It’s summertime! Chances are you’re reading this blog somewhere a bit more exotic than usual (and yeah, the couch totally counts). Whether you’re in the air, at the beach or on the go, your summer travel is experiential learning at work. Like students, we need to get our hands dirty and delve deeper than the facts. New sights, smells, tastes and people can refresh educators. It can lend you the “umph” you need to inspire a new group of students.

We know you’ll be growing during your travels this summer and we want to learn from you. Documenting your trips with a bulb digital portfolio not only helps you to preserve these special experiences for a lifetime, but also capture the learning you are doing to grow professionally as an educator.

Snap photos, capture video, record street sounds, annotate maps and reflect on your travels—all on bulb. Model this experiential learning cycle for your students.

Consider the following fundamentals of building a fantastic travel journal on bulb:

• Use lots of colorful pictures. | Pro-Tip: The image carousel feature on bulb is an excellent way to incorporate several pictures without creating a page that scrolls too long.
• Embed live video. | Pro-Tip: Keep it simple and use your phone.
• Add annotated maps. | Pro-Tip: Use the screen-capture feature in the iOS version of bulb to annotate and narrate where you travelled.
• Organize intentionally. | Pro-Tip: If you’re going to many different places, consider creating a page for each destination. If you are spending all summer in one location, think about creating a bulb page for each day you’re there.
• Reflect often. | Pro-Tip: Be the student; reflect and refine your work. At the end of each day, answer the same handful of questions or free-write for five minutes.

Be realistic about how often you’ll be able to journal, set your goal and stick to it.