Voices: The importance of blogging during your semester abroad
Before I left for my semester abroad, my mom gave a golden leather-bound journal.
On the front page she had written, “This journal is for those moments that you want to keep to yourself… I know you’ll do a fabulous job blogging, but you will have other thoughts and experiences just for you to remember.”
I’m not usually the kind of person that journals about deep secrets, or actually journals at all for that matter. However, I knew this was a special time in my life and I wanted to remember as much as possible.
Like many students going abroad, I also made a blog before I left. It’s especially difficult to call and text while participating in Semester at Sea, so I figured blog posts would an easy way to update my friends and family about my trip.
It would also be a fun site to go back and reflect on in the future.
At first, writing in my journal and posting to my blog was easy -- I felt like I could share the majority of my thoughts on my blog, and writing in my journal was just a way to relax. However, after my first full week of traveling in a new city, my energy level and drive to write had fluctuated.
I wanted to record everything and nothing at the same time. When I experienced an awesome moment or site, I knew I should write it down so I could remember and share it, but I also didn’t want to take the time to whip out my journal and jot down notes.
I thought it would be easy to look through my pictures and just summarize the trip, but I quickly realized that the few notes I had written down were much more descriptive and expressive than a summary of my itinerary. I immediately regretted not journaling more.
I kept telling myself that of course I would remember it -- it was one of the coolest things I’d ever seen or done. And at the end of each day when I would get in bed, I would always ignore the tiny voice telling me to journal because I was utterly exhausted.
Well, after six days in Japan I returned to the ship with one measly note in my journal and a few paragraphs I had typed in my phone.
I thought it would be easy to look through my pictures and just summarize the trip, but I quickly realized that the few notes I had written down were much more descriptive and expressive than a summary of my itinerary.
I immediately regretted not journaling more.
In addition, I had a tough time deciding what I should include in the journal and what I should post to my blog. Of course I want to share as much as possible with my friends and family, but when it comes down to it, they probably aren’t interested in my every single move in Japan.
I was talking to my roommate about it, and she had a great idea: Share your “Top 10 Moments/Sites/Things” about your trip on your blog, and keep the more detail-oriented itinerary stories for yourself.
Your family will love to read the things that meant the most to you, and your journal is still a way for you to go back and read while thinking, “Oh yeah…. I forgot about that!”
I made a blog post titled, Japan’s Top Ten, which included my top moments, and also a few things that I learned. For example, Japan taught me that travelling is a lot different than vacationing. I also wanted to remember the hilarious toilet seats complete with bidets, fake flushing noises and rainforest ambiance recordings.
My advice would be to write down the simple, little things that will be hard to remember after the experience is over. Journal while you travel, not afterwards.
They don’t have to be formulated stories, but those initial fresh, quick thoughts you have will mean a lot more than a recollection.
After being back for a few days, I realized is that the entire point of traveling is just that – traveling. It’s an experience, not a written story.
Of course great stories can come from random adventures and encounters, but the most worth comes from being there yourself. So soak it in, jot a few notes down when you’re in the moment, and then blog the best parts when you return.
Kelcie Kempernich is a student at the University of Wisconsin and a spring 2015 Paste BN Collegiate Correspondent.
This story originally appeared on the Paste BN College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.