3 of 36

Write now Article Tools

Some trips fade from our memories, until all that's left is the yellowing images in old photographs. Others remain etched in our minds forever- the unforgettable sights, smells, sounds, and emotions of a new place that can change your whole world view. How can you make your travels memorable, so much so that they alter and enrich even your sense of yourself?

The key is to approach travel with a sense of child-like wonderment. By all means, take photos and write a journal about the day's events if you want to. But those tools are a crutch, and in time they may come to replace actual memories with a filtered, edited version of what happened. In order to truly remember a trip, you have to go into each new place with your eyes and ears open, as if you're seeing the world for the first time. Open your heart as well, and be ready to take in the lessons that your destination has to teach. Jump into the experience with both feet: ride the roller-coaster and scream your lungs out, let go of the world completely at a meditation retreat, go ahead and taste that smelly durian at the Asian fruit market. Don't think too much about recording events as they pass; you aren't really "in the moment" if you are fumbling with your camera's settings, or scrabbling through your bag for a pen.

Too many people these days adopt a "trophy hunter" approach to travel. Travel can become a sort of competitive sport, or scavenger hunt, in which the point is to one-up your friends and neighbors by collecting the most exotic or luxurious destinations, and backing up these triumphs with professionally edited videos or extravagant travel blogs. Ask these travelers about their trips, and they will probably reel off a list of famous sites seen and hotels visited. They have only experienced those places on the shallowest of levels, though. Worried about the angle of light in their photos or the perfect headline for their next web entry, the trophy travelers won't notice the bell-like tones of a bird singing in the trees overhead, or the soul-wrenching gaze of a hungry child begging on the sidewalk.

We all fall in to the trap of self-involvement sometimes. I've learned over the years, though, that the most memorable trips are those where you are so swept up in the world around you that you forget yourself. Just dive in to a new place, and truly immerse yourself in the experiences it has to offer, whether good or bad. It's not possible to really see a place and learn from it if your thoughts are turned toward yourself all of the time. "I need that cloud to move, so I can get some angled light on this statue," "I can't wait to tell Sally about the gold-plated faucets in this hotel room," "I should write some more postcards," "I wish the others would hurry and get back on the bus, so we can get to the next destination." A mind occupied with such thoughts of the future can't possibly remember what is happening here and now in the present.

If you truly want to have memories of your travels to treasure for a life-time, let go of the trophies, and don't think about the people back home who will be impressed with your exploits. Meet new people, experience life as they live it, eat at the local restaurants rather than the bland tourist-traps. You may find that the kebab you just finished was dog-meat, but I promise you'll never forget it! Most of all, try to be an active, present traveler; with all your senses open to new sensations, and your mind and heart open to new ideas, new places and new people to love. Do this, as often as you can, and you will have travel memories that no camera or blog could do justice to... and no length of time can erase.

Learn more about this author, Kallie Szczepanski.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about How to make your travels memorable?
We want to hear your view. Write now!