How to Document RV Camping Memories

Oh, the memories of family vacations! There are so many ways to save those memories from each vacation you take. We have tried many different ways and are sure that you will be able to find just the right way to start documenting travel memories for you and your loved ones after reading “How to Document RV Camping Memories”!

 

Our Family Traditions

As children, we took many vacations. My family would typically drive wherever our travels would take us. I collected thimbles from every trip we took. (I don’t know why because I can’t sew to save my life)! I collected other souvenirs over the years as well. A trip to Myrtle Beach brought back the typical starfish, sand, and shells. My younger sister collected key chains.

After Mark and I got married, we collected a few other keepsakes throughout the years of our travels. We took a trip with my grandparents, and I collected bobble heads. A trip to Las Vegas brought back dice and coin buckets from every casino we visited. Our 4-state trip (Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska) as a quick honeymoon brought back scratch-off lottery tickets from each state. Hey, we were just starting off and $1.00 scratchers were the perfect, cheap souvenir! Haha!

After Aiden was born, we camped a lot, but mostly in one location so he didn’t get as large of a collection. We did start a collection of coins when he was born. However, our extended family traveled and collected shot glasses for him. I really can’t remember how or why THAT tradition got started! LOL

 

Scrap-Booking Memories

I used to scrapbook EVERYTHING! I loved scrapbooking with my Grandma Shirley (my Dad’s Mom). Since she passed, I haven’t had the desire to scrapbook anymore, and I got rid of all my scrap-booking supplies. Scrap-booking was a lot of work and very time consuming (for me anyway). Nonetheless, I really enjoy going back to those scrapbooks I made every year and reminiscing about those special times with family. Scrap-booking, for me, was all about the photos anyway. There are many easy Scrapbooking Kits you can use to make documenting your memories with scrapbooking a breeze!

I must say that my favorite way to bring back memories from our family vacations is with photography. Nowadays, with smart phones, taking photos is a breeze. There’s no more stress of waiting to develop them after coming home just to find out most didn’t turn out very well.

So, when I set out to find How to Document RV Camping Memories for our upcoming family trips in a more simplified way, these are some ideas that I thought might work for our family.

 

Travel Journal Memories

If you don’t mind writing a lot, then starting a Travel Journal is one of the best ways to document your travels. They are super fun to go back and read and reminisce over even as soon as the end of the year but for sure for years to come. There are many Travel Journals available for anyone!

 

 

Quote the Funnies

So many funny things tend to happen while we are camping that in fact we have written “Funny Things Seen While RV Camping Part 1” and “Funny Things Seen and Heard While RV Camping Part 2“! Thumbtacks in lawn chairs, water fights, alligators in the Kansas lake (it was a large tree limb), and of course all the wildlife that create quite a stir when arriving on your campsite.

There have also been many quotes thrown out there while RV Camping over the years, which is why we had to add the “Top 20 RV Camping Quotes” to our list of funnies!

We all have many RV Camping Memories to look back on and to look forward to for many years to come and they should be documented and shared with others. The best way to do that is the same way you would with a Travel Journal but there are (of course) special titled journals you can get such as “Funny Things My Kid Said”, “Never A Dull Moment”, “Funny Things My Grandkids Say”, “Funny Things My Husband Says”, and “Funny Things My Wife Says”.

 

Travel Playlists of Memories

I’ve said repeatedly that music plays a very large part in our lives. A specific song can take us back to a specific place, incident, and memory in a flash. That is one reason why I thought a Travel Playlist would work great for our family. We listen to music a lot while traveling so now whenever we hear a song that correlates to what we are doing, we are going to create a Playlist titled by the trip we are taking and add those songs to our list as we go. We have the paid version of Amazon Music, so our plan is to use that.

 

 

Scratch Off Travel Maps

I think using a Scratch off Travel Map is a great way to track where you have been and where you plan to go. We have not done this yet because we are currently more stationary, but I’m thinking that a great size and place for this in our motor home would be on the fridge once we get moving again!

 

Travel Charms for RV Camping Memories

 

Another way to start a fun collection from your travels is purchasing a bracelet, necklace, or key chain and collection charms along the way! This would also be a fun way for kids to get to “choose a charm” from a collection you have stored in the RV to add to their bracelet, necklace, or key chain. Having a stored collection is especially easier for RV Camping if you don’t like to “go into town” for shopping and really just want to enjoy nature!

 

Travel Photos and Social Media for Travel Memories

The most popular way to document your travels these days, of course, is by social media. Instagram is packed full of amazing photos of the adventures people are taking. Facebook is another great way to share your story of your travels. If you don’t mind sharing your trip with the world, go for it! Simply taking photos on your phone is a great way to keep track of your travels and show them for many years. This is for sure my favorite new way of How to Document RV Camping Memories for our family! Of course, having our SOWLE RV Blog helps to do it too!

 

Travel Postcards

Postcards aren’t something that people send by mail much anymore, however if you can locate them where you are traveling, they’re a great, inexpensive way to document your travels. Another option to sending postcards is to purchase Camping Postcards before your trip and then send them to family, friends, or even yourself back home while you are traveling! When you return home, you have all your memories waiting for you.

 

Travel Keepsake Box for Your RV

I love the look of these keepsake nesting boxes! They are small enough that you can easily find a place to store them in the RV while camping, but large enough that you aren’t limited so much by the size of items you collect.

 

Travel Jar of Rocks

The Travel Jar works just like the Travel Box, you just need to collect smaller items. These are also called Memory Jars and Blessing Jars. I really like the idea of purchasing my own rocks (you really shouldn’t remove rocks from campsites) and writing on them with a permanent paint pen any memories, moments, or phrases while at the specific campsite. Of course, you don’t want to forget to write the location on the other side as well. “CampingRocks!”

 There is also this similar idea of a Travel Shadow Box that you can fill with your memories as well!

 

Create Travel Crafts

Another idea we had was to just create a craft while traveling from whatever we find. Basically, a collage of anything. One way to do it is to pick up a bunch of freebies as you go. Those may include brochures, tickets from admission to parks, shows, or anywhere else! More ideas include printed napkins, coasters with printed location on them, maps, and can also be as simple and cost-effective as receipts from fun activities!

The next step is to just simply use adhesives to insert those items into an adventure book, a self-stick scrapbook, or extra-large photo album book. This is basically scrap-booking the old fashion way! Have I just aged myself??

 

It’s not all about how cute the pages are, it’s all about how amazing the memories are, so get out there and make many!