Six Simple Steps to Turn Your Vacation into a Gift That Keeps Giving

You have great expectations for your vacation trip. Despite everything that could go wrong your expectations came true!

Unfortunately, over time those memories fade like a pair of old blue jeans.  They are hanging in the closet but never worn.  Sometimes the memories are randomly brought back when you clean out a desk or a file folder.  You stumble upon a picture from this or that trip from the past.  The memories come flooding over you like a shot of tequila.

If there was just a way to be able to keep those memories fresh and vibrant as time ticks away.  Well I am here to testify that there are some simple things you can do to keep those memories alive long after the Visa bills for the trip have come and gone. 

Turning your vacation into a story gives it the vibrancy to
become a cult classic.  Taken at the Lone Pine History Museum

Since the Creator made man, cultures have kept their memories and traditions alive by telling stories.  You can do this too and keep those vacation memories alive.  How by turning your vacation into a story.  

Below are six easy steps to keep those memories fresh by transforming them into a story. While I am a photographer at heart, these steps hold true for pictures or video.

One – Pay Attention to the Signs  

Road Sign at the Start of
Movie Road in
Lone Pine, CA

I bet when you are on a trip you take pictures of the scenic landmarks you visit.  Pretty normal, right? In the Eastern Sierras, these landmarks could include; the falls in Yosemite, Devils Postpile, the Mono Lake Tufas (look it up on Google images their cool), etc.  Having pictures of these places are great but by themselves, they do not tell a story.  They are like postcards with nothing written on the back.

To build a story you need structure.  Novels use “chapters” to organize the story. Chapters create a logical flow and build anticipation into the reader’s experience as they live the story with you.  Don’t stories seem so much more alive than random ramblings?

A simple way to create the “chapters” in your vacation story is to take picture of signs you see along the way. Yes, I know people will look at you like you are a nerd, but trust me on this it will be worth it.

Taking a picture of the signs along the way creates the “chapter” headings of your story. A picture of the Devils Postpile Ranger Station sign builds the anticipation, wets your appetite so to speak, of actually seeing pictures of Devils Postpile. The signs to take pictures of can be: 

• Road Signs
• Freeway Off ramp signs
•  Trail Markers
•  Signs of Restaurants or Museums, etc.
•  Billboards (especially like the one at Jawbone junction)
•  Anything that visually represents a chapter in your story.

These images ensure your vacation story gets the structure it needs to come alive for generations. Years later when you pick up your story and see the picture of the entrance sign to Yosemite National Park, your memories will immediately rush through your mind like the smell of your Mom’s cooking when you were young.  In your mind It will build the anticipation to visualize the time when you were there.

Two –Put Characters in Your Story 

You will react more intensely to a picture that has you, your family, or your friends in it than a picture of just Yosemite Falls.  Enough said.

This is a nice scenic shot but will it mean something
to you ten years from now?

Years later this will bring back more vivid memories.
Add Family and Friends to some of your photos!

Three – Take Pictures Along the Way

This was taken in 2009 my mouth still
waters when I see this picture.  It was that good!
Taken at Whitney Portal Store

Don’t just take pictures of signs and the scenic spots.  Take pictures of the “stuff” along the way.  This will build depth and character into your story.  Bestselling authors don’t write, “Got up, met a girl with a statue of a Falcon, people tried to steal the bird, made them pay”, (Humphrey Bogart Maltese Falcon).  They take time to describe the room, what the characters are thinking and feeling. Etc.  That extra “stuff” makes you feel like you are in the story too.  Well, you should put that “stuff” in your story for the same reason.

Barstow McDonald

The picture  of us in Barstow was taken 30+ years ago when I was in college. It was our first group trip to Las Vegas.  It was taken in front of a McDonalds in Barstow.  Not the most memorable or scenic location on the planet.  It was not even taken in Vegas.  Yet thirty years after it was taken it is hanging on the wall in about 10+ homes. It became an icon for that trip and our youth.

If your flight is delayed take a picture of the gate sign saying it is delayed. Heck, take a picture with the Airline employee that told you there was nothing they could do about missing your connecting flight (wouldn’t that freak them out). While it does not seem like a fond memory at the time, it will later on.  Reading your story five or ten years later,you will think; “I remember that, we met the most delightful couple while we were waiting.” Again, it adds depth and context to your story that adds richness to your memories over time.

Four – Take the Time to Stop Along the Way

We used to go to Mammoth from Los Angeles like we were on a mission from God.  We judged our success on how few stops we had to make or how quickly we got up there. 

Now we stop along the way to check out things.  I cannot believe how much we were missing.  I mean consider what is in Lone Pine alone.  There is the Film Museum, all those arches in the Alabama Hills, pancakes at Whitney Portal, Alabama Hills Café, and Jakes (a Biker Bar and the 1^st place you can buy Mammoth Brewery Beer!).  Bet most of you LA to Mammoth commuters have no idea what I the heck I am talking about and that the only thing in Lone Pine is the McDonalds.

Keeler Beach Surfboard. Used a tight crop to keep
the surprise of what this really looks like!

I wholeheartedly believe stopping and exploring the places along the way adds a whole new dimension of enjoyment to your trip.  Those experiences are what create warm memories.  Yes some stops will be a bust, but even those will be things that you will laugh at later on.  Just ask my wife about Keeler. 

Five – Take Pictures of the People You Meet

Met for the 1st time on a Lone Pine
Flickr meet up.  Still stay in touch

Doing steps two and three will give you pretty good odds of meeting new friends along the way.  Take their picture, or have someone take the picture of all of you.  I know it might seem strange or pushy at the time, but years later it will bring a memory rush as you think, “I remember that couple from France, their accent was so cool.”

Six – Write Your Story

The worst thing you do when you get back is to do nothing.  When you get back go through your pictures and journals and organize them into a story.  Do it about the same time your Visa bill hits the mail box.  It will remind you why you spent so much money.  Heck the bill itemization may help you organize the pictures.  There is a whole bunch of ways to then convert them into a story:

• Change the file names so they stay in order in the file folder so they make a coherent slide show.
• Paste them into PowerPoint to create a slide show; or you can get fancy by using a program to build a slide show with music and fades, etc. 

The ways above require you look at your story using a computer.  This will minimize the times you actually read your story later on.

My favorite way to tell my story is to make them a physical item so no computer is required to look at it.  That way you can leave it out where it can  just be picked up.

• Take the images you chose and get them printed out and put them in a pocket photo album
• Make a real book out of them.  There are lots of places that you can download the pictures, use the vendors program to build a book, and then have it printed.  Many will charge you less than $20 bucks. I have used Snapfish with good results.

Then keep them on the coffee table. Since they are out you will pick them up and look at them more often.  When you have friends over they will pick it up and you can tell them your story.  In fact, I have had friends ask me to make a book out of their story after they saw one of mine.

Closing

Hey, you spent a lot of money and time on your trip.  You should make the most of it while you were there, AND, long after you come home.  If you follow the steps above you will turn your vacations into favorite stories that you will read again and again. Try it and you will find that it is a gift that keeps giving!

Where to Stay

If you are looking for a condo to stay at in Mammoth look up Snow Flower 13 to rent.  

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