The Importance of Writing Down Things to Remember

My step father was in the military so we moved a lot. When I was almost ten we moved to a wonderful place called Zaragoza, Spain. I LOVED it. The base is no longer an American base, but I can tell you where everything on that base was. From the theater to the swimming pool, to the school. I remember everything about that base, but I can not tell you how to get to where we lived off base. I remember what the place looked like, but I can not tell you the address or where it is today.
Next we moved to Madrid Spain, to a military base called Torrejon. We lived about 20 miles off base in base housing, and if you took me there today, I could drive you to the house we lived in. But, here we go again, I can't remember anything about the base. I had a chat with my sister who is four years older than me and she can't remember much about it either. I can't tell you if our school was all in one, like in Zaragoza, or if they were split up by elementary, middle school and high schools. I can't remember the theater, the commissary, the base exchange or anything. I can't figure out why.
What I can figure out is that if I would have keep a journal, or taken good notes, I wouldn't be writing this right now. So, take some notes, and when you take photos, write on the back of them who they are, when you took them and where it was.