Core memories are the moments that hold significance in your personal history and shape who you are. If you’ve scrolled through TikTok lately you’ve no doubt spotted people not only reminiscing on the core memories that have made them who they are, but also making plans to create new ones.
KAYAK’s recent research report, which surveyed over 1,000 Aussies, found that for 89% of us, travel plays a role in our core memories!* And with flight searches increasing for travel in the second half of 2023** there will likely be many people setting out to create new core memories for themselves on holiday this year.
KAYAK has teamed up with Anastasia Woolmer, a 2 x Australian Memory Champion (she is the first female to hold this title and has set several Australian memory records!), to discover the best tips and tricks to help keep these wonderful core travel memories fresh in your mind for years to come. And the good news is, it’s easier than you might think!
Anastasia Woolmer’s top memory hacks for your next trip:
- Focus on what you love, not what the guidebooks say. Think about the things you love or your hobbies and weave them into a rough plan for your trip, these extra associations or stimuli will make for a memorable holiday. If you love to dine out, this could be choosing a few unmissable restaurants at your destination and mapping a plan from there.
- Take photos, but then put your phone away and live in the moment. Try and give all your focus and attention to the experience you’re having while on holiday. Notice how you feel and use all your senses to experience the sights, sounds, smells, taste and touch of things. Paying attention to the experience in this way sets you up well to remember your adventure.
- Make time to reflect on your ‘top 4’ stand out moments each day. And capture the memory somewhere. This could be a diary, comparing stories with a travel buddy, or posting on social media.
- On the way home, look at the photos you took and ask yourself questions to further prompt your memory. Then in the days, weeks and months to come you can actively review photos and notes, and mix up which of your travel stories you tell to keep them all fresh in your mind.
Taking photos is the step that the vast majority of Australians say they take to remember their trips*, and Anastasia agrees that this can be a great way to capture memories, if done correctly! Her advice to make the most of every photo you take:
“Photos can be a wonderful way to capture and preserve a memory, but if you’re not careful they can be limiting. If you just focus on the one memory associated with the moment of the photo itself then you only ‘relive’ that one moment. To unlock more, look at the photo and try to move outwards from that photo to think about the moments, experiences, sights and smells that surrounded the happy snap. There is so much more to a moment than one photo can capture, but they’re an amazing starting point to jog your memory, and the sooner you start doing this after your trip, the more likely you are to retain lots of other memories too.”
Create your next core travel memory with the help of KAYAK’s Explore Tool.
*KAYAK.com.au’s Core Memories research was conducted from 14 April 2023 to 19 April 2023 and was conducted by a third-party researcher, Antenna, on behalf of KAYAK. Antenna surveyed 1,018 Australians.
**Based on flight and hotel searches made on KAYAK.com.au and associated brands between 01.01.2023 and 20.04.2023 for travel between 10.7.2023 and 31.12.2023. They were compared to searches for the same period in 2019. Percentages are on average and prices are approximate and may vary with time. All flight searches are for travels with departure from any airport in Australia, round-trip and economy class tickets. All prices for hotels are average prices for 1 night in a double room in 3-4 star hotels.
