Place shapes memory because experiences attach themselves to physical details.

Memory does not store itself in the abstract. It hooks onto a particular corner, a smell of rain on hot pavement, the sound a certain door made. That is why returning somewhere can hand you back an entire year of your life in a few seconds, complete with feelings you thought were long gone.

Use this deliberately when something matters to you. Notice the physical details while you are in the middle of a good stretch of life, and you are giving your future self a way back in. It costs nothing and it works better than trying to remember on purpose.