The Best Ways to Commemorate a Trip

Last month, I spent several hours on Shutterfly.com, creating a book of photos from my recent trip to Montreal. Back in the days when I had a film camera, I used to commemorate each journey with a traditional photo album — or, if I was really feeling ambitious, a scrapbook that included not only my own pictures but also ticket stubs, postcards, brochures and more.

Now that all my travel snapshots are digital, sites like Shutterfly (and Blurb, Lulu, Snapfish…) make it super-easy for travelers to upload their best pics and display them in a professionally printed book with customizable backgrounds and layouts. The books are fun to make, easy to share with family and friends, and ideal for leafing through when you’re feeling nostalgic about that amazing trip to Greece or the Galapagos.

We asked our readers on Facebook about their favorite ways to commemorate a trip, and they shared a few creative ideas:

“I love to take pics of my favorite meals on holiday and along with all the pictures I take … download to one of those digital frames,” said Johanna C Kula.

“My husband makes a collage of pics for me and has it printed out at Costco,” Brianne Sirota Kreitman told us. “It’s the best way to spend $6. We have several framed and I love them.”

“I get all the pics I take and put them on a DVD with music and special effects,” said Tanya Searcy.

Kenya Hubbard Shirley prefers to keep things old school, creating “a complete scrapbook with menus, tickets and tons of pictures.” Lavida Rei collects postcards, while Cabin Fever Travel creates screensavers.

And we’ll leave you with one that’s seasonally appropriate:

“I collect Christmas ornaments everywhere we go,” said Brenda Ward Bradford. “Lots of reminiscing as we decorate the tree each year!”

What’s your favorite way to memorialize a trip?