something more meaningful. It could be a locally-made piece of clothing or artwork you take home. Or you might collect some postcards and turn them into a display or a scrapbook to remind you of your travels.
Documenting your travel doesn’t have to consume your trip, and it’s something you can do in your downtime and incorporate into your activities without it taking over.