Study Abroad Chronicles: Turning Your Personal Website into a Digital Journal

Who on Earth would bother turning a personal website into a digital journal? Oh, what a naïve question!

Elephants never forget. A saying I used to identify with. I used to take pride in my memory. Until reality hit me.

Want to see some photos of my first abroad experiences? There are none. Young enough not to give a damn about stopping and pausing, I took just shy of 0 photos!

Want to hear stories instead? I remember very few.

Studying Abroad Memories: Keep Them in a Digital Journal or Hunt for Them

I had the fortune of traveling with people smarter than me, who kept track of everything. In photos and in text. People I turn to whenever I want to, well, remember.

I’ll tell you one thing, though. Hunting for your own memories in other people’s minds is a dread. I mean, literally – a huge existential dread. To avoid it, always document. You’re not an elephant, you will forget.

Apart from keeping your memories alive, there are other reasons to turn your personal website into a digital journal. Let’s dive into those now.

Turn Your Personal Website into a Digital Journal to Stay Connected

Off to study abroad? As much as you’d love to, you can’t take everyone with you. There are people you’ll leave behind. People who love you and will miss you. Is there a better way to stay connected than by keeping them in the loop of your experiences?

By turning your personal website into a global adventure journal, you’ll do much more. You’ll make them feel as if they were a part of those experiences.

Start Building Your Personal Brand on Time

From a super-scientific astrophysicist to a broody poet, you could be studying to become anything. The path you choose becomes your personal brand. As brand is everything today, you may want to start building it early on.

Show off your skills with a personal website right from the start. Add a creative twist to it and do so through your very own adventure journal. This creative twist is the difference between a boring and an exciting personal brand. What would you like yours to be?

Enrich Your Future CV

Speaking of creative twists, how about adding one to your resume as well? Your CV could shine like a pearl upon the ocean, with just a pinch of your adventures added to it.

Not to mention that the digital journal creation process itself counts as a valuable experience that can enrich your resume.

Arm Yourself With a Brand New Career Potential

If all else fails, at least you’ll have your journal to show for, right? Right! And not in a reminiscence-like way. In a professional way!

You could be looking for a job abroad, or you could be looking for a job back home. Whatever the case, it’s nice to have options. A couple of aces up your sleeve won’t hurt.

Apart from your field of study, you could discover writing to be your passion. Writing could be the hidden ace up your sleeve. It could turn out to be the career you’ve always wanted.

How to Turn Your Personal Website into a Digital Journal

A digital journal is not only a fun way of staying connected, but also a great brand building platform. As long as you know what you’re doing.

It has to shine. It has to stand out. Most importantly, it has to be a great representation of who you are. Time to get the hang of how to do it!

First, Grab Your Domain Before Someone Else Does

Turn on the creative parts of your brain and think of a domain name. Choose one that resonates with you and that will resonate with your audience. Then, grab it before someone else does!

Domains are like valuables at an auction. Except that, they don’t go to the highest bidder, but to the first bidder. And the bidding game is played quickly. Don’t be late!

Share Photos

Do you usually express yourself through writing, or through photos? With a digital journal, you’ll have to do both.

Sharing stories of where you’ve been and what you’ve seen is not enough. Draw people in with mesmerizing photos of your global adventures. Put a spell on your visitors and leave them wanting for more.

Share Cultural Insights

People want to know what, well, other people are like. Not only on a personal, but on a global level. They want to know what they have in common and what makes them different from the rest of the world.

Share cultural insights to keep readers interested in your content. Underline the differences and the similarities you’ve noticed. Let your journal be the readers’ source of learning about other cultures, as well as about their own.

Place Great Value on Quality

Creating a journal website is not like scribbling in a notebook. It should be much more structured and much more organized. It should offer much more value. Taking quality for granted won’t do you any favors.

Thus, place great value on the quality of the content you’re sharing, both in written and in visual form. That’s how you’ll attract and retain readers and that’s how you’ll build a great brand! Or build that writing career we’ve talked about.

Turn Your Personal Website into a Digital Journal and Be Consistent

You won’t lack responsibilities when studying abroad. You won’t lack adventures either. What you may lack is the time to do everything you’d like to do.

Don’t let your digital journal fall victim to that lack of time. You can say goodbye to building your brand and to all the mentioned benefits if you’re not consistent.

Get organized. Write and post in the morning, or do so in the evening. Whatever you do, though, don’t fall behind. Create a routine and stick to it. After all, consistency is the key to success.

To Conclude

Still wondering who should bother with turning a personal website into a digital journal? Here’s what I say. You should. Everyone should.

Use your web space to stay connected to the people you love. Draw new readers in with astonishing stories. Most importantly, build an exciting personal brand that can open a lot of career opportunities.

Make your studying abroad experience, literally, hard to forget. Keep track of your own memories, so you don’t have to hunt for them in other people’s minds.
Tell those stories while you still remember them. As King Olaf from The Vikings puts it: “Stories are all we have”. No truer words have ever been spoken.