Oscraps

My family just got back from a major vacation.  I won’t tell you where exactly, but it involved a big mouse and four different theme parks.  🙂  Tackling a week long trip with so many events is going to be overwhelming, but I’ve come up with a few tips to help tackle it all.

1.  Go over your pictures and decide what’s important.

If you are anything like me, you’ve come away with hundreds of photos (*cough* maybe even a thousand *cough*) and you don’t plan on using everything.  Imagine that you are showing the photos to your friends.  Which ones are important enough to show them and what are the stories that you are going to tell to go with them?  Flag those photos and write any notes down or add them to the picture file.

2.  Decide how you are going to tackle your project.

Are you going to work chronologically or thematically?  I could put together parades, character meetings, shows, etc.  Or I could work chronologically by theme park.  This will also help you figure out what the important stories to share will be.

3.  Decide to add details.

A lot of people will add dates and places to their photos on their vacation pages.  The picture of our shadows with my son’s mouse ears will set the location for the photo.  Sure add the date and place somewhere, but give the story too!  I love the picture of my Grandma in the woods, but I wish I knew more about the trip.  Who did she go with?  Was it a celebration?  Remember that you are creating these pages as memories for the future.  You may remember the details of it all now, but will you years later?  Will your grandchildren know the details if you don’t tell them?  Don’t just set the scene, tell the story.

4.  Do it while it’s fresh.

I’m not one to advocate spending vacation time to fill out journals.  I tried it a few times, and I didn’t like it. And frankly, when you are exhausted at the end of a long day with your kids, spending a lot of time writing is not my idea of down time.  But, you do need to journal it soon after you get back.  If you wait too long, you will lose some of the fun details and funny stories.  Those details are ones that everyone will love later.

5.  Have fun!

Remember, the reason you took the vacation was to have fun…right??!!  So don’t make your layouts be a chore.  When the task becomes overwhelming or not fun, walk away.  Come back to it when you are in a better mood or can enjoy the task again.

If you are lucky enough to take a vacation soon, keep these tips in mind and bon voyage!!