Travel slideshows: The best way to display your adventures

Just came back from a trip? Don’t let your pictures and videos go to waste – turn them into a captivating travel slideshow. In this post, we are going to discuss why you might need to create a slideshow video and share a bunch of tips and tricks to help you display your memories in the best way possible. Now why don’t we begin?


Why you should design a travel slideshow

Making a travel slideshow with moving pictures is the best way to tell the story of your journey. Not only will you preserve your priceless memories, but you will also show off your best shots from the trip in one cool movie. The video format is getting more and more popular, and you probably don’t want to be left behind, do you? If you post a video, it will definitely get more likes than a regular post with still pictures.

Besides, a slideshow is an easy and quick way to share all your adventures at once without having to send each file separately to your friends and family members.


Tips for creating a travel slideshow

1. How to pick the right soundtrack?

Suitable slideshow music can make your travel video much more engaging. To find the perfect song, you need to figure out its function first. Do you want it to evoke certain emotions, maintain the viewer’s attention, or give the video the vibes you want?

Once you find that out, you can look for a tune among your favorites, but I recommend you choose a song of a popular genre since heavy metal or opera might not be appealing to your audience. Instead, choose some classical music, famous hits, or just neutral but catchy tunes. If the country you visited has national music, you can use it, too – it will create the atmosphere of the place and will display their culture better. 

how to make a travel slideshow
How to manipulate the soundtrack when you make a travel slideshow

Besides, you can manipulate the music in different ways. For instance, if the soundtrack suddenly pauses, it will grab the viewer’s attention. With these breaks, you can highlight an important moment or create a comic effect.

No matter what song you choose, make sure the lyrics are appropriate for your audience, and that you don’t violate the copyrights of the artist, especially if you are going to post the vacation slideshow online. You should either search for royalty-free music or purchase a limited license for non-commercial use.


2. What quotes to include?

Adding a few quotes to a travel slideshow is certainly a good idea. They can be humorous, philosophical, inspirational, and uplifting. Quotes about personal growth and love are the most popular types, but there are also lots of quotes about traveling. Here is a list of travel quotes that you can include in your slideshow.

However, don’t be tempted to throw as many quotes as possible – they should be relevant to each slide you add them to. Four or five quotes will be more than enough for a slideshow video. I also suggest that you highlight the key insights within the quotes using a different text color.


3. How to animate slides with effects?

Animating a slideshow is the most joyous part of the design process. But you might feel confused when you see all these animation effects in a program. Here are a few tips that will help you make the slideshow more lively. 

First, take a look at each slide and decide what the viewer should focus on – here’s what you should animate. In case there are multiple photos on a slide, don’t have them all moving at the same time. You can also add transitions, a type of animation in between slides. It’s best to keep it simple and use just a few transition effects for all your slides. It can get confusing for your audience if you mix up dozens of transition styles.


how to share vacation slideshow
Find out how to share your travel slideshow

4. How to export and share the new slideshow?

The format you save the slideshow in can play a pivotal role. You’ll need one video type for social media and another for playing the video on a computer. So how to save the travel slideshow? Most devices support MP4, so you can export the project in this format to save it on your phone and share it with others on social networks or messengers. You can also burn it to a DVD to display the slideshow on a big screen.


Slideshow making mistakes to avoid

Now that we’ve shared a couple of dos, I can also tell you a few don’ts. There are several common mistakes that people make when they design a slideshow. So let’s see what they are.

1. The slideshow is too long

There is nothing worse than a long slideshow video with photos scrolling for over 10 or 20 minutes. The average attention span is getting shorter each year, so most viewers will probably stop watching after 2-3 minutes. The best travel slideshows have one thing in common – they are short. This will also encourage you to be more assertive about what to include in your vacation slideshow.


2. There is no storyline

Often, slideshow makers add a bunch of pictures and video clips in random order. It is a quick way to make a slideshow, but viewers might feel quite perplexed seeing photos from different moments of your trip – they don’t understand what is going on and might get bored after a few of these slides. To avoid such a failure, I recommend you consider the concept of the project first.

You can plan or sketch how your travel slideshow will look and what media files you’ll need to put in it. This will allow you to visualize the outcome and ensure that all of your images fit together. While planning the structure of your video, you can also think about how you’re going to animate it with transitions and other effects.


how to add narration to vacation video slideshow
Learn how to add narration to your travel slideshow video

3. The video doesn’t have a narration

If you’re present while showing the slideshow to your family or friends, you can skip this point. However, if you’re going to share the video with someone online, or want to preserve memories from the journey for the future, you will definitely need to tell your story through narration. By adding voice comments, you can let your viewers know about your thoughts and feelings about the countries you’ve been to. You can either record yourself on your phone and upload the recording to your computer, or add a voiceover right in the slideshow-making program you use for designing this project. If you don’t want to narrate using voice comments, you can simply add a few captions.


How to make a vacation slideshow – final thoughts

As you can see, you can easily put together all your shots and videos and create a truly memorable slideshow about your trip. In this post, we’ve discussed the basics of the slideshow-making process, but you can find a step-by-step guide and a handful of more tips and tricks in this article on how to make travel slideshows.

Now let’s sum up the key points we’ve discussed today. For an engaging slideshow, make sure to select the best photos and sensibly organize your slides. Remember to add a catchy background song and save the output video in the right file format. Finally, be creative and enjoy the process!


About the author

Mirela Letailleur The Travel Bunny

As an experienced travel blogger, Mirela Letailleur, who resides in the South of France, is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to capturing and sharing travel experiences. Her blog, The Travel Bunny, not only provides valuable insights into affordable travel in Europe, but Mirela is also a creator of unique free travel guides and a local travel expert.

However, her expertise doesn’t stop there. Mirela is also a master at creating stunning travel slideshows that transport viewers to some of the world’s most beautiful destinations. Her knowledge and experience in this area make her the go-to person for anyone looking to learn how to create a captivating slideshow video of their own vacation memories. So if you’re looking to elevate your vacation slideshow game, Mirela is the expert you need to follow.

Read more about Mirela Letailleur

If you enjoyed learning about how to make travel slideshows, check out
Top 5 creative ideas on how to use your old travel photos
Photo backup: why you need it & which service is best
How to make solo travel videos for YouTube