I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of travel. Some of my favorite toys as a kid were map puzzles, and I have quite an impressive Pinterest board that has documented ten years of wanderlust. Not having much travel experience before college, I knew easy access to study abroad opportunities was nonnegotiable. This was one of my reasons for choosing Washington and Lee, and now, approaching my senior year, I’ve experienced one of each type of term abroad: a summer in Merida, Mexico; a spring term in Vienna and Graz, Austria; and a full semester (currently in progress) at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. I built up each experience in my mind, anticipating the people I would meet and the landmarks I would see.
As I get closer to returning stateside for the foreseeable future, I have taken some time to reflect on all I’ve learned from the combined seven months I’ll have spent abroad. Almost none of my experiences depended on a particular pinpoint on a map or within view of a Pinterest-worthy site. This led me to my main point of advice: reject the bucket list. Studying abroad is not the time to check things off. It is a fleeting opportunity to dip your toe into what it is like to live in a place with the safety net that is a return ticket home. I am not saying you shouldn’t have goals for things you want to accomplish, but this should never come at the expense of what is right in front of you. I keep a travel journal, and the experiences that take up the most ink often could not be anticipated or “bucket listed.” Following this sentiment, my best advice for meaningful study abroad is this: Linger. Document. Reflect. Repeat.
Linger. If you want a chance at truly becoming acquainted with the place you’re visiting, you must invest the time. That means staying in town most weekends, showing up to local events and allowing experiences to come to you. With so many international experiences so closely accessible, especially alongside endless social media posts of a flashy new experience of the week, it can become easy to fall into the bucket list mindset in which certain experiences are put on a pedestal over others. Of course, this isn’t to discourage trying new things, but rather to encourage it on a more local scale. Go for a walk, sit in a café, pay attention to what people are paying attention to. Ground yourself in the mundane experiences that characterize local lives. Ask people questions about what brought them here, and what kept them from leaving. It doesn’t have to be revolutionary—most interactions won’t be. But slowly, they add up, each adding a new piece of the puzzle, informing your impression of your host country. It’s because of these interactions that I know Austria not just by its impressive landscapes and historic cities, but also by the perspectives of a grade-school teacher from Styria, an American studies professor at the University of Graz, and an Iranian immigrant in Vienna. When I think back on Mexico, I see the face of the woman who sold me a torta every day after work long before I remember seeing Chichén Itzá, a literal wonder of the world. Such unassuming experiences helped me come closer to establishing a regionally authentic routine and left me feeling a sense of belonging in a place that, if “bucket listed,” I would have actually missed out on experiencing the soul of.
Document. Of course, I take pictures, pick up magnets for my apartment fridge, collect ticket stubs, seashells and postage stamps. But in hindsight, what’s most important isn’t so conspicuous. My travel journal is a combination of documentation and reflection, but the things that were seemingly inconsequential, upon reflection, had a much greater impact than I thought. I encourage you to take note of the things that, for one reason or another, stopped you in your tracks, even if you’re not sure why yet.
Reflect. Having these notes to look back on now allows me to step into my own past self’s shoes—something more difficult to do than I might have imagined. Most of my memories are remarkably different from what I noted as important at the time, and I can see evidence of my own growth as I work my way through my travels. Now, rather than a checked-off bucket list, I have stories of interactions that surprised me and experiences that prompted extensive personal, political or philosophical reflection. Such experiences were unique to my exact situation, each a remarkable coincidence of time and place that a bucket list mindset could easily obstruct. Reframing my mindset to imagine I was collecting experiences to add to my bucket, instead of removing the experiences as I complete them, helped me become much more comfortable with lingering.
Repeat. Studying abroad is exhausting. I have often felt that the pressure to “make the most” of my trip can quickly overwhelm me. Rest between commitments is mandatory in order to be more present in my daily pursuits. It gives me the discipline to linger, the patience to notice when a meaningful experience has found its way to me and the energy to give it the thought it deserves.
