Elizabethtown College students Ashley Conway ’23 and Faith Morrow ’24 turned their 15-day study abroad trip to England this June into a creative research project by capturing their favorite memories through travel writing.

The students each completed four articles and a web piece covering the how-tos of travel writing. The pieces explore personal connections to the sites visited. Identity, belief, and passion are placed at the forefront of the trip, exploring how traveling can affect us as people. After researching freelance travel writing publications, two pieces were submitted to online outlets. The others are displayed on Faith’s personal website.

Title of Research
Travel Writing: Capturing British Culture through Prose and Image

Student Researchers
Ashley Conway ’23 (Applied Mathematics and English Professional Writing major)
Faith Morrow ’24 (Journalism major)

Faculty Mentor
Tara Moore, Assistant Professor of English

What are you researching?

Faith: After a two-week study abroad in England focusing on British literature, I used my research on travel writing to create my own three travel pieces. From brainstorming to drafting to editing and finalizing, it was a learning process the whole way through. In the end, I pitched pieces to several online outlets and published to my own personal website.

Why did you choose this topic?

Ashley: I chose to research this topic this summer to broaden my horizons as a professional writer. The professional writing field is vast, so being able to practice my skills in a subfield not covered in the major curriculum was an amazing opportunity. This project also helped me reinforce my study abroad experience through engaging research and reflection strategies, as well as more strongly develop my creative writing capabilities.

Faith: Since I was already going to be studying abroad, writing creative pieces capturing some of my favorite memories made sense.

What is the most interesting aspect of this research?

Ashley: The most interesting part of this research was seeing how different travel writing can be from person to person. Individual background, identity, and beliefs truly affect the way we see and experience things abroad, and being able to reflect on this helped me craft very personal and unique pieces about my travels.

Faith: The most interesting aspect of this research was how personal the process can be. Though you need location-based facts to write about travelling, you also need to be able to share your personal reflections and feelings about those places. Balancing those two aspects can be a challenging but rewarding process.

How has your faculty mentor helped you?

Ashley: Dr. Moore has always been an amazing mentor for me. She continually creates opportunities for me to practice in specialized professional writing subfields and broaden my skill set for post-graduation. Her feedback and support on my pieces helped me not only improve them, but also be more confident in my own discretion and perspective. I’m so grateful for being able to work with her for a second summer.

Faith: Dr. Moore met with and corresponded with me frequently to check on my progress. She offered valuable resources, information, and feedback throughout my writing process. She was a helpful and encouraging mentor.

Hear from the faculty mentor – Tara Moore

“Travel writing has undergone enormous changes in recent decades,” Moore said. “It’s an intersectional genre – and a popular one. These students explored the range of contemporary travel writing as well as the ethical complexities of the genre. I was delighted with their pieces!

“This scholarly project provided them with a framework, one that urged them to see destinations with the eyes of a writer. They challenged themselves to capture moments and perceptions that were fleeting but valuable. It’s a challenging way to travel, but a rewarding way to write.”