Collaborative post on another author. When your children grow up, no matter how hard you have tried to ensure that they have nothing but good, happy memories of holidays you've shared, you will find out that their strongest memory will be of some random incident you didn't plan like the time 'that really drunk man did a wee against a tree!' – in short, all the things that you hoped wouldn't really be noticed are the things that leave lasting impressions, while your attempts to bond with them, enjoying gentle banter, fun games and taking them to impressive sites are vague, shadowy and mostly forgotten! Get around this by creating a campervan travel journal that is stuffed with photos of the children at important places or that commemorate moments that you hope will stand the test of time. Here's how to create your journal.

How To Create A Travel Journal for Kids On Your Campervan Adventure

Photo by Estée Janssens on Unsplash

Buy Supplies

Buy the supplies you will need:

• Scrapbook or scrapbooks – as many as you like. You can make one journal for each trip, keep one large one for all the trips the family takes together, or give each child their own book to write up according to their own style.
• Pens and pencils to write up interesting details of your visit. You (or the children) can also draw their favourite moments of the day.
• Coloured pencils/ paints/ crayons so that pictures can be coloured in or so that decorations can be added to each page so it pops brightly.
• Washi Tape to stick in postcards, tickets and other souvenirs.
• Photograph mounts so you can print out significant or especially nice photographs and include them in the journal.
• Cameras/ smartphones with which you can take snapshots of the family as they go about exploring whichever place you are visiting. If you can, make sure that everyone has a chance to take the photos as this will ensure that the whole family is captured in the photos – otherwise there is inevitably one parent who is never in the pictures, because they were the one snapping the images of everyone else

Decide when and how the journals will be added to: first thing in the morning, immediately upon return from a trip, or while you are actually on-site at the landmark or historic site, for example, as you have your lunch or enjoy a moment of downtime. Remember to leave spaces for photos to be added once they have been printed off.

Draw Up an Itinerary

In order to help your children plan their journals, share the itinerary with them. If you are going to a historic house and garden one day, but a zoo or carnival the next, they might want to ensure that they leave plenty of space for the more 'exciting' destination. Along with your itinerary, don't forget to note service
stations so you can fill up with fuel without breaking your journey for too long, and – as always – make sure your campervan insurance is up-to-date so any loss, damage or breakage is made as painless as possible. Check out www.campervaninsurance.co.uk for more details.

Allow Time for Memorials

When you are on site, it can be tempting to keep the family moving along briskly so as to fit in all the activities you've planned. But it can also be a good idea to allow the family a little time to actually enjoy being at the many beautiful, historical and important sights that can be found all over the UK – sometimes the happiest moments are those enjoyed during quiet contemplative moments when you just sit and let the world spin past you. You can also encourage your children to draw what they see, or how the current location makes them feel – this is an excellent way to encourage their observational skills from a young age.

Teach New Skills

And speaking of drawing, encourage the whole family to try new things as you travel and journal your way around the country. From drawing to painting to crafting things from found materials, your children will form wonderful memories from creating new artworks – memories that will stand the test of time and be as positive as you might hope all your children's holiday memories to be!