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Take photos to keep essential information at your fingertips. These un-sharable photos can be lifesavers! Read on for our travel photo hacks.
Landscapes, scenery, selfies, group, and food photos are some of the most popular images on Instagram. We love to share our adventures, and others love seeing them. We want to suggest some travel photos you should not share on Instagram. They aren’t naughty, but they can be beneficial for navigating and remembering your travels. Use your Smartphone or camera to keep essential information at your fingertips by taking these un-sharable photos. Here are our travel hacks for using photos to make travel easier.
Travel Photo Hacks Before Leaving Home
You can start using photos to make travel easier before leaving home. Here are some photos you can take to prepare for travel.
ID and Documents
You know this one. Photograph your passport, driver’s license, State ID, credit cards, tickets/boarding passes, itineraries, and vouchers before leaving home.
In addition to keeping a copy on your phone, send the pics to your emergency contact. We go a bit further and leave a printed copy at home. We also place a printed copy in our suitcases under the lining.
One of the best travel hacks is to photograph all your travel documents for future reference or in case of loss. Photo by Mary Charlebois
Luggage and Content Travel Photos
Photograph the contents of your bags as you are packing. Pack everything and photograph all your bags—suitcases, totes, handbags, and wallets.
Leave a digital copy at home and keep one on your phone and/or laptop. If your luggage is lost or stolen, you’ll have an easier time with claims by including photos.
You’ll thank yourself for photos of what you packed and your bags should they be lost or stolen. Your travel insurance or the airline won’t argue with your pictures. Photo by Kevin Scanlon
Travel Photo Hacks on the Road
Once you hit the road, you’ll find many uses for these non-Instagram photos.
Plane, Train, and Bus
Take a photo of the departure board showing your flight, train, bus, or ferry. It’s handy to have while wandering in the terminal.
If you are using public buses, take a photo of the bus schedule at the bus stops you use most often.
A quick snap of schedules will always come in handy. Photo by Mary Charlebois
Rental Car Agreement
If you lose your agreement, having a photo will be helpful should you need to check the terms of your contract or call the rental car company.
Rental Car License Plate
Snapping a photo of the car’s license plate will save you from returning to the parking lot to get your car tag number when checking into a hotel. In the unfortunate event of auto theft, you’ll have the plate number handy.
Rental Car Condition
This is so important! At pickup and drop-off, we do a walk-around video, then take stills of damage or blemishes on the car. This goes for the interior as well. If at all possible, have a rental car representative in the photos.
If you damage the car, point it out to the person checking you in. Have them also take photos and include them in your rental record. These photos will be invaluable when they contact you regarding the damage costs. You can use them with your insurance company. Seeing the damage can help them negotiate payment.
Your Parked Car
We can’t tell you how many times we’ve parked our car in a parking lot, and in our excitement, we hurry off without noting our row number. It can lead to a long hunt later in the day.
A travel hack that can save you time on your return is to take a photo of your car in the parking lot. Be sure to include the row number. Photo by Mary Charlebois
Parking Lot Name/Address Sign Travel Photos
When parking in an unfamiliar city, it is easy to forget exactly where the parking lot is located. A quick snap of the sign, building, lot, or ticket can save lots of frustration and extra hours of parking fees.
This ticket from Bath had all the info, including my space number. Photo by Mary Charlebois
Taxi Driver ID
Take a snap of your taxi or town car driver’s ID posted in the cab where you can see it. This little bit of info got my digital camera returned. I left it in the seat of the cab. When I discovered it, he had pulled away. I called the cab company with his name and ID. My camera was returned an hour later.
At Your Lodging
Once you’re settled into your hotel , take some time to take a few more of those essential photos.
The Building From the Street
A photo of the front of the building is helpful when you forget your hotel name or what it looks like. It sounds unlikely, but it happens if you’re a frequent traveler. (The voice of experience.) It is also useful when traveling overseas where you might not speak the language. A picture is, after all, worth a thousand words.
Hotel Room Number Travel Photos
Again, in case you forget, or better yet, you don’t want to say it out loud or write it when in line at the front desk.
I’m always forgetting my room number. Photo by Mary Charlebois
Condition Issues
I always photograph my room upon arrival. That makes sense because I am a hotel scout, and photos are part of the process.
But non-hotel scouts should take photos also. If your room has a condition issue—dirty sheets, mold in the bathroom, something is broken, lack of supplies like toilet paper, soap, etc., or not as promised, such as you booked a room with a sea view but got one that overlooks the trash bins or two twin beds instead of a king—take a pic and then report the problem immediately.
This shower door had been leaking for some time. The wet, crumbling wallboard was evidence. Photo by Mary Charlebois
In some cases, things can be quickly fixed, and others may require a room change, but having proof of the issue can be extremely helpful if you need to ask for money back.
Our photos got us a €25 a day refund from Airbnb because the kitchen was dirty, and the host would not do anything about it. We were in Galway during spring break, and no other rooms were available to change lodging. We cleaned the kitchen and got some money back because we had photos to show how it looked.
Other No Instagram Photos
In addition to those specific photos, here are more random travel photo hacks that can make your travels go smoother.
All Receipts
Every receipt should be photographed, even if you intend to keep the paper copy. That paper is so easy to misplace. Kevin and I use ours to calculate the trip cost once we are home. We were so grateful to have photos of the extras incurred when our flight was canceled and rescheduled for the following day. Travel insurance covered the hotel, meals, and transportation, but we had to prove it with receipts.
Brochures
It is amazing how much paper you can collect while on holiday. Take photos of those brochures and leave the paper on the counter for the next guest.
Business Cards
Business cards are another type of paper that can take up space in your bags. Even though we keep most business cards, we also photograph them. You guessed it—Mary will probably lose one.
Menus
Keeping a menu from a favorite restaurant is tempting but not very nice. Instead, take a photo. In our profession, we need to refer to the menu when writing about the eatery. We don’t do it at the table; instead, we wait until we are leaving and ask the host if we can take photos. We’ve never been turned down. In some cases, we’ve been offered a takeout version.
Your menu photos can be a lovely reminder of the eaterie’s dishes and drinks. Photo by Mary Charlebois
Signs
Street signs, business signs, warning signs, funny signs, and any signs you want to recall are good subjects for a photo. When you see a restaurant you’d like to try but isn’t open, take a picture of the name and address. It will make it much easier to look it up later. A photo of your departure gate can be a handy reminder in the airport during a long layover.
Photographing signs is a great travel hack. They can be handy reminders. Photo by Mary Charlebois
More Travel Tips on Wander With Wonder
Factors to Consider Before Planning Your Ultimate Vacation
6 Ways to Deal with Travel Fatigue
How to Travel the World on a Shoestring Budget
Travel Photo Hacks Not Ready for Instagram
How did we record and share our travels before we had these handy little digital devices? We carried lots of paper and film, that’s how. Use your phone or camera to make the journey easier and keep records to help recall and prove your experiences.
Many of the pics we suggest can be deleted when you return home. Others should be filed for future reference. But all can be lifesavers when your memory fails or you have lost that critical piece of paper.
Happy clicking! When planning your next travel adventure and while you are on the road, let Wander With Wonder be your guide for domestic travel tips and international travel tips .
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Don’t Share These Travel Photos on Instagram!
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