It’s been over a decade since I started travelling more regularly, and Lisa has been there for almost all of it. It all started with our first trip across the Atlantic, which took us to London at the end of 2012 and Paris in early 2013. Since then, there have been dozens of destinations, events, and shows, with countless restaurants, concerts, and many others. With the accumulation of these events, we have many photos and videos to look back on. Still, we also look for creative ways to display our adventures—something visible and nicely presented that can generate conversation when we have guests.

Many people who travel gather keepsakes from those travels. Keychains, magnets, postcards; the list goes on. There are numerous ways to capitalize on your travel memories. In fact, we have a fridge full of magnets ourselves. And since we started our travels together, we have kept the small items that don’t seem to have much initial value. Tickets to museums and tourist attractions, plane tickets, pamphlets, and other statements of attendance and admittance: I’ve accumulated quite a collection of random pieces over the years.

Most of our photo viewing is done digitally, and printing photos for display can be overlooked. But it remains one of the easiest ways to preserve and display travel memories. This is as easy as picking your favourites, selecting a size, and having them printed, framed, and displayed in your home. Frames can potentially have high prices, but you can usually find reasonably priced ones that look fine. There is a tangible connection to a photo once it is printed. It’s easier to look at something on your wall and remember the journey. Photos lose their impact when grouped with hundreds of other images on your phone or, worse, buried somewhere in an archive on your computer, never to see the light of day.

One idea: if you want to get more creative with your work, use the ticket stubs and entry tabs from your travels and arrange them in a collage for display. You can use the stubs themselves, or using applicable software, take photos of them and arrange them digitally as desired. This method saves the stubs from damage, and organizing can be much easier within a program such as Adobe Photoshop or InDesign.

Another idea for a collage is listing your destinations and various important events as text in a presentable manner using a favourable font choice. In the example below, I used a few select colours and fonts to create a list of travels and adventures from the past decade-plus. It will take some patience to assemble, but something like this is a great visual reminder of past events and a great conversation piece if displayed in your home.

We currently have the text collage above printed on a canvas and displayed on the center wall in our dining area. One of our ceiling lights shines directly on it, drawing attention to the piece. The ticket stub and pamphlet example is printed, framed, and displayed in the hallway leading to our kitchen.

These are just a couple of ways to display your adventures. With some thought as to how they are presented, you can create works that command attention and conversation and ones that you will look back on and remember fondly.