I first heard about this idea in high school when my friend’s teacher had them write a letter to their future selves. At the end of high school, the teacher would give these letter’s back to his or her student’s where they can then see how much has changed. I had wished one of my teacher’s did this and this idea of writing to my future self stayed in the back of my mind.

Since I am now about to study abroad, I thought that this would be the perfect time to write my future self a short letter. On the plane ride overseas, I whipped out my notebook, clicked my pen, and began writing. In this letter I asked myself if I’ve been to all 15 countries I want to go to, who my friends are, what the food is like, and more. I express my current feelings of excitement mixed with the fear of the unknown. It will be neat to look back at this at the end of my study abroad trip and see how much has changed and how I may have become a new person. This short piece of writing to myself will also help me realize how I felt before embarking on this new journey.

I advise you to try and do something like this. You can even write something right now to your future self maybe asking if you have that job you’ve dreamed of, questions about the person you’ll marry, how much you’ve traveled, etc. Have someone hold onto this, maybe your best friend or a relative, and ask them to give it back to you in a couple years. Write on my friends!