Having goals in life is a fabulous thing. It provides you with direction, motivation, inspiration, and a feeling of pride as you hit various milestones along the way. So, what happens when you have two goals that are seemingly in conflict with one another? Does that mean you need to give one up and pursue that dream later in life or drop it altogether?
For many people, the travel bug is strong, and there is that desire to roam the earth and explore all kinds of exotic, remote, and famed destinations. So what happens if you’ve also got a dream to obtain your degree and you’ve gone ahead and enrolled in an online university program? Does that mean the two can’t co-exist? It would be a good idea to make a podcast discussing this topic more thoroughly as more and more people are pursuing this lifestyle. If you want to have a guaranteed high success rate for your content, let Spotifystorm take care of the rest
Here we’ll take a look at some specific ways you can excel in an online degree program while pursuing your dream to travel the world. There is no need to make sacrifices and put your dreams on hold, instead, it’s about creative solutions that work for your lifestyle.
Ensure You’ve Got the Right Equipment
The very first step will be to ensure you’ve got a reliable and powerful laptop in order to participate in the program. As long as you have your computer and a strong Wi-Fi signal, getting online to take part in your studies will be no problem.
Some of the things to look for in a laptop that is ideal for mobile studies include:
- A long-lasting and powerful battery
- Lightweight and portable
- Ensure it is durable and well made so it can handle you travelling around with it
- Ensure it fits in the budget
- The size of the screen, do you want something small and compact or a larger screen to make viewing easier
- Touch display may be important for some
- The screen quality, meaning the resolution
- The processor in the laptop, this will determine its performance and likely its lifespan
Choose Hotels that Offer High-Speed Wi-Fi
If you want to be able to do your schooling from the comfort of your hotel room, or other accommodations, you’re going to need to make sure it has high-speed Wi-Fi throughout. Some hotels only offer free Wi-Fi in the public spaces such as the lobby. This means you’d need to sit down there each time you work, which means you’ll be faced with distractions and noise the whole time.
For those times when it’s not possible to find a hotel with high-speed internet accesss, you can look for areas nearby such as coffee shops, libraries, and so forth where you could do your work.
Ensure the Program is Online Only – Or Make Concessions
One mistake that online students can make is not to look at the program description well enough and make the assumption that everything is done online. Ensure there are absolutely no in-person classes, courses, or placements if you plan on traveling. If there are in-person requirements, you’ll need to plan your travel accordingly.
You may want to look into how many intakes there are during the year and plan your travel to occur before your intake begins. For example, Baylor University online, well-known in the healthcare industry for its BSN accelerated programs, offers students multiple intakes per year. This makes it much easier to work your studies in with your personal life and goals.
Stick to a Consistent Study Schedule
Despite the fact that you are on the road, traveling around, and visiting new destinations on a regular basis, it’s important to keep some sort of consistent study schedule. Keeping to a schedule means your studies won’t have a chance to fall behind, and that you will continue to excel in your program.
Some of the tips in creating a consistent study schedule while traveling include:
- Do your schooling early in the morning while you are alert and before you can get busy with sightseeing and relaxing.
- If you’re an evening person, make sure you dedicate evenings to studying.
- Create a distraction-free study space. This can be a bit trickier if you’re traveling with other people, you’ll need to let them know your schedule in advance.
- Make sure you are getting enough sleep so you don’t get burnt out.
- Keep to the schedule no matter how tempting it may be to scrap it for a day.
Stay Organized Each Day
Staying organized can seem easier said than done, especially when you’re living out of a suitcase, but that is exactly what you need to do. You want to be sure you are keeping careful track of when assignments are due, projects, quizzes, tests, and so forth. So what’s the best way to stay organized? There are a few tips you can use.
- Use a calendar, whether that is a physical calendar that you write on or a calendar app
- Look for study planner apps that are specific for college and university students
- Refer to your schedule each day as a starting step
- Make sure to add things to your schedule as you come up so you don’t forget about them
- Make a habit of planning ahead, so that you can plan your travels and adventures accordingly
- Don’t forget to schedule in free time so you can act as a tourist
Make Use of Your In-Transit Time
Finally, you want to take full advantage of the time you spend in-transit heading from one location to the next. This could be by train, boat, air, or bus; as long as you aren’t the driver, you can take that time to study, read, work on assignments, and stay on track.
Be that Excellent Student Even on the Road
No matter where you happen to be traveling to, there are ways that you can stay on top of your online studies and earn that degree while you pursue your love of traveling and exploring the world. You can have it all with a little planning and creative thinking.
