My Essential Study Abroad Tips
As you all may know, I am that girl that always brings up that I studied abroad in college. Those memes that make fun of girls when they find any excuse to talk about an experience they had abroad ( “when I was in Italy……”)- is totally true and I am taking full responsibility for how annoying I am about it. In my defense- I am just so excited and passionate about it, I can’t help it.
So because I am that girl, I feel that I have so much knowledge about the subject and people always ask me for advice. So I figured I would type them out and share them with you all. These are some tips that I wish I knew before I made the journey abroad for a semester. I think I read hundreds of other blogs from Pinterest on tips for studying abroad before I left. These tips are one’s that I had to learn myself. Without further ado- here are my secret hacks for a successful semester abroad.
Get a journal.
I got this really cute notebook from TJMaxx with a vintage map on it for super cheap and small enough to bring me everywhere I went. Make the goal for yourself to write in it everyday! Still write in the journal if all you did was go to class and make dinner. It is so nice to go back and look at my journal five years later and see exactly what I did on that day. It doesn’t need to be proficient writing skills, just your thoughts are perfectly okay. I used to write in my in between my classes and was a nice way to collect my thoughts each day.
You will not be able to visit every city you want to.
There are two factors that make this true- you run out of time or money. Of course you are going to want to visit every place that you can while you are abroad. But if you are a person like me who had to save their own money for their time abroad, things add up quickly between food, excursions, flights etc. I had saved a good amount of cash before I left but nobody wants to return back home with a complete empty bank account. Try to select your top priority of places and find the group who also have those as a priority. As much as a semester seems like a long time, but time flies when you are having fun. Reminder that it will end eventually and there isn’t enough time to do it all.
You are going to have some breaking points when you want to go home.
Aka holidays. I missed out on Thanksgiving and felt BEYOND guilty about it. Just push through and know home will be waiting for you. Make the effort to do whatever it takes to cure your homesickness with plenty of facetime calls. Also let it be known the a week after you’re home- you’re gonna wanna head back on the next flight back.
Pack light.
You are going to bring home souvenirs and gifts for yourself, family and friends. Which of course is not going to be easy because you could potentially be packing for multiple seasons depending on your location. Pack outfits you really love and can wear in various different ways. Do your research heavily on the weather during every month so you know what you are prepared for. The basics and a great pair of sneakers are key! But this also ties back to the souvenirs as well- you may not need a mug from every city that could take up a ton of space in your suitcase.
Do your research on each city you visit.
This sounds like a given I know, but hear me out on this. If you are a planner like myself, nothing is worse than having no plans and nobody wants to make decisions on what to do so you end up wasting your time. Look at things to do and where to eat beforehand and plan some time to have down time to just explore time to walk around. This way there is a schedule to follow, but not strict enough to not be able to move things around. Also doing your research on the country’s culture so you know how to be respectful while visiting their home turf.
Use student travel companies such as smart trip and bus2alps.
If you get overwhelmed with planning a weekend yourself and just want to sit and relax these companies are made for you! They will do all the work for you. The housing, the transportation and the excursions all done for you. All of the tours are fairly priced for everything included. If you are in Florence, the first week you are there, you will meet tons of employees handing out coupon codes so look out for some killer deals! The tours that I loved were Oktoberfest, Amalfi coast, Tuscany Wine Tour and Ireland.
Get a portable charger!!
Not even just one portable charger- AS MANY AS YOU CAN! Between taking pictures, using GPS and just entertainment while traveling our phone batteries die so quickly. This way you will never have to worry about taking a detour back to the hotel/hostel/airbnb for a quick charge. Plus everyone will want to be your best friend if you offer them to use it.
Use apps such as Duolingo as much as possible before your tip to know basic communication.
Take some time to learn key language words and phrases of the country you are going to. Even having phrases such as “please and thank you”, “hello, goodbye”, “where can I find”, “do you speak English”, etc will get you far enough to get what you need. I noticed in most major cities, there is always someone who speaks English and can help, but you can not expect that happening everywhere.
Make sure you explore your host city as much as possible.
As much as you want to travel every weekend, make sure you spend the time to see everything you can in the city you are staying in. Some people get swept up seeing everything they can in other places, but where you live is equally if not, more important to really immerse yourself in their culture.
Say yes to things and get out of your comfort zones!
Most importantly in my eyes- studying abroad will force you to break out of your shell. Some things are going to make you feel uncomfortable but thats okay- it’s how you grow. Soak it all in. You probably won’t have an opportunity like this ever again and live it up safely as possible!
Thanks for reading-
Arrivederci
xo Jenna