Pinning Your Trips on a Map

When our daughter was young, we followed our trips on a United States map as we traveled.  (There were no GPS maps at that time!)  At home, we pinned the places we visited.  It was fun to see all the states and areas we visited, hiked, camped, explored, and climbed mountains.

Image: sxc.hu

Perhaps that helped to reinforce our memories, so that 40 years later, we still talk about those ventures across and up and down our country, traveling from our New Hampshire home as far west as Idaho.  These trips were for pleasure and business, and incorporated research for my travel writing as well.  Most of the time we drove and only occasionally flew.

They included:

• Visiting relatives in Ohio
• Exploring the Gros Ventre Mountains of Wyoming on horseback and on foot
• Spending some days at Disney World and Epcot
• Watching the first night space shuttle launch from a Florida beach
• Crossing the border in northern Vermont to visit Quebec, Canada
• Following portions the Oregon and Mormon Trails
• Visiting the old section of Denver along Cherry Creek
• Spending time with friends in Laramie, Woming
• Exploring Mammouth Cave
• Stopping at Hershey, PA and eating chocolate
• Viewing the Nubble Lighthouse in Maine

Along with pinning your trips on a map, you can make up scrapbooks and photo albums, create slide shows (now on computer), and write about them in journals.