Saturday, September 3, 2022

How to make a travel scrapbook or photobook

Captain Cook kept a log book. 

Marco Polo's travel records, with coloured pictures and text, coloured contrasting fonts, and a fancy border. 

Christopher Columbus wrote records. 

The Titanic has records. 

Your baby photos and baby travels will be interesting in years to come. I was recently asked by my grand-daughter's other grandparents, 'Do you have any photos of your son, so we can see if she looks like her father at that age?'

I hunted all over the internet. Nothing from forty years ago.

I looked in a couple of boxes of old photos. I found one of him in the USA aged about seven. 

Then I searched framed pictures on the walls. I found two school group pictures. But no baby pictures.

Finally, looking for a family tree book, I found a baby album! I had started compiling when I bought it from the hospital trolley when he was born. Baby's first year. Four more good photos. One shows him trying to eat sand at a Lido (Ruislip in London) and grimacing. 

The in-laws were impressed and delighted. They said, 'He looks just like her. She looks just like him!' 

I bought a baby book second hand from the second hand charity shop in London. I prefer to keep books and photo in London. If you carry them around, they can get bent or lost. In the tropics, the heat makes the paper go brown and develop brown spots, or go mouldy - or get insects. Books 

The simplest book has a cover picture of a country or the traveler. Use a map or signpost or picture of yourself or your family at the location. (If you want to take a local photo, think of the classic, some say cliche, a picture of a tourist with their right arm outstretched, apparently holding up the Leaning tower of Pisa or the Eiffel Tower or any local skyscraper.) 

Cover the book with wrapping paper, such as birthday paper, anniversary, Xmas. Make a mosaic from the photos inside. Photos can be horizontal, vertical, or turned at an angle.

Out of focus pictures or faded pictures can be a backdrop to text.

Make A Book

The Pages

To make a book from scratch, you can fold A4 paper or card in half. Take half a dozen pieces. Stitch them together with one to three stitches along the seam, securely knotted on the outside. 

Put together two to six sections like this. 

The Spine

Cut a piece of fabric larger than the spine and glue the paper folds to the fabric. 

Outside hard Cover Base

Then add card for the hard-backed cover. You could use thin card from a new shirt. Two of these stuck together. 

Alternatively, thicker card from a cereal packet. Or corrugated paper from packaging. 

Cover with wrapping paper - cut larger that the cover to fold over. Cut two slits to go inside the spine. 

Use plain coloured paper for the inside cover. Cut this slightly smaller than the book pages, big enough to stick over the outside cover. 

I would stick on a printed photo on ordinary paper. If possible, print with a frame printed around it. 

You could create a window. Or use the window for framing photos from a craft shop, or download an oval or rectangular frame pattern and cut it out.

You can also buy book protectors in transparent plastic, cheaper if you buy half a dozen rather than just one. If you can't find the right size, instead cut the card cover to fit the plastic over-cover.  

Windows

You can create windows from window envelopes.


Your Travel Record Book Titles

Think of an alliterative title. For example: 

A-D titles

Angela's Adventures. Ava's adventures.  Air travel and Anna. Amy in Asia. Astrid's travel around America.

Baby's First year travels.  Baby's First Year in England. Bob's Biking Tours,

Carole's car journeys. Clare's Climbing Holidays. Clara in Canada. Claud's Cruises. Charlie and churches. Carrie at College. Caroline's Coach tour(s). Camping with Corinne.

Dining out and in with David.


E-K titles

Emily Emigrates. Exploring with Emily.

Frankie and Family holidays, Frances flies around the world. Fun times with Florence. Florence in Florence. Fanny in the Fall. Fun with a foodie family. Flora's first year. Fiona's first five years. Fanny's/Philip's photos.

Great times with Greta. Global traveller Gwen. George and the Great outdoors. Greg's Guided Tours.

Harry's Hiking. Happy days with Hilary. Holidays in Hungary. Our history of Hatch End. Home and Away with Harriet. Harry's Holidays.

I Ingrid in Italy and other countries. Imogen In and Out.

Jerome's Journeys.

King of the Road, Karl.


L-R titles

Lovely views of life in London.

Mark in the Middle East. Maureen at Music Festivals. Mike's meals out. Me and my take out (UK take away) food.

New things seen by Nora and Nigel

Old and new New York. Old and New Newcastle. Olive in the Outback. On the road with Olga.

Peter in picturesque places. Pictures of Pinner. Penny the passenger. Philip at Public school. Pamela's parties. Pammy's paintings. 

Quiet times with Queenie. Queenie and her Quests.


R to V titles

Raymond's Road trips with Louise.

Sailing with Simon and Suzie. All Seasons with Sarah and Steven. Solomon's Synagogue visits. Susan at School. Sonya's sketchbook.

Travel with Tony,Tony's Travels. Tessa's Travelogue. Tim's Travel Journal. Terence Tours Temples. Touring with Tom.

Umbrellas and Sunshine Days with Urs with Willisula. Ulysses at Uni.

Victor and volcanoes, Vera in Venezuela. Virginia's voyages. Veronica's Vacations. Valerie's voyages. Valerie's visits.

World traveller Winnie. Wanda waking, walking and sleeping. Wild times with William in the Wild. Warren in the Wilderness.

Xanthe in Xanadu - and other places. Xanthe's excellent trips. Xanthe and her ex travelling.

Young Yvonne in Yellowstone

Z Zoos and Places seen by Zoe


We have a well travelled grand-daughter. She has been to the UK, France, Andorra, Spain, Israel.

I looked for a baby album or baby's first five years. I found one with acid free paper. 


Stock Image




Many book sellers offer free postage within the USA or the second book delivered at no extra cost. 

I found that 26 US dollars (the combination of a book price and postage to Singapore) is equivalent to about 22 British pounds sterling.

For the UK, you can find books occasionally in Charity shops, as well as on Amazon.co.uk

Useful Websites

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

Abe books (for second hand books with reasonable postage costs)

The history of travel writing and notable books, blogs and awards:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travel_literature#Travel_journals

For the cover

https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Homemade-Book

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Travel_writing#Q1072723

https://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Travel-Journal-Leather-Notebook

Please share links to your favourite posts.

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