Gettin' Crafty

     When I started this project, I didn't think about how creative I'd actually have to be to make this travel guide not only factually informative but also visually appealing, engaging, and overall better than just a list of stuff to do. It needs to reflect my personal experience as well as my personality because this is based solely on my opinions, experiences, and thoughts. With that in mind, I spent a lot of time today playing with templates, formats, and the overall look of the book. I decided to throw caution to the wind and make it without a template, so every color and detail will be selected individually by me. I think this will make the travel guide feel more personal and reflect more of me than if I used a Pages stock template. Another advantage of this is that I can include as many or as few pictures as I want without worrying about throwing off the pre-determined balance of the page. I will need this flexibility because not all the pages will have the same number of pictures or the same length commentary.

     I have also struggled with the predicament about what to do if I only felt so-so about something I did in London. I want to make an honest travel guide and maintain my integrity but I also don't want to put anything that's not really positive in there because I don't see a point in putting something in a guide to London that doesn't tell people to do it. It would be a coincidence if I was absolutely blown away by every single thing I did in London and yet I'm including every single thing in this travel guide. What I think I've decided is to focus on the positive aspects of everything I did and include those in the travel guide as selling points. Anything that could have been better or that I did wrong I will try to include as tips because this is an actual GUIDE to London to help people, not just a scrapbook of my trip. I want people to actually be able to use this when they travel to give them ideas.

     I'm enjoying making this travel guide because it's allowing me to put everything I experienced into one organized and creative place. In the future when I travel, I might even do this just for myself because it's therapeutic and satisfying to make a physical representation of the trip. It will also help me to never forget what all I did because it'll all be right there along with my photos and personal thoughts about it. I can definitely see this becoming a series. Stay tuned. bye felicias