I was disappointed. I had this vision of my future college dorm room—string lights and Polaroid pictures decorating the walls, showcasing all my exciting memories from my trips and adventures over the summer. My trip to Thailand, of course, would feature prominently. It was my first international trip and my first mission trip. I’ve never grown so much in a month. Of course I wanted to be reminded of that every day in college!
But I learned when I was packing for my trip just how hard it could be to travel with film. I read that the kind of film that Instax cameras use can’t go through the airport security scanners, so it has to be hand-checked. I could imagine how difficult that could be even just flying in the US. There was no way I was going to do that in every country we had a layover!
So, resigned, I texted my teammate that I’d have to leave my camera behind.
Aw, she texted back. But you can get Polaroids of photos from your phone, so I’ll just do that.
I decided that this was a good plan. I went to Thailand, then to California, then to Austin. I took photos with my friends and had the time of my life. And then I went on Etsy, browsed the various options for Polaroid prints, and picked one. Her name was Nancy with Occasional Motto (here's her shop page). Here were the results!
I was a little nervous about ordering the pictures, but the experience was actually great. Nancy emailed me only a few minutes later—half an hour at the most! I ordered ten pictures and sent them over email. By that same evening she had finished the prints and sent me a photo of them. I had been worried that they wouldn’t be the proper size, but at least in the photo, they looked exactly right.
Then it was just a matter of time until they got to my house. I waited eagerly for my package and was so excited when it arrived! She put the pictures in a cute little envelope and I shook them out. They were absolutely Instax photos—I have no idea how she did it. They looked just like they’d come from my camera at home! I’m so happy to now be able to treasure my Thailand memories on my dorm wall with all the other Polaroids I’ve taken. This was such a cute and fun way to decorate my dorm, and it didn’t cause any issues with international travel, either.
So if you’re like me and Polaroids are your kind of aesthetic, or you just want a single photo to put in your phone case, definitely check this out. Thanks Nancy!
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