As I’ve been writing this book, my compatriots who joined me on the trip (on which the book is based) have been reading it. Quite often, when we talk about what happened, I get complements on the quality of my “memory.” This always induces a smirk and a quizzical squint on my part (though they cannot see my face unless we video-chat, which is not often) because I don’t really believe my memory is all that accurate. What I do have to go on, however, is an album of about 1,500 photos in my iPhoto library. In comparison to trips I’ve taken since then, 1,500 photos from five people over the course of three weeks is nothing, especially when you look at the large gaps of time without any photos whatsoever, but the album is large enough for my purposes.
Anyways, I’d like to elaborate on my process of writing memoir-style for this particular project.
##### Writing *during* the trip #####
Much prior to this trip, I had bought my first ever travel journals. Two [large-size graph-paper moleskines](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/8883707184?ie=UTF8&tag=neilalejande-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8883707184) were to be my starter journals for a trip across the American continents, with some [über-fine-point pens](ttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CRIGZQ?ie=UTF8&tag=neilalejande-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001CRIGZQ) to write with. Since that trip was still at least 3 years away, I thought that taking them on this trip would be a smart way to begin documenting my travels. I actually believed that I should create a book about my travels back then, and knew that the best way to accurately document my activities was to write a journal on-location.
Though there is documentary (photographic) evidence that I did indeed write in those journals during the trip, I certainly did not write a lot. I wrote exactly one page, including two entries: one from Chicago, and one from a side-of-the-road pit stop in Wyoming.
I did not feel at all like writing while I was on the trip. I never wanted to be sitting with a pen in my hand, writing about what I saw that day or what happened to us at any given moment. Many interesting things happened, of course, but I never had the urge or the ability to put them into writing until over two years later.
Why? I guess *doing things* and *documenting things* are very different, and unfortunately for me “right now,”, during that trip I just wanted to *do* moreso than *document*.
##### Photographs, the exception to the rule #####
During this trip I truly fell in love with photography. I bought a fancy *almost*-SLR camera ([Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30K](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000A7XSSY?ie=UTF8&tag=neilalejande-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000A7XSSY)) and some conversion lenses specifically for this trip. I won’t go into a review of the camera here, but I’d just like to point out that it’s a fabulous camera, especially for the money. It made for a good transition between point-and-shoot cameras that introduced me to shooting and the rangefinders & SLRs that I prefer to shoot with today (though my main digital is still the FZ30K. My other cameras are a Casio Exilim, Zorki 4K Rangefinder, and Minolta SRT-201).
Somehow, I didn’t feel that photographing the trip would take away from that “experience” that I was looking for. I’m not sure if my friends felt the same way, because I took many more photos than any of them did. Of the 1,500 photos I have, 1,000 are mine, and the others are split between the other four. Also, I got the impression during some of my photography sprees that the others weren’t too enthused about my constantly aiming cameras at their faces. I believe that this fear of being the center of attention dissipated as the trip unfolded, similar to how documentary crews capture better footage as the subjects begin to forget that they are constantly being filmed.
##### How I handle writing now #####
So, if I have pictures for some times, but not all times (I didn’t take too many pictures of us eating breakfast or brushing our teeth, for example), how do I remember what happened? The answer: *I don’t*. I don’t remember every single thing that happened. But I *do* have vague recollections of our daily habits and what probably happened.
Case in point: I don’t remember exactly what we all ate for breakfast on July 17th, the morning we left our campsite near [Mount Rushmore](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore) heading to [Yellowstone National Park](http://www.nps.gov/yell/) in [Wyoming](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyoming). But I do remember bringing quite a few packets of oatmeal to serve as our de facto breakfast food, especially on camping days. I don’t want to skip long periods of time just because I don’t remember the specifics of each moment, but I have to draw a line at how accurate my assumptions are. Unfortunately, there is no formula for this; I handle it on a case-by-case basis.
##### Other ways to remember #####
1. Talk to the other people who were there.
2. Nag Shane for mp3s of the audio recordings he secretly made during various stretches of driving.
3. Visualize the drives and experiences based on the happenings which surround them in time. In other words, remember what happened before and after an “empty memory,” and try to fill in the blank.
As you can see, my memory isn’t as great as some people would think. Nonetheless, my goal for the reader is to convince them that I really do have the world’s greatest memory. And my number one tip for anybody planning on writing a book about an experience. Take lots of notes! And pictures! And videos! And audio recordings! But most of all, have experiences that are so good you don’t have to write them down to remember them. Those are usually the best (or the worst).