The next time you go on vacation, don’t bring a camera. This sounds counterintuitive but think about all the memories you have of places, times, and events that actually come from photos and not actual memories. Rather than taking photos to remember your holiday, collect tidbits from your days and nights out: the coaster that sat under your beer while you watched people hurry down a Parisian street, a wooden bookmark bought from a girl hawking her wares at a Mexican market, the beautifully printed ticket stub from the Uffizi. Put these items in a box when you get home. They will help you remember your vacation in a different light than through photographs in an album.
Ada Chu
Brooklyn, NY
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Maybe just be less obsessed with toting a camera *constantly* on vacation, and take it out with you on only certain excursions? (BTW, cameras should be left in a hotel safe, not in a dresser drawer or laying out visibly in your room!)
I say this because I went to Europe 9 years ago, and recently disposed of several of my European “memory tokens”. Without any information about the items, & no written notations on them from me, I seriously no longer remembered why I saved many of them 9 years later.
Looking through my European photo album helped me remember why & where two of my memory tokens came from.
I also had no idea which country a tiny little vase came from in Europe. It doesn’t match my decor now, and I can’t even remember the which country. There is no stamp on the bottom. Was I excited when I found it? Did it mean something special? Had I remembered, I probably wouldn’t have given it to charity.
I also had two small prints that no longer go with my things now…and I asked my travel companions if they remembered where they came from. None did. I gave them to charity, too. Two weeks later, one of my companions called, because she remembered. After telling me how they came to me, I was sad I had given them away… but had I not given it to charity yet, it very well could have been that my friend didn’t remember at all. Pure luck that someone finally remembered.
This time ’round, I probably would have taken a photo of myself with the man, holding the vase.
I also took a tiny travel diary with me, and tried to keep a pen with me at all times…but you are often so busy, there’s no time to write some things down.
I have no idea why I saved several coasters, only that some of them say which pubs they they came from.
Without my camera, I wouldn’t have the precious photo I have of me and one of my best friends in front of Trevi Fountain in Rome.
She has passed away since that trip, and that’s my favorite photo of us together.
Without a camera, I wouldn’t have remembered the colorful gypsy girl whose baby took my breath away. It came flooding back only when I saw her photo in my album.
Without a camera, I wouldn’t have a photo of the older Italian man who asked if he could sit at our table with us. I had forgotten all about him! Again, the memory flooded back only after seeing his photo with us. He spoke no english – we didn’t speak Italian, and we pantomimed and laughed and drew little pictures to communicate.
So, don’t stress about getting every little photo, and missing out on some beautiful things…but I would be sad to know that someone loses most of their memory of a European vacation 10…15..20 years later. Just like I did, without my photos.
I make drawings instead of photographs. Well, sometimes. At least, I have the don’t-take-a-camera step down pat. It’s a little harder to draw than collect ephemera.
Sometimes I do nothing but enjoy the trip.