Make Your Own Vacation: Scenting Summer Travel Memories

Make Your Own Vacation: Scenting Summer Travel Memories

I just got back from a week-long trip to Berlin and Prague, and I’m still buzzing from the experience. The architecture was breathtaking, the food was incredible, and everywhere we went was full of energy. 

But what struck me most were the smells. Every place had its own unique scent signature: warm bakery air wafting out onto cobbled streets, spicy sausages sizzling at a corner stand, old stone mingling with cigarette smoke and linden blossoms. Even the train stations had a vibe. Something like diesel, leather, and anticipation.

If I were to bottle that trip, it might open with black pepper and dry tobacco to capture Berlin’s edge, melt into an unexpected floral heart (linden or violet, maybe?) for Prague’s romantic turns, and finish with warm amber, old books, and a hint of steel for all the moments in between.

That’s the beauty of perfume. It's memory, made wearable. And while not every vacation comes with a souvenir you can blend, your scent memories can be just as vivid and long-lasting as a photograph. 

Below, I’ll show you how to build perfumes inspired by your favorite summer escapes. I’ve even included a few ready-to-mix recipes to get you started.

Turn your favorite getaway into a custom perfume

The Coastal Escape

Inspired by beach trips and salt-kissed breezes

There’s something about the beach that sticks with you long after you’ve rinsed off the sand. The tang of salt in the air, citrus sunscreen melting into warm skin, a driftwood fire crackling in the distance. It’s a mood. 

Even if your summer plans don’t include the coast, you can create a scent that brings the shoreline to you. Try this blend from our fragrance recipe collection:

Coastal

This blend evokes a breezy, sunlit day by the ocean. It’s crisp, sparkling, and just a little earthy. The grapefruit and fresh water set a bright, clean tone, while the ginger and sage add a twist of aromatic spice. Cedarwood and oakmoss ground the scent like weathered driftwood under your feet.

Make it your own:
Add a drop of ambergris accord or sea salt if you want a more literal ocean note, or layer in a splash of coconut for a more vacation-y, sunscreen vibe.

A Forest Hike After Rain

Inspired by mountain trails, damp leaves, and wild air

If your ideal summer getaway involves hiking boots, pine needles, and mist rising from mossy trees, this scent is for you. Forest memories are all about contrasts: the brightness of sun filtering through leaves, the dark dampness of soil, or the occasional floral note carried on the breeze. This is nature’s air conditioning, bottled.

Green Horizons

This scent captures that feeling of breathing deeply under a green canopy. The bergamot adds a crisp freshness, while fresh cut grass sets the scene. Lavender and herbaceous notes evoke the rich understory, and vetiver and oakmoss give it an earthy, rain-soaked base that lingers long after.

Make it your own:
To emphasize the trail-after-rain vibe, add a touch of cedarwood or patchouli for a damp-wood note, or a resin like labdanum for a golden, sun-through-the-leaves effect.

Countryside Garden Afternoon

Inspired by flower pots, buzzing bees, and English summer gardens

A quiet afternoon in the countryside, terracotta pots baking in the sun, lavender swaying beside sweet jasmine, and the comforting smell of damp earth after a morning watering. Sounds like heaven! 

This scent captures the charm of a walled garden or cottage greenhouse—rustic, floral, and just a little mischievous. Try this blend from our recipe collection:

Flower Pot

This is a garden in a bottle. Fresh water and herbaceous notes bring to mind dew on green leaves, while magnolia and jasmine bloom softly in the heart. Fresh dirt gives it a grounding, literal "potting soil" quality (in the best way), and vanilla rounds it out with a hint of sweetness.

Make it your own:
Add rose for a classic garden flourish, or a drop of tomato leaf or marigold for a sharper green snap.

Wildflower Meadow Picnic

Inspired by open fields, dappled sunlight, and breezy freedom

Some vacations aren’t about the destination so much as stillness. A patchwork quilt in a sunlit field. Bare feet in the grass. The sound of bees. The smell of wildflowers and fresh air and the sense that time has slowed down. This scent channels the joy of simplicity, the beauty of nature left to its own rhythm.

Meadow

The blend opens with a fresh, slightly citrusy lift, like early morning air. Honeysuckle and lilac paint a soft, sun-warmed floral picture, and oakmoss with white musk gives it that lazy-afternoon softness.

Make it your own:
Add a touch of hay absolute or sweetgrass accord to enhance the pastoral feel, or orange blossom to brighten the floral heart.

Design Your Own Getaway Scent

Because no two vacations, or noses, are the same

These recipes are just the beginning. Does your summer smell like spicy street food? Alpine air? Festival incense? Poolside piña coladas? Translate that memory into scent.

Here’s how to get started:

  • Choose a memory. Think of a moment that stuck with you: What were you doing? Where were you? Who were you with?

  • List the smells. What did the air smell like? What was in your hands? What did the place itself smell like? Concrete, pine, cotton candy?

  • Break it into notes. Use top notes for fleeting impressions (air, citrus, herbs), heart notes for atmosphere and emotion (florals, fruits, spices), and base notes for what lingers (woods, resins, musks).

  • Start blending. Use your Vetiver Aromatics perfume kit or favorite accords or essential oils to start layering your scent memory.

Not sure where to begin? Start with one of the recipes above and make it your own by swapping a few notes. Or browse our full collection of fragrances and DIY kits to build from scratch.

If you're near southern Indiana, we’d love to welcome you in person. Our perfumery in downtown New Albany is open for walk-ins and reservations, and our perfume bar is the perfect place to bring your scent memories to life. You can recreate one of the blends featured here or design something totally original with guidance from our team.

We’re here to help you bottle your memories, one note at a time.

For more summer scent reading, see How To Smell Like Summer: DIY Perfume Recipes for a Perfect Summer Scent

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