When you are studying or learning a language abroad, whether it is in Argentina, France, Japan or Costa Rica, keeping in touch with friends and family is a must – if for nothing else than to brag about all the great experiences you’re having!
When you make new friends while studying abroad you develop friendships with people that can travel to and experience the same things you are in your semester abroad program. However, chances are your friends and family want to know what you’re doing as well!
Here are some easy ways to keep in touch while studying abroad.
1. Whatsapp
Everyone has Whatsapp, right? Possibly the quickest and best way to chat or video call no matter where you are in the world. This is the best app to keep in touch and also help combat culture shock when you arrive.
2. Start a blog
Blogs are our favourite ways to keep in touch with people back home! These are a great parent resource as well as a way to have friends comment on what you’re doing. Most blog sites, like WordPress or Tumblr, offer options to upload photos and video as well as text. Friends and family can follow your RSS feed and you can even connect your blog to Facebook. Some travel bloggers make a lot of money!
3. Tweet!
Tweeting through your study abroad experience can leave a lot of people wanting more – tweets are only limited in characters. This is why most people use a URL shortener (try bit.ly) to link their tweets to photo albums or a blog.
4. Video your adventures
Creating a video scrapbook of your semester abroad program will make people back home feel like they’re there! Most handheld cameras offer a video option. If you want to get really fancy, purchase a video camera before you leave to get high quality videos. YouTube is extremely easy to use and can host all your videos on one easy to find channel.
5. Put photos online
Whether it is through your personal Facebook or you use a photo gallery site like Instagram or Photobucket, putting pictures online of your study abroad experience will not only give you bragging rights but make a great keepsake to look at when you get back home as well.
6. Round robin emails
These are great ideas for different groups. You might not want to send your parents the same email you send your frat brothers, but explaining discussing your adventures through Brazil or China over and over can feel redundant. This is a good way of telling your stories only once and still reaching a large audience.
7. Scrapbook
Scrapbooking is a great old school way to show friends and family your living abroad experiences when you travel back home. Scrapbooks take a lot of time and patience, but can turn out amazing if you take the proper time out to do them. Add ticket stubs, food wrappers, pictures, etc. to allow the scrapbook to take you back to your study abroad world!
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