Travel Writing 101
Crafting the perfect account of your study abroad adventures
This article was published in Abroad View's fall 2009 magazine.
By Charlotte Blessing
So much happens while you are overseas that it’s nearly impossible to keep each memory as vivid and distinct as the event it recalls. Monday fuses with Sunday, and the trip to Soweto blends with the visit to Cape Town, or was it Pretoria? Sometimes you forget the rich color of the sky as the sun sets over the Indian Ocean in Zanzibar. But don’t worry because writing about the study abroad experience is a brilliant way to memorialize your incredible journey. The written outcome is yours to keep—forever. Better yet, putting a trip into words can also inform others about issues and places they may never otherwise know about.
Travel writing, however, cannot be hurried, unless you are penning a postcard, an e-mail, or a blog. Writing about your adventures requires planning, the use of all your senses, reflection, and, of course, lots of writing and editing.
I never travel without lots of pencils (they don’t dry out) and cheap notebooks because I don’t mind if they get wet or splattered with coffee. Carry your writing gear around and take time to just sit on a street corner and take it all in—the sights, the sounds, and the smells. The scent of onions sizzling in an ocean of peanut oil inside a smoky hut in rural Kenya has made its way into several of my stories. Once you’ve taken it all in, here are some suggestions for getting it all down:
Take names
Ask the people you meet for their names and for the correct spelling, and for contact info in case you have questions or need to clarify something later. Take notice of the names of attractions and towns you visit. Save brochures and maps as they can help you get the facts correct later on in the writing process. Do your research. Remember, if you don’t have the right name or spelling, you shouldn’t use it in your writing.
Snap photos
Photos hold details you might otherwise have overlooked. But please, before you get the camera out, make sure it’s culturally appropriate and acceptable to take pictures. In some cultures, you should get permission to snap a photo of a sacred location, even if it just looks like a plain old tree to you. Ask locals about the unwritten cultural beliefs and rules about photography. You don’t want to cause offense or cough up your last pennies as payment for what was supposed to be a “quick” photo.
Know the audience
Figuring out who your readers are will guide the writing style. If you plan to submit your writing to a contest or publication, read a few issues of the publication to which you plan on submitting. You will quickly get an indication of whether the tone should be formal or informal. If you’re writing for your campus newspaper, you can be pretty sure the audience is your peers and some slang is probably OK. A general rule, though, is to always explain culturally specific terminology and translate foreign words. It is often helpful to double check with a native speaker to make sure your vocabulary and translations are, in fact, correct.
Get started
When you begin writing, don’t worry about word choice, grammar, structure, or length. Try to let your brain lead your hand. Too often we censor our own writing, which can result in stale, boring writing—or even writer’s block. Write down more than you will ultimately use. It’s better to have to cut words than to invent a description of a moment or feeling. The more detailed the notes, the better the stories. As you go over your copious notes, you may also discover a new theme, a different focus, or even material for another story.
Be a guide
Writing about an experience in another country is also a way to share with others what life was like for you in that part of the world, through your eyes. Invite the reader to join you on a literary journey to a particular place. As the guide, however, you should follow a few guidelines. Don’t assume that your reader has been there before. Make the journey graphic and vivid. Share a few of the funniest cultural faux pas you made. Describe the joy and what you learned about yourself.
Zoom in your focus
An attempt to write about Vanuatu’s 83 islands is setting the stage for disaster, especially if you are working with a 1,000-word limit, for example. Focus your writing as you would focus a camera: zoom in, then focus a bit and identify that specific aspect of the culture or experience you want to write about. “My Life as a Vegetarian in Beef-Loving Kenya” could be a great story about how to survive in the country even though you don’t eat meat.
Make it personal
Write your story in first person. It’s a whole lot easier to write about your own experiences and then weave in factual information about an issue, rather than the other way around. I had been invited to join my uncle as a volunteer at a rural hospital in China. Little did I know that the journey would teach me as much about my own fears as it did about public health in a small Chinese town. This grabs the readers. They know they can expect to learn about public health and about your fears.
Use details
Remember that your readers are out of context and are not traveling with you. Don’t tell them that Japan is beautiful. Instead use words to show them what the night sky looked like and make the people or location come alive. The reader should feel how the hot sand burned your feet when you played beach soccer barefoot with a group of young boys. Describe how the market, with its nauseating smells, made you sick to your stomach. Make your readers taste the sweet jackfruit.
Be respectful
Your writing can inform and educate about a place, a custom, or a people. You can be the voice of previously unheard voices. But do so with respect. The Description-Interpretation-Evaluation (DIE) writing exercise can help you work through an emotionally challenging or unresolved experience. First, write down what happened as if you were looking through a camera lens. Although hard, you must abstain from writing about your feelings and thoughts. Next, interpret what you just wrote down. What do you think happened? What have you learned about the culture that could explain what took place? This process allows you to look at the situation from various viewpoints and uncover a deeper meaning. Your reasons can be multiple and long. Evaluate the experience and be honest when describing what you think about it all or how it affected you. Now, distill what should make it into your story.
Studying abroad is an international, cross-cultural, and inward journey. Sharing the experience with others who are thinking about studying abroad or who have been on a similar adventure is the great prerogative of a global learner. You have the opportunity to be the voice for the voiceless and to be a catalyst for action. Writing about living with a host family in Uppsala, Sweden, pays tribute and says “thank you” to a country that opened her arms to you so that you could learn with and from her people. And, remember, your story might even inspire someone else to make a dream come true. Good luck and write well.
Resources
Ask your study abroad office about national and local writing opportunities. There are lots! Here are a few to get you started.
• Abroad View Magazine has annual contests and general submission opportunities for study abroad students.
• Transitions Abroad offers an annual essay contest and other writing opportunities.
• Writing Across Culture: An Introduction to Study Abroad and the Writing Process. Kenneth Wagner and Tony Magistrale. 2003.
• Making Sense: A Student’s Guide to Research and Writing. Margot Northey. 2005. Oxford University Press
Charlotte Blessing is a Danish national but has spent most of her adult life working overseas in wonderful places such as Tanzania, Kenya, and Ghana. She has a master’s degree in international and intercultural management and is the director of international programs at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Besides educating students about study abroad opportunities and working on campus internationalization projects, Charlotte spends her time writing multicultural children’s literature. Her writing has appeared in Faces Magazine, Stepping Stone Magazine, Highlights Magazine, and Abroad View Magazine. She is a member of Abroad View’s Editorial Board.