Feb 29 Scrapbook Deadline

I am surprised there are not more entries. I enjoy looking at them.

Sometimes you will see several entries all in one day not long before the deadline. Not unusual to see several entries and then it really fills up right before the deadline. People like to wait to the last minute before they submit their scrapbook. Maybe they are finishing it up, maybe they don't want others to see their scrapbook, so no one can copy or get ideas. A trip is at stake here! I don't know, just thinking out loud.

Maybe it's like term papers. There are always a couple of nerds who do them right away, while the rest of the class procrastinates. . .

Speaking of which, I guess I should get back to planning my next trip, now that it's only 3 weeks away.

I believe Rick averages about 10,000 people a year on his tours. To only have 7 scrapbooks entered with two weeks left before deadline is hard to believe. I realize it takes a lot of time and effort to do a scrapbook, but first place could be worth between $3000 to $5000 depending on which tour the winner decides on. Not a bad prize at all.

The scrapbooks are so subjective to the people deciding a winner. Having spent hours, days and weeks working on a scrapbook, following the requirements but seeing people win that used to many videos, to wordy, etc has me deciding not to submit one. But the good result is we have a great scrapbook for our memories.

@Debbie, are there rules against too many pictures??? Videos?

There should be a rule about too many selfies.

I have seen some folks include scenery shots in their scrapbooks that are just amazing. But, as much as I enjoy the scenery shots, I especially love the shots that include people in the photo, especially people engaged in some activity as those images are unique. I can see most of buildings and scenery pictures of a country by googling images of that specific country. I even like the selfies because I love seeing the expressions on people, and I love seeing them enjoy themselves. The scrapbooks are a wonderful means for us folks trying to decide what tour to consider taking, and I appreciate the work that goes into each of these scrapbooks. For this reason, I can't help but feel a little disappointed when people make any type of negative comment about how someone decides to present their scrapbook.

Anything that brings a trip alive for potential viewers is a good thing - whether it's photos, videos, a lot of explanatory text, or selfies. The lack of rigid rules (what exactly is "too many"?) brings out a wider breadth of self-expression from people and likely makes posting albums a lot more encouraging and inviting for those willing to go through the effort. After all, the album can serve a lot of great uses (not just so Rick can use your photos later) so why not make one that's highly personal? It will always mean a lot more to that person than any viewer or potential traveler.

I strongly support the "no rules" as well as the don't-rain-on-anyone-else's-album-parade approaches. Totally agree with prior comment about the addition of people (in whatever format of the person's choosing) making these albums unique and allowing character and creativity to shine through.

I think they are all great and I appreciate the work people put into them. So many nice pictures, and I for one enjoy trip pictures that have people in them, even selfies.

I bet the few that have posted scrapbooks hope this post goes away. Right now their odds are pretty good that they will win some sort of prize.

I have just finished looking through the last one posted as of today. They are all wonderful and I enjoyed reading each one. In my opinion, the scrapbooks contain wonderful photos, interesting text and express the wonderful times the authors enjoyed on each of these tours. A lot of thought and careful planning obviously went into the creation of each scrapbook and I thank all of you who have put them out there for us to enjoy. Good luck to you all!

Tony,

"I believe Rick averages about 10,000 people a year on his tours."

Actually, I think the number is considerably higher than that. I was told in late 2014 how many people had taken tours that year, but I can't remember the exact number. I suspect the numbers this year are at least the same, or perhaps a bit higher.

Well I am one who is considering doing an album, although it isn't done yet......I am somewhat discouraged for fear that someone will consider mine too long or too wordy or too personal, lol!

Unless you have done one of these you really have no idea the time that is involved in making one! I have spent many weeks on mine and it isn't even finished yet.

This was my first trip to Europe and I cannot tell you how much I loved looking at many of the previous books. It helped me pack and plan, especially the trips that went the same time of year as my trip.

Rick Steves' tours are not cheap. I think they are a good value, but it does take a significant of money to go one. I think the scrapbooks are invaluable for helping someone make an informed decision before writing a big check. I really appreciate all the work they put into it and thank them for helping me make the decision to go on a tour.

Kathy, I am in awe of you. I barely manage to sort out my photos and write a brief banal description of what I did most days, just for my own memories. I always miss some things, sometimes whole days.

I love looking at the albums and reading about people's experiences. Never too long, or too wordy, if it's interesting. And I've used many of them in planning my own trips.

@Chani, I take a TON of photos.....it helps me remember what we did! My jotted down notes help somewhat but it's the pictures that tell my story.

We'll see if I can get this done. I'm only on day 8 :) I know our kids are excited to see it all put together. I used to do the old fashioned paper scrapbooking but haven't had the time!

