Five Ways To Be Crafty While You Travel

Summer is usually a time for slowing down and letting go of our usual routines. Sometimes summer is for tackling those long projects that we never have time to do, like cleaning out closets or working on our hobbies (hello scrapbook layouts, Project Life catch up, and finishing that quilt!).

Sometimes summer is for traveling! We are a family of travelers, and we are usually away from home almost all of summer. I love traveling as much as I love scrapbooking and quilting, and it allows me to get a lot of time with my camera (which I also love). All these things fill my soul and make me so, so happy.

Of course traveling so much creates a trade off with my other crafty endeavors. I can’t expect to get too much memory keeping or quilt piecing done if I’m not home. However, I think I’d go crazy if I wasn’t using my creative muscles all summer! I definitely plan ahead to bring along projects that are portable and will keep my hands and mind busy.

Here are my top five favorite ways to be crafty while I’m away from home:

Scrapbooking As I Go

On a few trips in the past, I have prepared the foundation of a mini album and taken it along with me. I usually bring along my tiny attacher, sharpies, adhesive, hole punch, clips, and small embellishments. I journal on the pre made pages and add in memorabilia as it’s collected. Then when I get home all that’s needed is selecting and adding printed photos. Easy peasy.

I actually LOVE this method of scrapbooking. It’s so different from my usual way of recording things. The album in the photos above is one of my all time favorite albums. I love the in-the-moment journaling which is very different from writing journaling AFTER a trip.

Hand Stitching

I love to sit and stitch, so bringing some hand stitching projects along makes me happy. These types of projects are very portable and don’t tend to take up much room. In the past I’ve brought along cross-stitch and embroidery projects. This summer I have a different plan for a hand stitching project. Watch for a post next week that will detail what I’m bringing along on my travels this summer!

Project Life® App

I have to admit, I haven’t tried using this app while I’m traveling. I have, however, played around with it at home. It’s simple. It’s easy, and I can see how it would make memory keeping super doable while I’m on a trip. Though I have the app on my phone, I would probably use it on my iPad. I tend to travel with my iPad anyway, so it’s nothing extra for me. Doing Project Life® this way would definitely make me feel as if I’ve accomplished a lot while I was away!

Photos and Words

When I’m traveling I’m taking a TON of photos. My kids and my husband are taking photos, too. Waiting until I get home to deal with all the pictures is a guarantee for me to feel completely overwhelmed in documenting the trip. Then making the album never happens. Unfortunately, I speak from experience. I have many trips still waiting to be documented because I’m simply overwhelmed by the hugeness of the project.

I find the best thing for me to do is create some order to the photos as the trip progresses. I do this at night when we’re relaxing or anytime there is some down time. I put the photos into folders on my computer (Yes, I usually travel with my laptop, too. Not always, but usually.) and I spend some time deleting unwanted photos and flagging/selecting photos I know I’d like to include in an album or photo book. If time allows, I sometimes do a little editing, too.

I also try to do some journaling while I’m on the trip. Sometimes this works out, and sometimes I bring the journal along and never record more than the first day or two. It’s so much easier to remember what happened and more details of the trip if I record it as we go along. This is especially true if I don’t know what type of project I plan to do to document the trip. I tend to one of three things: a mini album, a photo book, or a pocket page album. Recording things as they happen and journaling on the trip is a key part of me actually finishing the project later on.

Coloring and Doodling

Adult coloring books are everywhere these days, and I’ve been seeing Zentangle art books for a while now. I loved to color as child and now is no different. It’s relaxing and creative all at the same time. I’m also enjoying creating some zentangle patterns and learning more about the method here at home. Again, it’s relaxing and creative. These books will be easy to carry along on a trip with some pens and colored pencils. Hours of fun! Even better that I can do this activity with my kids.

(The books I have in the picture above can be found on Amazon here and here. This is an affiliate link for us and we will receive a small commission if you purchase through our link.) 

I’m excited for summer and for being crafty while I’m on the go. Do you have any favorite crafty projects you like to work on while you’re traveling? Do you get to spend more time with your hobbies in the summer? Tell us all about it in the comments!