10 Tips to Help You Study While Travelling

Travel and study don’t always mix easily but with a little innovation and planning, you can keep up your studies while sightseeing and exploring on your holidays.

It does take a bit of preparation beforehand to get on track when committing to distance ed or a trip overseas while studying – learn how to stay on track when travelling and develop strategies to keep on meeting your deadlines.

You might think you know them off by heart, you use them all the time right! Well yes, you might be fine but in the unexpected event that jet lag drags you down, lost suitcases distract you or a bout of seasickness intervenes, have a backup email or synced note handy with a few reminders to support a tired mind.

Many course providers have a ‘Blackboard’ or an online portal system that allows students to have access to all course materials and other relevant study resources. Make sure you confirm that you have access to this portal before you leave, as it can be difficult to sort out any issues from the other side of the world.

This is a biggie. It’s no use working hard on an assignment that wasn’t even due for another two weeks while completely missing one due tomorrow. Make a study timetable by taking your study load into consideration, recording your study schedule and sticking to it!

Study Timetable Checklist

It’s a tricky situation being overseas and deciding on Internet options. Some students work with the free cafe WIFI option or studying at the hotel and uploading from a local library. A recommended resource is to invest in a portable wireless dongle that you would organise prior to your trip. It is a great option as it is a portable and efficient connection tool. Avoid heavy-duty roaming fees by checking options with your network provider before leaving home.

Make the most of exploring new towns and check out the libraries, town halls and historical societies for facts and ideas to add to your assignments. Learn first hand from locals and explore newspaper articles in the towns you visit. Ask questions, observe, take notes.

While we can access dictionaries, thesauruses and often textbooks online, you may still need to have a notebook for jotting down ideas and research notes unless you like to record these on your phone or tablet/laptop. Have a few spare pens and post-it notes handy for reflection and indexing.

This doesn’t have to mean study takes over your holiday, just that sections of time are put away to focus and keep working on your study goals. Maybe waking up half a hope earlier each morning and hitting the books or planning to study from 3 -5 pm each day.

It’s a poor holiday where you are sick or tired the whole time and if that’s the case, the study will become a struggle on top of that. Keep yourself at the top of your game by getting good sleep, good food and plenty of water.

We can get caught in a rut with study but depending on what subject you are studying, consider incorporating different media into your assignment work. A short video here, a sound file there and a collage of photographs might make the difference between a credit and a distinction for your work and helps you stay interested in your own work.

If you want to study hard on your holidays, give it a red hot go and then let yourself have a rest from it. Learn to study smart – pacing yourself is a better option but not everybody works well in scheduled blocks. If 3AM is your study time, do it. Just make sure that when the sun comes up you get out and explore more than your hotel room desk.

The study is one way of expanding our minds and travel is another. This chance to combine the two is an opportunity to adapt your study to your present-day travel which makes it a real-time, hands-on experience. Study history in natural history museums, study humanities in markets and at tourist events, understand art from street artists through to the classics and absorb it all viscerally rather than just through books.

There are many more tips you will pick up on the way and other techniques that you will learn to stay on track. These are just the beginning but enjoy your travel and your study time, it really is the best of both worlds.