Do's and Don'ts For Your Cross-Culture Blog

We first starting blogging seriously when we become Peace Corps Volunteers in 2012. The following year, our blog was recognized for achieving Peace Corps’ “Third Goal”, and we were flown to D.C. to discuss best practices for promoting cross-cultural understanding online.

After over a decade of blogging from various international destinations and working with fellow culture bloggers, we’ve learned a lot.

There are plenty of benefits to blogging while you’re abroad. However, if you aren’t careful, you could run into some pitfalls as well.

These tips not only work for traditional blogs, but also vlogging, short form social media content, email newsletters, and any other form of online communication.

Need ideas for posts? Take our Blogging Abroad Challenge >

4 Mistakes To Avoid on Your Cross-Culture Blog

To help you avoid the mistakes that we see over and over again on blogs, vlogs, and social media creators around the world, we compiled this quick list to keep you on track.

1. Missed Opportunities

You will be hard pressed to find a more captive audience than when people are following your blog while you’re abroad. People want to live vicariously through your adventure, and they will be inspired by it.

The true power of your blog (or other online media) is that it will multiply the number of people who get to benefit from what you’re experiencing abroad. You will inevitably be learning and growing through your cross-cultural exchanges, but so will your readers!

Don’t miss the chance to multiply your impact by promoting cross-cultural understanding through your blog posts.

Think of yourself as a digital Ambassador. You represent your home country to your host community. And you gather valuable insights from your host community to share with folks back home.

You get to explore the best of both cultures and demonstrate their value to each other. You’ll likely become an expert in the downfalls of both cultures, as well, and will thus have the tricky responsibility of painting an honest and balanced picture for your readers.

2. Too Much Info, Too Little Editing

The people who read your blog will either be interested in you or what you’re doing – or both – and there’s no doubt that they’ll want to hear from you. But even your closest friend is going to struggle if all of your blog posts are overwhelmingly long and rambling.

Consider what things might be most interesting to your audience. A play-by-play of your entire day may be too much information and better left to your personal journal.

Instead, try to share only one theme or story per post and practice editing your thoughts into something cohesive and easy-to-read.

Always proofread. Your readers are taking time out of their day to check in on your blog, so make sure you’re publishing something of quality.

It doesn’t have to be perfect, but a sloppy blog post is not going to inspire people to come back for more.

3. Risky Business

Many new bloggers forget how public their blog or social media really is.

Although you may assume that only friends and family are reading, unless the blog is password protected, the truth is that any random stranger can find it.

That’s why it’s always wise to limit what personal information you share on your blog. Publishing your address, your valuables, or even sharing pictures of your front door, could lead to safety issues if it falls into the wrong hands.

Likewise, sharing unpopular opinions online – or anything that could be construed as criticism by the locals – could lead to backlash in real life. Sharing publicly could break trust with friends or neighbors abroad, or worse.

Consider having another method to share private or culturally sensitive information only with people you trust – whether it’s a private facebook group, e-mail list, or in one-on-one conversations.

4. Watch Your Language

When living abroad, you’ll probably experience all kinds of new things. It’s easy to let words like “weird” or “crazy” slip out when describing incomprehensible cultural things to people back home.

Remember that what may be “common sense” where you come from, may not be “common” or “sensible” in other cultures – and vise versa. It is important to guard against our natural tendency to be critical of cultural practices and attitudes which are different from our own.

Try to look at cultural differences objectively, avoid words that portray them negatively, and use your blog to promote cross-cultural understanding by explaining the Why behind these behaviors and attitudes in your host culture.

You don’t have to like it or agree with it, but you can help others understand why it happens.

Best Cross-Culture Posts World-Wide

To help inspire and equip more people who are living abroad to promote cross-cultural understanding through blogging and social media, we rounded up the best of the best examples of cultural exchange online.

What makes a great cultural blog post?

Here are some of the top things we considered when composing our list:

Well-written, easy to read text
A positive, respectful outlook and promotion of cross-cultural understanding
A cohesive theme, rather than a running diary entry
A unique perspective or creative post format
Engaging, quality images
Interesting titles and headings
Responsible crediting of outside sources (including image credits)
Appropriate post length – not too long or rambling

We applaud each of our finalists for their excellent blog posts. And above all, we hope these examples will spark ideas and encourage more bloggers to join in the meaningful work of unofficial cultural ambassadorship!

Need ideas for your own blog posts? Take our Blogging Abroad Challenge >

Honorable Mentions

Over one hundred posts were nominated for our Blogging Abroad contest, and it was an impressive set! While there were too many fantastic posts submitted for us to share them all, we wanted to highlight more of the amazing variety that bloggers and other content creators are publishing.

Each of our Honorable Mentions bring something special, whether it’s particularly great writing, a unique format, or a brilliant topic.

Recount an entertaining moment navigating a foreign culture – Meat by Hannah L. | What is the What What (Namibia)
Get back to basics with every-day foods – Staple Foods of Ghana by Christine Bedenis | Culturally Curious
Give the play-by-play with a series of tweets – A Day in the Life by Michael Owen | Musings of a Wandering Soul (Colombia)
Give a behind-the-scenes peek at a community member’s life – Guano: Meet Gerard, the Rug Maker by Allison Wilhite | AWECUADOR (Ecuador)
State your case for favored holiday traditions – 4 Ways Ecuador Does New Years Eve Better by Allison Wilhite | AWECUADOR and Thai Kids on Songkran by Amy Cosgrove | SameAmebutDifferent
See, hear, feel, touch, smell: bring new perspective from another sense – The Sound of (no) Silence by Autumn S. | Autumn’s Adventures in Mexico
Reflect on what it’s like to live abroad through the stories of fellow expats – Finding Your Place by Linda Lapin | The Magic Library of Bomarzo (Italy)
Teach culture through a fun language lesson – Ugandlish by Bethany | Journey to the Center of Peace Corps (Uganda)
Micro blog with meaningful cultural snippets on social media – Ampe: A jumping, clapping, matching game… by Christine Bedenis | @noon_thirty on Instagram (Ghana)
Compose an ode of your favorite things with photos – A Love Letter to Australia by Sarah Caroline Halford | I’m Newi In Town
Put a twist on the “how to” post with comparisons by country – How to take a bath or shower by Robin Blanc | Robinstl (Multiple locations)
Make your trip recap nice and concise and heavy on the beautiful photos – Outapi, Namibia by Kayla Koterwski | Kayla Koterwski Storytelling
Love that listicle – 29 Things that happen when you take public transportation in Jamaica by Dominique Gebru | Two Years Pon de Rock
Document traditions that may not get much press – Death in Dominica by David Kurtz | David Kurtz’s Kuribbean Quest
Mix your media by incorporating your physical artwork into a blog post – Simon’s book… by John Kotula | John and Deb in Nicaragua

We hope these ideas help inspire you in your cross-culture blogging journey. You can get more great blog post ideas from the examples in our Blogging Abroad Blog Challenge list.

Ready to start your own blog challenge?

Get the prompts, instructions, and our bonus checklist for a 12-week Blogging Abroad Blog Challenge here:

Join the Blog Challenge

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Do’s and Don’ts For Your Cross-Culture Blog