Choosing the best pictures
You need to begin by laying out all your photos. Put them in a place in which you can work. The kitchen table where your family gathers to eat every night is not the best place for this task. Pick a place that you can use for the entire project, whether it is for hours or, more likely, days.

Next, reduce the number of pictures with which to work. This is where you must be realistic. Now, you might feel that each and every picture you took is a mini-masterpiece but that's simply not true. You need to weed out the pictures that aren't "viewing quality. These are the blurry or out of focus shots, the ones where people aren't smiling or their eyes are closed, or the ones you may deem "boring". Also, if you have several photos that look alike, choose the best one of them and either toss them (highly recommended) or box the rest in an additional or finished photo box.

The order of it all
Decide what order you would like to lay out your vacation memories. The easiest way to do this would be to order the pictures chronologically. You can order the highlights of your vacation in the general way they occurred or, you could divide your pictures by category, for example, "Places We Ate", "Hotel Highlights", "Attractions", and so on.

Sort your pictures into segments. There are two reasons to arrange them in this way. The first is so you avoid getting overwhelmed by the huge number of pictures with which you might find yourself dealing. Second, as you look at your pictures to arrange them, you probably want to go slowly through your content and reminisce about your vacation. Dividing your photos into segments allows you to have the time you need to sort out pictures without feeling rushed and gives you starting and stopping points along the way.

Combine journaling with pictures
Did you journal while on vacation? Did you keep a log or follow an itinerary? Including journal or diary entries with your pictures gives an extra personal touch to your overall display or layout. Whenever you do journal, here are some good questions to answer.

• Why did you choose the destination,
• Why did you go on vacation?
• Was it be relaxation, excitement, family reunion, etc.
• How did it affect you?
• Was it relaxing to sunbathe on the cruise ship, stressful dealing with extended family, in-laws or your own children? You get the idea.
• How did you feel at the beginning, the middle and the end of your trip?
• Have you changed from your experience?

These tips should at least get you organized enough to enjoy the experience of reliving and reminiscing of your vacation. After all, that is what the pictures are for in the first place.

Jessica McCurdy Crooks is a freelance writer/editor, researcher, indexer and information consultant/Librarian. A native of Jamaica, she is a trained librarian/records manager. Today she spends her time consulting on establishing libraries and record management programmes, writes on various topics, focusing on lifestyle issues, health, cooking, travel, and her hobby -- photography.