I've been about a week since I got back from my holiday to Hong Kong and Thailand, which I decided to document in a Scrapbook on the Road mini-album. (Here are posts about my reasoning and some of the pages I created and the supplies I took.) Instead of a pile of memorabilia sitting in a file box like that from my last trip, I already have an album with things stuck in and journaling written. Since I've been home I've already printed my blog posts and even added a few photos. While it's certainly not yet finished, it's well on the way.
Please excuse the dodgy photos (and bad carpet). I took these photos in the Singapore airport as I had a few - 7! - hours to fill before I flew home.
I really enjoyed working on this album while I traveled and it is definitely something that I can see myself doing again. But it would have to be the right type of trip - if I was away for a long time or the trip was very go, go, go it would be more difficult.
When I've traveled in the past I have written in a journal. (Don't at home but do try when I travel.) Some days every detail is recorded while other days I haven't written a thing. Often I would be writing about something that happened days previously and I never seemed to catch up.
In many ways, working on this album was exactly like that. I wasn't adding photos or much embellishment while I traveled so I was basically adding memorabilia to a travel journal. Like in the past, there are some things that I didn't get around to writing about, I often seemed behind and my enthusiasm came and went.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed working on this album, it's just sometimes I chose to pick up a book instead of the album. One place I did often find myself working on it was at airports. Leaving somewhere is always motivation for me to get on with recording it. :) I also rarely worked on just one page in a sitting. Once I started with the album I wanted to keep going. Again, this is the same as I was when working on travel journals in the past.
However, I found that my journaling was different from the past. Knowing I was going to add photos, I didn't tend to write that I went here, then here, then here. Photos would show that. I also unintentionally censored myself because it's an album for sharing. I didn't need to complain that me feet hurt. It's not something I particularly want to remember.
But the biggest difference, and advantage, was that if I had written a blog post about something I didn't feel the need to write it in the album. My last trip, first since I had a blog, I often found myself blogging and writing in my journal about the same events. When I eventually finish my album of the trip there will be a third version. So much duplication! With this album I knew from the start that when I got home I would be printing my blog posts and adding them.
One of my favourite pages so far is that one above, on the right. I'm not actually that fond on how the page looks, that isn't my style, but it contains a list of things I noticed about Hong Kong. I just added to the list throughout my stay there. I really like that these points are gathered together on one page.
Although I don't particularly like the page visually, I'm not going to redo it. I think you just need to move forward - it isn't about individual pages but rather the whole finished album. I decided to redo one of my first pages after a few spelling mistakes but wanted to cut out the letterhead and didn't have my scissors with me so had to wait and it just seemed to become this big deal. I didn't particularly like the second attempt anyway.
There is freedom in sticking it down and moving on. Imperfection is much less stressful! When I got home I printed out a few photos and just put them in the album where it seemed appropriate. I wasn't concerned that I had to have everything organised and worked out before I did anything. I just did it.
Having said that, I think you should think about your style and preferences when preparing the album. As demonstrated by that page above, I didn't do that enough. :) Working on an album while traveling is enough of a difference - you don't want to reinvent everything. If you like journaling lines, make sure you have them. If you like patterned paper, add it. If you prefer cardstock, add more of that instead. Personally, I like patterned paper more as an accent than a background. My album should reflect that. (It doesn't).
For me, binder rings are definitely the way to go. I loved the ability to switch pages around because I didn't need to be chronological and because I could find a page that suited the content I had. Next time I would even make some extra pages to carry with me if I wanted to leave the album at the hotel.
I definitely like the bits and pieces of memorabilia I have acquired during my travel and added. It was something I enjoyed considering as paper and the like passed through my hands. Some of my choices have been a touch unusual. :) The photos above show a sick bag I grabbed from the plane (unused!), some stationary from a hotel and a plastic bag and wrappers from a lolly shop.
Many of the patterned paper pages in my album are still blank. That might change - I have journaling, photos and memorabilia still to add - but I did find them difficult to work with. I thought I would add memorabilia to them but the patterns often seemed to dominate whatever I considering adding. At home I would matt something, on the road I couldn't. As for adding photos to those pages, that was always something that I would do after my trip so I didn't need to carry them with me and could have created those pages as needed after I got home.
Next time I think I will go much more simple, using a lot more cardstock. I would even consider having all the pages a similar size so the bits and pieces I add while traveling would be more prominent. (Standing out through their difference.)
Speaking of size, you can see some of the brochures I collected in the photo above. They are the standard A4 paper size. They almost fit in the album. I know that I could add them and just have them sticking out of the top (and I might do that for some at least) but I would much prefer if they just fit nicely. That is something to consider for next time.
As I mentioned above, I liked to work on this album at airports and even on the airplane. Because I wasn't willing to risk having my scissors confiscated, I didn't have them with me. Like in the photo above, sometimes I could work around that and just plan to cut off the excess later but they would have been handy. Next time I would consider taking an extra cheap pair that I wouldn't mind losing.
Twice I went through airport security with my metal hole punch and both times it needed to be inspected by hand. Once the security guy then wanted to take it but I demonstrated what the hole punch was and it wasn't an issue.
Speaking of supplies, if you are taking anything you new or that you normally don't use, test it out first. Normally I use my Tiny Attacher stapler
but wanted something smaller for this trip and grabbed a stapler from the back of the drawer. On a few occasions I tried to use it (on transparency, a few layers) and it just wasn't strong enough. I also ran out of adhesive, luckily at the end of my trip. I've been using ATG tape
for a few months now and have forgotten how frequently I had to change cartridges on my old adhesive.
One thing I did love using were the Lily Bee letter stickers. They were great for titles and little phrases that I wanted to emphasise. For more versatility, I have just ordered these alphabet stamps for the next time I do something like this. They are small and wood blocks so hopefully will be quick to use.
I didn't use many of the little embellishing bits and pieces I took with me. However, I really like where I have used them and they took up so little room that I would take something similar again. Not heaps - just a little collection of labels and things. Washi tape was also something I didn't really use but would still consider again. With a plainer choice of tape and a generally simpler album, I can see it being useful.
Well, this seems like a incredibly long post with all sorts of random Scrapbook on the Road thoughts. If you have made it this far I hope you have found it interesting and helpful.
I haven't finished my album yet - real life tends to get in the way when you get home from a trip - but I will be posting photos of my completed album when it is actually complete. :)
