Ginger on the Go

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12 Ways to Recap Your Travels!

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The end of 2016 coincided with the end of my first year as a blogger. I saw several other bloggers creating their year end posts, and I began thinking about how I would do my own. I had a great year with trips or fun NYC events every month in 2016, so I chose to use a monthly format to recap my travels, but for those of you stills seeking some creative recap ideas I’ve gathered a few of my favorite 2016 recaps from my favorite bloggers!

Recaps on Instagram are a little easier thanks to the website Best Nine.

A – Z

I saw this post and was inspired to write my own recap because of it. Unfortunately I wasn’t sure I could get myself from A-Z. But I think I will take the challenge, since I did go to Zurich after all!! This is probably one of the more challenging formats I have encountered, but an experience well traveled writer should have no problem with it.

2016 Travel Roundup

By Country

I considered doing something like this, as the month of July featured a ton of travel, and my one photo for the month did not do them justice. I also visited several US destinations and NYC events/attractions, so I would have had to play around with this style a bit, but it’s a great way to really feature the highlights of specific countries you visited in the past year!

My year in travel – 2016

 

By the Numbers

These posts turn out pretty awesome, for all of our stat trackers. In 2016 I did not keep great records, and I didn’t want to go back and count my over 30 flights, miles, ferries, etc. Instead I decided to keep a note on my phone for next year’s recap post. But here’s a look at some of the ladies who did it well.

My 2016 Year in Review + What’s New in 2017

Month by Month

This is the simple format I chose. One picture per month. For me, it left a lot of great things out, but it keeps it simple and easy to browse for the reader. Other added more pictures or more text. Within this theme there are a lot of ways to express your own creativity.

http://probearoundtheglobe.com/2016-travel-roundup/

http://www.wanderingchocobo.com/2016-year-review/

Superlatives

Best of, Most, etc. You’ll find recap posts designed in this fashion here. I love the superlative format used by Full Suitcase. Takes me back to my high school yearbook days, hottest day, wettest place, steepest stairs, don’t miss this post for an amazing recap! You can also share Best Sites, Most Impressive Sites, Best of Instagram, Best of anything. This theme allows for a lot of variety to share your experiences!

Best of 2016: Our Favorites from Another Amazing Year of Travels

  • Most Grateful

http://www.birdgehls.com/year-end-2016/

  • Best Of…

Travel Pockets: 2016 Travel Highlights

http://www.reverberations.net/2016/12/travel-must-see-2016-japan-france-beyond/

Crazy Travelista: Top 13 Travel Surprises of 2016 to Inspire 2017 Travels

The TTWS Top 13 Travel Experiences of 2016

  •  Instagram

http://jetsettingfools.com/year-in-review-our-20-best-instagram-photos-of-2016/

http://www.justgoplacesblog.com/instagram-year-in-review/

Lessons from the Year

We all know that traveling provides all kinds of lessons. Every time we travel we learn something about ourselves, the world, the people we encounter, and so much more. Use your recap to share your lessons from the previous year.

http://www.snorkelstosnow.com/nz-to-fiji-year-in-review/

The Travel Whispers Blogger Challenge

If you’re in a rut, not sure what to write, or maybe didn’t travel/blog as much as you had liked, this travel bloggers challenge is a great way to touch on some of your favorite memories and some of the ones you would like to make in the future.

http://themaniniexperience.com/travel-whispers-blogger-challenge-erica/

Young & Undecided: Travel Whispers Blogger Challenge

Things Lost

This writer focuses on religious sites that have been lost throughout the year, but there are many other ways you could explore this theme. Items you actually lost, restaurants and hotels that closed, high volume tourism sites that have had to close or reduce visitors to protect the environment. Or even reverse it for a what was new in 2016 type of post (new airlines, buildings, attractions, etc)

RELIGIOUS SITES WE LOST IN 2016

Reflections

I’m sure we’ve all written many reflections. I know I did in school. Reflecting on books, the news, religious issues, and more. So why not reflect on your year of travel? Share the good, the bad, the ugly, and even the takeaway and what you hope to do differently in 2017.

http://www.globetrotterjoe.com/2016/12/reflections-on-a-turbulent-year/

Travel Books Food: The Year That was 2016 

Holiday Letters

This post reminded me of the holiday cards my mom used to receive with the long typed out letters informing everyone of what the family had been up to the previous year. Another great creative way to recap your year as a travel blogger!

http://kittytocity.com/kitty-to-citys-first-annual-holiday-letter/

Top Ten Lists

Well known travel blogger Gloria Atanmo got pretty creative with her top ten list this year, addressing hateful comments from readers on her blog. These top ten lists can be about anything or anywhere, and obviously you don’t have to have ten! I started this post not knowing how many themes or submissions I would end up with.

