How to Turn Your Travel Memories into Keepsakes

Traveling is loads of fun—until you have to come home.

You’ve spent days or even weeks relaxing, sightseeing, and eating delicious things, but now you have to get back to real life. So how can you hold on to the memories of your trip?

One way is by turning your travel keepsakes into a fun product you can use or a beautiful item to display in your home.

For example, want to organize all your train tickets, receipts, and knick-knacks from your trip to South America? Create beautiful boxes for them that also add some pizazz to your living room. Looking for a fun way to keep track of the countries you’ve been to? Use a chalkboard travel map. Feel the need to keep a reminder of your recent trip to New York close by? Order a customized throw pillow made with the information from your boarding pass.

Not only do these creations bring back fond memories of your best vacations, but they can also serve as travel inspiration, reminding you of your love for travel and motivating you to keep saving money.

Here are four awesome ways to preserve your travel memories.

1. Travel keepsake boxes

We often come back from our trips with a lot of small loose items—coins, tickets, shells, and the like. We want to keep these and possibly even display them but we don’t know how.

One great way to both protect and display these items is through travel keepsake boxes. Head to a big-box store, craft shop, or even an antique store and pick up a wooden box. Buy some craft paint and adhesive letter stencils. Mix one part craft paint with two parts water and apply one coat on the box. Then, stencil on the name of the destination—and voilà! You have yourself a convenient way to hold these items and a lovely way to liven up your bookcase.

2. Chalkboard travel map

To track the countries or states you’ve been to and remind yourself of all the places you still want to see, create a chalkboard travel map. You can either buy a pre-made chalkboard map or make your own. To make your own, you’ll need to buy the materials; these include a piece of galvanized sheet metal, chalkboard spray paint, gel stain, and more. There are several websites that show you how to make a chalkboard travel map. Not only do these personalized travel maps take you back to fun times and motivate you to keep exploring, but they also make great wall décor!

 

3. Boarding pass throw pillow

Boarding passes represent one of the most exciting parts of your trip—getting on the plane—and thus all the anticipation and excitement that comes with the beginning of your journey. For this reason, they make fantastic souvenirs. Many of us want to keep our boarding passes, but we’re not quite sure what to do with them.

Consider creating a decorative product like a throw pillow with information from your boarding pass. In this way, you turn your flimsy boarding pass into a cute and useful household item. They also make great gifts for travel lovers!

4. Display your travel photos

If you love taking photos of your travels and putting them on various social media sites, go one step further and display them off the internet. In other words, print them out—just like they did in the old days (a.k.a. just a few years ago). They not only beautify your home but they are also a great way to preserve your travel memories. 

We know how hard it is to come home after a great trip, and we also understand the importance of preserving your travel memories. Turning your photos and other travel keepsakes into decorations and practical items is a great way to protect them and remind you of some of your best travel moments. Don’t simply throw your travel memories in a drawer: turn them into a fun, useful product or beautiful decoration—either for yourself or as a gift to a travel companion or loved one!