I don’t know about you, but since I can’t travel anywhere, I’ve been turning to my past travel memories to bring me joy. Just the thought of a wonderful trip can bring a smile to my face, and it certainly helps to keep me enjoying the past while I look forward to future travel plans. There are lots of ways to preserve travel memories, but here are a few of my favourite ideas to help you to keep those precious travel reminders!
This post is sponsored by Bonusprint.
Make a Photo Book
I’ve been meaning to do this for ages after seeing one of my friend’s travel photos transformed into a book. Now I’m at home I’ve finally had time to sort through my photos and choose some to create my very own photo book full of travel memories.
I used Bonusprint to create my photo book. It can take some time to collate the photos and design it just the way you want, but Bonusprint has a variety of pre-designed photo books which you can use and tweak it to fit your own style, which makes it much easier!
There are lots of different designs to choose from, and you can choose the dimensions of your photo book and the number of pages you want. I decided on a square 21cm x 21cm “Picture Grid” design and set about choosing all the photos. The hardest part is deciding which ones to include!
The books make lovely gifts too, just remember that shipping and delivery takes 6-8 working days so allow plenty of time for that.

Collect Souvenirs
While this isn’t much good if you can’t travel anywhere, when you are travelling, collecting souvenirs from each place you visit such as postcards or fridge magnets will help you to remember your fabulous holiday memories.
I usually bring my mum a fridge magnet home, and I like to buy postcards too so I can display them in a photo album or just stick them up on the wall. There are all sorts of things you could collect, from shot glasses to keychains, travel currency, stitch-on flags, stickers and pin badges to name a few.
However, buying authentic souvenirs from local craftspeople is much more satisfying than buying tourist tat – take a look at these beautiful souvenirs from Venice for some inspiration!
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Buy Some Bling
I love to buy jewellery when I travel. I had a huge collection of handmade bracelets I wear when I’m backpacking, although a lot of them disintegrated along the way! Rings, earrings and necklaces tend to last longer. I love getting compliments about my jewellery, as they are often unique pieces, and certainly like nothing people have seen at home.
I’m not talking about expensive items either, although I was very tempted to treat myself to an emerald from Colombia! I found lots of people selling handmade jewellery on street stalls, and local markets are relatively cheap places to find something unique. I was very pleased with a ring I bought in Mexico City, and a necklace from the market in Otavalo Ecuador.

Decorate Your House
If I had a house of my own, I would fill it with beautiful things I’ve found on my travels! As it is I’ve just been decorating Mabel the Motorhome to make her feel like home. As well as using your own photographs to print as framed wall art, buying artwork, textiles or home décor brings back those travel memories right away!
I adored the textiles in Mexico and Guatemala, and was very tempted to buy a rug, blanket and table mats but I couldn’t fit anything in my backpack! These kinds of purchases can take up quite a bit of space in your luggage, so check out options for shipping large items back home or taking a spare suitcase to fill up with goodies.
Other homeware you could buy include colourful lampshades, crockery, glassware or even furniture. I kept the hammock I bought in Brazil but haven’t found a good place to put it yet! Buying paintings by local artists of the places you visit is another lovely way to support local artisans and bring your travel memories home.
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Get a Push-Pin Map
This could just as easily come under decoration, but it’s a popular choice so I felt it deserved a section of its own! Pushpin or scratch-off maps help you keep track of the places you have been in the world. You could also add photos or other details to the map, joined up with string to show where they are from.

Print Out Your Photos
One downside of modern technology is that most of our photo memories are locked away on our mobile phones and digital cameras. Although it’s nice to scroll through social media and see your holiday snaps on Facebook, but why not print them off and display them at home?
It’s easy to pop them into a frame or clip them to a piece of string to add some colour and brightness to your wall.
For something completely different, why not use your photos to make other things to have around the house, like a calendar, cushion, coffee mug or even a jigsaw? These also make wonderful gifts for family members too; my mum was thrilled with the jigsaw I bought her made from a photo I took from my travels.
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Fill Your Wardrobe
Clothes are another way to preserve your travel memories, and I love buying clothes and accessories from markets and cute shops I find on my travels. Not only does it mean you can take less clothing with you, but you can also reinvent yourself while you are away.
I bought some fabulous skirts and cute tops while I was travelling, and every time I wear them, I remember my travels. The best purchase I made though was an alpaca wool jumper from the market in Cusco before I trekked to Machu Picchu in 2015. It kept me toasty warm while I was in the mountains, and I still wear it to this day!

Make a Travel Playlist
Music can invoke some powerful emotions and listening to music that reminds you of your travels is a great way to be transported right back to your favourite destination. When I was backpacking in South America, I was listening to lots of different music by artists I had never heard of, so every time I liked a song, I added it to a playlist on Spotify.
Now, if I feel like listening to some South American music, I turn up the stereo and blast out some reggaeton or salsa and have fun remembering all the times I danced to those tunes while I was travelling.
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Write a Travel Journal
I love this idea, and I remember doing it when I was a child but I admit I haven’t been as good as keeping up with my travel journal as I would like. If you’re a creative person, writing down your adventures and drawing places you visited and things you saw is a lovely way to remember your trips.
If you’re not particularly arty, then cutting out photos from magazines, sticking in ticket stubs or postcards and other travel memorabilia is just as effective! I have a shoebox full of stuff like that which I’ve never displayed anywhere – perhaps that will be my next project!

Start a Travel Blog
Having a travel blog certainly excuses me from not keeping up with my journal, as I spend a lot of time writing about my travels in this blog! It is easy to create a basic website which you can share with your friends and family to help them follow your adventures, and you can add photos and videos to blog posts too.
A lot of travel bloggers began their blogs as a diary style travelogue, but bear in mind that if you are considering potentially using your blog to earn money there is a lot more to it than simply writing down what you did that day. However, for just recording your travel memories to keep for yourself a blog could be just the ticket.
I hope these suggestions for preserving your travel memories have helped inspire you to remember your past travel adventures! I’m looking forward to seeing how my photo book turns out, I will let you know when it arrives!
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Aw thanks so much Stephanie! Thinking about past trips and adventures has helped me get through the past few months – it was hard at first but now the memories always make me smile 🙂
This was a great list. Just reading it brightened my day as it made me think of my own travel memories and items. I’ve been meaning to print and frame pictures from my travels as well.
Thanks so much for your comment, I love how powerful music memories are! 🙂
I create travel playlist every time, and not only do I find that I get to preserve the memories, each song on that playlist also becomes endeared to me, it’s that crucial. Thanks for this post.