Our team’s favourite childhood holiday memories

You know the drill by now… you jet away on holiday, and come home with thousands of holiday snaps on your phone. Perfect for filling the pages of a treasured holiday photo book but sometimes our favourite snaps can get lost in amongst the folders and forgotten about for years to come.

We caught up with our colleagues at Photobox to talk about the good old days; where holiday memories were cherished with just a handful of printed, grainy photographs with plenty of imperfections. We love soaking up that feeling of pure nostalgia.

From the holiday foods to the time spent together as a family, discover the nostalgic memories our colleagues still cherish dearly to them to this day. And what about you? Do you have a summer holiday memory that takes you back right there? Share your #SummerNostalgia with us on Instagram @PhotoboxUK – we’d love to hear all about them.

Now be warned: there are some seriously vintage hairstyles and holiday clothing in the following photographs.

Meet our team taking a trip down memory lane

⬆️ Meet: Alessandra Peretti
Role: Graphic Designer
Where was the photo taken: This photo was taken in my grandparents beach house in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela. We used to go there every summer, i was about 1 year old. I think this is where my beach addiction started!
My favourite memory from this trip: My mom told me that my grandad was in the background of this pic making me laugh so even tho he is not in the picture it reminds me of the amazing person he was.

⬆️ Meet: Erica Saraber
Role: Creative Designer
Where was the photo taken: This photo was taken in September 1985 at Málaga Airport in Spain, just before our flight back home to Amsterdam. I was there with my parents on holiday in Fuengirola, and it was actually my very first time flying, I was two year’s old.
My favourite memory from this trip: My parents told me that during the trip, there was a Spanish guitar player at a restaurant who played songs for me. I was his biggest fan, standing right in front of him the whole time. I love to see all the people in the background, all dressed up with their duty-free bags, make it clear this was definitely the ’80s!

⬆️ Meet: Katoo Raemendonck
Role: Marketeer
Where was the photo taken: This photo was taken in San Antonio, Texas. I was with my parents in San Antonio for my dad’s work and I was 4 years old.
My favourite memory from this trip: Just before this photo was taken, I had been quite sick with an asthma attack and had to be hospitalized which was so scared to be honest. This was the first day that I was feeling better again and was able to go out for a walk. My dad took this picture of me & my mom. It makes me smile because I was so happy I was able to go out again and even at such a young age grateful to be healthy after a big scare.

⬆️ Meet: Maia Aziernicki
Role: Senior Motion Designer
Where was the photo taken: Cancun, Mexico when I was 6. My brother was 11 at that time.
My favourite memory from this trip: I remember this was the first time I saw so many fish in the ocean and was extremely excited about it, trying to catch them with my hands.
This photo makes me smile because: I love how proud we look with our ‘tattoos’. My mum had gotten a real one just a few weeks earlier, so my brother and I became obsessed with getting our own. It was one of our first big trips with the whole family, and thinking back to that time really makes me smile.

⬆️ Meet: Sophie Tassan
Role: People Partner
Where was the photo taken: This picture was taken by my mum, who was passionate about photography. My sister and I are about 7 years old in this picture, and it was taken in the mountains, in the French Alps, where we spent all our summers as a family.
My memories from this trip include: Endless hikes but with surprises every time! Nature amazed us, and we loved enjoying everything: the flowers, the wild blueberries I devoured greedily, and the songs during the walks!
This photo makes me smile because: I love the 70s vibe of this photo and the fact that everyone (except my mum) points to my sister when I ask them where I am!

⬆️ Meet: Leon Veer
Role: Senior Copywriter
Where was the photo taken: Yaoundé, Cameroon
My favourite memory from this trip: I don’t remember this trip as I was just one year’s old but I love the little suit and shoes, and the ladder in the background serving as a gate by contrast

⬆️ Meet: Gijsbert de wolff
Role: Software Engineer
Where was the photo taken: The photo was taken somewhere in the Dordogne in France on our summer holiday in 1973. I must have been six years old, almost seven.
My favourite memory from this trip: The picture was taken on one of our long walks (which us children always complained about). My mother used to make us pick flowers to keep us occupied so we would complain less and walk faster. My brother made sure he had a stone in his shoe every two hundred meters. Since my brother could not yet tie his shoe laces, my father had to fix that (untie laces, shoe off, sock off, remove stone, sock back on, shoe back on, tie laces). It was quite an effective strategy. As an adult I learned to appreciate long walks after all…

⬆️ Meet: Mylène Naissant
Role: UK/IE Marketing Specialist
Where was the photo taken: This picture is from when I was about four years old, taken at my parents’ house in their garden. Although it wasn’t a trip, I have many memories of spending hours playing outside in the garden throughout my childhood, and there was a swing in the background that I used frequently.
This photo makes me smile because: I like that it captures me wearing my mum’s sunglasses and enjoying grenadine, a traditional French pomegranate syrup drink that I loved as a child. As a child, I possessed a confidence I no longer have; it’s now a personal weakness. This picture reminds me of the wonderful, carefree feeling of being a child.

There’s nothing sweeter than the feeling of nostalgia. Maybe it’s time for you to dig out your old photo albums and showcase some of your favourite holiday memories from year’s gone by. Turn your old candid shots into framed prints throughout your home or spend time making a nostalgic summer photo album for a loved one or family member.