This file has Vacation ABC's, Humor, Page Ideas, Photo Tips, etc.
Also see Cruises; Disney; Zoo; Specific Destinations (includes links to files for all fifty states); Cities and Towns; Amusement Park, Fair, Circus; Beach, Lake, Pool; Mountains; Vehicles; Roads and Highways; Location Humor; and other files in the Travel Section.
(words and music by Woody Guthrie © 1956 (renewed 1984), 1958 (renewed 1986) and 1970 TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc. (BMI))
Chorus:
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me.
As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me.
(Chorus)
I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me<.br>
(Chorus)
The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me.
(Chorus)
Page Idea: Use whatever parts of this song are appropriate for your vacation. Or put the entire song on the title page of a Vacation Album. America the Beautiful is another song that works well with vacation photos.
(condensed from an idea by Elsje G. CMC)
Expanding file folder
Some one or two gallon zip-lock bags
Some smaller zip lock bags
Spiral notebook and pens and pencils
Vacation Album Forms (see below on how to make them)
Collect all the memorabilia you can (tickets, receipts, maps, postcards, menus, pamphlets, luggage tags, hotel door hangers, hotel stationary, business cards, labels, wrappers, coupons, napkins, foreign coins and currency, programs, invitations, etc.) Keep these things in the file folder by date (small things can be put in zip lock bags). The first space in the folder is for memorabilia that pertains to the entire trip. One of the large ziplock bags will hold brochures, tickets, etc. for places you have not yet visited. Move it to the expanding file when you finish the activity.
Use your notebook all through the trip to make notes about photos you take, things you see and do, etc. Try to find time each evening to record your thought about the day. Be sure to include unusual modes of transportation, local slang, unusual words or phrases, new recipes, etc.
Start jotting down thoughts about the trip and things that you didn't get photos of but want to remember.
As you get film back label and date the photos and put them in the slots with the memorabilia for each day.
Mention things that pertain to all of your five senses.
*Sight - architecture, people, clothing styles, landscapes, shows, hairdos, jewelry, furniture, etc.
*Sound - waves crashing, birds singing, languages, exotic animal sounds, musical instruments, etc.
*Smell - foods, restaurants, flowers, ocean air, forests, subways, local spices, exhaust fumes, etc.
*Taste - local dishes, fruits, delicacies, foreign foods, special drinks, etc.
*Touch - toes in the sand, cool water, fabric texture, cobblestone streets, cold snow, warm sun, etc.
Journal about the "mosts and bests". The most adventurous activity, funniest moment, scariest situation, exciting tour, beautiful scenery, etc. The best or favorite new food, highlight, activity, souvenir, shopping spot, beach, hotel room, etc.
Make these on your computer and print off as many as you need.
At the top of the page leave a place to put the date and other misc. info (beginning and ending mileage, etc.)
Below that info make a table with four columns. The number of rows will be ever how many fill a page.
The first column is labeled "Place Visited". It should be 25 percent of the page width. The next column is labeled "Comments and Thoughts". It should be 50 percent of the page width. The next column is labeled "Weather". It should be
15 percent of the page width. The last column is labeled "Roll#". It takes up the rest of the space. You can use it to keep track of which roll of film you are using at the time. You will need to print out one for each day of your trip and a few extra.
There is a tendency to take photos of well-known landmarks and long-distance shots of scenery when traveling so that your travel photos look the same as travel brochures or others traveling to the same area. We also often take close-up photos of others traveling with so they could just as well have been taken in their front yard.
It is a better idea to get plenty of background in photos – maybe take the close-up then step back quite a ways and take another photo. It can also add interest to your photo albums to take pictures of packing for the trip or loading the car, at the airport, the outside of your hotels or the lobbies. Close-ups of signs are great.
Another idea is to pick something specific to take photos of in each country or state you travel to. Someone on a scrapbook board when to China and too photos of things made from bamboo. This gave her a different perspective of the trip. The search for items made from bamboo also caused her to notice other things she might have missed. Other ideas are fountains, chimneys, statues, mailboxes or barns.
Be creative with your photos and poses. Gather all the memorabilia you can, you should consider getting two copies so you can crop and put it in your albums without losing the information on the back.
(Denny Davis)
Visit towns with names that are associated with your interests and hobbies. For example, if you love flowers, here are some examples of cities named Rose and Daisy.
