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Essentials for Study Abroad: How and What to Pack?

Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed last week’s introduction into the world of study abroad and applications!

As departure slowly inches closer and closer, you’re probably dying to hear some tricks to packing efficiently. Well, we have officially reached that time! I’m here to explain more of what you should be packing for study abroad, and how you should be packing to be as prepared as possible. 

My suitcases and backpack during the packing stage…

For starters, I would suggest bringing a large suitcase (mine was about 28”), a regular-sized carry-on suitcase, and a backpack. In most cases, you’ll be able to check your largest bag and then you’ll just have your smaller, carry-on suitcase and backpack to lug through the airport. Although that may seem like a lot, you have to imagine that you’ll likely be needing enough to last you for at least three months. I ended up packing most of my necessities into one suitcase and trying my hardest to keep a lot of space open in the other. I’m going to be completely honest here, it’s TOUGH, but you’ll be thankful when you go to pack for home. I also mention bringing a backpack; this is important so that you not only have it for your classes (as I assume most of you will be taking courses of some sort while you’re abroad), but it’s also nice to have for weekend trips. A lot of smaller (“cheaper”) airlines have very strict guidelines regarding carry-on luggage, so a backpack is usually a safe bet to bring. Also, weekend trips are pretty short, so you don’t really need a lot for just those few days. 

Now I believe it’s time to start getting into what should be inside each of these suitcases to be completely prepared for your adventure. Regarding clothes, I advise you only take the bare minimum. Now that doesn’t mean bring one or two of everything, but keep in mind how much you may or may not like to shop and let that help to influence your packing. For me, I absolutely love to shop, so I knew I had to be wise in packing less so I could save room for everything I planned on buying. Whether you’re an avid shopper or not, it’s important to remember that you can rewear outfits or even mix and match pieces. This goes to say, try and stick with more neutral or similar styles of clothes, this way it’s easier to rewear pieces without feeling like you’re wearing the same outfit all the time. Another important thing to note is, don’t feel like you need to bring fancy outfits. I was told I needed some dresses and business casual outfits, so I packed a couple, only to have them sit in my closet for majority of the trip. If you’re not exactly sure if you’ll need a specific piece of clothing for your trip (i.e. dress clothes, or even swimsuits), it’s best to avoid packing them. There are plenty of places overseas that sell inexpensive, but nice clothes and such (check out Primark for a stylish, inexpensive, and AMAZING European option).

One of the BEST shopping districts in London: Carnaby Street

Even before diving into your closet and tossing it all into your suitcases, do some research on the fashion style of the country you’re going to be living in. Check out what current trends are in that area and see if anything you already own falls with that style. It was important to me that I did not stand out as a tourist, so I made sure to pack according to what the current fashion sense was in my host city, London. Now I’m not saying go out and buy a whole new wardrobe just to match your country’s fashion sense, but be aware that you’re going to fit into their norm more if you dress relatively close to the locals. I will also add that if you’re studying abroad in Europe and interested in following the locals’ style, avoid athleisure-type outfits. As comfortable and cute as they may be, Europeans tend to follow the casual, chic fashion sense. This goes to say, though, don’t just buy clothes that’ll match your host country’s style if you’re not going to be comfortable or are never going to wear them when you’re back home. 

This is not to say you need to change your style completely before studying abroad. If you’re happy with your fashion sense, go forth with your stylish ways! You’ll fit in with the culture as long as you remain confident in who you are!

Aside from clothes, shoes are another important aspect of packing. I know from my experience, I wanted to pack as many shoes as I could to make sure I had a pair to match every type of outfit and occasion. I must say you will not need that many shoes. After countless nights of going through all my shoes, I managed to narrow down my search to about three pairs: a casual pair of black Vans for everyday wear, sandals for warmer climates and nicer occasions, and lightweight hiking boots for colder, wet climates. For boots, I found that Blundstone’s were comfortable, cute, and waterproof, so they were perfect for snowy tours of Prague or everyday strolls down Carnaby Street. Don’t feel like you only need to bring three pairs of shoes, but also remember to limit yourself because shoes do ultimately take up a lot of weight and space in your suitcase. Remember that you’re going to need to get what you pack now and what you buy there all back into these suitcases at the end of your trip, so try and stay minimalistic. 

Along with minimalistic packing, avoid packing full-size shampoos and other toiletries unless you absolutely need them or know that you wont find them in your study abroad country. I researched what drugstores and grocery stores were nearby in London and went through their websites to see if they sold the types of products I use (or, at least, some similar), so I was able to just bring a few small travel-sized bottles to get me over there for a couple days. This ended up saving lots of space as well, because I didn’t have to worry about packing a semester’s worth of toiletries.

