Greetings from London! Since leaving the Lakes at the end of October and spending November in a retreat center in Birmingham, we have since arrived in north London to live out the remainder of our semester. You know how when you’re walking around a city all day, you don’t realize how tired you are until you sit down? That is how I felt emotionally and intellectually now that we have reached a pause in our semester. And of course, how does one put one’s life together when one feels frayed at all edges? One way, as you’ve probably guessed, is JOURNALING!
Now that we finally have time to breathe and the onslaught of essays has (temporarily) receded, I have henceforth dedicated mornings to catching up on travel journal entries and lingering over a cup of coffee. I keep a medium-size black Moleskine notebook (which is perfect for tucking in my bag and pulling out in cafes or on the train) that has become the go-to place to write down anything and everything—a map of upcoming assignments, weekly spreads and plans, lists of things I’m looking forward to, gratitude lists, journal entries, quotes, all that good stuff. Today I’m going to show you a few of the journaling ideas I’ve enjoyed most this semester.
A (Very Brief) Introduction
To begin with, I use a plain black Moleskine journal, which you can find in most stores. The first pages are set aside for a cover page and a map of the places I have traveled (in this case, Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland). Since I’m traveling for four months in only a carry-on, I added a packing list to keep myself on track.
You might notice that this journal is labeled “Part Two” of the U.K. Chronicles…this is because, simply put, my first journal was absolutely stuffed with all the adventures that happened in Northern Ireland, the Lake District, and Birmingham. After arriving in London, I decided to begin a fresh journal.
The Upcoming Month
The first place I always start is a spread of the upcoming month. Start by using your wicked awesome calligraphy and drawing skills to create a monthly spread. Then, put together a playlist of all the songs that are the soundtrack to your life this month. Pull out your highlighters and map out all the upcoming assignments and day trips and deadlines.
Usually I’m a fairly organized person, but this semester, academics have often been pushed to the wayside in exchange for living the full experience of the trip itself. In a previous blog post, I mentioned that I like to make a “term page” of all upcoming assignments before the semester begins. This has worked well for me so far, but now I’ve found myself needing to have a visual monthly spread of all the assignments and day trips to keep myself organized.
Reasons to Be Excited
Studying abroad is harder than I ever imagined. When the excitement wears off, the gritty parts of travel become part of your daily life. Mapping public transit becomes second nature. Yeah, you’re studying abroad like you’ve always dreamed of doing, but you still need to edit and submit your essays on time. You still need to maintain some level of social interaction with the group. You still live out of a suitcase.
In the Lake District, I began to fall into a continual grind. I was so stressed about the ominous number of essays looming over me that I forgot to enjoy the wonder of being in “the most beautiful place / that man hath found” (William Wordsworth).
Here’s the cure: remember all the things you were looking forward to doing at this point in your life? Write those down. More than likely, you’re doing them now and just forgetting to appreciate them. Over the summer, I used to dream that my semester would be painted with studying in cute corner cafes, curling up in a blanket to read a good classic, or going on hikes into the mountains. And guess what? That is pretty much my life right now—I just forget to be glad about it sometimes.
List Your Aesthetic
On a slightly more fun note, I recently discovered the idea of aesthetic lists. This can include everything: music you’ve had on repeat, a place you keep returning to, things that have been on your mind, books you’ve been reading, sounds you associate with that month, feelings, dreams, moments you can’t forget. I do this about once a month now. By the end of the year, it will be so fun to see how the vibe has changed over the course of those months.
Here’s my written mood for November: evening wanders through the woods, listening to music through headphones until late at night, bookstore treasures, choral hymns, going on spontaneous adventures with friends, dark crimson lipstick, the gentle sound of piano keys, studying in a cafe all day, earl grey tea, a wardrobe the color of autumn woods, midnight, the silhouette of cathedral spires against a twilight sky.
Make Plans
The other night, after listening to a really inspiring podcast (on goal setting, incidentally), I was flooded with a sudden surge of inspiration to do a review of the year so far and just assess how I’m doing in different areas. November is a great time to start winding up the year and slam dunk the last of your goals. You should be proud of how far you’ve come this year. Honestly, 2018 has felt like it lasted forever—not in a bad way at all, just in a “wow, look how much has happened” kind of way. Don’t forget to remember how far you’ve come.
There you have it! Thanks for joining this little peek inside my travel journal. I really had fun putting this together for you, even though I have been writing this instead of doing what I ought to be doing (which is searching the effects of serialization on Charles Dickens’s writing process. As you do).
Have a lovely week!
<3 Olivia Grace
