Guest post by Zoe Price
It was only a couple of decades ago when it was entirely normal for families to go abroad with so much as a disposable camera tucked into their carry-on to immortalise the memories they made while away.
Once they’ve returned to their country of origin, they might develop the few photos they snapped along the way (if they could be bothered!) and paste them in a scrapbook or photo album to share among friends and families, but that was about it when it came to documenting our holidays.
This is a complete parallel to today, where we have hundreds of travel-documenting tools, from laptops and journals to online video editors and social media accounts, because we understand how important it is to reminisce about our travels, whether a regular visitor or first-timer.
Yet, regardless of whether we’re travelling to Berlin, Paris, New Zealand, the United States, or London, the question is, what is the best way to document our travels? Fortunately, if you’re headed to the latter destination, we’ve outlined several tips for doing so below.
Compile Your Memories Into A Video
If you’re a keen social media user, you’ve likely seen hundreds of Instagram profiles dedicated to travelling. However, if you’re not so handy with an Instagram account, you could consider leaving the snapshots to the influencers and picking up a video camera instead.
Whether you’re particularly handsy with an actual video camera or just super savvy with the one on your phone, you could use your video skills to encapsulate moments of your trip, which you can compile into a video using an online video editor upon your return.
However, despite London being a prime destination for filming content for films, television shows, video game scenes, and music videos, it doesn’t mean you can whip out your video camera or phone wherever you please. So, ensure you’re okay to film before you start, as in some cases, you might need permission, so your filmmaking goes off without a hitch.
Once you’ve got the ‘all clear’ and filmed all your content, when you’re back home, you can compile all your clips into one video with an online video editor. This can help you turn your holiday clips into compelling videos using fonts, transitions, or colour schemes. Upload your content, choose your theme, add text/music, download the finished product, and share it with family and friends across all your social media platforms – it’s as easy as that!
Create A Sketchbook
If you’re not particularly tech-savvy but have a keen interest in art, you could consider creating a sketchbook filled with the memories you and your family make. You don’t need to be a dab hand with a pencil, ink, or watercolours, to get started if your artistic abilities don’t extend much further than a stickman, you could consider collaging using photographs, leaflets, tickets, or anything else you’ve acquired during your trip to London.
Plus, if you need some inspiration to get your creative juices flowing, London is one of the best cities to be in. If you’re an art lover, you’ll be pleased to find that London is home to some of the best art galleries worldwide, like the Tate Modern, the Serpentine Gallery, and the National Gallery. and some of the best sights to draw artistic vision from. Whether you’re strolling along the Thames or taking in some of London’s biggest tourist attractions – you are bound to find inspiration for your holiday sketchbook while on your trip.
Photo by Monstera from Pexels
Make A Holiday-Inspired Playlist
If you’re more into music than photos, videos, or art, you could consider documenting your London trip by making a holiday-inspired playlist. Fortunately, London has a bustling arts community, including music. The capital of the UK is the birthplace of some of the biggest musical legends worldwide, like Amy Winehouse, Elton John, The Beatles, and many more.
So, whether your taste in British music is limited or you’ve been singing along to David Bowie since you were young – London is the perfect inspiration for a holiday-themed playlist. Depending on which borough of London you’re visiting while travelling, the music scenes are incredibly diverse, and they can be great for helping you remember specific moments of your trip.
Plus, the best part of creating playlists is that they’re a completely free way to document your trip, depending on which provider you use. Some of the best music streaming services, such as Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music Unlimited, offer many more features than playlist creation, making your London-themed playlist even more inspiring.
Put Your Memories Into Photo Books
Despite the ever-present fear of the family photo album doing its rounds during a family event or when a close friend visits, sometimes you can’t beat the old-fashioned ways of documenting your travels, like putting your memories into photo books. Although this can only be done once you return home from your travels, photo books and photo albums can be an excellent way to immortalise your memories so that you can share them with family and friends whenever you want.
If you don’t like photo-sharing sites like Instagram or Pinterest, the old-fashioned ways of storing your photos are the way forward since they are essentially the old-school way of photo-sharing. Plus, they’ve come a long way from our childhood photo albums! Nowadays, photo books can be created in any style, size, theme, or colour, so they’re no longer an eyesore when being brought out to be shared with family or friends.
Not to mention, they are so easy to start! All you need is your photo book of choice, your printed photos, some glue/tape, a pen, and any other decorative elements you might want to use to make it more aesthetically pleasing. Once you’ve arranged everything as you’d like, you’re ready to start sharing the memories of your London trip with others. Some can even be created online so multiple copies can be created and sent out to different recipients or shared online so that no one misses the memories from your trip.
Photo by Norbert Kundrak from Pexels
