This was my first time making a vacation scrapbook on the go. I did the basic prepping before I left for vacation (you can read more about that here) and packed a few supplies to take on the trip. The most important thing for me was to document some basic journaling and photos so when I’m finally able to get around to making my 12×12 layouts I would have notes from the trip.

Here are a few things I learned from making my vacation scrapbook on the go:

• You have to let go of perfection. I’m the kinda girl who would rather tear out a piece of notebook paper, throw it away, and start all over than to have a screw up on my page. I’m not as bad as I used to be, which is a good thing because you have one scrapbook and limited supplies. In projects like this you have to let it go.
• General was definitely the way to go. We planned on stopping in Atlanta to go to the Georgia Aquarium and I considered prepping a layout for that. Good thing I did’t. Atlanta was crazy busy and the wait to get into the aquarium was over two and a half hours so we bailed. If I had made pages specific to the aquarium I’d have a big blank space in my album.
• A couple of days before my trip I bought an Instax Share printer. I was so excited to be able to print those cute little photos while I was away. I wasn’t expecting amazing photos, but I have to admit I was disappointed in the quality. They serve the purpose, but didn’t capture the color in my photos like I hoped.
• This is a scrapbook made on the go. That means pages might get ruffled, ink may smear, and occasionally photos get bent. It’s okay. It’s part of the adventure. Remember- better done than perfect.

So, without further ado, here are the completed pages in my vacation scrapbook:

For the cover, I used three colors of acrylic paint and let it dry before stamping the name of the place we stayed. I also added the dates with my Staples date roller stamp.

Using my Silhouette Cameo, I cut the shape of Indiana and Florida in patterned paper. I added some puffy stickers from Elle’s Studio and stamped the name of the states in black ink.

I’m not a fan of my handwriting, but journaling is important to me. Sometimes that means taking notes on the fly and living with it. I tried to dress it up a little by mixing in some color. I made an Itinerary page, but it turned out it wasn’t really necessary. Just about every day was spent at the beach.

A couple of quick pictures from the road stuck down with washi tape. Doesn’t get much easier than that!

Because I used a scrap piece of paper cut the same size as a printed Instax, I was able to make a little corner frame for the top right photo.I like how it tied the two pages together, but still left room for journaling.

This turned out to be one of my favorite layouts. I really liked the simple background, but I also love what the layout is about. I recently purchased my first DSLR and my friends asked me to take some family photos on the beach. It was such a thrill for me to have the opportunity to do a photo shoot on the beach at sunset. I’m no professional, but I like how they turned out. And I couldn’t have asked for better subjects!

This prepped page in the vacation scrapbook was pretty plain, but it was perfect for a few photos and journaling.

What would a trip to the beach be without building sandcastles? I took several sticker sheets with me, but these and the numbers on the itinerary page are the only ones I used.

Washi tape was one of my favorite supplies in the on-the-go kit for my vacation scrapbook. It’s great for decorating and for sticking down those photos. And if you’re like me, you have more than you’ll ever use!

Do you see the “1st” under the photo of fire on the top right page? I messed it up when I wrote it the first time and couldn’t live with it. So I rewrote it on another piece of paper, cut it out and adhered it over my mistake. It’s noticeable, but I like it better than the blob underneath.

I’d just like to point out that the photo on the left doesn’t do me justice. I didn’t only tan from the cheekbones down and the picture on my phone didn’t look like this. No amount of editing could make this look right, so I went with what I had. Repeat after me Let. It. Go.

And before you know it, you’re done and you can bask in the knowledge that you will arrive home with your vacation scrapbook complete. I still plan to do more scrapbooking with quality photos and longer stories, but if I don’t get around to it for a while it’s okay. And for some people, this may be all they need.

How do you document your vacations? Have you ever planned out your vacation scrapbook before hand? Or do you wait until you return home?