Table of Contents
How I started creating a travel journal scrapbook
What is one of the best way to remember your travels? A travel journal scrapbook of course! I have created very detailed scrapbooks for every vacation to Europe. At this point, I have 4. It all started with my study abroad in Florence, Italy after my sophomore year of college. This experience changed me and the direction my artwork took from thereafter. I learned to speak Italian in college and I will always say, “Firenze e la mia citta del cuore,” literally meaning, “Florence is the city of my heart” (or in translation: “Florence is my favorite city.”
During my studies of Renaissance Art History in Firenze, I went to each museum and saw the artworks in person. This was the most magnificent way to learn about the Master Artists through viewing the original paintings and sculptures. One of my assignments was to create a large scrapbook of the artworks I was assigned to study, answering the questions that should be discussed on each artwork. And this scrapbook also included all of my experiences throughout each day.
How this scrapbook keeps my memories alive
This travel journal scrapbook was a work in progress while in Italy but also after our group returned home. When I finally finished, the labor of love felt like one of my best accomplishments. It was truly inspiring. To this day, whenever I open that book, I feel a sense of gratitude and it takes me back to these treasured memories.
I will always remember the day I first found out about the Italy study abroad, as a friend in my art history class mentioned to me that she was going and there were still a few spots left. The photography professor led the study abroad program. My senior year of high school I traveled to Greece with a school group, so I think that made the decision of doing the study abroad, pretty easy. Students chose to either work on 6 upper level credits of Art History or Photography.
I loved my Photography 1 class, but since my degree in Art Education required the art history credits, I opted for that instead of photography. I began my career as an art teacher. It’s funny that I didn’t know at the time that I would one day become a professional photographer. But, I was still out around the city taking tons of photos with my film camera and even getting them developed in Firenze as we went along.
Suggestions for travel photos
Need some help with what to do with your photos when you return from your trip? This post will give some suggestions on how to save one folder per day in your dslr or mirrorless camera. And then when you return home it will give you ideas on how create folders and name the files for ease of perusing.
Traditional photo album or photobook
In addition to creating travel journal scrapbooks, I also love the traditional photo album of all of my images. It wasn’t too difficult putting this together when film photography was all we had. Digital cameras weren’t really mainstream at the time of my first Italy trip, so you had to ration out your film each day. Now it is so easy to overshoot and take too many photos with digital photography. Although, I disagree about the part of taking too many photos… I like having all the options. I just don’t like too many duplicates. So it is best to really develop your camera skills, familiarize yourself with manual mode before your trip, and be intentional with each photo.
I used to print out all of the photos and add them manually to photo albums. Now that is not the best option with the number of photos I want to print. So I design a photobook album where the hard work is deciding the layout for each spread. Once you fill the book, you send it to print. I’ve been using Nations Photo Lab for my family photobooks for many years. They do a great job!
Fine art painting and drawing
Possibly my favorite part of remembering my travels is creating oil paintings, pastels, watercolors, and charcoal drawings from my trips. I love photography of course, and I like to journal so I can relive memories of each day, but I am foremost a painter!
I prefer to only oil paint at home, so when I travel I bring my compact watercolor kit and colored pencils. It is lightweight and clean-up is easy. In several European cities, I sat on a bench or comfortable spot and painted on location. I can complete the watercolor paintings in less than 2 hours, whereas my oil paintings at home usually take me months to complete.
My favorite parts of my scrapbooks are when I either sketch or paint directly on the page or find a way to incorporate my on-location paintings into the scrapbook.
Tips for how to begin your own scrapbook
By definition, a scrapbook is usually comprised of several different materials glued or placed inside of a book. It can be process-oriented or product-oriented. The difference is, some art is made for the purpose of the process, and not focused on the final product. It doesn’t have to be meticulously designed. Just making the art is the important part. Whereas product-oriented art places more of an emphasis on the outcome of the artwork. That doesn’t mean making the product isn’t enjoyable, it just means the overall look is very important.
