Posts published on April 19, 2018

Traveling the World while Studying Full-Time

BY DAVID GUITIERREZ

Studying full-time while traveling the world may sound a wee bit unrealistic – and it actually was so just a little while ago. However, times are changing, and many colleges today offer flexible opportunities for those not willing to stay in one place. In other words, if you do want to travel, college is not an obstacle anymore.

However, in order to make it work, you have to apply certain efforts and be ready to use your time to maximum efficiency. Let’s take a look at some specifics.

1.    Choose the Course That Ties in with Your Traveling

Or at least one that you are truly interested in. Students have the hard time doing all the assignments for their courses even when they stay in one place with nothing extraordinary distracting them – imagine reading up on a course that bores you out of your mind while visiting all sorts of new and exciting places. It is only going to breed frustration and exasperation.

The ideal solution would be to choose something that can go hand in hand with your traveling: e.g., an East Asian studies degree you will be able to supplement with the first-hand experience of this region or an archeology degree you can take while traveling to actual archeological sites.

2.    Prepare the Necessary Documents

Depending on the countries you intend to visit, you may need specific documents and permits, and obtaining some of them may take quite some time. It means that you have to plan ahead, find out the requirements and obtain the necessary papers beforehand. For example, if you intend to visit Canada, you should submit Canada ETA application early enough to be sure it is going to be ready by the time you head in this direction. Other countries may need visas, visitors’ permits, and other documents, so do the same for them.

3.    Get Really Good at Planning

To make study-travel combo work, you should possess the outstanding discipline and be ready to plan your movements carefully according to the demands of your course. For example, it isn’t the best of ideas to go for a week-long action-packed trip when you have a crucial assignment to complete – but if you foresee it and make sure your itinerary reflects what you are doing for your course, it is entirely doable. If, however, this degree of planning ahead is beyond you, then combining traveling and studies is not for you.

4.    Establish a Routine

Traveling is distracting, there is no going around it. If you let yourself get sidetracked by every new fascinating place you visit, you can very soon find yourself buried deep under unfinished assignments with no realistic way of completing them all. A viable way out is to establish a once-and-for-all routine for your college-related activities. Set aside certain hours every day to go over your assignments and stick to them no matter how much you want to go and do something else. It will take some getting used to but will become automatic in the long run.

5.    Get Reliable Tools

You should have an opportunity to connect with your online learning platform whenever you want, which means that a sturdy smartphone capable of providing Internet connection via tethering and a laptop with wireless connection capability are crucial. As you won’t always have a power outlet nearby, both devices should have good battery life. Spare batteries will also come in handy, as well as a set of international adapters for all your gadgets.

Traveling while studying for a degree may sound like a crazy idea, but with the right planning and enough determination it is not just doable, but fun as well!

David Gutierrez has worked in the field of web design since 2005. Right now he started learning Java in order to get second occupation. His professional interests defined major topics of his articles. David writes about new web design software, recently discovered professional tricks and also monitors the latest updates of the web development.