by Wendy
What’s your favorite way to document travel experiences? Keeping a journal, photography or video, making a scrapbook, writing a travel blog?

Old School Method
I treasure photos but words are my true love. My first attempt at travel writing might have been during a childhood summer. Mom gave me a blank notebook and suggested I write about our family “field trips” – events such as an evening baseball game, day spent at a park, art museum visit, new restaurant, or roller skating party. This activity was not only entertaining to me, but an early lesson that words can be as effective as a photograph in recording a memory.

Though I kept diaries off and on and completed many papers for school, I don’t think I attempted travel writing again until I went to Europe for the first time. Mom gave me another blank notebook, and I took it everywhere.

The writing conditions were good – not only because of new scenery or experiences but because I had long stretches of time on trains or waiting for my sister April to finish work. We lived in Montpellier, France for a month, and I would usually get up early and walk about 10-15 minutes into the center of town with April and some of the others going to their internships. I had a favorite local cafe, where I would sit at an outdoor table for several hours, sipping coffee or tea and trying to read a book and write in my journal. Hell yes it was kind of cliche, but the routine and setting worked. If you sat at the McDonald’s tables across the square, the coffee might be cheaper but you had to deal with pick up lines or requests for cigarettes or spare change. But no one bothered me at that cafe.

Plus we had no TV. No CandyCrush video game. Not much extra money. No smartphone, no digital camera – we had to wait until we got home to see how (or if) the photos turned out. All of these negatives helped promote a writing habit that resulted in daily entries with observations and stories I would never have remembered from a picture alone. The notebook is my favorite souvenir from the trip.

Technology Trial
While I am grateful for the convenience of researching and booking travel online, I’ve been wary of social media and the subsequent trend to document everything, as it happens. I had little interest in approaching travel with the goal of capturing a perfect staged photo or tweet, or spending vacation time monitoring comments and likes. Yet I think the idea for our blog was partly sparked by sharing real-time travel updates with those we love.

I got such a kick the first few times I was able to have an instant text conversation with my family while visiting another continent. I remember sitting in the San Miguel Mercado in Madrid and writing to my Mom, who happened to be hanging out with my Grandparents. Jack and I sent a photo and they asked about the bright green olives – the ones I could also see at the same moment. There was something special about that connection – that we could text each other updates from far away but not feel far away, letting the other party know they were missed and wished well.

I wonder (like many others) if I’m growing too dependent on a smartphone, but there is no doubt the technology helps me take more and better photos, cheaply and easily. If I’m traveling and don’t have time to write something down, a quick photo can serve as a reminder or inspiration for a story I might want to draft later. And when writing a blog, it’s nice to have a visual to compliment the essay.

How I learned to stop worrying and love the blog
Travel blogs are so popular. Some offer destination or logistical expertise, some are artistic, others commercial. My sisters and I researched and tentatively sketched out a few ideas. We figured it would be interesting to learn about building and editing a website. Then we recruited other family members to write posts as well.

Maintaining Looks and Leaps is quite different from keeping a journal or snapping a selfie to send back home – but the process is part of the fun and reward. When on a trip, I often use a pen and paper to jot down things I want to remember, or I might use a keyboard and ipad to type a messy first draft. After a trip, I enjoy sorting through notes and photos, dwelling on favorite moments and considering topics. Then there is the writing and rewriting posts, editing photos, more rewriting, fact checking, formatting a post, more proofreading and editing.

The finished product is offered to fellow travelers and readers and dreamers to take or leave, to like or not. But the blog is also both creative outlet and keepsake. My husband Jack said he recently started rereading old posts on the site and was entertained. I feel the same way and love the Looks and Leaps blog as a space for our family to tell travel stories, as well as an archive we can revisit.

Dad says anticipation, participation and recollection are the three things that make a great trip. I agree. Taking time to record your travel experiences – using whatever method you choose – helps you relive it again and again. It extends the journey in a sense, and may even help you reflect and understand it from a different angle.

Thanks, as always, for visiting our site. Let us know your thoughts – what’s your preferred way to document travel?