I want to travel the world | how I turned my travel into top travel college essays

Who doesn't love to travel? But as college application deadlines are approaching, with so little time, how can you afford to travel? 

But maybe you should! 

I wanted to travel the world too when I was in high school. While grades are undeniably important, your essays will be a big part of your application. And travelling can be a great way to help you form outstanding college essays that will get you into top colleges! 

Your essay shows who you are as a person, what you've experienced, and what your worldviews are!

And there are many destinations to choose from!

It's also very easy to find the right destination and accommodation these days. There are many travel resources that are available just clicks away. 

This post will show you how I turned my travel experience into powerful travel college essays that got me into an Ivy League school.  Here we go! 

1) Be mindful of every moment as you travel

Every single moment has the potential to become your next essay topic. Don't underestimate the power of one small and seemingly insignificant moment. You want to take in as much detail as possible. Engage all your senses. Some of the questions to get you started are:

How do you feel at that precise moment?
Who's talking to you?
What's that person wearing?
What's your perception of that moment? 

For example, I was on my high school trip to the Grand Canyon. We were pedaling in the water when suddenly the waves became so strong. I did not let this moment pass me. This has a potential to be a travel college essay!

I was already forming sentences in my head as I pedaled! It went like this:

"As the waves came over us, we were pedaling in trepidation. We could have tipped over at any moment. We could've drowned. I heard my kayaking partner shouting over the sound of the wind, "keep going! we have to keep going!"  This is just like life. There will always be moments when storms will knock us over, but all we can do is to keep going...."

There we go. 

2) Ask yourself: what lesson can be learned from this experience? 

There are lessons to be learned in every single moment. Don't take the smallest detail for granted. The stranger you met could teach you a lesson on kindness. The squirrel running past could teach you about the harmony in all beings. The sight of the mountain could teach you how small we are in this universe. 

Everything around you teaches you. Pick a moment that speaks to you and weave it into writing.  

If you run into challenges as you travel the world, great! write about it! And mention how you overcame them. This can make a very powerful travel college essay!

Life isn't supposed to be all smooth and carefree. Bad stuff happens. People make mistakes. But how do you learn and rise from them? 

This shows your character. 

3) Make sure your essay reflects your character

Sometimes we can get carried away writing about what we've experienced. Perhaps you're writing into detail how beautiful Paris is and how it blows your mind. But always ask yourself:

Does your essay show who you are? 

This is very important!

One of my essays, I wrote into great detail about my late grandmother. So many  beautiful and delicate details about her. But the comment from my counselor was: "This is beautiful. But do you think it tells the reader enough about you?"  

He was right! This essay was all about my grandmother! Everyone would walk away knowing her. But not me!  Of course it remained in my computer. I never submitted it anywhere.  

Make sure not to repeat this mistake. No matter how beautiful Paris is, make sure your travel essay reveals enough about you. 

4) Read a lot

As you travel the world, you will have a lot of time to yourself. Pick up a good book and read. 

Not only is this relaxing - nothing beats reading on the beach! - reading will improve your writing and clarify your thoughts tremendously. 

As you work on your travel college essays, you might want to read books that are descriptive. Don't read thrillers.... read memoirs, travel books, historical fiction, for example. These books tend to be describe the scenes into detail, and you want to incorporate that technique into your writing. 

In my next post, I will write about some of the books that I have found very helpful in writing any college essays.. well basically, anything!