What Do I Do With All This? 3 Travel Scrapbooking Approaches

I broke my own rule.

You know the one — my "no new stuff" rule. And by "no new stuff," I mean: if you don't already have it in your stash, then you can go buy it. (Look, the rule has always had a loophole. I wrote it that way on purpose. 😆)

Here's what happened. After a long travel hiatus, I'm finally planning to get back out there, and I want to document the adventures. But when I dug through my stash, I realized I had exactly zero travel materials. So I invoked the loophole and ordered an American Crafts mystery box with a travel theme. My first mystery box ever.

It arrived. I opened it. And I went through the exact sequence you've probably experienced too:

First: Ooh. Ahh. This is so cute.

Then, about four minutes later: Okay, but what do I actually DO with all of this?

I walk through everything, with the actual box contents on the table, in the video below. Keep reading for the full breakdown of all three approaches and how to pick between them.

It's Not a Supplies Question — It's a Story Question

Here's the thing about a big pile of beautiful themed supplies: the pile doesn't come with a plan. After the initial glow wore off, I sat with everything spread out in front of me and made myself answer the question.

What I landed on: match the story to the format. Or the way I've been thinking about it — what's the right home for these memories?

For me, the answer comes down to two questions:

1. How long was the trip?

2. How much time do I honestly have to make the thing?

Answer those two, and one of these three travel scrapbooking approaches will raise its hand.

Approach 1: The Traditional Scrapbook Layout

A 12x12, two-page spread — paper pad, photos, embellishments. This is my pick for short trips: a day at the amusement park, a hike, a city tour, a weekend at the beach.

One story, one spread, done. And if the photos outnumber the space, photo pockets buy you room without buying you a whole other album.

Approach 2: The Pocket Album

My mystery box actually included one, and this is the format I reach for when the trip is days long — a cruise, a road trip with stops, a multi-city tour.

A few things that make pocket scrapbooking work:

• Go chronological, but be ruthless. Not every photo — just the ones that tell the story.

• Slip photos straight into pockets. Let the pre-made cards do double duty as embellishments and journaling spots. Dress them up only if you feel like getting fancy.

• Keep a little journal while you travel. It becomes your album's journaling, already written.

• Save the bits. Tickets, brochures, and other memorabilia slide right into pockets too.

I can finish a travel pocket album in a weekend. (My three unfinished 12x12 travel albums could nevah!)

Approach 3: The Travelogue

This one is new for me, and I'm a little bit obsessed. Instead of one album per trip, a travelogue is a bound blank journal that becomes an ongoing compendium of your short trips — one book, many adventures.

I'm using a Leuchtturm (yes, it's pricey; cheaper alternatives exist) because the pages are numbered and there's an index I can turn into a table of contents. It feels like a book, which I find intriguing — less formal than an album, totally portable, and if you have a small photo printer, you can journal and print your pictures as you go.

It's also where I get to play: papers, stickers, doodles, fancy pens, mixed media, the works.

One caveat: for a major travel adventure, I'll still do a hybrid — some traditional 12x12 pages, some pocket pages. But the travelogue is now home base for everything in between.

I'm doing a full deep dive on how I set up my travelogue over on my Pages in Progress | Creative Journaling channel, so head there if you want to see the whole process.

Which Travel Scrapbooking Approach Is Right for You?

Use this handy, dandy chart to help you decide.

Now, confession time: how many unfinished travel albums do YOU have? Tell me in the comments. I have about three...or four.

And if you want my process for building the travelogue as it unfolds, that's happening in my Pages in Progress newsletter. Sign up here!

Get those photos off your phone — the trips deserve better than the camera roll!