The Blog Post Where I Tell You To Be Two Completely Opposite Things — Study Abroad Blog 2

By BRYNNA WILLIAMSON/Vice Editor in Chief

Y’all, here’s the upshot for the actual preparing-to-go stage of studying abroad: be a prepare-aholic, but also remember to stop, rest and take a breather.

That took me way too long to learn. Gonna be honest.

I’m still learning it now, if I’m gonna keep up this honesty streak. My problem is this: I’m SUCH a planner that I’ve had lists and lists for months. I’m down to the last lap now, and it’s like I’m so focused on “study abroad” that I’m not really focusing on my family, friends, or other projects. 

That’s not healthy.

From experience, here’s what I recommend that people on the I-know-I’m-going-but-it’ll-be-a-few-months stage of studying abroad do:

1. Make lists. 
2. Make a list of all the fun and relaxing stuff you want to do in the time between! After all, if you’re like me, you’re also on summer break. 🙂
3. Do not be afraid to focus on other things, but try to knock out five or six study abroad goals per week.

 What lists should you make?

Well, let me tell you.

 

LISTS YOU’LL NEED

Packing – Make a list of ALL the stuff you’ll need to pack while you’re gone. It will be an incomplete list until you’re almost there, but don’t worry, wherever you’re going, you will have two to three or more orientations. They will tell you what to pack, what the weather will be like, etc. I recommend literally having a running list of everything you can think of to bring. 

Questions – Make a list of questions you need to ask an orientation leader, study abroad advisor, or abroad advisor. You’ll think you’ll remember them, but you just won’t, Nemo.

Presents – If you’re like me, you like to buy presents for people (even if you’re not like me in that, I still recommend doing this. It means a lot to the people back home and probably won’t cost you too much). So make a list of all the presents people want before you go. For instance, I asked my Mom what kinds of things she would want me to look for in Ireland that she would like, and so and and so on for the rest of my family. Otherwise you’ll be struggling at the last minute as to what to get them and add undue stress to your trip.

Budget – Another list that I found insanely helpful beforehand was my budget. It’s not a “list” per se, but trust me – you will spend too much money if you don’t have a budget. Your budget is of your own creation, so you don’t have to be a spendthrift or anything if you don’t want to be. So… ya know… don’t be. No Scrooges here.

After all, study abroad is, in a way, like a vacation! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and for me it was totally worth it to spend more money than I normally would in order to do things like go out to eat, buy presents, put extra money on my bus card, or even go see touristy things with my friends.

A budget will also help you to know how much you’ll need to fundraise or take out of the bank before you go.

Exciting Experiences – Lastly, before you go and are in the thick of your amazing study abroad experience, keep a running list on your phone of things you want to do while you’re there. That was super helpful for me. You know the feeling of finally being on summer break and being like “Finally! I can… I can… what did I want to do this summer, again?” Well, keeping a list stops that feeling from happening and keeps me entertained. I referred back to this list whenever I was bored and it turned out to be super handy. 🙂

 

Travel Research

Here you reap the wisdom that I have learned over the past year of study abroad travel research… you’re welcome. 😉

First of all, if you want to be a smart traveler, look for your flights way ahead of time. The earlier, the better. If you can’t get the best deal right when you start looking, you’ll at least get an idea of the trends. I started looking months in advance of my trip, and ended up getting a fairly good deal. I mean, it was over a thousand bucks (wipes away tear with a smile), but that was one of the best deals I could find.

Along with looking early for your flights, it also helps to get creative with what you can do. For instance, experiment with your airports. Would it be cheaper to leave from Tyler, Dallas, or somewhere else? (Pro tip – I found out a few months ago that it’s almost always way cheaper to fly out of Chicago for some reason. If you’re willing/it’s possible to do so, you might consider taking a train or a flight to Chicago and then flying out of there).

Experiment with your dates of arrival/departure, too. Through taking some time to play with the variables, I found out that it would actually be cheaper to fly out of the US a few days early and spend even more time in Ireland – it was still cheaper even with the cost of food and a hotel for those days added in! I really enjoyed arriving earlier and staying longer than my program-mates, just because it gave me a few days to acclimate and get a hang of things before everyone else. This might not be for everyone, but if you feel comfortable hanging by yourself, then you might want to consider this. Don’t be afraid to try something different!

As for where I was looking for flights, check everywhere. That being said, make sure that you’re looking at reputable sites, because sometimes airlines will try to get you with ridiculously low prices that just don’t seem possible. Stick to cheap-but-real sites. I found great success with Google flights, Student Universe, Expedia, and American Airlines directly. If you become a member with these last three, you get additional discounts also!

It might be a wise idea to look up a map of the area where you’ll be and generally know the safe areas/unsafe areas to be in. I found a map of Dublin that Deliveroo drivers had made, documenting the safe/unsafe areas, which I found helpful. It didn’t come up often, but it was good to know what train stops/bus stops I should or shouldn’t walk to.

Transportation is different in Europe. It sounds so complicated, but TBH it’s not. Someone will explain it to you, and you’ll get the hang of it once you’re there! It’s kind of one of those things that you have to see, and then you’ll get it. At least for Ireland, there’s an amazing bus and train system that will take you pretty much anywhere you need to go.

Lastly, as you look for hotels, etc. ahead of time (if you stay extra as I did you’ll need a hotel), make the trip your own. Want to stay in a castle? Go for it! Look for one! Want to stay close to the airport because you know you’ll need some time to sit in your room and recharge? That’s possible. Need to be in the middle of the action? That’s possible! Just check with your advisor if you have any questions, stay safe, and try new things.

