that special extra thing.

When I travel, well, actually, when I travel with my sister K, I like to do something random.

Something that will keep the spark in our travels extra bright.

Something that we will be able to have afterward, and can look back at years from now.
And sometimes, just something completely out of the ordinary that we can laugh at later.

For example, my dad had to have bypass surgery a few years ago. It was a scary day, and K and I were driving to the hospital (about an hour away) apart from the rest of our family. So, as we were packing up some of our things, expecting the day to be long and nerve-wracking, I told K I was throwing in a hat, just for fun.

She laughed and her young little heart loved it. Mine did too.

That hat is a lucky hat. It has come with us on many trips, to many places, never, not once, on anyone's head.

When we went on a vacation to Mexico, we brought a sketchbook with markers, crayons, pens and pencils that we could doodle with. We drew pictures of the crazy lady in front of us on the plane. We documented all of the silly quotes we heard. We tried to draw the outrageous pattern of the couch in the place we stayed. We wrote out long-winded stories of what happened to us at dinner. We documented our entire trip in that one book. And I know exactly where that book is, in my room, at the house I grew up in, right next to my high school yearbooks. It will always be something I treasure.

Another time, K was with me as I drove home from my first semester of college. She was never fond of the drive (that is, before she chose to come to this school as well) so I had a "Wreck This Journal" by Keri Smith all ready for her to work on as we went home. We filled in lots and lots of pages, and then she was left with it with the stern instructions (something along the lines of "uhh you should keep doing this) to finish the book.

So! Here is a (quickly taken) photo of what I made for her for the trip we are currently on. It is a journal, with extra pieces, stickers, and the coolest felt tip pens I've ever owned all ready for us to fill in with ideas and moments and memories. I'm excited to see how it turns out!