Filing and keeping maps, brochures and business cards from your travels

Problems
You have large numbers of business cards cluttering up drawers. You also have maps. How do you find them later?

Answers
The simple solution is to have one large box file divided into three with see-through folders. The largest items go at the bottom.
Sort items alphabetically by names of cities, restaurants, hotels. Group brochures under C for Cities, H for Hotels, R for Restaurants, M for Maps.

Many Brochures
Create an index, if you have lots of papers and lots of time. Place an A4 ruled writing paper sheet on the front. You might Sellotape (UK brand name for sticky tape) it to the outside of the box. Alternatively us the front inside cover of the box. I sometimes stat an index in pencil and only go over it or copy it in ink when I see how many changes and additions I have made.

An alternative method is to have a section of your shelving for atlases and maps. Magazines go in magazine files (the sort which look like cereal boxes - if short of time and money you can re-use cereal boxes, cutting them diagonally to make two file holders. Put the inside cereal bag into a Tupperware box and shake out all the crumbs inside so you don't get insects in your stored papers.

Few Brochures
If you have lots of trips, but not enough on each place to fill a big box file, create a box file for the year. Within the box divide the trips by month, or alphabetically by place. You could do an index using both systems. For example, you could list the countries alphabetically, but your second index would read: January - USA; February - Canada; March - Mexico and so on.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please like and follow my posts and share them.