Bringing It Home: How to Make the Most of Studying Abroad

A week ago I came back from yet another month of teaching abroad with my students. My job might not pay much, but one nice perk is that I often get to take my students to amazing places.

Camels rest as the sun sets on sand dunes near Erg Chebbi, Morocco

Over several decades of teaching I’ve taught courses in Poland, Greece, the U.K., Guatemala, Belize, Nicaragua, Italy, Morocco, and Spain.

Sometimes it’s just for a week during one of our university breaks; often it’s for a month during our January term. This January I was in Morocco and Spain, tracing the history of Al-Andalus, and teaching my students about the Religious Architecture of Water.

My students walk past a century-old noria, or water-lifting wheel, near Abarán, Spain. These wheels use the power of flowing water to lift water up into fields for irrigation. This one is still in use. Such craftsmanship tells us something about what the people there value. This is what I mean by “the religious architecture of water.”

Exciting as it is, travel can also be tiring, so when we come back we often just want to rest. Rest is good, but if you want to keep reaping the rewards of study travel, here are a few tips:

1. First, do get that rest you need. Sleep deeply when your head hits the pillow that first night. If at all possible, don’t schedule anything for a couple of days when you get home. Give yourself some space to reflect on what you’ve seen, where you’ve been, the people you met.
2. While you do that reflecting, keep journaling. (Hopefully you journaled while you were traveling? Taking photos is fine, but be sure to write down details to give those photos depth and context.) Write while the memories are crisp and clear. They fade fast! My mother went abroad right after she graduated from college, and she kept a journal. She died over a decade ago, but I still have her passport and her journal, and I cherish those memories she put down with paper and pen.
3. Share your stories. Don’t try to tell everything all at once, but as you reflect and write, talking with others about the small details can help to deepen your memories. This year my students and I got to hear a great lecture from a professor in Granada. She taught us a lot, and I loved listening to her, but I also remain impressed by the lecture hall she found for us. She called in a favor and got us a special room with a gorgeous mural painted on the high, vaulted ceiling. The place felt important. Telling others about the…