How do we remember a good trip?

I went to Spain on few weeks ago with Adam (my husband). While there we snapped photos of buildings, skylines, people, food, plants, and random door knobs in the city. When we got home we dumped this smorgasbord of photos onto the computer. From there we selected a handful of our favorites to print off and frame. These are the photos that help remind of us of the sweet, funny, and unusual things we encountered on our trip. I always find it interesting to see which ones we choose.  Which ones will represent our best memories of the trip? 

Researchers have recently been asking similar questions about how we remember happy times. In particular, the role photos and other mementos play in the way we reminisce about these good times. Initial findings from this research suggests that people who buy mementos (or trinkets) are more likely to talk or reminisce about the trip compared to others.  In addition, this line of research found that digital photos did not help people reminisce about the good times.  

Yet, I am curious though what future research may find about how people organize or select photos.  Or what happens when people print out digital photos. For me, I know these photos are a way to fondly look back in time. Here are a few pictures from my recent trip to Spain!