BackSCRAPping Exposed!!!

A seasoned traveller will always lay out his or her clothes upon arriving at the hotel . . . a seasoned scrapper will always fish out her (or his) scrap box amid the tumbled toiletries and shoes. . . to my experience anyway :-)

Like clockwork during our vaca i find myself dragging aching, albeit *throbbing*, feet back to our hotel room after a day of sight seeing and other touristy stuff . . . after i've donned my PJ's i quietly settle myself on the hotel desk and commit to my adventure full of BS (that's Backpack Scrapping to you :-)

Sure I was tired, and the humidity of both Singapore and Malaysia didn't help either. But once I was in the scrapping zone (all scrappers know the "zone"), aches and pains were gone! I never knew scrapping could be so therapeutic . . . forget Bengay and Salonpas!

But i have to be honest, I snuck in a couple more supplies at the last minute. Additional rub-ons, a couple more papers and extra glue tape (for the Tombo) which i'm so thankful for since I ran out during the process. One of the hitches you may encounter is delayed scrapping. As much as I had wanted to make my pages real time there were just days I missed out and had to catch up but it wasn't as difficult as I thought. Not having to follow any "rules" it was quite fun and liberating.

The best part was that my family was so supportive, they contributed to my collection of ephemera and photos. It really helped having a Selphy around but even if you didn't have a compact photo printer the brochures, postcards, etc. were enough to convey your latest adventures.

So here are some tips to those who are willing to delve into BackScrapping :-)

1. Prepare, prepare, prepare. But then again, don't bring your entire scrap room either. Bring the essentials like your camera (forget everything else just not your cam!), scissors, glue, ruler, stapler, pens, mini puncher, embellys (brads, strips of ribbon), rub ons, stickers, scraps of paper, and your mini scrapbook ofcourse! I also brought a magazine along for instant inspiration, the only problem was chosing which one! If i missed out on anything, please refer to my previous article. It really helped I had a sturdy plastic box to store it all, i highly suggest it.

** A side tip, if you have a trip in a nearby place like Tagaytay, La Union, or even if you're spending overnight at a hotel or a friends place, I suggest you "practise" when you can. Luckily I had an overnight stay in Tagaytay prior to my flight, this helped me warm up somewhat. And that's when I knew i lacked some other essentials for my backscrapping.

2. Upon arriving at the airport of your destination, head on to the nearest tourist display where they hold maps, brochures, etc. The best part is, they're all free! Same goes for the hotels too.

3. Keep in mind wherever you are, try to take a couple of ephemera with you. Wrappers of candy, coasters, table napkins, matchbook covers, I even took the stickers they place around the luggage.


4. Be trigger happy! Other than the touristy stuff, I made a mental note to take shots of our luggage, signages, our feet dangling in the bus, I even took shots of the texture of this exquisite wall in our hotel. All those little things which we soon forget once we return home are just as essential as the landmarks.

5. Enjoy! I wouldn't want you to pay so much attention to your scrapping you forget to enjoy your whole trip. Both should be symbiotic, after all, that's why we scrap isn't it.

*** For more photos of my travel journal, please click on ONLINE ALBUMS (BackScrapping)