Looking for ways to track your travels? Here are 15 unique ideas.
When we travel, we see plenty of exciting things, but we often have to remind ourselves that our space at home is limited and valuable! We want everything we bring home to serve a function or have meaning.
After reading Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I can’t help but think the things below would spark joy and speak to our hearts as travelers (maybe me more than Jacob).
We love collecting our experiences and tracking our travels, so would it be wrong to become collectors of maps and globes, too?
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Last Updated: May 26, 2024
15 Wanderful Ways to Track Your Travels
1. MAGNETIC Wall Map
They no longer sell the one we used to mark our travels, but here are some alternatives. The photo below shows what the map looked like in our Atlanta home.
2. Cross Stitch World Map or Embroidery map
I recently started cross-stitching this United States map, and it’s such a fun way to learn a new skill while tracking your travel. If you’re not much of a DIYer, you can start with these cross-stitching kits that include everything you need or buy unique customized maps from other makers.
3. Scratch Off World Map
We have a few different scratch-off maps in our home. Some are world maps, some are country maps, and some focus on National Parks.
4. World Map Wall Decal
We’ve never had decals in our home, but I would love these maps. There are so many different styles and designs.
5. Cork Globe
We saw this Cork Globe on our most recent trip to Cincinnati, and though the price tag is higher than I expected, I thought it made a beautiful addition to a traveler’s home.
6. Scratch Globe
Similar to the scratch map, you can get a 3-dimensional version with a scratch globe!
7. DIY Photo Collage Map
As convenient as it is to have a bunch of phone and Instagram photos, there’s still something nice about printed photos. Even better, create a collage map out of them.
8. World Map Tattoo
If you’re truly dedicated to traveling the world, then maybe inking up your body is the way to go. After outlining the world, you can fill in each country as you visit them. Can you imagine how expensive it would be to get them all done separately?
9. Travel Journals
We use a combination of Moleskines and field notes (waterproof!) all the time but didn’t realize that Moleskine had come out with a specific travel journal. Does anyone use this one yet?
We also love the scratch-off maps, but if you don’t want to clutter up your home with more decor, they have this combo of small interactive scratch maps plus a journal with checklists to help you plan your trips. We have the Adventure Journal, but it’s not as fun scratching off tiny numbers as the whole map.
10. Send Yourself a Postcard
You can write about your favorite memories from the trip or something you learned. In addition to the postcard, you get a local and dated stamp. We sent some postcards to friends from Antarctica’s Penguin Post Office, but now I regret not sending one to ourselves.
11. Coffee Table Book
If you’re anything like us, you collect photos when traveling. We plan many of our days around where to be during sunset. A great way to show off all those photos is putting them into a coffee table book.
12. Composable Italian Charm Bracelet
I was never a fan of charm bracelets until we saw these Italian charm bracelets with flags on our most recent Contiki trip to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. The tour manager and one of our fellow travelers had them on, and they caught our eye. One of them, who had been to 44 countries, wore two. You add flags or other charms to help keep track of all the countries you’ve been to. It’s a great conversation starter too!
13. Foreign Currency
If you want something simple, keep some local currency when you head home. You can do something fun like keeping what $1 equals in each country and then displaying them at home with a fun DIY project. Foreign Currency DIY (15 Wonderful Ways to Keep Track of Your Travels)
14. Patches
Patches are a great way to showcase destinations on your favorite travel backpack or bag. Sometimes if we don’t have time to souvenir shop or don’t find a patch we like in the country, we cheat and get these flag patches. We’ve been collecting them for a few years, but we still haven’t decided which bag to attach them to. It’s so hard to commit!
15. Start a Blog
As much as we love sharing our adventures and stories with you, we hope it encourages you to explore as well, whether it be abroad or in your hometown. We initially started this blog as a personal journal to share our adventures with our friends and family back in Atlanta. Fast forward to today, we’re so happy to have grown our community to include you too! Here are some posts about our most memorable trips:
- 9 Breathtaking Things to Do in Seward Alaska
- 17 Things You Need to Know Before Visiting Antarctica
- 17 Breathtaking Things to Do at the Grand Canyon National Park
See Related – How to Start a Blog in 5 Easy Steps
How many world maps do you think are too many for one house? What are some ways you’ve been keeping track of your travels? Can you think of any other creative ideas for tracking your travels?
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“Discovery consists not of seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes” – M. Proust
Esther + Jacob
Esther and Jacob are the founders of Local Adventurer, one of the top 5 travel blogs in the US. They believe that adventure can be found near and far and hope to inspire others to explore locally. They explore a new city in depth every year and currently base themselves in Las Vegas.
Follow on Instagram (E + J), YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest.