
DIS Blog
Chi’s advice for staying present while abroad
A few weeks into the semester, Student Blogger Chi found herself struggling to stay present amid all the excitement of studying abroad. To help herself, and you, she wrote a list of tips for how she reminded herself to slow down, breathe, and keep her head in the here-and-now.
These past couple weeks I have been floating.
I float through train stations and meals and routines and sometimes even conversations.
I move merely through the motion, and I have been finding it very hard to be present here, though I want to be.
So here is my attempt at guiding myself towards presence. I want to keep my feet on the ground and be fully in the moment, which is such a cool, amazing, and important state f mind while we’re out here bopping around abroad. Yes?? Yes. Here we go.

About the blogger
Hi there! My name is Chi and I am a student at Vassar College, majoring in Biochemistry and Economics. I was a fall 2024 DIS Stockholm Student Blogger in the Comparative Economics Core Course.
On my blog, you can read more about my most loved corners and people of Stockholm, thoughts from my time there, and some awesome travel recaps! https://nllchi.wordpress.com

1. Know what it is, feel what it is
Being in a new country is a very exciting experience, but it can also be extremely overwhelming. For me, there is the pressure for it to be a blast every minute of every day, to travel to a new country every weekend, to be surrounded by friends, to be always on the run to the next big thing in town, to do this and that but –
b r e a t h e
slow down
Not regarding what “a blast” or “cool” means, both being very subjective and are different things to different people, this pressure completely came from myself and myself only. I realized that by describing how I feel and listing what my priorities are for this semester abroad, everything is put in perspective: I prioritize connection to the city; I prioritize meaningful conversations with the friends I just made; I prioritize parks; I prioritize rest; I prioritize dinners at home and slow Sunday mornings with my roommate.
The list goes on, but you get the idea. Knowing what I feel and feeling what I know made me float a little less every time.



2. Remove stimuli
Picture this – you are commuting through the biggest train station in the entire city, it is 5:30 PM and there could just be 10 billion people passing through you at any second, and there you are after class with a heavy bag in one hand and your phone in the other, AirPods in your ears and very intense Gracie Abrams song playing through them.
You’re now me, every Tuesday.
This tip feels self-explanatory, but in an environment where I am overstimulated, I just need to remove stimuli. Take out my AirPods. Shrug my bag off my shoulder. That’s not one but two less things to worry about, to be feeling, in the moment. I advocate for traveling hands-free (and occasionally ears-free) and I think you might like that too.


3. Pay attention to the little things
In my Photo Documentary class, we went out to Gamla Stan on a rainy afternoon to practice taking portraits of strangers. In case you don’t do something like that on a daily basis, it was a hard but very rewarding thing to do.
The first step to tackle this exercise is to know that everyone you walk by has their own story – a hat, a coat, how they hold their newspaper, the way they lean against their bike, or the dog trailing behind them. You scan, paying attention to these little details, and capture them.
From just an hour of wandering, I discovered how easy it is to take in my surroundings with all my senses, and it was so grounding. To look deeper than just the surface. The art of paying attention!


4. Schedule with grace
I know that making the most out of traveling during a semester abroad is often talked about in great extents, but here is my attempt to root for the opposite. Creating a sense of home within a new space, let alone a new country, takes so much effort and care.
I love seeing my friends’ adventures in a new place every weekend, and I love that I get to have my own adventures right around the corners of Stockholm. There is no singular correct way of meaningful exploration during an abroad semester, be it the world, Europe, Sweden, or the city! So here is a reminder to self to schedule slowly, to not fill up every weekend 3 months in advance, and to take the time to learn my ways around a new home.
There you have it, all my love and care. I do think that this is a work in progress, and being in the moment really amplifies how much I can take in all these amazing endeavors happening around me.
Feet! On! The! Ground! don’t forget 🙂
“There is no singular, correct way of meaningful exploration during an abroad semester.
Here is a reminder to self to schedule slowly, to not fill up every weekend 3 months in advance, and to take the time to learn my ways around a new home.”
