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Journaling to cope with culture shock and home sickness while traveling abroad...

I am not a good journaler. When I am at school I try to keep a beautiful organized bullet journal but always end up with a mess of sticky notes and scraps of paper.

When I’m traveling, especially on such an intense trip as my learning abroad adventure to Havana, I find myself needing to journal every night. I take time to process feelings, remember funny anecdotes, and write down names or places to research.

Your journal is for you.

If something is bothering you while you are traveling, write it down. Get those thoughts out of your head-space so you can continue soaking in your new surroundings.

I worry a lot about losing things when I’m traveling. I’m one of those people whose internal mantra is PKW (Phone, Keys, Wallet). Where are they and are they safe? On my trip to Havana, I lost my sunglasses in the ocean. I was standing in the water talking to my friends and drinking fresh coconut juice (how could I be worried about anything at that moment) when a wave washed over me and the ocean took possession of my prescription sunglasses. Trying to play cool as my friends felt around aimlessly in the sand for them I retreated to my backpack to put on my hat and write in my journal.

It’s silly that something like losing sunglasses could stress me out, but it did. Writing down those feelings helped me process them faster and get back to having fun.

I also used my journal to write down things I wanted to tell my parents, friends, and siblings about—specific details that I knew they would enjoy and I didn’t want to forget!

Of course, since I was traveling with a class I used my journal to take notes for my research paper as well. I am writing about biodiversity in Cuba and so I used my journal to write down questions for later, helpful organizations, and bird species that I spotted while traveling!

It’s okay to fill in the journal later.

Now after telling you how great it is to journal in the moment, I also want to say that you shouldn’t be chained to your travel journal. If you’re walking around in a museum or just too tired to open your journal on your way to bed, don’t do it. You can fill it in later or just let that day be remembered in photographs and stories.

My journal, my favorite pen, and the field guide I carried all over Havana.

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Check out this video documenting some of the things I learned in Cuba!

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Shooting Film While Learning Abroad in Cuba

WHY FILM?

Last summer I took an introductory course in Dark Room Photography. I shot three rolls with a plastic Holga Camera (like the kind you see at Urban Outfitters). The finished photos from the class don’t look great, but I became obsessed with mastering the processes. I am always attracted to detail-oriented work. Since film is an expensive medium I try to use it with intention during special occasions. A trip to Havana is definitely worthy.

MY CAMERA & MY FILM

My camera is a Fujica ST701, which is quite an improvement over the Holga.

I brought three rolls of film to Havana and hoped to use at least two—which I did! For those of you counting that is 72 exposures.

The first roll I shot was Fuji Film PRO 400H. This was my first time shooting color on this camera and I thought Havana would have lots of beautiful opportunities to try it out.

The second roll I shot was black and white, Ilford Professional Delta 400. By the time I put this roll in I was excited about it. I feel much more comfortable with black and white film. Since I have processed black and white film and used it more often, I know I will get some good photos.

ADVICE

The advice I got before leaving was simple but important for any photographer. I’ll repeat here:

A photographer changes her angle. Don’t always take photos from the obvious point of view, crouch or stand on a chair. Experiment. Here’s a photo where I took holding my camera up in the air (it might also be double exposed) that I think turned out different than I expected but beautiful.

Make sure your subject fills the photographic space. Don’t center your subject, especially with portraits. Here’s an example of a portrait I really liked.

This may seem obvious but do not to take photos in the dark. And by the dark I mean, when your subject is not well-lit. Okay, here’s a photo I took that did not turn out very well because I took it in the dark. When you take a film photo in the dark you have to lengthen the exposure time which means... you will probably move slightly while the film is exposing.

Not all photos will be good photos. Out of my 72 photos, 38 of them turned out really well. Here’s a photo I was really excited about, these musicians were so great and beautiful but I didn’t do a good job photographing them. Dang it!

Photos can be cropped, rotated and edited. Here’s an example, depending on how I’m feeling about this photo, it might need some rotating...

Most of all, I’m glad that I have some photos I really like that I can print and show to friends and family. Film photography is a very active process from set up to final print, which has given these photos a special significance in my memory, I will always remember these moments in Havana because I made the effort to record them on film.

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Trip to Salt Lake City...

Salt Lake City is a place where landscape painting meets all night grocery store. In this post I am going to tell you about this compelling dichotomy of the city’s personality using two of my favorite things: watching birds and drinking coffee, two activities that are definitely not mutually exclusive. Most birds are crepuscular, most active at dawn or dusk, and in order for me to be active at dawn I have to drink coffee.

My favorite coffee shop is the Coffee Garden, it is very near my house and open 6 am to 11pm—good times to get coffee for dusk or dawn activity. The Coffee Garden is very much a neighborhood coffee shop. You can spot the regulars with their claim staked on the good table next to the outlets or asking the baristas annoying questions. It’s the perfect place to order an espresso.

Surprisingly, Utah is a hotspot for shorebirds. The shore on which I like to look for them the most is the Great Salt Lake—my city’s namesake and one of the most infamous lakes in the western United States. Infamous because of its super-saturated salt content that crystalizes around everything that washes ashore.

In the spring, of course, the highlight of bird watching is looking for anxious parents guarding their carefully placed offspring—like this Killdeer mama and her eggs that I nearly stepped on.

Another great sighting, Tundra Swans right before the migrate north. 

Finally after a long morning at the lake you may need food and definitely coffee at Finn’s Cafe... interested friends are especially important when recounting the day’s bird list.