Scrapbooking Your Travels

Vacation scrapbooks are one of the most popular albums to make. Whether you're scrapping a weekend camping or a trip around the world, the wealth of digital scrapbook designs make it easy and fun to organize, share and preserve the memories of your trip.

Today's travelers are discovering that the easiest, most innovative and enjoyable way to chronicle their vacation memories is through digital scrapbooks. Many busy travelers don't have the time, space, materials or patience to create paper scrapbooks, or simply may not be interested in making the investments required. Plus, in our digital age, most people want to download their digital pictures and share them over e-mail.

The booming popularity of the digital scrapbook is no surprise when you consider the user-friendly software programs and digital scrapbook designs available and ease of sharing electronic photos with others.

Photographing Your Travels

While a digital camera is most conducive for a digital scrapbook, you can also use a film camera and then scan in your photos later or have them put on a CD.

If you visit many places on your trip, you might benefit from journaling or even just keeping a small notebook of the places you saw along with a short description, so you won't have any trouble noting the details when you create your scrapbook. Think about the five Ws: Who, What, Where, When and Why.

Many destinations offer signs welcoming tourists to the area, and some travelers make a point of photographing these signs to feature in their digital scrapbook rather than writing a caption. Some traveling scrapbookers find it useful to take a general background shot of an empty beach or other basic scenery to use as the background for a digital photo collage. Small details such as decorations or landscaping can also make nice accents for your digital scrapbook.

Of course, you'll want shots of you and/or any traveling partners enjoying vacation activities, as well as photos of you in a setting depicting a unique aspect of your destination. Often these will comprise the star images of your digital scrapbook to help you look back on your vacation. Take your outdoor pictures on a sunny day if possible.

Getting Started on Your Vacation Scrapbook

Create your digital scrapbook while your trip is still fresh in your mind if you can. The best way to begin is by organizing all of your pictures how you see fit. Some vacationers prefer chronological order, while others prefer common themes. After you've sorted the pictures, begin filtering out the ones you don't want to use, such as any blurry, dark, repetitive or unflattering photos, and create a subfolder of your favorite pictures for your digital scrapbook.

Next choose scrapbook designs and background colors that match the pictures. Some of the most successful layouts match the background with the color in the photos. For example, use blue and green scrapbook designs with beach layouts, and green and brown designs for nature layouts. An easy way to stay organized is to keep the pictures in the same folder as the background you've selected for those pictures.

Now start arranging the pictures on the pages. Make sure to leave enough room in between pictures to avoid crowding the page. After you've placed the pictures on a given page, consider using embellishments to further liven up your scrapbook designs. You can also scan in related memorabilia such as museum or plane tickets or include them on a homemade page created with paper and glue.

Journaling Your Vacation Memories

The images of your trip tell only part of your story. A popular technique in a digital scrapbook is journaling, which enables you to give a personal touch to your scrapbook designs. Journal writing can be either typed or handwritten and scanned. You can then incorporate it into your layout as you see fit. Take note of your thoughts and the little details, such as a hotel name and room number. Many scrappers bring a small notepad with them on vacation to write down any notes or ideas that they would like to incorporate into their digital scrapbook.

When you're satisfied with your digital scrapbook, it's time to share your vacation memories with your friends and family who are interested. Be sure you include a description of your vacation destination and date somewhere in the e-mail, such as in the subject line, if you have not already noted this information in your scrapbook designs. Print copies of select photo collages for your contacts without Internet access.

As you settle into the daily grind at home, your digital scrapbook will help keep those special moments of your trip from fading, and seeing this reminder about your favorite destinations will help you relax and maybe even plan your next trip!

Digital scrapbooking diva Memory Lane explores the world of documenting memories digitally, providing insight and ideas on how to create digital photo collages and scrapbooks. She offers tips on scrapbooking important events, travels and major life periods such as childhood, school athletics and a child's transition out of the nest. She also debunks common myths about digital scrapbooking and addresses frequent questions on this popular new hobby. Memory's blogs provide answers, tips and digital scrapbooking ideas to help you create sharper, more attractive scrapbooks in half the time.

Learn more about our photo collage maker at the Artopia Photo Collage Community.