My first adventure of the summer started with my study abroad trip to London and Ireland. Before going on my trip, I thought about all the things I could do to make sure I documented it well, as I knew studying abroad would be an important and very special part of my life. I planned on taking tons of pictures and writing in a journal every day while I was abroad. For a while, I thought these two activities were good enough, but I was wrong.
My friend Rina and I decided to go on this trip together. We don't go to the same school, but we live in the same town and have been friends forever, so when booking this trip, we made sure we were on the same flights. When we were checking in at the airport, Rina somehow got checked in as some doctor guy and it was this whole big to-do. This was when we decided to pull out the camera. No fancy vlogging YouTube camera, just my phone and our enthusiasm. O'Hare is a giant airport, and there are people all over. It was a little awkward to be talking to a camera there, but I'm glad we did it.
After being checked in as the wrong person, more exciting things happened like a missing bag, making new friends, getting lost and much more. We did our best to vlog it all, although we didn't make it a huge priority because we wanted to enjoy our trip as much as possible. We ended up throwing the vlogs up on my freshly made YouTube channel a few times throughout the trip.
A big pro to making the vlogs was that my family and friends were able to see what I was up to while I was away. My mom especially loved my vlogs because although we talked on the phone throughout my trip, she said it meant a lot to see my smile while I was so far away. After each vlog post, my family and friends would reach out and ask me about a place I went to or something I saw. The vlogs were not just entertaining, they also got people thinking about where I was and what I was seeing. They made people think.
The other big reason I'm glad I vlogged is because a few years from now, I'm going to watch those videos, and it's going to be amazing. Not only will I be laughing hysterically at how ridiculous I sound, but I will also be able to relive all the amazing experiences I had on this trip.
Not to brag or anything, but I think vlogging my study abroad trip was a pretty great idea. It was a super fun way to remember this once in a lifetime trip. For anyone who is studying abroad in the future, I 100 percent recommended vlogging your trip. You don't have to post the videos anywhere, and you don't need any fancy equipment. Your family and friends will definitely appreciate it, and you will too.