Process-oriented art
So you could approach your scrapbook in a manner where the goal is to glue everything you pick up into the book. You could have a page with ticket stubs, brochures, postcards that you bought, your own photos, receipts, paper napkins, and various other flat items from your day. It is likely you will add these items in chronological order, or you might choose to have special theme pages where you glue several examples of a specific item you collected throughout your trip.
This method will involve having fun with the materials and adding colors and designs that you feel will go with the flow of the page. Your goal may be to simply enjoy the process of putting together your memories into your scrapbook. And that is great! I taped a gelato spoon into one of my books.
I used the process method in creating these pages in my earlier travel journals. I didn’t put as much pre-planned thought into these pages, and just drew and painted my ideas as I went along. The image below is a collage of parts of different pages from my older travel journals.
Here are some snippets from my first two travel journal scrapbooks. Since I incorporated postcard photos that are potentially copyrighted in my scrapbook, I am only showing parts of the pages with my original artwork. These photos are from my scrapbook during my study abroad, and then a different trip 2 years later with my bestie, when I returned to Italy, also visiting France, and Spain. Both trips were amazing!
Product-oriented art
Another artistic approach could be to plan out an overarching design or theme to repeat throughout your travel journal scrapbook. This requires more pre-planning and can sometimes be overwhelming if it halts you from getting started. This is somewhat where I’m at now with my scrapbooking. Each scrapbook I make becomes more sophisticated as I plan out the details. For example, my third scrapbook had a photo from each country/city I visited and the word, “hello” in the native language. Then “goodbye” in the native language with a photo as the pages transitioned to the next country/city.
For my 4th scrapbook, I decided to use a much smaller book, with black pages. Then I had a great time using metallic color pencils to draw designs throughout. It was a nice change from my previous 3 books that were 11″x14.”
While process-oriented art encourages exploration of art materials and self-expression, you can still do these things within the context of your product-oriented art, in my opinion. Once I have my overall theme planned for my book so that the scrapbook will be cohesive, then I love to really sit and enjoy the process of creating each unique page.
Art materials to get started
You’ll need the following materials to begin your own travel journal scrapbook.
- A blank page bound or spiral bound book with thick pages so it can withstand gluing and not easily tear
- Scrapbook papers (acid free) with different designs and solid colors depending on your style
- Ruler for measuring papers
- Scissors for cutting papers or trimming your memorabilia to fit into your page layout
- PH Neutral PVA glue which is ideal for bookbinding and paper projects
- Drawing pencils, such as 2B, 3B, 4B, 2H, 3H, etc. and colored pencils
- High Quality Watercolor paint, brushes, and watercolor paper
- Acrylic paint and brushes
- Alphabet letter and number stickers in different sizes and colors
- Travel theme stickers such as airplanes, suitcases, globes, cameras, maps, states, etc.
- Photo corner stickers for design purposes in placing photos (or just use glue)
- Stamps and ink pads with relevant themes
- Micron ink pens for illustrative designs and regular pens for writing your stories
- Gold and silver gel pens or metallic craftwork pens for detail design
Don’t forget to save all of your paper items from your travels and either buy a postcard from each location or plan to print your own photos to use.
What should you write about in the journal?
If you have a stellar memory, you might be able to recall all of the details of each day if you get started on your artwork right after your trip. I personally always carried a small lined journal and wrote about my day at the close of each day. Then when I returned home, I already had the content. I would rewrite everything that I wanted included in my travel journal scrapbook.
Some of my favorite topics include, the activities of the day, my thoughts and feelings as I saw something magnificent, and the food I ate for every meal. And I also enjoy learning about the history of people and places. I may include notes on interesting historical facts and stories.
When I traveled with groups, I would share funny stories or things people said. When I backpacked around Europe solo, I would mention the names of the other travelers I met from all over the world and how we spent our day. Usually I would make new friends in each city through the youth hostels or on trains.
Your travel journal scrapbook can be a combination of written text and imagery that will take you back to each memory of that day. When it is all finished, it can be very rewarding to peruse as often as you like, and share with family and friends. Happy Journaling!
Rebecca Leigh Photography is a newborn, baby, and family photographer located in Maryland.
