Good Questions: Travel Scrapbook?

Robin has holiday plans...and a good question.

"I live in Chicago and am planning a trip to Germany. I would love to document my trip with a travel journal that will allow me to paste in or attach bits and memento's to remember the experience. Do you have examples of hip journals that I can make into something memorable?

I would love the end product to be full of sketches, photos, and ticket stubs, but all of the journals I have seen do not allow for much "growth"!"

Robin, Enjoy your trip!

Here are a few ideas that might work:

Camden Fair Tiles Accordion Book, $14.50, or the Red Orange Flower Accordion Book (pictured above the jump), $19.00

Rusty Pickle Pocketed Album, Spiral, also available with black pages, $6.65

Heidi Swapp Chipboard Album, Spiral, also available with natural cover, $9.00

We also like the idea of making a time capsule type of memory box, which can hold a small written journal, photos and the memorabilia of your trip. Fun to dig through now and then. A few options:

Medium Strawberry Suitcase, $10.00

Lacquer Boxes, $55. - 99.

Any other ideas for Robin? Please let us know in the comments...

Comments (10)

Depending on how full you'll want to stuff the book, you could just slice out every other page or so of a blank book.

Robin - Lovely Design has a few great books...but this may be the best for you...it is made up of mix and match found paper and has envelopes sporadically placed throughout the pages to put little findings in.

http://www.lovelydesign.com/lovely_products_journey.html

Enjoy your trip!

I have done something like that, but I just used an unlined spiral notebook from an artstore. I bought some photo squares that are adhesive to stick in ticket stubs and whatnot and polaroids I took along the way. Sort of a photo album/journal. I've done it twice for big trips and have loved the outcome.

Photo tabs: http://www.dickblick.com/zz173/01/

And a sketch book like this: http://www.dickblick.com/zz118/11/

I do just this sort of thing whenever I travel, writing a journal and pasting in ticket stubs, restaurant cards and other detritus from the trip, but no photos (as those don't get printed until I get home).

I use a Moleskine-knockoff sketchbook. The thicker paper is better for glueing stuff to, and for including a sketch (if that's your bag). They have a little pocket in the back, which is handy for collecting all your bits between writing sessions.

Happy travels! Pack yourself a gluestick and a pair of scissors, but keep those in your checked luggage, lest they get seized by airport security!

Anne in Chicago's suggestion is a good one!

Another version to allow padding:
Instead of completely cutting out the page, leave a 1 inch strip of it still attached. Fold this strip in half, back into the spine. This will mimic the technique used by photobooks to allow for bulk by making more space closer to the spine.

Of course- the best choice would be to make your own book, that way you could incorporate accordion pages, picture pages, and pockets through out. ;)

In pursuit of your hip travel memories, don't be afraid to muck about in your journal. Nothing sadder than a journal kept 'precious' by someone afraid to use it.

Have fun

I am not much for scrap-booking (most of my travels' goodies end up in ziploc bags for later perusal on room cleaning attempts) but I AM an avid photographer. So, given that I have a few thousand pictures from any trip i take, I like the idea of using BLURB www.blurb.com to make your memories into a book. If you're enterprising, you can scan or photograph your actual keepsakes (tickets, etc) for a cool look!

Hope someone finds that business useful.

sorry, meant to say
I used my maps of london to cover and bound my own journal.

Thank you for all of the fantastic ideas!! Now I have a ton of great options to look into.

The accordion sketch pad is such a great idea. I was looking at artist sketch pads and I really think I'm going to get something like this from now on. It might be hard to draw on, but showing my friends my work will be so cool!