Once in a lifetime trip! Notes?

[moshie]

Hey everyone! I am in need of some advice. I am leaving on Friday night for a trip of a lifetime from North Carolina to the Hoover Dam to Telluride and many other places. I would like to be able to remember this trip and be able to show it off to friends!

My question is...how have y'all documented your travels? Do you use a journal, blog on a website, or vlog for your own personal use? What do you take pictures of? Do you take GoPro video of your trail riding? I NEED HELP!

I don't want to take away from getting the chance to decompress and not have to deal with my work phone, but I also want to remember this amazing opportunity.

Currently, I have decided to take a journal:
- Date/Day of trip
- Gas mileage/how far
- Where I am at?
- Fun place I ate at?
- Weather
- How I felt
- People I met

What am I missing from this list?

Also, I'm going to take photos of just the beautiful scenery, but is there anything to document the fun things that I am missing...like taking pictures of me or my 4Runner at State/National Park signs?

Anything on videos? I'm still up in the air about this....

 

[MAST4R]

I do keep a log so I actually know all the trails (4x4 and dirt alike, it is impossible to draw a hard line) and mileage I have done. I have pictures from most but not all trails.

I do have dashcam video from the more interesting trails. I only preserve the most interesting sections, otherwise they are huge files that no one would ever watch.

I also use dashcam in states where there is a chance to see wildlife. I got a big bull moose on video just coming out of the bushes in front of us this last July.

The rest is purely utilitarian for me: best campsites, hotels, KOAs with cabins, places to eat, coffee, gas stations because we go to the same areas.

There is so much you could do, but I think you don't want to turn the experience into a data collection trip.

 

[moshie]

I do keep a log so I actually know all the trails (4x4 and dirt alike, it is impossible to draw a hard line) and mileage I have done. I have pictures from most but not all trails.

I do have dashcam video from the more interesting trails. I only preserve the most interesting sections, otherwise they are huge files that no one would ever watch.

I also use dashcam in states where there is a chance to see wildlife. I got a big bull moose on video just coming out of the bushes in front of us this last July.

The rest is purely utilitarian for me: best campsites, hotels, KOAs with cabins, places to eat, coffee, gas stations because we go to the same areas.

There is so much you could do, but I think you don't want to turn the experience into a data collection trip.

YOU ALWAYS HAVE THE BEST RECOMMENDATIONS! THANK YOU! I love all this information. I totally agree with you on the trip becoming a data collection, I don't want that!

 

[BobsTrail]

There is so much you could do, but I think you don't want to turn the experience into a data collection trip.

:iagree:

I find that others are not as interested in a trip they did not go on. I take photos for myself, post a few on Facebook and this forum but keep it simple.

Enjoy the trip. I do keep selected photos in a folder and view it or run it as a slideshow when I want to remember a fun trip.

 

[cb1111]

Weird stuff you see along the way?

Oddball tourist traps?

Pictures of unusual signs?

Most of it will probably be a photo journal with your notes.

 

[Akkording]

Post here along the way and post more when you come home. I love this community, I want to see others experience, makes me say "I want to do that next year!"
Safe travels sir

 

[PK930]

The best way to remember an epic trip? It’s easy and best of all free!

Put down the phone. Put down the camera. Put down the pen. Don’t think about how cool it will like here or on social media.

I’m not saying not to do any of it, but before you do, enjoy where you’re at. Stop. Listen. Breathe. Stare near and far. Simply enjoy where you’re at how you got there.

After you’ve enjoyed then you can take pics, vids or whatnot.

 

[TOYO74]

Follow PK930 advice: stop, look, listen. Print your surroundings into your memory.. that is the best way.

I have made multiple trips to Canyon Lands and can remember each trip because I paid attention to what I saw, not what I wanted other people to see.

If you are not doing it for you and who is with you--why bother?
Enjoy your trip.

 

[Teamoatmealpie]

Sounds like a killer trip in the making.

Keep the camera handy, so when something interesting pops up you can capture it easily.



You can grab some pretty good shots with a simple point and shoot or even an IPhone.

For memorable trips we take 25-35 of the best photos and have them printed into a hardcover oversize pic book with minimal titles/words. Been doing this since my kids were little (teenagers now). You can create these thru photobucket and other numerous online sites. I find my kids, other family and friends will always pick these up and leaf thru them.



Most of all have fun and live in the moment. Turn off the work phone/don't check email, but if you have too, only 1 time per day but only after work hours, so your reply doesn't create another responding email in which you then end up working on your time off. :rockon:

 

[bsa70]

im in nc and want to do something similar driving out to CA. How many weeks will you be gone?

 

[MeefZah]

I don't have social media per se, but I do keep blogs of my trips through Smugmug (link in signature). They are ad free and high quality, and I can send the link of the specific trip blog to friends / family that are interested. I compile blogs after the fact, I don't mess with any of that on the trip because IMO that would detract from the experience. I don't even turn my phone on when I'm on vacation.

On our epic trips, my wife does the hardcover coffee table book thing using our best pics, those are fun.

I take probably 200 - 300 pics a day using a DSLR, and after the trip weed those down to maybe 10-20 per day that I keep / blog. I only keep "good" pics.
Take a lot of pics, many will suck but a few will be good.

I hate video so can't help you there. I've never enjoyed other peoples videos so I wouldn't subject them to mine. Plus taking video really takes you out of the scene you're in... snapping a picture isn't the same sort of distraction.

I ALWAYS stop at cool signs/ state lines and grab a pic with the truck... it's a huge part of the trip so why not include it!

My wife has a pretty sweet leatherbound journal that she writes in at camp every night, she buys souvenir decals at various spots and sticks those in there along with the daily notes / thoughts. Sometimes she sticks like a weird leaf or some other flat item in there. Some strangers took a random polaroid of us once and if went in there, too. It's kind of fun to leaf back though it years later and read her thoughts about where we were... the journal has probably 8 years of trips in it now.

I don't keep a journal or notes, I just take pics and use them to refresh my memory when writing the blog later - for example, odometer pic to remind me of daily mileage, pic of GPS to remind me of where the campsite was, etc.

 

[Globetrotter78]

The best way to remember an epic trip? It’s easy and best of all free!

Put down the phone. Put down the camera. Put down the pen. Don’t think about how cool it will like here or on social media.

I’m not saying not to do any of it, but before you do, enjoy where you’re at. Stop. Listen. Breathe. Stare near and far. Simply enjoy where you’re at how you got there.

After you’ve enjoyed then you can take pics, vids or whatnot.

I have been fortunate enough to travel all over the world and will tell you, PK IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT (as are the others)! Embrace the experience for yourself. This is YOUR ADVENTURE. I do favor my camera however since I really have a sh*t memory and its great to look back on pics of some of the finer details of the amazing things my brain has long since abandoned. I am also covered in tattoos from my travels as more readily present reminders, but that's a different story.The cellphone should only be used as an impromptu camera and to inform loved ones of your safety. Aside from that, leave the social media crap until you get home. Truly soak it all in, DO THINGS THAT ARE MEMORABLE! Point A to Point B is no way to live life. Take the side roads, eat at the hole-in-the-wall diners, stay juuuust a little bit longer in a place that brings you peace and introspection (you'll know when you've found such a place, I promise).

DO NOT DATA COLLECT! No one will care about your mpg in a years time. Write a journal if you desire to chronicle your noteworthy experiences along the way but make it for you and for you to share with loved ones upon your return. Collect stickers/patches of cool places. I have a backpack covered in country flags for the places Ive been and it too serves as a great reminder of our adventures.


~Chaz