Right now, around 60% of the Wake Forest undergraduate population is weighing the option of whether or not to study abroad. Whether you decide to go in the summer or spend a semester away from the Wake Forest campus, there is one thing that will make your time oversees the most memorable: a travel journal.
I spent six weeks during the summer of 2017 in London studying at the London School of Economics. This was my first time going abroad on my own and having the privilege of planning my own adventures. I never kept journals in the past, but I was given a journal as a gift before I made the journey across the pond.
Before I even applied to London School of Economics, I knew that I wanted to keep a journal abroad as a way to remember everything I experienced. It’s almost impossible to remember every detail of living in a foreign country from memory. Every night, I spent at least an hour documenting my day and filling the pages with photographs and maps. I filled an entire journal, of over three hundred pages, with memories of my six weeks living in London.
The best part of keeping a journal is putting a little bit of yourself into every page. Here are my top tips for personalizing your travel journal.
- Find a way to paste photographs along the way
I used a Polaroid zip printer that connected to my phone via Bluetooth. My parents gave me this printer for my birthday to accompany my journal. However, substituting this option with Kodak disposable cameras or just pasting your photos once you return back will also work. Just remember to keep pace with your photographs. Adding photos to your travel journal will allow you or whomever you trust to see and read about your adventures abroad.
2. Don’t be afraid to take photos of whatever interest you
There is a stigma about tourists and taking photographs of the most mundane objects. I’m not going to lie after you have been abroad for a couple of weeks you definitely start to sympathize with the locals. However, take photos of whatever you want to remember. Whenever I went to art museums, the British National Gallery or the Musee d’Orsay for example, I took photographs of my favorite paintings because I knew it would be a while until I would see them again. My favorite thing to do is look back and remember why I loved that piece of artwork so much. Also, embrace the stigma of millennials photographing their food. I had the best meals of my life while in London and I photographed every single course. Just go for it, don’t be embarrassed to take pictures of what you find interesting.
3. Keep all of your maps and ticket stubs
I decorated entire pages of my journal with pull out maps and ticket stubs. My drawstring cactus bag was filled with maps and museum guides by the end of each day. You probably won’t remember all of the exhibits or all of the information you learned while on tour. It’s a good way to differentiate the pages of your journal. Say you come back to the same museum, but several years later, you’ll have the opportunity to see how that museum changed. Also, all metro cards throughout Europe are different. I have an entire page at the end of my journal with all my train passes. It’s a fun way to compare countries that are so close in location, yet so different.
Cover Photo: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/london/articles/london-city-breakguide/