This post was created in collaboration with bonusprint.
It would be easy to write-off 2020 as an awful year we all want to forget, but it was still special and there were many moments I want to remember forever.
It was a smaller year in many ways and the big adventures were replaced with microadventures. The things that seemed important were suddenly inconsequential and we realised our family, friends, health and homes were the most important things we have.
I’m so pleased I still took lots of photos in 2020. I usually take most of my family photos during holidays and I forget to document the everyday moments. We end up with hundreds of photos from birthdays and trips abroad, but nothing at home! It would have been easy for my camera to gather dust, but I made a real effort to use it as much as possible this year. I also made a big effort to print out some of my favourite photos and I’ve got more about that with the photo book I made with bonusprint at the end of this post!
2020 definitely became the year of the microadventure for us. Most of our microadventures took the form of a walk somewhere new and I don’t know about you but I’ve never been for so many walks!
It was actually a really nice chance to discover so many places we can visit close to home. There are so many places I had no idea existed and with the help of social media and local friends with lots of knowledge, we found some new favourites.
Here are some of my favourite microadventures from 2020
Portmeirion
We started the year in Portmeirion in mid-Wales with a night away to celebrate Sam’s birthday! We stayed in the castle where we spent a lot of time eating and drinking and popping out for rainy walks before retreating back to the comfort of a roaring fire. Ahhh bliss.
Combermere Abbey
The next trip of 2020 was to Combermere Abbey in Cheshire where we stayed in a beautifully cosy cottage. The weather was terrible that weekend but the cottage was so lovely that we didn’t mind staying indoors.
Tenerife
Our next stop was Tenerife for a week in the sunshine to celebrate my mum’s 60th birthday (and George’s 5th birthday which is the same day!) We’d hired a huge villa in Playa del Duque and had a really special week. We came home as lockdown began so we felt really grateful to have squeezed in a final trip.
Spring in the garden
My memories from early lockdown revolve around our garden. We were so lucky to have that beautifully sunny spell and made the most of it by planting seeds, gardening and enjoying our outdoor space. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would have found that time really difficult without the constant sunshine.
A summer in Abersoch
Our static caravan in Abersoch finally reopened in July and we had 6 glorious weekends at the beach. We’d been waiting for this moment for months and we were absolutely overjoyed to get back to our little sanctuary on the Llyn Peninsula.
Sam won a jet ski and I bought a paddleboard so we had lots of time on the water and long, sunny days on the beach. This 6-week stretch was definitely the highlight of our year.
New experiences
I was lucky enough to work with Curious Cymru at the end of the summer to try out two Airbnb Experiences in my local area. The first was an introduction to beekeeping and the second was a historic bike ride around Anglesey.
They were both incredible and a gorgeous reminder of how much there is to see and do in our local areas.
We also took the kids to Alton Towers for the first time and Sam and I were so pleased to find it to be just as exciting and magical as we remembered, even with a few Covid restrictions in place!
Autumn walks
Autumn began and we slipped back into lockdown here in Wales, but schools stayed open and we made the most of our local woodland walks and autumn activities.
One of my favourite autumn activities was visiting Magical Woodland, the most incredible light and sound show in the forest. As the name suggests, it was absolutely magical as the forest came to life.
A cosy Christmas
Christmas was a bit different this year, but with three young children it was every bit as magical and exciting. There were no parties but we still enjoyed a wonderful time at home. It was so cosy and snug and I felt so grateful to have my family close, safe and healthy.
Making a 2020 photo book with bonusprint
Since having kids I’ve become a massive fan of making photo books and I make a few every year. I make a new one for my mum each Christmas and she has a growing stack which are so fun to look through and see the kids growing and changing. I usually make one or two from our favourite holidays and important events or times too.
The thing that keeps me motivated to make them is seeing the kids paw over them. They LOVE seeing themselves as babies and reminiscing about our favourite adventures. It helps them remember all the good times too, especially at such a young age.
Top tip for family photo books: I make some photo books that are ‘for best’ and I keep them on the shelf away from sticky little hands. But I also make some books for the kids so they have photos they can look at without me hovering nearby worrying about bent corners and dirty pages!
I made my 2020 photo book with bonusprint this year and I love it.
I chose an extra large portrait book (27cm x 36cm) and I created it on the bonusprint website using the online tool. You can also download their software to create it offline and this gives you more creative possibilities but I found the online tool to have more than enough for a simple photo book.
I made a folder on the desktop of my computer with 88 of my favourite photos. This is actually the hardest part when it comes to making a photobook – choosing which pictures to include!
From past experience I’ve realised that less is more and choosing the best of the best is always more effective than including them all.
Phone photos vs camera photos?
The photos I’ve taken with my camera always look so much better than the ones I’ve taken on my phone. When you view them on your phone you can’t really tell the difference but once they’re printed out you can see the huge difference in quality. I still print my phone photos because these are usually the ones that capture those candid, everyday moments but I make sure the phone photos are smaller and don’t take up an entire page on the photo book.
Once you’ve got your folder of photos, I recommend using the Smart Assistant function on bonus print to upload all your photos and automatically place them into your book. It will arrange them nicely and make sure you’ve got a variety of gorgeous layouts on each page.
You can still tweak your photo book and rearrange the layout if you need to. You might want to prioritise your favourites and change the order of some photos. You can also add things like frames, clip art, masks or additional layouts. I like to keep mine simple there’s a lot you can play around with!
And that’s it. Confirm your order and your photo book will arrive in the post and I promise you’ll treasure it forever.
Competition time!
If you’d like to win a photo book like this from bonusprint then head over to my Instagram page where you can enter!
As always, thank you so much for reading my blog and following along with the microadventures. Wishing you all the very best for 2021 and let’s hope there are lots more microadventures to come!