Learn the best ways to capture and preserve your travel memories. | PHOTO: WAVEBREAKMEDIAMICRO/ADOBE STOCK
How to Keep Your Summer Road-Trip Memories Alive
Live and Learn: Before hitting the road, pick up the skills you need to preserve your adventures — through perfect pictures and meaningful mementoes.
By Kate Rae
There’s something magical about a summer road trip, but once the bags are unpacked, those vivid moments can get blurry. The good news? With a little creativity and the right skills, it’s easy to turn those fleeting experiences into memories that last. Whether through photography, scrapbooking or journalling, here’s how to document your travels. Try these classes before you head out and you’ll be able to revisit those road-trip experiences long after the dust settles. We’ve rounded up the best places to learn these skills — both online and in-person.
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Smartphone Photography
Photography: Digital SLR or Film
Scrapbooking
Journalling and Junk Journalling
Smartphone Photography
There’s a popular expression in photography circles: The best camera is the one you have with you, and for many travellers, the smartphone has become the ultimate storytelling tool. With just one device, you can capture photos, record video, edit clips and even create short travel films.
In-person: Looking to learn iPhone photography and you happen to live near an Apple Store? Take advantage of their 60-minute workshop that teaches you how to set up your shots, try out new techniques and further explore features and editing tools. You can even check out the latest iPhone camera while you’re there.
Online: Smartphone photography educator Andrea Rees runs virtual workshops. Her small-group classes tackle everything from learning how to overcome your phone’s limitations to editing your images. She offers private online classes, too, if your preference is one-on-one support.
- Two one-hour sessions
- Cost: $250
- Visit andrearees.com
Photography: Digital SLR or Film
While smartphone cameras are wonderfully convenient and getting better all the time, a digital SLR provides greater creative control. Adjusting the aperture, shutter speed and ISO can help you capture a wide range of images, from dramatic landscapes to moody low-light marshmallow roasting. Film photography is also experiencing a resurgence, allowing you a chance to slow down and spend more time on each shot, making every image feel intentional.
In-person: Learn Photography Canada hosts small-group “Digital 1” classes across Ontario that teach budding photographers how to use their cameras in full manual mode, including insight on picking the right lens for the shot. Also offered are free camera rentals during the class, and once you’ve mastered the basics, you can opt for their landscape photography workshops, too.
- One-day class — Saturdays and Sundays
- Cost: $297
- Visit learnphotographycanada.com
Online: To get familiar with your camera, consider George Brown’s Continuing Education’s “Digital Photography Fundamentals,” which teaches you how to choose exposure settings, solve focus problems and critique your own images.
- 21-hour online course
- Cost: $327
- Visit coned.georgebrown.ca
Scrapbooking
Instead of scrolling through a camera roll, you can opt for scrapbooks, which allow you to physically flip through the story of a trip. And your road-trip travel scrapbook can go beyond photos, too. Think small mementoes — maps, ticket stubs, postcards and even pressed flowers. For support and inspiration, check out a “crop” — where crafters meet in person to work on their projects — at a scrapbooking store near you. These get-togethers can range from a couple of hours to weekend-long retreats.
In-person: Take a road trip and visit The Scrapbook Shop, located in Listowel for the “Christmas in July” Crop. This is a pre-registered full-day event that invites participants to join in the fun of holiday scrapbooking. It includes lunch, dinner, refreshments, a stocking and rumours of a visit from the big man in the red suit himself.
- July 25, 2026, 10:30 a.m.
- Cost: $99.99
- Visit thescrapbookshop.ca
Online: The Scrapbook and Cards Today Travel Tool Kit walks you through the process of preserving your memories. You’ll get pre-trip tips too and the opportunity to learn how to capture the feeling of your adventures through your layouts.
- Five self-guided classes
- Cost: $35
- Visit scrapbookandcards.com
Want to take your craft even further? Spend a day at the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough. Attend the one-day class, “Make a Leather-Bound Journal,” using traditional bookbinding techniques. Cost: $175
Journalling and Junk Journalling
Travel journalling allows you to capture details that cannot be expressed by photos and would otherwise fade — say, conversations in the car, unexpected detours or the feeling of pine needles underfoot at a campsite. Junk journalling adds a creative twist by mixing writing with collage, ticket stubs, maps, receipts and stickers as part of the page and turning everyday objects into art.
In-person: Fleming College in Haliburton hosts the class “Journal 4 Joy: From the Line to the Sublime,” which teaches you how to use a variety of techniques to capture your journey, such as drawing, painting and writing and guided prompts.
- Cost: $494
- Visit flemingcollege.ca
Online: Crafting supply retailer Michaels offers online classes that will teach you some junk journalling basics. “Ephemera Art Journalling with Mod Podge” provides tips and techniques to make your paper mementoes pop off the pages.
- One module
- Cost: Free
- Visit michaels.com
Get started
Road trips are packed with many moments you don’t want to forget. Capture them while they’re fresh and turn them into something that keeps the story alive long after the drive is over. CAA
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Smartphone Photography
Photography: Digital SLR or Film
Scrapbooking
Journalling and Junk Journalling
Journalling and Junk Journalling
Travel journalling allows you to capture details that cannot be expressed by photos and would otherwise fade — say, conversations in the car, unexpected detours or the feeling of pine needles underfoot at a campsite. Junk journalling adds a creative twist by mixing writing with collage, ticket stubs, maps, receipts and stickers as part of the page and turning everyday objects into art.
Want to take your craft even further? Spend a day at the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough. Attend the one-day class, “Make a Leather-Bound Journal,” using traditional bookbinding techniques. Cost: $175
In-person: Fleming College in Haliburton hosts the class “Journal 4 Joy: From the Line to the Sublime,” which teaches you how to use a variety of techniques to capture your journey, such as drawing, painting and writing and guided prompts.
- Cost: $494
- Visit flemingcollege.ca
Online: Crafting supply retailer Michaels offers online classes that will teach you some junk journalling basics. “Ephemera Art Journalling with Mod Podge” provides tips and techniques to make your paper mementoes pop off the pages.
- One module
- Free
- Visit michaels.com