I have always enjoyed traveling, and also collecting memories (las memorias) of my travels and sharing them with my friends and family. Over the years, this has taken many forms, in the old days (en los días pasadas), I would take pictures with an instamatic camera and then go and have all the pictures (todas las fotos) developed. Next, I would go through the pictures, select the best ones (los mejores) and eliminate others and put the pictures in a photo album that I would often enhance with small reminders (unos recuerdos pequeños) from the trip, such as ticket stubs, flyers from events or information from restaurants and city sites.
As I got older and the technology (la tecnología) got better, I would take photos on my digital camera, which could hold some 200 (doscientos) pictures and I could review the shots almost instantaneously, selecting the best ones and removing the mistakes to the trash (a la basura). For a while, I would select the very best, and go to the local pharmacy (la farmacia local) and print out copies from the electronic formats and put them into other photos albums, again with memorabilia (los objetos de interés) from the travels. There was always something fun (divertida) about assembling such a scrapbook, a living memory from a wonderful time, to share (compartir) with others in a familiar setting and to explain (explicar) the trip in detail, information that was enhanced by a personal touch.
Today, I don’t really even print (imprimir) out pictures anymore, except perhaps a nice photo of my wife (mi esposa) and I on some romantic spot or some extra cool place that we can then put in a frame (un marco) and place on a mantel in our home, or on my desk (mi pupitre) at work. I have been slow to assemble (montar) any new photo albums that sit on my shelves at home, the events in these volumes, which in reality (en realidad) number around 15, sit stuck in time, reflecting many years effectively, but seemingly mired in the past (en el pasado), without some news from the recent events of our lives.
The current times are reflected completely (completamente) electronically, as the photo album of old has given way to the online (en línea) version, where albums can be assembled with great ease and all the photos can be shared with friends and family merely by sending them a link (un enlace) to click on in order to view all the pictures. Although you can add captions (las leyendas) and even share video along with the photos, and you can add (añadir) detailed text in the form of an online journal or blog, the intimacy (la intimidad) of sharing in person has given way to the convenience of sharing online. Yet, the memorabilia of a trip (un viaje), the things you encounter and hold as souvenirs (los recuerdos) or special reminders of actual events, seem to be left out of the loop (la lazada).
When I came to Santiago, I decided that I wanted to have a way to chronicle (mostrar) my memoires in many forms, most of which were online in order to share with friends and family back in the US. Yet, I also felt the need (la necesidad) to have a physical reminder in my apartment, a place where I could collect odds and ends (cosas distintas) and post them bulletin-board style, so that I could see where I had been and remember the events (los eventos) I had done in a nonlinear and free flowing manner. The resulting collage of ticket stubs (billetes), information from newspapers (los diarios) and magazines (las revistas), pamphlets (los folletos), flyers, restaurant napkins (las servilletas) and the like, all were taped to a shower curtain (una Cortina de la ducha) that hung taped to a door in the apartment.
The resulting collage became a tactical reminder, a work of art, eclectic (ecléctico) in nature, but practical in its presentation. It is important (importante) to share things you experience with others, but it is also just as important to make sure that you take the time to reflect (reflexionar) and to enjoy (disfrutar) the journey all along the way.
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