04 Jul How to Find Freedom in a Daily Blogging Practice

This post is by Tory Paez, a member of our Blogging Abroad community who is currently serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer with her partner in Costa Rica. 

Prior to Peace Corps, I never actively wrote about or reflected on my experiences abroad. I flew, drove, bused, boated, and walked — documenting through Facebook, Instagram, letters and emails to loved ones, and the occasional random journal entry. My memories of trips are scattered, with only the most unforgettable moments imprinted in my mind.

But as my partner, Dan, and I prepared to enter into the Peace Corps, we knew we wanted to have a collected history of our experience. We also knew we wanted to share our daily triumphs and failures with our family and friends back home.

We scoured the internet for inspiration and advice on how best to maintain a blog for two years, given obvious challenges like management of workload, lack of consistent access to wi-fi, and simply not “needing it” anymore.

We decided to keep our blogging process simple: one post a day. We selected the Tumblr platform and created the guidelines listed below.

Tory working with Costa Rican women

Guidelines for Daily Blogging

• Share any type of media: We tell stories through words, photos, videos, links, songs, quotes — anything to fully and accurately capture our experience. We select each daily post with a single purpose: depict something about today. It can be sentimental, upsetting, silly — anything, really. Anything.
• Write as little or as much as you want: We don’t have a minimum or maximum word count. A post can simply be about a Costa Rican dicho (phrase) or it can be multiple paragraphs describing our quest to discover all the soccer fields on this beautiful island. We freed ourselves from having to meet preconceived expectations of what a blog should be.
• No “soul searching” requirements: I often felt intimidated when reading about people’s life-changing Peace Corps experiences. How could every day be so life altering, so profound? We felt unnecessary pressure to create unique, insightful content all the time. With our blog, we write more sentimental posts, but not every day. We depict the day as it comes.
• It’s not all about you: Though we are the primary authors of our blog, we strive not to be center stage. Peace Corps has a third goal: to help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans. Our blog aims to highlight the people of Costa Rica and of our site: Isla de Chira. From the food to the landscape to the many talents of our friends to the universal usage of emojis, nothing is off limits.

And this brings me to our final guideline: When depicting your experience, be true to yourself. Over four months into service, we are still excited to contribute to our blog. It’s authentic to who we are as individuals and as a couple. It’s not trying to be anything it’s not.

Dan getting a different perspective of the region by boat

Reflect on your blogging goals. Determine what is most important to you. Create a realistic blogging regimen. Document your experience in a way that is enjoyable for both you and your readers. Be true to your personality, your experience and maybe entertain just a bit.