Keep Summer Vacation Memories Alive

Labor Day often concludes summer vacations, but travel memories do not have to end. Capturing vacation moments and sharing trip photos is easier and more creative than ever. Travelers can truly keep summer vacations alive and with a few tips and product ideas, even maintain that relaxed vacation feeling.

The FUN Photo CD takes vacation memories and turns them into an interactive “wish you were here” postcard. This easy-to-use digital photo accessory allows travelers to create a personalized photo slideshow, complete with captions and music. This product is completely customizable as the user selects their own music (from own source) and they write their own captions.

So, a beach trip or a cruise might lend itself to the travel theme (others are available including holidays, patriotic, new baby, pet and more) and maybe a Jimmy Buffett or Bob Marley tune! The product size is great too as it allows the consumer to send the finished product easily and it can even be attached to a greeting card using the self-adhesive backing. FUN Photo CD is a creative tool to capture and share vacation memories! Product retails for $4.99. Visit: www.funphotocd.com

There are other photo and video-based products to help preserve and share summer memories including online services such as Snapfish.com, iMemories, and Photodex Corporation’s ProShow Gold  photo slide show software. While the Photodex product requires separate software, it is easy to install and use and the ability to add voice-overs to further preserve vacation memories is unique. For those who are more ambitious, this product has some creative features such as motion effects for photos, panning in on or rotating photos, unlimited undo and redo feature (which for someone who is indecisive, this is critical) and more. The final product can be easily output directly to DVD, CD, YouTube and dozens of portable devices such as the iPod, Blackberry and iPhone. 

For video takers, iMemories makes it easy to take summer videos and turn them into a usable product for viewing and sharing. In fact, the user sends in any old VHS tapes or film product to iMemories’ processing studio and then they can view and share home movies with an email link. Customization is possible and the movies can be placed on DVD or Blu ray Discs. For pricing and details, visit iMemories.

Displaying summer vacation photos has never been easier, more stylish, or space saving than uploading them into a digital photo frame. This product was the “must have” holiday gift last season, but it also makes a great souvenir to treasure memorable trip moments. Coby Electronics features a few of these creative photo artworks including the Digital Photo Frame with MP3 player (allowing music to accompany the photos) and the Digital Photo Frame with Clock. These digital photo frames retail between $110 and about $140. Visit: http://www.cobyusa.com/

Taking vacation memories with you on-the-go is possible with digital photo keychains. Coby Electronic’s DP-151 portable digital photo keychain is easy to add vacation photos to and is a great way for tweens and teens to share with friends how they spent their summer break. This pocket-size vacation photo album holds 60 photos. Available in four colors, the Coby photo keychain retails starting at $12 depending on retail outlet. Visit: http://www.cobyusa.com/

Other ideas to preserve travel memories include custom holiday ornaments and even charms made from favorite summer photos, as advised by creator of shebang, the smart woman’s guide to doing it all, and lifestyle expert Krista Colvin. On the sensible side, she recommends collecting ticket stubs, a photo or two and other farmable memorabilia that is easy to put into a frame (this is something a non-scrapbooker can do). On the stylish side, she returned from Austria and used one of the countries coins and had it turned into a necklace. “What do you do with all of the photos? I love the idea of having them made into ornaments,” she says.

For families, another creative product to capture vacation memories is the Build-A-Book from Klutz by Scholastic.  This is an easy, interactive way for kids to recount their travels by adorning it with photos, drawings, mementos or anything that lets them express what it all meant to them.  Imagine all the fun they’ll have making it and then pulling them out in a few years to reminisce.  Retails for $10.00 and is recommended for kids 5+; available at www.scholasticstore.com.

Keeping the vacation “feelings” and “senses” alive after the summer season ends can be done according to Lori Gedon, CTC, Marketing in Motion president. “Since most of my work is conducted with Bahamian and Caribbean hotels, resorts, villas and private islands, I do everything I can to keep that ‘tropical feel’ in my Upstate New York office during the chilly winter months,” she explains.

Gedon provides the following suggestions: Grow tropical plants. All you need is a sunny window and you can easily grow hibiscus, bird of paradise, citrus trees (lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruits), ginger, bromeliads, and even bananas! A little trickier but not impossible are gardenias, which are beautiful and fragrant.  In the summer, these plants and trees grace my swimming pool and patio; in the winter, they enjoy sunny windows in my office, bedroom, family room and dining room. 

How do you keep your summer memories from fading?