Create a Travel Photo Book Collection to Relive the Magic

My family hits the road to go camping regularly. We are always sure to turn heads as we pull in with our teeny-tiny camper towed with a minivan, of all things, with our three kids under seven piling out to explore. To me, the most important part of a family vacation is spending time together and making incredible memories. I love that camping gives us abundant time together exploring nature, unplugged from distractions and the constant barrage of overstimulating business many vacation destinations have.

Simplicity is a word we cling to when we travel. Simple, easy meals with little cleanup, packing light, and avoiding a jam-packed itinerary at all costs. We often camp close to home to make travel easier. Our favorite thing is finding little-known destinations with breathtaking scenery, like Tallulah Falls, Georgia, just a few hours from our home in Atlanta.

Scheduling a camping trip at such a beautiful location requires no complicated itinerary or a checkbox of must-see locations. We simply go with the flow, hiking, fishing, or exploring in whatever way feels right each day. With views like this at every turn, lifelong family memories and amazing photo opportunities are abundant.

One of my top priorities on our trips is taking beautiful travel photos of the breathtaking sights we take in. We display them throughout our home to remember our travels; these constant reminders of beauty create joy in our lives.

To highlight these amazing views, one of my favorite photo opportunities is taking a photo of the scenery with our children far away, where the focus of the photo is more on the landscape, but you witness them in the frame interacting and exploring with their environment, like this shot:

A key way we remember all the beautiful sights and showcase my thoughtful photography is through creating travel photo books. My children love looking back at our books to remember their favorite trips, and we all love to show them off to visitors. I always display my favorite shots in a full-page photo book spread.

Our Favorite Travel Destination

Out of all the places we’ve visited, one shines through as our ultimate destination worth returning to each year — Pensacola, Florida.

Part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore and nestled on Rosa Island, the Fort Pickens Area hosts historical landmarks to explore and miles of protected, pristine beaches without a condo in sight. Only a short walk to the beach, you can hear the waves crashing from every campsite. This retreat from busy life is magical, and we’ve returned three times to reignite the magic.

Although camping with three small children is not always easy, I hope the happy family memories will stay with our children for life. Our Florida beach camping trips are certainly rich with happy memories.

Creating Travel Photo Books on Mixbook

With a passion for capturing high-quality vacation photos, the aesthetic of my travel photo books is important to me as well. As you can imagine, raising three young kids is a busy job, so saving time when creating travel photo books is also key. I browsed the photo book templates until I found one I loved: the Modern Travels template. I love the simple layout that lets the photos shine.

Here’s how my cover turned out, highlighting my favorite beach photo from our most recent trip.

I love how this theme includes templates to coordinate the pages, and the minimalist, simple aesthetic reflects the simplicity of our trips. Each book is packed full of memories.

I especially love the ability to customize and add text to each page for a unique storytelling experience. Our kids love looking at their travel photo books, and they love reading the captions to each other over and over again like a storybook.

Capturing Priceless Memories in My Travel Photo Books

Creating our Florida photo book allowed me to reflect on small windows of time that made our trip unforgettable. Many years ago, one of our babies was stillborn. One way I love to remember her is when I find feathers. On a beautiful golden sunset evening during our trip, the perfect feather floated in the breeze and landed directly in front of us. My daughter picked it up and handed it to me like it was the most priceless treasure. She said, “This is to remember Olivia.”

I am so very proud to be able to document this moment in our travel photo book to remember forever.

My Prized Vacation Photo Books Collection

After witnessing how much my children love to look back on our travel photo books, I am excited to start a vacation photo book collection. I can't wait to create a photo book for each of our big trips to document all the family memories.

The most exciting thing is considering the impact these vacation photo books will continue to have on our future. I can already envision my grandchildren, far into the future, coming over to visit and delighting in looking at the photos of their parents' fun memories as children. These books are not just a short-lived thrill. They are an investment in future experiences and family connection. These travel photo books are some of my most prized possessions and are far better than any overpriced souvenir in the corner shop.

I keep that thought in mind when taking vacation photos and creating my travel photo books. Although my favorite photography is always the shots of glorious panoramic vistas, I always include everyday photos of our camping setup and vehicles, knowing that years later, the vintage vibes of automobiles and infrastructure will enthrall the next generation. As a nod to scrapbooking, I also love capturing pictures of keepsakes from the trip, such as ticket stubs, receipts, and stickers we may collect along the way.

Keep your vacation memories alive for years to come with travel photo books on Mixbook, and start your own collection today. Mixbook's easy templates make creating a book simple and allow you to coordinate with your photo aesthetic.