Why Start GringaGoesAbroad?

Just another blog? Short answer, yes...

The initial birth of gringagoesabroad was nothing special. It actually began as an assignment in one of my marketing classes. I had to create a brand and website design, so I essentially decided to brand something that I could potentially use in the future...myself! After I finished the class, the website was almost completely forgotten on me, that is until I started my application process for Fulbright. During that process, God's hand was so involved and He was using that process to purify me in ways I never would have imagined. I knew I was going to want a way to remember how He worked in my heart both then and now that I am in Mexico living out my Fulbright.

I knew whatever I did to document this experience had to be creative and motivate me intrinsically. I have severe ADHD and I knew simply journaling my feelings/experience would bore me to death (maybe I just haven't figure out the secret to fruitful journaling yet). That's where reviving my old blog website came in. I find that there is beauty in the act of sharing in God's creative nature by designing a website and in turn (hopefully) inspiring that creativity in others. Every time I sit to write, it becomes intentional time of reflection and prayer in the ways God is working in my life, and what I can do for my life to be more aligned with His will. In that, I have been able to find beauty, creativity and goodness, and I hope the writings I share here will reflect that.

So what is this blog? I can tell you what it's not. It is not a place for me to brag or boast about all the amazing travels I've been on or about the ways God has blessed me. If my writings come across as such, I asked you to kindly humble me. It is not a place of comparison or jealously. If reading these post brings up those feelings in yourself, I urge you to stop reading. This blog is not some insta-famous, life-changing media that will fix everything just because it is faith based and fun. But I can say that this a platform for encouragement and community. This is a way for me to create and to share my real life experiences, traveling, living alone abroad, and everything I have learned in between, whether it was something revealed in prayer, or learned through good old fashioned experience. This is a place to share, because life is hard, so why not share what we can with each other to make it easier? ("Carry each others burdens and in this way fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2)

So, yes, it is just another blog in a world literally filled with social media and influencers, because the intention behind it was not to be the blog every one flocks to or follows, but simply a blog where I can share in God's creative nature by sharing my silly experiences and hopefully reach a few of you within it, even if it is only one person.

Thank you for reading! I encourage you to subscribe to the blog if you want to follow along with this Gringa's journey!