If you have children under the age of twenty, it is likely you recognize the fish pictured to the left. It is, of course, Dory the short-term memory loss suffering fish from the Walt Disney movie Finding Nemo. I’m beginning to relate to Dory because the older I get the faster my memories fade. My childhood camping memories are getting harder and harder to remember, well except the infamous Lysol incident.
Without further ado, here are some simple things that will prevent you from forgetting your camping trips:
Tip #1 – Whip out the camera – This may sound too obvious, but you’d be surprised at just how many people don’t take photos of their camping trips. Unlike most family vacations, camping offers the rare opportunity to capture photos of scenic beauty as well as sentimental family shots. Not only should you take advantage of every family photo opportunity, but you should take unique shots including some of your campsite, other campers, the campgrounds signs and just about anything else you might think is interesting. These will all go a long way towards solidifying the image of your camping experience.
Tip #2 – Give your kids a camera too - Nothing brings out a child’s beautiful and unique perspective more than a camera. On your next camping trip, you should take advantage of this and provide your kids with their own camera. Just pick up a disposable camera from a local store and let your child shoot away. While most adults will focus on the traditional photo opportunities, children often focus on things entirely different. For example, my son once took several photos of a beautiful leaf he found on the ground of our campsite. It was incredibly simple, but it will never be forgotten simply because it was a photo that my son took.
Tip #3 – Don’t waste the photos – I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that the majority of photos taken in this digital age lay to waste inside of the hard drives of the original camera or mobile phone. While I have my own share of photos stored on my phone, my wife insists that we print them out and turn the best ones into a scrapbook. She believes that there is just something more sentimental and personal about printed photos when compared to their web-based counterparts. Starting a scrapbook isn’t difficult. Stores including Walmart and Michael’s have plenty of starter kits that give you a head start as well as plenty of camping-themed accessories that will perfectly fit your needs. If a scrapbook isn’t your style then at least post them to a Facebook account or your own family website. Those are great ways to share your camping memories with your friends and family.
Bonus Tip #4 – Take a bumper sticker - I love campground bumper stickers. Not only are they often free, they’re a quick and easy way to keep a memento from the campground. I take at least one from each of my trips and then pin them up on my bulletin board at work. Yes, I know I should be putting them on my car but I’d rather write some reviews on my blog and spread the word that way.
Thanks again for stopping by and I hope you enjoy building some great camping memories this upcoming camping season
Eric
Twitter: cejcamping
says:
Great ideas. We gave our son a Fisher Price digital camera, nearly indestructable and took decent pictures. As he gets older we’ll work on finding a similar ‘adult’ digital camera for him. The FP doesn’t allow him to zoom or do anything like that, so its a bit limiting, but he still really enjoyed being able to take pictures of what he liked. Each year, I usually use an online service to make picture book of that years adventures and give it as a gift to my wife. They make great books for the coffee table.
Our kids love bumper stickers too. They usually end up putting them up on a bulletin board for awhile before it gets replaced with the next piece of artwork, etc.
great point about printing photos. When they are accessible, they spark associations and conversations. Holding them in your hands is more intimate.
Great ideas. Thanks for sharing.
Really nice family tips. My favorite is #2! Gave my little nephew a cheap point and shoot camera and it just lets you see another perspective (both literally and figuratively!)
I’ve made several scrapbooks from print out photos and they do add to the memories of a family trip. Some of the albums did not turn out very good for several reasons. The first lesson I learned was take the time to pick the photos you want and spring for the photo printer paper. One album I made got only a little wet but the printer quality paper soaked it us fast. I buy the quality photo grade and have rich pictures that stand up to time and fate better. Another tip from experience do not delete a photo card at the store once you have printed off your travel pics. I’ve lost some good pictures that might have made fun albums because I was focused on the next Family Trip Opus of the Year. Third and last is make CD back-ups of all your pics. Sort out the pics that made albums for record keeping and burn them to disk. Since I’ve started doing these three things I have not lost many pics and have lots of memories.
Sincerely,
Donald at Hemroid Treatment
Twitter: adventuroo
says:
I never thought to grab a bumper sticker– thanks for that tip! We just got our three year old a Vtech digital camera so I can’t wait to take him camping and see what he is fascinated enough with to take pictures of!
Great comments everyone. Donald, good point on the backup on the CDs. We have all our photos backed up on CDs too. I don’t think my wife would sleep at night knowing they’d be left on the camera/computer/phone.
The above suggested 4 tips are exciting and useful.Yet, I like the second tip.next time when i go for a trip I’ll try this out….
Those are nice tips! But i really don’t mind if my husband, son or I take too many photos… We can delete them afterwards if we don’t like them, right? I would also add: drive carefully! Most roads that lead to camping sites are often cracked and bumpy!
Seems like when you see the picture it triggers more of the similar images from the brain – gotta love the digital era too as I have thousands of memories on my harddrive right now through pix
I liked the bumper sticker idea also
It’s better to have digital cameras for each family members,since, the idea differs for each one:)
as a habit, lots of western people do not like to take photo by camera. they mainly make good use of time to enjoy the Scenic.
Chinese people like to take photo. but, they almost not see this photo from camera again. they only take this as a job. O(?_?)O
Nice tips. It is important to follow all the tips mentioned here. Thanks friend.
A great benefit with the family camping trip is to use it as a resource to collect your cheap wood for use around the house, for the fire, arts and crafts etc. Although I’m not condoning cutting down the beautiful surroundings, clearing the area of the broken branches etc does the natural beauty of the place a world of good!
)
I too like the 2nd tip man…. thanks for sharing:)
One of my favorite memories of the single life is camping.
Camp life is made easier by gaining experience and learning the tricks.
Chinese people like to take photo. but, they almost not see this photo from camera again. they only take this as a job. delhi detectives
use full post, great point about printing photos. When they are accessible, they spark associations and conversations. Holding them in your hands is more intimate.
I always take pictures to remind me of where Ive been, no matter how mundane and routine: campfires, tents, wildlife, kids, fishing, food, everything!