Five Ways to Chronicle Family Trips With Your Kids

We love to travel as a family. It’s a wonderful way to bond, experience new things and learn all about new places.  My parents did a ton of traveling with me and my siblings growing up and those experiences were priceless to us. On each and every trip I kept a journal. I chronicled everything, from the second we left till the second we arrived home. My mother has kept them all and whenever I’m home, I love to browse through them -- it always makes me laugh and smile.

With five kids of my own and travel being something we do every six months, I love having them chronicle our trips and journeys. My sons are 7, 9, 10 and 11, so they’re all old enough to create journals, take photos, shoot videos and create memory books. I love to think of each trip that we take as an adventure and we always make sure to do something new and exciting. I don’t want my kids to miss or forget anything -- I always want them to be able to look back and remember not only the big things, but the little things, too.

The next time you head out on a family vacation with your children, take the time to have them chronicle the experience. It can be done a variety of different ways, and I promise  it will be something they look back at fondly years from now.

Here are five ways to chronicle family trips with your kids:

Journal

Buy a notebook or a journal before you head out on your trip. It can be something very simple like a bound lined-notebook or a beautiful journal with something inspiring on the cover. Encourage your child to write down all the adventures that take place along your trip. I always tell the boys to start from the second we leave, which is always chaotic! Last time we forget 2 pieces of luggage, so we needed to race home. William (my oldest) wrote about this in his journal and it was hilarious. While we’re away, I love having them  just write down what we did at the end of each day. Since each son has a different personality and writing style, it’s always fun to see what “made” it in their journal.  Journaling is such a wonderful way to make sure your child gets everything down to paper. Date each journal and store them for years to come.

Photographs

Allow your child to be the photographer using their own camera during a vacation. We have a camera that we designate just for the kids. It’s one that we’ve had forever but – as far as we’re concerned – as long as it takes photos, it works! Some of the best photos have been taken by the kids during our trips. We just let them snap away and see what they get once we come home and download them. It’s a fun way to capture how they “see” where you’ve been. Their photos are always my favorite! For example, they caught a GREAT one of me and husband during a recent Disney World trip.

Videos

Along the same line as photographs from the kids, it’s also fun to let your kids be the narrator of their own video series. My oldest son William has asked to do this on our next trip and I’m going to let him. Getting them to take video throughout the day and capture some footage of the trip on their own is priceless. You’re going to get exactly what they see and what they find appealing. What a wonderful video to watch for years to come!

Five Things

If you’re someone who has little kids or just knows that the best way to chronicle a trip with your family would be the easiest way possible – I have an idea for you! At the end of every day, ask each child (and parent) to share their favorite five things of the day. It’s a wonderful way to discover – and discuss - what really left an impact. Maybe it was a food eaten… maybe it was a sight seen… maybe it was something that happened randomly throughout the day. Regardless, these fun little tidbits will be fun to look back at years from now.

Memory Book

When you’re home from your trip, create a memory book with your kids. Sit down together and put photos in and write down fun stories from your vacation to create a book you can keep forever. I love creating memory books for different milestones in our family’s life.

It’s important to make sure all your family’s vacation memories are saved and cherished someway, somehow with your children. The togetherness that happens during family travel is something that I hold dearly, and it’s fun to be able to bottle those memories, too.

Happy traveling!