I was searching the internet for quirky holidays recently, and discovered that September is National Save Your Photos Month. (Who knew, right?) A lot of these “holidays” that seem to pop up out of nowhere really seem odd, but this is one that I can get behind and support (she said, surprising no one).

I have an inner need to plan for every scenario. My internal disaster planning pre-kids consisted of making mental notes of the things I would grab in a fire and the kind of weapon I’d need for under my bed to thwart intruders. That likely-normal anxiety skyrocketed when I had kids, and suddenly my solution for every scenario became unachievable. In case of fire, I could not run to the photo albums to save them first anymore (Hashtag kids). But I also couldn’t bear the thought of leaving all my photos to fend for themselves, when I’ve been amassing a photo collection of my own for 30 years. Not to mention all the photos I’ve already inherited from my family. And the sizable collection I just received from my in-laws when they moved and I volunteered as family photo historian. I couldn’t possibly run and save all those photos from whatever natural disaster might possibly befall them.

Luckily, there are some simple ways you can save your photos, both the long-dusty printed ones and the more recent digital pixels floating around your computer and phone. I’ve written out my favorite tips for Save Your Photos Month and placed them in a handy dandy pdf that you can download and then put into practice.

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