Following on from my recent blog post on creative ways to use your travel photos, I thought I’d explore how to create a stunning travel scrapbook in a little more depth.

Aside from simply sticking printed photographs in a notebook, here are some top tips so you can create a really great travel scrapbook that you’ll love to flip open and browse!

Choose a great-looking scrapbook

First things first, you need a lovely book to act as your travel scrapbooking album.

Whenever I create handmade albums I always check Paperchase for their scrapbooks and photo albums.  They usually have large ring-bound albums with thick kraft paper, perfect for sticking lots of things onto, and a ribbon tie to keep it all neatly together.

I’m sure you can check many other stationery retailers for the same, but places like Hobbycraft and art supply shops are most likely to sell something with sturdy pages and a thick ring bind so you can really fill the travel scrapbook with ease, letting it bulge out with all the bits you want to stick in.

Rather than a regular notebook, you’ll want to make sure you have sufficient space on the bind of the scrapbook for it to double in thickness once your photos are added. With travel scrapbooking, you might want to stick in souvenirs like tickets, wristbands, postcards and other items which are thicker than a regular photo.

Another option is to choose a gorgeous self-adhesive photo album with large pages.  This is where you can lift the film off each page and simply place your photos and paper scrapbook items on each page, then cover with the self-adhesive film.  It saves faffing around with glue, but it’s not ideal if you have anything that sticks out much more than paper or a thick card.  Then you’re better off using a glue in the scrapbook to ensure it doesn’t fall out! 

Finally, you could choose a slip-in album.  I created a scrapbook for my daughter when she was born using this method.  I simply purchased an album that I could add more and more album refills to as I built up the album over her first year with photos and memories.  I purchased the right sized square scrapbooking paper to make it prettier and used stickers, embellishments and photos to document her first year.  The same process can be used to journal your travel adventures!

Work out how much time and effort you want to put into your scrapbook.  If you want to be cutting out and sticking then go for a book with thick paper/card pages.  If you need to be speedier then choose a slip album or a self-adhesive album.

Use digital design tools to speed things up

Perhaps you are not very artistic or you are short on time, either way, a great idea is to use some online tools to speed things up when creating a travel scrapbooking album and to add some beautiful fonts and graphics to your scrapbook pages. Or you may even wish to create a photo album book online, but style it like a scrapbook.

You could create entire pages for your travel scrapbook online.  These could mix in with your handmade pages, or you could use this method for the entire book.  You’ll still have a beautiful scrapbook to look through once complete, even if you design every page using digital tools online or on your computer.

If opting for a full-on digital design scrapbook, then a self-adhesive scrapbook in A4 size is ideal.  You can simply print out your pages and pop them into the book with ease.  You’ll have an amazing travel journal to flick through in no time!

To enhance your travel designs digitally you can source graphics known as SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) which can be purchased from popular companies like Design Bundles and added to your travel scrapbook pages.

They have lots of travel related graphics such as these elephant SVG and very travel appropriate flag SVG.  Basically, you’ll be able to find travel related SVG relevant to the theme of your travel photos or location.  These graphics can be resized to suit your design without losing their resolution, which is why they’re a great choice for digital scrapbooking.

If you’re on a tight budget then you can check out their free design resources to see what you can find for your travel scrapbook.

Whilst looking on their site, I also found this amazing Old Maps Background Paper too, which is perfect for travel scrapbooks! 

Add photo captions and diary entries

To make your travel scrapbook more journal-like, you’ll want to add meanings to the photos by including some text here and there.  If you’ve kept a handwritten travel diary on your travels, then how about ripping some pages out and adding it to the photos it relates to?  So long as it’s not totally private!

Or, you could write some excerpts next to the related photos, or even add your own comments if you can remember some significant things from your trip.

Again, you can also use digital tools to type your photo captions, which is a great way to ensure they are legible to the majority of people if your handwriting isn’t so tidy, or you get bored of writing by hand!

Embellish

There’s a whole section of hobby and craft shops dedicated to scrapbooking with all sorts of amazing embellishments to beautify your books.

From stamps to patterned paper to stickers and cut outs, you can find all sorts of things to add extra interest to each page of your scrapbook once the photos and text have been added.

Collect travel mementos whilst on holiday

Not only can you add your photos to your travel scrapbook and diary entries as a journal, but you can also collect travel mementos to include. 

Don’t forget to keep some souvenirs of your holiday, such as tickets and postcards, flyers and leaflets, maps and restaurant cards, and anything else that is a reminder of where you stayed, visited and how you travelled.

These can all be added to your scrapbook to create the perfect picture and memory of your trip.  Some things like maps and leaflets from your days out can make great page backgrounds too.

Don’t write straight in the book

If you have a scrapbook with pages you are posting directly on, resist the urge to write your photo captions and memories directly on the page.  If you make a mistake then it will be really frustrating!

Instead, choose some beautiful scrapbook paper to write on instead, or even some simple post-it notes in a fun travel-themed shape or small colourful pieces of paper.  Write on these and then stick them in to prevent any mistakes from being made.  Or even some colourful stickers or white label stickers will do.

Take lots of photos!

Never be afraid of whipping your camera out and getting lots of photos on holiday.  Photos speak a thousand words and are the best for triggering our memory recollection over the years.

You don’t want to get home and wish you’d taken a photo of something.  If it’s photo-worthy then take the photo instead of regretting it later and wishing you had the snap for your photo book.

And, of course, enjoy. 

Enjoy the travel, enjoy the photos and enjoy the process of making your travelling scrapbook album and reliving those fantastic travel moments until it’s time for your next adventure!