Smash Book Travel Album Ideas

I hope you enjoy these Smash Book Ideas, I loved using my Smash Book as a Travel Album and Travelers Journal for our recent trip to South Africa!

Last summer I had the great opportunity to travel to South Africa with my extended family.  It was an amazing trip and I’d go back again in a second!  You can read about my trip here if you’re curious.

Smash Book Travelers Journal Tutorial:

Before I left, I knew that I wanted to document my trip as it happened. I find that so many details get lost if you try and remember a trip afterward.

I’ve done this with most of my big trips, usually,I make a small travel scrapbook to take with me, you can see some of the past ones here and here and here.

About My Book:

This time, I ran out of time and didn’t get the chance to make anything before I left.  Instead, I purchased a SMASH book for myself and my girls to document our trip while in Africa.  The book pictured is the International Travel edition Smash Book.

While I was in South Africa I sat down each evening and recorded my thoughts for the day, things we did, things I felt etc…  I made my girls do the same thing.  Some nights it was a struggle to get them to sit down and write, but I think in the end they will appreciate having a record of our trip.  My son also journaled while on the trip but I could only convince him to write in a composition notebook, he had no interest in any scrapbookey stuff.

I left spaces in the album to go back and add photos when I got  home.    It worked out well since there seemed to be a page with lines on it every few pages.

When I got home I printed some of our photos and added them to the album with some embellishments.

On a few of the pages, I hand-lettered some inspirational quotes.

Tips for Creating a Travelers Journal:

1. Take time each evening to jot down your thoughts for the day.

You think you’ll remember but you won’t. It only takes a few minutes per night and you’ll thank yourself later.

2. Save space for photos.

After you’re home from your trip, print out some of your photographs and add them to your album. I remembered what photos I had taken each day and left notes in pencil for myself to remind me what photos I’d like to add after I was home.

3. Add personal touches.

Don’t be afraid to doodle and use your own handwriting. It’s a journal about YOU it doesn’t have to be perfect but it should be personal.

One thing to note.

Once I got all the photos in the Smash book it got TOO thick. I had to pull out a few of the pages so the pages would turn easily.  Also, the design of a few of the pages didn’t match well with the mood I had in mind for my album.  So I cut scrapbook paper the same size as the album pages and glued it over the top of the page I didn’t like.

I finished the whole thing a few weeks after I got home, while the trip was fresh in my mind.  I was just going through and reading it the other day and thought that I would share it here.

What about you guys? Does anyone else like to keep a record of their adventures?