 

Packing

Bro I know I already addressed this above, but chill out. Here’s a list of some stuff I brought, in case it helps you. I know that it was confusing for me to pack since I had no experience, but here you go!

• 3-4 travel adapters (you would be surprised how many you might need – one for the dorm, one for your backpack, and people around you will forget some)
• Decorations from home for my dorm (kept me from being so homesick)
• All the chargers/electronics
• My Bible (Going to church and reading my Bible is such a light to remind me about the utter peace of Jesus, but even more so when I was abroad and separated from most things I know.)
• Books and movies I wanted (This actually was a lifesaver. I ended up watching a movie to go to sleep every single night I was there, and it was great because it was so chill. It was a nice way to relax when I was feeling overwhelmed and homesick. Highly recommend)
• Umbrella/rain jacket (It rains a lot in Europe, especially England and Ireland)
• Makeup
• Earbuds (These were super nice and I used them all the time. Great to walk around and listen to music on, since there was a lot of walking. A lot of walking. Also used them on the bus quite frequently)
• Compression bags to help me pack. (Could not have brought everything back to the US without these.)
• 2-3 pairs of shoes with good tread (This seems like extra, but it’s actually not. There is literally so much walking that I wore the tread off both my pairs of shoes. Plus, if you only have one and they get dirty, you’re shoeless. That happened to a friend of mine. Because there’s so much walking, your shoes start to smell horrible, but you can’t do anything if you only have one).
• Sunglasses
• A few recipes (I ended up cooking quite a bit for myself abroad. It was one of my best memories. It was cheaper, plus by doing so I ended up having some downtime to myself to chill. Also, whenever I made extra, people in my dorm and the neighboring dorm ate the extra and wanted to pay me for their share, so it became really cheap to cook for myself).
• Photocopy of my passport/school acceptance papers/contact info for embassy/ISOS papers, etc. I kept several copies of these and had one in my dorm, one in my backpack, and (when I first came), one on me. They were helpful and customs needed to see them for entry, anyway.
• Extra glasses (if you wear glasses/contacts, bring extras. If your originals broke and you didn’t have others… it would be, shall we say, bad)
• Backpack (After all, this is supposed to be a school excursion – you’ll want your backpack both for class and also to help you carry stuff on fun trips)

 

Travel Tips

Once you do get on the plane, here’s a tip: bring a small bag with you with stuff like snacks, water, a book, phone charger, gum (this one’s important because it’ll help regulate the pressure in your ears!), money, etc. to keep by your feet. I literally put a few things like my sweatshirt and the above things at my feet so that I could have them at all times and not need to bother the person next to me to get up. 

I also loved this travel tip – before you go, go to Dollar Tree and grab a small, comfy $5 pillow to bring with you. It was a lifesaver and helped me sleep on the plane when I otherwise might not have been able to, plus it didn’t take up much space. 10/10 worth it.

I don’t know what apps you’ll need for other countries – your study abroad advisor can most likely help you with that – but for Ireland, here are the apps that I used to make life easier.

1. Buddy budgeting app (it took me some time to play with it and get this to be just what I wanted, but it was great. It kept track of how much I had left in what budget category, so I had enough money for what I wanted and yet didn’t overspend).
2. Units Plus (This is a super easy conversion app. It does temperatures, currency, weight, power, speed, and pretty much anything else you might need. Highly recommend)
3. Google Chat (Do some research into your phone plan… it gets complicated. I ended up using Google Chat plus some other assorted messaging apps like Signal to talk with my family rather than text because texting was so expensive)
4. Whatsapp (Everyone in Europe uses this. It’ll be expected. You need this)
5. Leap Top-Up (For Ireland, anyway, this is the app that adds credits to your bus card and checks how much money you have left on it. It’s pretty self-explanatory)
6. TFI Live (This was indispensable. This checked the bus and train routes, times, told me how to get from point A to point B, etc. Absolutely necessary, in my opinion).
7. Student Universe
8. American Airlines
9. Expedia

Right before you go abroad, remember to tell your bank how long you’ll be gone and in what countries. Your card will not work in other countries, most likely, so your bank must know every country you’ll be in and when or else you won’t have any money. That would be bad, bro.

Also take out some cash to exchange beforehand into your study abroad country’s currency. I did around 100 euro of cash, which was handy since not everyone took card. Most people do card or tap only, but some old-fashioned people did cash only. Keep that in mind.

Your normal phone plan will not work outside the country. Do some research to see what you need! This honestly took me a bunch of research to find the right plan for me – in fact, I ended up combining two to get max data and max texting capability – but I almost didn’t even end up using it. From experience, I would say to use apps like Signal or Whatsapp to keep up with your family and friends back home. It’s free and not as much of a hassle as trying to keep up with how many text messages you have left in your plan.

HOWEVER, something you should know – for some reason, the signal is SUPER spotty in Europe (at least on my Verizon iPhone). There were times even walking through the middle of Dublin that I legit had zero signal.

 

Take a Break

As I’m writing this, I know that it all sounds like a lot. To tell you the truth, it was a lot. However, as I said before and I’ll say again, the secret is just to have fun with it and not give up! You’ll get the hang of it. As you get into the real planning stages, this “research” that I’m mentioning really becomes more like fun opportunities to make your trip more of a reality.

Take breaks.

Have fun.

Don’t be afraid.

Try new things.

Be excited, because this will be one of the most memorable things in your life. 

This is gonna be great!!!