Advice for Creating a Snapchat Story Worth Sharing During Your Travels

Snapchat is such an awesome way to give your friends a sneak peek into your life abroad and I highly recommend you use it throughout your program and travels, but let’s ensure you’re using it well. There are certainly things to directly snap your friends and then there are things to share on your story.

Staying Connected with Friends Via Snapchat

Snapchat is nice because your story photos and videos can be uploaded instantly and your friends have the choice to view them. For your friends, Snapchat stories feel exclusive and inclusive at the same time because the photos or videos have an expiring existence, not to mention you’re able to see who has viewed your story and interested in your life!

Snapchat stories make it quick and easy to keep in touch, all while still documenting your experiences.

Check out a few of our Greenheart Travel alumni pics they shared with us on Snapchat.

So, here’s the most important point, an interesting, engaging, and fun Snapchat story is the key. As DJ Khaled would say, an engaging Snapchat story is a “Major Key Alert”. You’re offering your friends a front row seat into your life and travel; make them want to see more!

Here are some basic tips for posting a Snapchat story:

What to share on your Snapchat story:

1. Stunning Views – beaches, sunsets, mountains – show your friends where you are in the world
2. Respectfully captured unique cultural experiences, sights, sounds
3. New experiences – the way something may be done differently in your host country
4. Funny things but make sure that your friends don’t need to be there to think is funny
5. Quirky experiences
6. Spontaneous weird happenings
7. Day in the life – show your friends back home how you go about your day

A Few Pieces of Advice:

1. Balance authentic desire to show your friends your life and showing off the awesomeness (because it is!) you’re experiencing
2. Don’t snap dark rooms with loud music – they don’t do much but annoy the viewer
3. Your story shouldn’t be too long – you’ll lose your viewer’s interest
4. Too many still photos in a row won’t be very engaging – throw in a video or two

Follow awesome Snapchat accounts for creative ideas like *cough* *cough* Greenheart Travel (greenhearttravl), Shaun McBride (Shonduras), and Travel Massive (travelmassive).

Lastly, it’s important to remember that balance is key. Your time abroad will go quicker than you could ever imagine. You’ll land in a foreign country; you’ll feel a bit scared and excited at the same time. You will have thoughts that the program will be really long and then you’ll think it’s going far too fast. Eventually, before you know it you’re packing your bags.

Why is this important to know? Here’s the thing, you’re not going to want to spend hours with your face in your phone, texting, snapchatting, and using Instagram. Balance is important.

Now, make your story memorable; make it a story worth watching. Just remember your time in a foreign land is like a Snapchat snap; it has an expiring existence.