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How To Keep Your Trip Alive After It’s Over

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Having fun on Starfish Beach on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico

You know the feeling. You’ve just returned from an amazing trip you never wanted to end, but then it did. And now you’re stuck living in the memories until they slowly fade away. Instead of letting these memories just sit there, do something with them. To help you, here is a guide on how to keep your trip alive after it’s over.

Make A Scrapbook

Pictures are a great way to preserve the memories you made on your trip. Looking back on them and seeing exact moments can help bring back the emotions you felt while there. Instead of simply looking at the pictures on your computer, make a scrapbook to help really bring your photos to life. Paste in ticket stubs, bar coasters, hotel keys and other little souvenirs that can also bring a smile to your face when you look at them. You may also want to hang some of your favorite trip photos on your walls so you can constantly be reminded of your amazing trip.

Make A Facebook Group

Invite the people you met during your trip into a Facebook group where you can all keep in touch and reminisce. Many times, the reason travelers fall in love with a place is because of the people they met, so still being able to interact with your friends from the road can help you keep the best part of your trip alive. Moreover, you can try to plan another trip together in the future, or make arrangements to visit each other in your respective cities.

Visit A Cultural Museum

Instead of leaving a great trip behind, continue it by learning more about the culture. Find a cultural museum or institution related to the place you just visited and dig deeper than you did when you were there. If you sampled the cuisine, take a cooking class so you can learn how to make the dishes yourself. If you learned about the history, try to gain knowledge on the art culture. Not only will this help keep your trip alive, it will add to your knowledge base.

Join A Related Club

Meetup.com is great for this, as people can create groups based on any topic they want, from food to culture to history and beyond. Search for a local club or group either on the website or by doing a Google search and attend events that remind you of where you just were. And if there isn’t a related club that exists having anything to do with the place you just visited, start one yourself. For example, if you just visited Brazil but you live in New York you can start a “Brazilian Culture in New York Club,” going to Brazilian restaurants, taking samba classes, doing language exchanges, exploring Little Brazil more.

Explore Something You Learned

Travel always involves some kind of learning, whether it be a new skill, idea or cultural facet. Instead of forgetting what you’ve learned, make it a part of your life at home. If you saw a tango show in Argentina, take classes in your hometown. If you did a weaving workshop in Okinawa, buy yourself a kit and practice. Not only will you develop your abilities, but the next time you visit the destination you’ll be able to participate in the skill in an impressive manner.

Plan Another Trip

And when all else fails, planning another trip — whether to the same destination you just were or somewhere completely different — will keep your mind occupied and excited for the future. Read blogs, collect brochures, talk to travel agents, look at photographs and dream of all the experiences you can have on your next jaunt. There’s nothing like having a great trip to look forward to.

About Jessie Festa

Jessie Festa is a New York-based travel content creator who is passionate about empowering her audience to experience new places and live a life of adventure. She is the founder of the solo female travel blog, Jessie on a Journey, and is editor-in-chief of Epicure & Culture, an online conscious tourism magazine. Along with writing, Jessie is a professional photographer and is the owner of NYC Photo Journeys, which offers New York photo tours, photo shoots, and wedding photography. Her work has appeared in publications like USA Today, CNN, Business Insider, Thrillist, and WestJet Magazine.