One year ago we met up with our daughter after a school service trip in Costa Rica for a family adventure in the land of “pura vida”. If you recently returned from Spring Break travels, my hope is that you will find a way to bring your experience to life beyond your phone photos or laptop images…

This book follows the design pattern established in my previous family travel albums – chronological, with one page of text for each day of travel followed by supporting images. Simple and easy to recreate.

The four photos above were taken with my iPhone while waiting in line for lunch after a morning of whitewater rafting!

As many of you know, I love to include a map of our journey in my books. Sometimes, I pull back on the map to give a broader context of location in the world. I think most people will know where Costa Rica is, so I kept the map on the small side this time. It was included on my “getting there” page which incorporated several orphan photos from different travel days.

One of my favorite parts of this trip was our stay at The Harmony Hotel in Nosara. Laid back vibe in a well designed space – heaven! 

When designing this book, I first looked at my text for each day and designed the page with the most text (below) first. This allowed me to set my “Date, Day Title” at the same place for the rest of the pages, ensuring a consistent look and feel throughout the book.

If you find yourself in this part of Costa Rica, make a reservation before you travel at La Luna for a sunset dinner, you will not regret it!

The book ends with a list of Family Favorites. The small details and inside jokes we will forget if not captured real time at the end of a trip. A great place to reference when friends ask for trip highlights. Always worth the effort…

More travel inspiration here…