How to Make a Family Vacation Diary

A family vacation is a wonderful way to get away from everyday life and share some fun and exciting experiences with your kids.

Making a travel diary can be an enjoyable family project that everyone can participate in. It will preserve the memories of your vacation for years to come, and it also allows your kids a chance to express themselves through words and pictures.

I became interested in family travel diaries many years ago when I found an old box of pictures from when I grew up. Some of the photos were of family vacations, and although I remembered bits and pieces of some of them, others I didn't remember at all. I wished I had more information about them.

At the time, my kids were little. I wanted to make sure they would have memories of our family vacations when they grew up. That's what inspired me to start making travel dairies.

How to Start a Travel Diary

To begin, come up with a title that reflects your vacation. For example, "The Peterson's Family Road Trip" or "The Wilson's Disneyland Vacation." You'll want to add your travel dates, the names of everyone traveling, and the current ages of your children.

You don't need to wait for your vacation to begin to start adding pictures to the diary. You can take photos of your packing list, the kids packing their suitcases, or loading the car with your bags.

This would also be a good time to ask each of your kids what they are most looking forward to on their trip and write down their answers.

Once the vacation begins, at the end of each vacation day, gather the family together and take a few minutes to write in the diary. Be sure to take everyone's input into consideration.

Some suggested topics include:

• Attractions you visited
• Food that you ate
• Interesting people you met
• Funny things that happened
• What you bought
• Something you learned
• Interesting sounds that were heard
• Interesting smells

You don't need to make a really long entry for each day. You just need to include some highlights of the day of the memories you created, and be sure you add something from each person. You'll want to leave some room for any pictures you take, so you can add them in later once you have them printed.

Working on the diary at the end of the day is not only good for family communication, but it's also a way to help the kids unwind before going to bed.

Travel Photos

Once your photos are developed, try to include at least one picture from each day of your trip. Even if you spend the day in the car, you can still get a picture of the kids in the car or at a roadside rest stop.

As a parent, most likely you'll be taking most of the pictures yourself, but be sure to ask the kids what they would like pictures of. If they're old enough, encourage them to take some of their own photos, too. (Consider getting each of them a disposable camera.)

It's really nice to have pictures with the whole family, so don't be afraid to ask someone to take a picture of all of you. Through all the vacations we went on through the years, I have yet to have someone turn me down.

Once you add your pictures to the diary, write a caption of what the picture is about. Some will be quite obvious, such as a group picture at the entrance to Universal Studios. However, it might be difficult to remember where you were if you simply add a picture of the family eating at a restaurant.

You can also give kids some crayons or colored pencils and have them draw something that has happened on their trip so far. This will not only keep them busy, but it will also give them a creative outlet. Of course, these can be included in the diary as well.

Items for a Travel Diary

Along the way on your vacation, there could be certain items you can add to your diary. You can either add them as you go or set up an area in the back of the diary to keep them. Items include:

• Transportation tickets
• Attraction brochures
• Restaurant take-out menus
• Parking receipts
• Postcards
• Currency (if traveling in another country)
• Restaurant receipts
• Hotel map

As part of the fun of the trip for kids, have them keep an eye out for anything they see that could be added to these. This will make kids feel even more involved in this project.

Once you've returned home from your trip and everyone is well rested, gather the family together to finish your diary. This would be the time to add your photos and pictures. You can also ask everyone some final questions about the trip that you can add to the diary.

Questions to Ask

• What was your favorite part of the trip?
• What was your least favorite part of the trip?
• What was your favorite food?
• What is the funniest thing that happened?
• What was the silliest thing someone in the family did?
• What's your favorite photo and why?
• Where would you like to go next year?
• In one word, describe your trip.

Your final diary entry can be everyone's answers to the above questions. You can also take a picture of everyone answering questions and make that the final photo you add.

Family Memories

Once your family travel diary is finished, you'll have a very special memory book of the remarkable time you were able to spend together as a family. Keep the diary in a safe place, but bring it out from time to time so everyone can remember the fun they had.

Another thing that makes this special is that you all worked on it together as a family, so your kids can feel proud of what they contributed to it.

As parents, we'll long remember our vacations better than young children, so this could become even more special once your kids grow up and want to see and relive some of their happiest childhood memories.