Duckwyn's Travel Blog

The U.S. Virgin Islands Sticker Collection

11/22/2023

The 3 main islands that make up the U.S. Virgin Islands are now included in the Duckwyn Travel Journal. Each of the territories have unique stamps to add to your journal collection.

Saint Thomas: Saint Thomas is the most populous and commercialized of the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is known for its bustling capital, Charlotte Amalie, and beautiful beaches.
Saint John: Saint John is renowned for its pristine natural beauty, including national parklands and picturesque beaches. It's a popular destination for eco-tourism and outdoor activities.
Saint Croix: Saint Croix is the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands and offers a blend of history, culture, and natural attractions. Christiansted and Frederiksted are its main towns.

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Why Every Parent Should Give Their Kids a Travel Journal

11/20/2023

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Keeping a travel journal can be a valuable activity for kids. Here are some reasons why your kids should keep a travel journal:

Educational Opportunity: A travel journal can encourage kids to research and document the historical and cultural aspects of the places they visit.
Keeping Memories: Writing down their experiences, observations, and feelings can help kids remember their trips in detail. It's a way to create lasting memories of their travels.
Improved Writing Skills: Keeping a journal can enhance kids' writing/typing skills by encouraging them to express themselves and describe their experiences in a coherent and engaging manner.
Creativity and Self-Expression: Kids can use their travel journals as a creative outlet, incorporating drawings, photos, and personal reflections. This allows them to express themselves and develop their artistic skills.
Family Bonding: If the travel journal is a shared activity within the family, it can foster stronger bonds and provide an opportunity for parents and children to discuss and learn together.
Goal Setting: Kids can set goals for their travels, such as visiting specific historical sites or learning about certain aspects of a destination's history. They can track their progress in their journals.
Souvenir Collection: Travel journals can also serve as a place to collect small souvenirs, such as tickets, postcards, and brochures, which can be pasted or attached to the pages.
Reflection and Perspective: Writing in a travel journal encourages kids to reflect on their experiences and gain a deeper understanding of the places they visit. It can also help them develop a global perspective by comparing different cultures and histories.

As a I look back at the places my parents took me as a kid, I wish that I had a travel journal at that time. I have some memories of these adventures but I'd have some many more to look back on if I had a journal. If you're a new parent or even a parent with older kids, it's not too late to start. I've even found that since I've been journaling my family travels, I've gone back to my pre-journaling trips and put in what I could remember. It's been a great experience and fun way to keep the memories alive.

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Quick Update

11/20/2023

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Over the last couple of days there have been a few new additions to the Duckwyn Travel app that I'd like to highlight:

Two new country descriptions for Israel and Liberia.
Puente Nuevo in Ronda, Spain was added to the Bridge Collection
Puerto Rico was added as a territory with a new sticker you can collect in your passport

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Bulk Upload Travel Photos

10/31/2023

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We have added an option to include the date/time and gps location of each of the photos you upload using the bulk upload tool. This will make it much easier to update your adventures with past photos saving you time while you create these photo journey's to share with friends and family.

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Use Photos to Set the Date/Time and GPS Information on Your Journal Entries in iOS17

9/28/2023

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I have a great new update to share that I'm genuinely excited about. Up until iOS 17, you couldn't upload images that contained EXIF data.This prevented us from using location and time stamp information from your photos to improve the journal entry process.

Now, when you add a photo to a journal post, you can choose to have the GPS location and the time added to the entry. This makes adding the location information for a journal entry a lot easier. Plus, if you're trying to go back and add earlier journal entries, sharing the time from the photo greatly simplifies this process.

I've personally wanted this feature for a long time. I don't always add journal posts "in the moment". I like to go back later, usually at the end of the day, and add the moments I want to remember. This new feature removes the annoyance of finding the right time and pinpointing the right location on the map.

Sharing Location Data in a Photo on iOS

To share your photo's location information in iOS, open a new journal entry and click on "choose file". Next, go to your Photo Library, and at the bottom, tap "Options." Make sure the "location" slider is on. In some cases, you may also need to set the photo format to "most compatible." While you're under options, you may also want to adjust the size to "large" or "medium" to speed up the upload time of the photo.

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Support the People of Muai Affected By the August Wildfires

9/8/2023

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Buy a Shirt and Support Maui

Just three weeks before the fires my family and I enjoyed two wonderful evenings in Lahaina. In this short period of time, we met so many locals who made our experience there unforgettable. From the friendly owner of Penne Pasta, the staff at Maui Diving, our waitress at Captain Jacks who shared her story of living in Maui, the sales woman at Olivia by the Sea that was patient and helpful as my daughter was picking out a bracelet as the shop was closing, to Rafael, from Galeria Rafael, who lost all of his beautiful artwork, these people and so many more made Lahaina a welcoming and wonderful place to visit, a place you wanted to return to over and over again.

We were devastated to hear the news on August 8th of the fires ripping through the town and the destruction and lives lost. In response, I've been trying to find ways to help. I've designed this Ola Lahaina print to help raise money for the people of Lahaina. I couldn't imagine going through the loses they are trying to recover from.

This Ola Lahaina print pays tribute to the 150 year old banyan tree downtown, a tree that has recently shown signs of life after the fire. The recovery is going to be long and difficult process but I hope one day to be able to return to Lahaina and still see the great locals that made this town so wonderful and not a town that's been taken over by those taking advantage of this situation. Together, let's do what we can to help them recover and experience their regrowth.

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Build great vacation memories with these Travel Journal starter questions.

8/30/2023

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Starting today, you will see a new icon appear next to your "write a note" button in your Travel Journal. This icon loads a screen with questions for you to answer throughout the day.

These questions are starter prompts to help you add more information to your journal. Everything from food to the places you visit will be included to provide a quick snapshot of your day that you can go back to later.

We've often found that it can be difficult for kids to know what to put in their travel journal. These "starter questions" can help them get a jump start on writing about their vacation and it can be fun for parents to see what their kids enjoyed most from their day out.

We want to help you remember all the fun details of your trips. These prompts will help ensure you capture these great memories.

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Hook Lighthouse in Ireland Added to the Collection

8/1/2023

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Hook Lighthouse in Ireland is now part of the Duckwyn Lighthouse Collection. This lighthouse was built in 1172 and after over 800 years, it's still in operation today, making it the second oldest lighthouse in the world. If you're traveling through Southern Ireland, you might want to make a stop and check out this piece of history.

View the full lighthouse collection.

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New Venetian Lighthouse Sticker, Faro San Giorgio Maggiore

7/31/2023

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Today, we added a new lighthouse to the Duckwyn Lighthouse sticker collection. 52 lighthouse now make up the full collection.

The new lighthouse we've added is the Faro San Giorgio Maggiore lighthouse. Built in 1813, the lighthouse is located near the San Giorgio Maggiore church. It's not a very tall lighthouse, standing 15 meters tall. However, as with most of the construction in Venice, it's a beautiful picturesque structure making for a nice photograph with the Venice Lagoon and passing boats in the background.

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Track your travels and become a World Explorer

6/21/2023

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The country pages have been updated to make it easier for your family to track the places you've visited. Each page now shows the stickers you've collected, the number of days you've visited, and the experience points you've earned. An interactive map also shows you where all of the top landmarks are located.

We're also adding more information about each country so your kids can learn about the local currency, the fun foods they should try, and the its past history.

Your vacation starts before you leave the house. This update will make it easier for your family to learn about where they are going and places they can look forward to seeing while they are there.

It's our goal to inspire families to get out and explore the world and to make it easier to keep track of the places you've been and to share and relive those memories for years to come.