How to Create a Photo Travel Map

by Paris Anderson

I have several items on my bucket list. One that I decided on after S was born was to take her to visit all 50 states before she graduates from high school. That does not mean driving through a state. It means actually exploring the state…visiting museums, state parks, tourist attractions, etc. I believe that exposing S to different experiences, activities and travel is very important.
When we decide on our next state to visit, I am the one that does all the research, but then I ask my husband and S what they would like to do from my research. We try to get a good mix of experiences while in a state. We also try out local restaurants with no chains that are in our area.

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We have been lucky enough to have already visited Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Texas, Wisconsin and the two farthest Alaska and Hawaii. Nine out of fifty is not too bad since S is only 4.

With all this traveling, I wanted a special memento that would continue to grow as we visit additional states. I decided on a photo travel map, which is a canvas (or two) with family photos cut out in the shape of each state to form a map of the US.

Cutting out the States

I have a Cricut cutting machine with the 50 states cartridge (you should also be able to create this using the Silhouette). I gathered up a bunch of scrapbook paper that I love and looked good together. Starting with the largest state in the continental US: Texas I cut it out as large as I could. I made sure that the real dial size is turned off. Then I used that size to cut out all the states.

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4 of 27 comments

MILLIE ZAVALA on Jul 27, 2015
This is sure made of memiories to cherish♡

1 Reply
- Paris Anderson on Jul 28, 2015
  @MILLIE ZAVALA Thanks
  
  1
Renata on Jul 28, 2015
SO Cleaver U R. Love this idea. So how old is S now? lol

1 Reply
- Paris Anderson on Jul 28, 2015
  @Renata She's 5; we still have many states to hit :)
  
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