I've been a "scrapper" for many years - first old school with actually cropping hard copies of photos and journaling by hand, and in the last 5-6 years, digital scrapping (I use shutterfly, but there are tons of options out there - I've never actually done one on one the websites that the Rick Steves entries use). I can attest that it takes a lot of time, and for me (and I'm sure others), it's a labor of love. We took our first RS tour this past sumer, and I had my scrapbook done (on shutterfly) within a few weeks after our return. I shared my book with folks from our tour, and several asked me if I was going to enter Rick's scrapbook contest. I said no, since I scrap for me and my family, and my books are for our own memories - but after reading some of these posts, I'm doubly glad I didn't. I've looked at Rick's scrapbooks for a number of years, and they are one of the reasons we decided to do a Rick Steves tour. Some I liked better than others (I've found that I tend to like the ones with lots of journaling, and lots of pictures of people and food - but coincidentally that's what I tend to focus on in my own scrap books). But even the ones that weren't my favorites were still fun to review, and knowing how much time it takes to put together a nice scrapbook, I appreciate the effort put in to each and every one. I've found that it's really easy to just stop looking if I get bored or annoyed with one, but I'd never criticize one on line. I know how much time and energy it takes to put one together and I appreciate everyone's effort, and their willingness to share (which I admittedly wasn't willing to do). Just my $.02.

Where are the 2015 entries? I cant find them.

To find the entries for 2015: from homepage, click on Our Tours(on left side of page) when that page loads, the scrapbook contest option will be located on the page. Click on the Scrapbook Contest button and this year's entries will load. You can even find a link to the archives, with previous year's entries, on this page.

I enjoy looking at all the scrape books. I chose my last tour base on the beautiful pictures and description of the Southern Italy Tour. I hope more people will enter this year. Whenever I hit the "I want time to hurry up so I can go on my next trip" wall, my go to are the scrapbooks.

Kathy hopefully you do the scrapbook. I would love to see what you come up with for our fantastic trip we had. Never can have enough pictures or telling the complete story.

Yea, more scrapbooks have been posted.

Just saw where there are 14 now. Can't wait to look through them all.

I just saw this thread this evening. I submitted my scrapbook entry last night, just under the deadline. Whew!

For me the later submission was more around my getting the site completed with my crazy work and life schedule. It was a lot of working creating the site, but was a great way for my family and I to re-experience our amazing BOE in 14 days tour (and a wonderful way to share our adventures with our extended family).

And hopefully I wasn't too wordy! :)

This was our first RS tour, and we all can honestly say our best vacation ever! I found this travel/tour forum so incredibly helpful when we were planning our trip last year - and the past Scrapbook Contest entries provided great insights to the tours. A heartfelt thank you to everyone for posting their great words of wisdom and practical advice on these forums.... they really are appreciated.

I hope someone out there sees our entry and finds some nugget of information that helps them sign up and have an amazing trip as well!

We cannot wait to go on another one - we have the RS Tour bug now. :)

Happy travels everyone.

Best regards,
Suzette

Wow, Suzette. I just took a glance at your scrapbook and I can't wait to get back from my upcoming trip, when I'll have time to read it carefully. I loved it when people write a lot. I can see pretty pictures on the internet, but the narrative tells me what the trip was like. For me, the best albums are the ones, like yours, that I feel like I'm there with you. And then it becomes a practical guide for everyone. Thank you so much for taking the many, many hours and the dedication to make it and to share it with the RS community. Win or lose, you are a winner!

Suzette, mine is defintely wordy.....and picturey! I'm trying to get thru them now. I purposely didn't look at any of them until after I was done. You are right, they are tons of work but so fun to relive your memories, right? I knew nothing about making an on-line scrapbook so this, as well as the trip itself was a first for us!

Thanks, Chani, for the kind words! Creating our website truly was an amazing trip down memory lane and a fun family exercise! I hope your trip was amazing.

Kathy – I’m also trying to go through them now – it will take a while! Good luck in the contest! Maybe we’ll bump into each other on another RS tour one day.

Yes, Suzette; that Rick Steves tour bug is contagious! I am thoroughly enjoying traveling vicariously with each one of you authors and enjoying both the narratives and visuals as I feel like I am right there with you! Congratulations to everybody out there who have made the past few days so much fun for me as I leisurely read through all the wonderful entries. I think you are all "winners"!

Thanks to everyone who submitted a scrapbook! They are soooo much fun to read through :)

Because we are taking the BOE21 this summer, I have been focusing on those scrapbooks first and I noticed that two people from the same tour did one. It was really cool to see how people on the same tour can have a different experience based on how they spent their free time, activities that were opted in/out of and whether or not they gravitated towards spending time with other group members or spent time with the people they came with. I think it speaks highly of RS tours that people on a group tour can have very individual experience based on their interests.

I appreciate the casual group pictures because I like to see what people are wearing and there were some that showed the group with their luggage--I know this sounds funny, but I liked seeing how people packed and the bags they chose. Sometimes the most basic things can be very helpful for someone who is planning their first trip.

Happy Travels!

Rachel