Daisy: AL, AR, GA, KY, LA, MD, MS, MO, OK, SC, VA, WA, WV; Soddy-Daisy, TN; Daisy Hill, IN.
Rose, ID, NE, NY, OK; Rose City, MI, TX; Rose Hill, AL, KS; Roses Well (ghost town), NV; Dewy Rose, GA; Roseville, AR, CA, IL, MI, MN.
Many of these are small, unincorporated communities that are not travel destinations. However, most are near areas with many things to do. Of, if you are going to be traveling nearby it would be interesting to check them out.
If you expand your search to hotels, resorts, lakes, parks, etc. you will find a lot more places to add to the list. A Google search will help you find many ideas. If you are looking for places with specific names start here nona.net city search.
A double layout of sunset photos on the beach. We cut out a black palm tree (use the die-cut for the shape) then I cut 5 x 11 strip of black, yellow, gold, peach and light blue. I tore each rectangle in half long wise, starting with the black. Put the straight edge of the black on the bottom edge of the page, then tear layers of the other colors. Place the straight edge of the next color under the black. Work on up with all the rest of the colors. Use the other half of the strips for the second page. It looked like a sunset on the page with a black palm tree silhouette. We placed the photos on top of the sunset we had made on the page. We had a picture of her husband and it looks like he is standing under the black palm tree.
Use a sunrise photo at the beginning of a vacation album or page and a sunset photo at the end. You could also use this idea for an outing that lasts all day.
For the first or last page of a vacation album draw an outline of the country or state(s) you visited. Make a duplicate copy of the shape. Draw a one-inch grid over the duplicate shape. Cut the pieces apart (numbering the pieces to help in reassembly). Cut the pieces from duplicate or excess photos (or cropping scraps). The inner pieces are just 1" squares but the edge pieces will be much easier to cut with a pattern. Scenery photos work best for this. Adhere the squares to the shape on the page. For a somewhat different look you can cut the pieces a little smaller so there is a little white space between them. You can also cut the pieces free hand if you like a slightly irregular look. (Brandi)
A few years ago I looked after my three granddaughters for eight days while my daughter and son-in-law were on a cruise. It was certainly an interesting experience :-) and I got some really great photos.
I made several pages for my daughter's album and color copied them for the girls' albums.
At the top of the first page I wrote "Mommy and Daddy went of a Cruise". I put photos of the girls at the airport and the plane taking off and decorated with palm trees, etc.
Half way down the page I wrote "and we had to stay home and help Grandma". I then took photos of them sweeping, dusting, washing windows, drying dishes, etc. (The photos were posed--I didn't really make them work!)
I did several pages of photos of where they slept and doing lots of everyday things--plus all the special activities we did. The last page was of the trip to the airport late at night to pick up their parents. My daughter was thrilled with the pages. She had not been eager to leave them so long and it helped her feel she had not missed so much.
A - Adventure, Airplane, All aboard!, Alone-time, Amazing, Aquarium, Automobile
B - Baseball, Bathing Suits, Beach, Beach Ball, Beautiful, Beverages, Bike, Binoculars, Birds, Boat, Bon Voyage, Boogie Board, Breakdown (always happens on road trips), Bridge, Bus
C - Cabin, Cable cars, Cactus, Calypso, Canyon, Camera, Camping, Car, Carnival, City, Cold, Country, Cows, Crabbin', Crabs, Cruise, Culture, Currency
D - Dance, Desert, Dialect, Disneyland, Disney World, Down under, Dramamine, Drive
E - Eat, Everyone, Excited
F - Family, Fair, Farm(s), Ferry, Festivities, Festival, Field, Fish, Fishing, Forrest, Fresh air, Friends, Fun
G - Games, Gas station, Getaway, Grandparents, Grand, Great
H - Hawaii, Hike, Holiday, Home sweet home, Horseshoe crabs, Hot, Hotel, Houseboat, Hunting, Hula
I - Ice, Ice Cream, Island, Itinerary
J - Jelly fish, Jet, Jet lag, Jet skis, Journal, Journey
K - Kangaroo, Kids, Kodak moment
L - Lagoon, Lake, Land, Landmark, Lei, Lobster (eating one or being one(Sunburn)), Local flavor, Lost, Luau, Luggage
M - Map, Marshmallows, Memories, More ____ (anything you saw a lot of on your trip), Motor home, Mountains, Museum, Music
N - Nature, Nautical
O - Ocean, On Board!
