No matter how tech-savvy our world increasingly becomes, nothing has yet replaced the excitement of visiting a foreign country for the first time or the thrill of doing something that you’ve always dreamed of with your friends and/or family. What technology has, however, helped us to do is keep these memories alive by allowing us to document every step of our lives. And we do mean every…single…step. Once you get back to school, your internship, your off-campus apartment, etc., you will get back into your routine and be surprised by how easily those experiences can, unfortunately, fade from memory. Here are a few of the best ways to document your travels this summer:
Blogging
We all know this one. It’s like a journal, but public! Blogging allows you to write about your travels and adds pictures, videos and/or music to accompany it. Not only will you enjoy reminiscing through your experience but so will all of your followers. If you’re serious about blogging, consider BlogLovin’, a social media platform for blogs that groups content from the people you follow into one place, offering you better exposure to people looking for the sort of the content you have to offer. Blog away!
Snapchat
Snapchat has a bit of a younger following and it may feel just a bit silly at times, but there’s something to be said about someone who can capture the interest of an audience in a short 10-second “story” of their lives. In addition, you can personally see your snap story any time but others may only view them as long as you want them to. This gives you a certain degree of control over what you share. But remember – people CAN screenshot your snaps! You can also choose to just share these videos with specific people versus everyone on your network. Short stories give you a chance to document the best of your travels in small snippets that will be entertaining for others to receive and won’t suck your battery or memory.
Instagram
Good ol’ faithful! Ever since Instagram made a splash five years ago, it remains a popular way to share (short) videos and pictures with your friends and family. Dare we say…the most popular? You can amp the fun by creating a hashtag for each of your trips so you can group all of your memories of that particular adventure for both yourself and your friends. This is particularly helpful if you’re traveling with more people who can also use the same hashtag to share content with each other. Not to mention, this allows you to go back and look through your Instagram memories simply by searching the hashtag – always there for a trip down Memory Lane!
Periscope
The new “It Girl” of social media, Periscope is a mix of Snapchat and Instagram with a hint of YouTube. Think of it as video stories organized the old-fashioned YouTube way but with the appeal of Instagram videos…but a bit longer. Add the social aspect of Snapchat and the ability to ‘live stream’ and you got yourself the best video sharing social media yet! Your family and friends can enjoy your adventures in real time and you get an archive of memories to look back on. Win-win!