3 Tips for Documenting Your Trip

Friends and family will want to know about your volunteer trip, and you’ll certainly want good documentation for when you’re home. You’ll want to remember your trip long after it’s over. There are many ways you can commit your trip to a tangible memory, but you should consider some questions before you start.

Rather than listing the many ways you can document your volunteer trip, here are 3 tips on making the most of documenting your trip:

1. Capture the Moment

Volunteering will go by so quickly. Your days will be chock-full of spontaneous events you won’t want to forget. Keep an eye open for the staple moments of your trip and make sure you’re ready to capture them or take note of them later. Take a picture, keep a journal, film some footage, or draw some sketches. Record in a way you enjoy.

If you’re not able to capture the special moments live, keep your observations and interactions fresh in your mind. Before falling asleep each night, jot down important details of the day. If you don’t have time to expand your thoughts, compile a list of bullet points to revisit when you have more time to reflect.

2. Adapt

The best planning can fall apart once you’ve grounded and are actually in the thick of things. If your camera battery won’t charge, don’t freak out. Plan ahead and bring extras! If you can’t access the internet to update your blog, you can always update later. If your documenting tools get lost or stolen during your travels, consider what organic materials you can use to record your trip. Get creative and don’t lose heart.

Pro tip: Consider buying travel insurance before leaving the country for any extended amount of time. Our plans will reimburse* you for loss, theft, or damage to your baggage, personal effects, passports, credit cards, and visas during your trip (up to the maximum limit of your plan). 

3. Avoid Distraction

Sharing your volunteer trip is valuable, but it shouldn’t supersede the mission of your volunteer trip. If documenting becomes a distraction, consider adapting your strategy to keep the focus on serving. Don’t privilege the media over the mission, or you’ll defeat the purpose as to why you’re there in the first place. Your documentation should be a fun addition to your trip, not a roadblock to your team or to the people you’re helping.

Above all else, remember this trip is about the people you’re serving. Keep them your top priority and you won’t lose your focus on secondary goals.

What tips do you have for documenting your volunteer trip? Tell us on Facebook and Twitter!

Photo Credit: Esther Havens

*$300 per item max reimbursement