Perhaps you’ve toured the Vatican Museum and visited the Sistine Chapel. You have a hastily snapped photo of the ceiling, of course—no better than a print in an art history book, but nonetheless proof you’ve been there. But do you really remember how it actually made you feel: the awe of staring up at the 500-year-old frescoes? Doubtful.

In an age where it seems like everyone has a smartphone—and every smartphone has high-quality image resolution—the increased convenience of cameras comes with an unwieldy amount of indiscriminate photo-taking. With a shutter just a finger-swipe away, travelers are able to document every moment of an expedition frame-by-frame, with no need to worry about about cost of film or getting images developed. No longer is there an incentive to pick and choose what to record and research indicates this lack of selectivity dulls our memory.

Through the Looking Glass

In 2014, a study published in Psychological Science tested the note-taking efficacy of two groups of university students: one that took lecture notes on laptops, while a second recorded notes by hand. Results revealed that the students who physically wrote things down processed the information on a significantly deeper level than those on computers, particularly because they were forced to be more discerning in what they chose to transcribe. By virtue of the speed with which they typed, students on laptops tended to document the lecture almost verbatim.

“The reason laptop notetakers were doing worse is because they were trying to transcribe as much as they could—to get it all down and sort it out later," says Dr. Pam Mueller, co-author of the study. “When [travelers] try to take all these pictures, it’s a similar instinct. If you’re not processing the information at the time, then the memories just aren’t formed. For people with a camera to their face snapping away, when they look back later, it won’t be the same.”

Mueller points to other recent studies that suggest an over-reliance on technology is actually deteriorating human memory. Though modern conveniences allow us to record a greater breadth of material, we struggle to contextualize it in our memories because our brain does not have to work as hard to filter it.

The Pen Is Mightier

Using a journal, however, allows for incorporating experiences into a greater narrative.

Unlike static images of places you’ve been, you can document actual anecdotes that will hold greater value in your long-term memory: The kind local in San Sebastián who recommended a hole-in-the-wall pintxos bar; the wrong turn in Beijing down a traditional Chinese hutong; the taste of sea salt in the air atop the Irish Cliffs of Moher.

“Often the ‘exotic’ nature of a place can only be seen in the details,” says John Gimlette, an English award–winning travel writer and author. “Give your notes a truly foreign feel with plenty of local words and names. Remember to record smells and sounds; they can be as evocative as sights when you are trying to recall the scene later.”

Gimlette has a tall stack of travel journals dating back to 1980, when at the age of 17 he traversed the Soviet Union via the Trans-Siberian Railway. He advises jotting down notes as you go about your day—specifics you want to remember—but leaving space to expound upon the experience at a later time. Ultimately, the type of info you choose to catalog is up to you. But simply writing out the finer points of your trip will go a long way toward preserving the experience in your mind.

As you prepare for your next adventure, by no means shun the camera entirely. Instead, think of it as a complement to your travel journal. Use photos as memory aids, or to capture unique perspectives that will build upon your writing. After all, a picture may be worth a thousand words, but a thousand pictures are just a gallery of forgotten memories.