The Blog Abroad’s Top 10 Hate Comments From 2016

Ten Best Travel Moments of 2016

Question & Answer Session with Fans

Another really unique idea. Ask your fans & followers on  blog posts, through twitter, or on Instagram what questions they have for you as a traveler. The ladies from MVMT blog did a fabulous job on this recap piece as well.

http://mvmtblog.com/2016/12/30/what-we-loved-hated-and-learned-from-our-2016-travels/

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Such a great round up of styles! The things we lost makes me sad – but I guess we loose things (stuff changes) everyday. I still need to read Gloria’s post too – horrible to get hate comments, but success brings out the trolls…:(

  6. Some very neat ideas here, I would have to say. I really love the idea of addressing hate comments (I have not received any – either my posts are great or people are shy to criticise me, dunno) since it really shows that you care about your audience’s opinion.

    I have one suggestion – to make sure links open in a new window since I clicked on a couple of those and it just transferred me to their websites.

    Happy one year of blogging (I am a bit “older” with 3 months) – may 2017 be amazing!

  8. What a great post! I myself didn’t do a recap post for 2016 as I had other things scheduled already but I enjoyed reading everyone’s and have pinned this so I can look forward to doing my own in 2017.

  9. I read most of these articles! I loved seeing how each one was so different. One of them literally brought me to tears and that was Glo’s post – I still just cannot believe people are so mean and heartless. I know I am a tough woman, but I don’t think I could handle that. Kudos to her for standing up against these asshats.

  10. Congrats on your 1 year blogiversary- come so far! Like the variety of formats here, I have loved a lot of insta best 9 posts. The A-Z format is definitely a challenge, but I would enjoy reading it!

  11. I’m bookmarking this for next year! Thanks for compiling this!

    I did a little roundup of the year, but mostly to reassure myself I really did travel this year. It feels like I just worked nonstop and dealt with real estate, lol.

  12. We don’t travel that much but I could include it in future holiday letters (which I do on FB anyway). Thanks for the super comprehensive and informative post!

  13. Great ideas for the year recap, thank you! Since I have just started blogging few months ago, I hope to have much to recap on my blog in 2017. I’m saving your post for my 2017 recap! Thank you!

  17. This is such a great recap. I wish I would have kept track of my travel “BY THE NUMBERS”. I never thought about doing that, but I think this is something I’m going to start doing this year.

  18. Nice to see so many novel ways that bloggers have used to recapture the best moments of 2016. Nice compilation that showcases innovation and creativity. Can take a leaf or too.

  19. Wow, everyone really busy about year end post and so I am. I really admire you for sharing your ideas on how to write a year end blog post. Personally, I find it hard to find an idea in which angle should I write my year end, good thing I’ve figured it out before year 2016 finally ended. You travel a lot this year and you’ve done a lot as well. Congrats and may you have another fun filled adventure this year.

  20. Whoa these are some excellent ways to recap your travels. I love the A to Z idea but I agree it can be challenging. I am working on my recap post now but its not gonna be so organized. It just talks about my top travel experiences of 2016 and goals for this year- pretty simple, eh?

  22. This was such a cool post and unique way to recap! Thanks for mentioning mine! I was laughing about the hate comments…I think it’s actually a good thing because it means you are successful enough to be hated!

  23. I did a top ten for the past few years. Just my top ten that I personally enjoyed the most but I do love that A to Z idea. This is the first year I saw that on some blogs I follow and thought it was so fun though they each had to REACH for some of those letters. Zurich would definitely help you with the Z! haha

  24. What an inspirational selection of posts! You seem you had an awesome 2016 !! Keeps traveling !! I hope the best for 2017 !!

  25. This list is so inspiring. I have plenty of ideas for my recap for 2017! I’ll have to mix it up a bit. Happy new year everyone and happy travels. I can’t wait to see where we all end up.