How to Document Your Travel Experience for First-Time Travellers

Let me give a disclaimer before I start. This may sound very clichéd. But I have to say this. If you are a first-time traveller or are looking to travel more than you already are, please do it. Doesn’t matter if you are 18 or 40 or 70 or 80. It is of even less consequence whether you are single, divorced, married or separated. Just go, explore. Travel is one of the best teachers you can have in life. But hey, when it comes to learning, you can’t undermine the importance of notes and recording what you have learnt! In this case, your travel experiences – from the place you visited to the things you ate or something you did which was out of your comfort zone.  So documenting your travel experiences I feel is equally as important as actually being on the move. The next question which automatically would arise (hopefully) is how do you go about it. Well, let’s try and give that a shot!

Most Instagrammable Places in Europe or India or Similar? Yes, For Sure

How will you add a story or post on Insta if you don’t click photographs? Photographs have become an inevitable aspect of travel these days. If you haven’t posted snazzy photographs on your happening social media handle, “you didn’t go there dude”. It is as simple as that. My point here for the first-time travellers in India or abroad is that photographs are necessary – they are the  best way to keep your fantastic memories alive. But first try and soak in the place and the vibe and the feelings it evokes in you. Just try and take note of those things and then go bonkers on your smart phone or DLR or whatever. You can accordingly make folders in your phone or camera, date-wise or by places visited. My first international trip was to Singapore. I hardly had any clue about the place. For me, it was an incredible experience. I realised for the first time how miniscule my world and my horizon was. Whether it was my idea of what and how people dressed or what they ate or how they lived, in general.  I tried to be in that feeling, that feeling of ecstasy and euphoria of being in a foreign land. It was more so for me as I hadn’t even the faintest inkling of my trip till two months before I actually visited Singapore. In a nutshell, do go for that image – both for your camera and for your mind and heart. The latter will hopefully never fade away or get deleted. To make sure your photographs look great before you post them, you can try these photo editing tools –

• Canva
• Picmonkey
• Adopbe Photoshop
• On1 Photo RAW
• Corel PaintShop Pro
• GIMP

The Pen is Mightier than the Sword? No, the Keyboard!

Our world has been taken over by technology. I wonder sometimes if we would actually ever write using a pen or a pencil a few years down the line. Pen and pencil would perhaps be archaic by then. But my dear amigos, till the time we have them, why not make the most of them? The point I am getting at is keep a pen or pencil and a small diary handy with you whenever you are travelling. You may not always have access to internet or a laptop or tab or the likes to type in and save the document.  The humble pen can come to your rescue in that case. Many of us may not be enthusiastic about writing. But hey, you needn’t write reams of papers. The date, place, and experience and your take away from it should suffice. You can always elaborate on it once you are back home. The power of a pen can never be undermined! It surely helps reliving the memories. And who knows, a collection of such notes may eventually be an inspiration for a book or a TV show?

Gear Up for the Videos!

Whether you are traveling solo in London or hiking to Machu Pichu, videos are the in thing. Video content is always lapped up more by consumers. Videos have an appeal which is a zillion times more than the written word. And that is obvious. The better and unique the video, the better the response. If you already are into creating videos, then you definitely have an advantage while documenting your travel story. If not, then it is something good to know. With all the new technology of capturing videos and editing coming up, this form of content is here to stay.  Plus, with social media platforms facilitating a number of amazing tools to add that zing to your videos, you can experiment and have fun with them as well. If it is messy, we can always delete it! Years later, you will certainly laugh your socks off checking one of such goofy videos! And if nothing else, you can always Google whatever you would like to know about editing and uploading videos on different social media platforms. So get cracking with your tripods, iPads and what not! Here are some of the tools you can use for editing videos for beginners –

• Windows Movie Maker
• Animoto
• iMovie
• Adobe Premiere Elements
• Final Cutpro

Mind Over Matter

In this era of putting everything out there publicly right from the time you are half awake in the morning to perhaps posting your jazzy new toothbrush, this may seem very old-school and vintage. But documenting your travel experience is also about being there in the moment. It is okay if you forget to shoot that video or click that photograph. What matters is how much you have the experience that has been etched on your heart. I always ask myself this – what was that one moment or the one thing that has got entrenched deep in my heart whenever I visited a place? Do I have a memory from a trip which is still fresh even after so many years?  For instance, when I visited Lords Cricket Ground as a part of my solo trip to London on my birthday a few years back, the sensation which ran through me was inexplicable. Till date, that pulsating, electric sensation is felt by me whenever I think of that moment. I am definitely not trying to say here that don’t click photographs or the likes. I am saying is going beyond the tangible is sometimes as exhilarating or perhaps even more than clicking a photograph or a video to document your travel experience, especially for the first-timers.

All said and done, however, it is not a matter of life and death even if you don’t document your travel experience, whether you are a first-time traveller or a seasoned one. What is of paramount importance I feel is to be there in the moment, expose yourself to the unknown, and evolve as a human being. As for me, I think I have left a piece of my heart at every place I have visited so far!