Travel Memory Books

A few years back I discovered photo books as a way to make my images from travels a powerful tool for bolstering my memory and enjoyment of vacations and other trips.  Before that, I had taken pictures, often printed some of them, looked at them and put them in a box or drawer.  When I looked at them years later I really couldn't appreciate what I was looking at.  The images just didn't work as a way to really remember the event.  Putting those images into book format forced me to really think about what I saw, adding some organization and narration, allows my to save the memories much more accurately and gives me something that I can look at long after the fact and once again enjoy the experience. These books, for many people have become the ultimate souvenir.


My 2017 book on a trip to Galapagos included a QR code on the back cover.  This linked to the book on the publisher's website, unfortunately, their indexing seems to change over time, making the link useless and irreparable from where I sit.  So, I have changed that link, now it points at this (hopefully) permanent page, that I can edit if the link to the book changes.

2017: Galapagos - Orbridge Tour with GCC and W&L Alumni (AdoramaPix)

This book is thick (1"), fairly hefty, and amazing!  It's 100 pages long and has more than 500 images on its pages.  I printed it in the largest format available, 12x9 inches. As of March 2017, AdoramaPix charges nearly $220 for a copy, certainly none trivial, but the quality is amazing. The pages are stiff and covered in real photographic print images. I like the Luster finish that presents tack sharp images in a finger print resistant finish.

AdoramaPix can print the book in two smaller sizes, 8x6 and 6x4.5 inches.  The smaller size drops the price though the large images loose considerable impact and the text, especially the smallest size becomes hard to read.

A comment from one of the travelers:

Our copy of the Galapagos Memory Book that you created arrived today.  It is beautiful and certainly memorable.  We are so happy that you made this available for us.  We will treasure it forever. -- C. Cleveland, March 2017

You can see the book in soft copy or order it through Adoramapix's website at this link: 2017: Galapagos - Orbridge Tour or by clicking the image of the book.

As of today, AdoramaPix offers a small reward for referral accounts, $5 to new accounts that place orders of more than $49 on an account opened by referral.  The account making the referral also receives a $10 credit.  I like those credits, if you are going to order my book, please consider creating your Adoramapix account from my referral link: J&S AdoramaPix Referral

2015: Blackbills, Yellowstone & Grand Tetons - Orbridge Tour with GCC, Dartmouth, NYU, NC State Alumni (Mixbooks)

This memory book captures many of the sights experienced by our Orbridge tour group in the summer of 2015. It is about 1/2 inch thick and has 93 pages.  The images are good, though not as amazing as an AdoramaPix book.  Fortunately, the price is lower, listing at $135 for the 11x8.5 inch book. Also, Mixbook has many sales and they discount deeply, half off is not impossible to find with this publisher.

The Mixbook product is still good.  People who have looked at it have been uniformly impressed.  The tour participants who have purchased a copy were very happy with it.  I am just a bit jaded, expecting pages to pop and shine as my Adoramapix projects do.

One other thing I did with this book was to create a unique copy for each group of participants featuring a different image on the back cover.   While this was nice, it was a lot of work and arguably, the generic book with the whole group on the back was better.

This book can be ordered from Mixbooks with this link: Orbridge 2013: National Parks and Lodges of the Old West or by clicking the image of the book cover.   Don't forget to look for a Mixbook sale with ever changing discount code.