P - Palm tree, Paradise, Parasailing, Passport, Picnic, Pit stop, Plane, Port, Postcard
Q - Quaint, Queen, Quiet
R - Relax, Reservations, Resort, Rest, Restaurant, Rest Stop, Retreat, Reunion, Road sign(s), Road trip, Roller Coaster
S - Sabbatical, Sailboat, Sailing, Sand, Sand castles, Sand dollar, Scenic route, Sea, Sea shells, Serene, Ship, Shopping, Short cut, Show, Sight-seeing, Skyline, S'mores, Snow, Snorkeling, Spa, Starfish, Sunburn, Sunset, Sunrise, Sunny, Sunscreen, Suntan, Surf, Surfboard, Swim, Swimming Pool
T - Tan, Tent, Theme park, Ticket, Toll Booth, Tour Guide, Tourists, Train, Travel, Tropical, Truck(s), Tunnel, Turnpike
U - Umbrellas, Unbelievably gorgeous!, Unique
V - Vacation, VCR, Video, View, Volleyball, Voyage
W - Watch me!, Water, Waves, Weather, Whales, Wild animals, Wild flowers
X - X-ray (airline security), Xylophone
Y - Yummy food, Yellowstone Yosemite
Z - Zany sunglasses, Zebra, Zoo
Don't forget the state or country or names of places you visited!
A British commuter hopped on a train to London and told the conductor he was going to Doncaster. "We don't stop at Doncaster on Wednesdays," said the conductor. "But I'll tell you what, mate. We slow down at Doncaster to go through the junction. I'll open the door, and you hop off. Mind you, we're going fast. His the ground running so you don't get pulled in by the train's wake."
At Doncaster, the door opened, and the commuter hit the ground running. He was running so fast that his momentum carried him forward to the car ahead. There, another conductor opened the door, pulled him on board and, as the train resumed speed, said, "You're mighty lucky I saw you, mate. This train doesn't stop at Doncaster on Wednesdays."
(Bill Ihlenfeldt)
I took a trip to forget things
And it worked out pretty well.
I left my glasses at a snack bar
And my wallet in a motel.
(Erma Bombeck)
Many parents have written to me about the horrors of the family vacation. Some of the letters are so vehement in their criticism and sadistic in their solutions, I feel I should outline some of the laws throughout the country regarding the vacationing family.
The Abandon-Child Law: It is illegal in 47 states to leave a child in a restroom and pretend it was a mistake. Maryland and Utah are sympathetic to parents if they can produce a doctor's certificate showing mental deterioration caused by the trip. Alaska (which is quite permissive) allows a mild sedation for the children.
The New Jersey versus Kidder Law: It is illegal on the New Jersey turnpike for a child to hang out of a car window and make a noise like a siren. A decision on this was handed down in 1953, after 45 cars (including three police cruisers) pulled over to the side of the road and tied up traffic for 52 hours.
The Key Decision: All fifty states have rulings regarding children who collect rest room keys as souvenirs. One of the stiffer penalties is feeding a child a quart of Gatorade and putting him outside a locked door until a key shows up.
The No-fault Litter Law: Vehicles bearing families are not permitted to stop in the downtown area of cities having populations of 450,000 or more to look for a gym shoe that someone threw out of the moving vehicle. It is suggested that mothers put name tapes and full addresses on both shoes.
Anti-noise Laws: Nearly every city (including three ghost towns in Arizona) has noise pollution laws. If, in fact, your vacationers have two radios playing at full volume, a barking dog and a father screaming, "Would anyone believe we didn't have to get married?" and can be heard with all the car windows up, everyone in the car can be arrested.
Safe Driving Law: It is unlawful to inflate a 20-foot life raft in a sedan blocking Daddy's view of the road, braid his hair while he is driving in the mountains, or tie his shoes together when he is going through a tunnel.
New FCS (Food and Comfort Service) has issued a motion soon to be voted upon by local legislatures that drivers must stop a minimum of every 12 hours for food and comfort. Failure to do this gives occupants of the car the right to declare mutiny and replace the driver at the next service exit.