Take photographs - more that you believe you will ever want. Compared with travelling back to a distant exotic destination to remember that magic moment capture it and take it home. You never know when you will get back again. If you have a conventional camera you must take good care of the exposed film. Processing the photos when you get home is usually the best plan but it depends on how long you will be away and the climate you are in. High temperatures and humidity are not good for film so processing during your journey can then be a viable option. Most countries have modern film processing systems and usually do a good job, but use common sense when leaving your films for developing. If you are in one place for a couple of days don’t pay for the one hour service!.

If you use a digital camera make sure that you have more than one memory card with you at all times. It is good to be able to upload the images to a PC at the end of a day’s travel as I usually do, but not everyone carries a laptop around with them. There are solutions whereby you can download to a dedicated unit but it is another piece of hardware to carry around.

Write a diary or journal - Put in as much as you can; where you went, who you met, what you did, what the weather was like, what you ate, if you got sunburnt, stomach problems, whatever. Collect tickets, e-mail addresses or telephone numbers and addresses of those you meet. Give them yours. If you don’t want people you meet to visit you just give them an e-mail address. You will find that doing this makes you travel much more rewarding. I never used to bother but now I have thousands of photographs from all over the place where I have only a hazy recollection of where and when they were taken, and what or who is on the photo. If I had been a little more methodological during the trips I might have some clue.

Postcards - Don’t underestimate them. Sometimes, the weather is lousy when you want to photograph something, or the sun is in the wrong place, or you don’t have a wide angle lens. The guys who take postcard photos are proffs. Use them to effect in your travel memoires. Spend time over a coffee or drink at an outdoor cafe, write cards to relatives and friends and enjoy observing people passing by.