Foundation Pages: Travel Mini Album

Of all of the projects I have planned this year, our travel album is the one I was itching to get started the most. Traveling came to a complete stop in 2020 so being able to look back on any memories prior felt like a perfect walk down memory lane.

As I started the album, though, the photos and stories pulled me way in.

I have been carrying a box of travel mementos with me from place to place for years, so I can’t wait to finally give them a home and share the stories behind each.

Related: All of The Projects I'm Starting in 2022

my approach

The plan for this album is to document family adventures and excursions away from home. With all of the moving and traveling we have done over the years, some of our travel destinations became temporary homes, but I am opting to include those as well. Locations like that (mainly Hawaii and Australia) were vacations and quick trips for the stories I am including.

I also want to make sure and include other trips we have taken over the years. Long weekends away from home, road trips, destination weddings, etc. will be plugged in here and there. I will include some dates and times when I can, and will try and put my pages in chronological order.

That said, I will not be limiting myself to documenting the stories in chronological order. I will create a spread as it comes to mind, and as I have time. If I stumble upon on old photo or brochure that I want to pop into this album, that’s when I plan to do it. I think forcing myself to create spreads in order will seriously block me creatively. I also don’t really have a reason to limit myself in this way, so I’m going for it. Setting this expectation now will keep me from getting too in my head.

Hopefully I can just keep adding to this album over the years. I may purchase a second Pumpkin Spice Life Crafted Album just so I can overflow into it when the time comes.

The book starts with some of the back and forth trips my husband and I were taking, back when we were dating long-distance. It will hold many of our trips from then through to family trips we take with the kids now.

travel album supplies

My new mini album is a Life Crafted Album from Citrus Twist Kits and I think it’s going to be the perfect size for this project. So many of these stories are now going to be missing the little details. I will be documenting broader strokes for most of the long-past travels, so smaller pages are ideal. As I get caught up on these stories, and hopefully document new ones as they happen, I’ll be able to include finer points (like daily itineraries, what we ate, or weather at our destination).

There is a short list of items I have saved for exactly this project. Some already match a story I want to tell or just feel right for a travel-themed spread. The top embellishments I am sure I will use over and over for this project are:

• Maps, Text & Ledgers Paper Pad
• Black and White Photo Corners
• Alpha Stickers from Paper Person

foundation pages

The foundation pages in this album are purposefully simple. I thought about creating some division with a title page for each location, but decided against it this time. I know that I will likely want to add the location into each spread (and likely the month and year) so there is no way to do that part ahead of time.

So, to get my juices flowing and start the book off, I did a bit of planning.

I have a box for each project I am working on in 2022. In the travel album box I placed all of the mementos I want to include, alpha stickers, a couple travel-themed stamp sets, and scrap papers. This will help me keep the whole album cohesive but corralling it all together really helps me to see what I have, too. (Anyone else trying to use their stash? Just me who collects supplies? Ok.)

As far as foundation pages in this book, I went with a title page and a reason why page. These started the album off and explain to my reader what this book is all about.

I found a larger print from our engagement photo shoot at Sandy Beach that was not going to be used anywhere and decided to stamp on it with some white ink. I went with an Everyday Explorers stamp and stamped a little geotag right above it. On the back I printed out some journaling on a white piece of cardstock. I grounded the whole thing with a thin black border with my Micron pen. A couple well-placed stamps and I was done!

Related: Travel Prompts & Quotes List

I will update with a new blog post once I’ve added a few more spreads to my travel album. So far, it’s got a bit of San Diego and a couple cities in Australia. Share with me how you’re documenting your travels, I love scrolling through photos.