Documenting Travel with a Smash Book

In June, Cal and I took a trip to the Pacific Northwest to be there for Taylor's high school graduation and to visit Mom in Victoria, BC.

K & Co.'s Smash Book was the perfect way to keep a travel journal. I did not use chronological order but Smash books have provided some fun tools like self stick tabs that can help index pages for future reference. The glue stick and cute Washi tapes make it so easy to add ephemera and photos. I brought my Pivi printer to print out the photos I took with my Canon Elph and have added more photos taken with other cameras since returning home. The nice thing about the Smash book is that the lovely pages give it a finished scrapbook feel even when used as a casual collection and journaling device, making it fun to look through. I may make more formal scrap pages of some trip highlights later but for the purposes of keeping the memories the Smash book is sufficient.

I recommend a small tote if you plan to take along the tools I did but a Smash book with the large elastic strap where you can put extra pens and items can work for those who prefer travelling as lightly as possible.

My minimal items are above. The book itself, a Smash book glue/pen combo with an extra glue stick and extra pen some favorite accessories items from the Smash book line (these note pads are whimsical way to add notes to some of the dark patterned paper pages) and a couple of rolls of Washi tape.

 Some extras that I brought included a mixed media journal, watercolor pencils, some distress markers (Picket fence was great for writing on a black page) and Gelatos, and my Pivi printer (do not forget all your cords and chargers and extra film packs, too!) I had a couple of other Smash book accessories, like the page tabs, as well.
It is quite easy to use a Smash book and a lot more fun than I expected. Cal was very good at helping me collect ephemera along the way.
I'm sure there would be much that I would have failed to remember about the trip without this contemporaneous record. Let me know if you have done anything like this with a Smash book or if you have any tips for me or others.