Now as we reach the end of this packing for study abroad discussion, it’s important to switch to an international phone plan as well. Understandably, the pre-trip focus is typically geared towards what and how to pack, but having the right phone plan is something equally as important to prepare for before departure. T-Mobile was suggested to our group as one of the better international phone plans. I will admit, it was pretty convenient having unlimited calls and texts overseas through T-Mobile, but it goes without saying, research what international plans your current phone carrier has and compare them to other carriers. I made the switch from AT&T to T-Mobile before going abroad, and it ultimately saved me money in the end. But also, if you’re looking for a completely free way to keep in touch with friends and family back home, WhatsApp is a great app for international communication. I was able to text, call, and video chat with my family back home all through WhatsApp*. 

Needless to say, a lot of unexpected research goes into the packing and pre-trip process of studying abroad. I hope my mentions of different ideas and routes to packing put you at better ease for this experience. I will say that for all that goes into preparing, it is worth it in the end!

Me…finished packing and headed to London!

*Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by any of the stores, brands, apps, or providers mentioned. These are strictly things I found useful from my time studying abroad.

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Before the Adventure: What to Know Before Studying Abroad

Imagine constantly boarding planes to new cities with your friends by your side; or exploring cultures unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before. Studying abroad is an opportunity that most of us dream of, but many of us don’t know what to expect, or worse, don’t properly prepare and end up dreading the experience. I always knew from such a young age that studying abroad was a key element that I wanted to experience in college. Awkwardly enough, I’d say that was the motivating factor for me to actually want to go to college. The idea that I could live in a foreign country all while traveling and exploring a world that only one could ever dream of was astonishing. Actually, this time last year I was studying abroad in London. Words cannot explain how amazing and inspiring that journey was for me, but the journey may not have been like that if I didn’t do all that I needed to prepare. 

Now the real question is, how do you get accepted to your school’s study abroad program? Well, a lot goes into the application process. For starters, you will need to get your application in early if you want to definitely be considered for the program you want. I applied in the Fall of 2017 which was almost a year prior to the actual date of departure. Even then, I wasn’t accepted into my first choice of programs. But aside from applying early, you can expect to have GPA requirements and faculty recommendations. Recommendations are huge when it comes to applying for study abroad because even if you don’t necessarily have the most impressive GPA, if teachers and other close relations can explain how fantastic you are and how right for this program you may be, that will help your application tremendously. Along with the application process, it’s important to look into the cost of the trip up front and see if any current scholarships could go towards the program. I was thankful that Lipscomb allowed most of our scholarships to roll over towards the program, but some schools don’t necessarily process study abroad fees that way. It all depends on the university, so see what your school offers. 

With my experience, I had just been accepted into the Lipscomb in London program. I was ecstatic! I had so much planned. My dream was finally coming true. There was so much planning and anticipation rolling through my head, I knew I had to take a step back and do some pre-trip assessing. What was I going to bring? Who was going to be on the trip with me? How was I going to pack three months worth of clothes and shoes and accessories into two suitcases? Could I even bring two suitcases? Where would all my souvenirs fit? Where was I going to school? Oxford? Cambridge? I had so many thoughts and questions rolling through my head, I definitely had several headaches over the few months prior to departure. ***DISCLAIMER*** Those headaches were so worth the opportunity and experience I had in the end!

So, are you ready for the good stuff? The nitty-gritty stories? The crazy and wild adventures? Well…I hate to burst your bubble, but I want to acknowledge some of the necessary components that need to be established before studying abroad. Obviously the most important factor is where are you going to study? My university only offered four study abroad locations: Santiago, Chile; Vienna, Austria; Florence, Italy; and London, England. My advice would be to explore the different opportunities your school offers. Check out the different countries offered, determine when they’re offered and how that fits in with your major, and definitely explore what your school’s study abroad program is like. I was thankful to attend a university that does a group study abroad program, so we went with about 20+ other students, along with Site Directors and faculty, which made the experience feel much more safe and comfortable. But I’ve also had friends from other universities study abroad independently, where their school connects them with a host family and sends them to the foreign country on their own. Frankly, I’m not sure if I, personally, could manage that experience, but everyone I know who has been through a study abroad program like that has loved it as well.

It’s worth researching and talking with your school’s Global Learning program to see if their study abroad program is a good fit for you. And don’t forget to talk with other students who have studied abroad and examine the pros and cons of each location to get the full effect before coming to a decision. You will be living in that city for several months, so make sure it’s one you’re going to be happy in and that there’s enough for you to do when you’re not visiting other places on the weekends!

So you’re probably waiting for me to tell you what you need to bring in order to have a great study abroad experience. To be honest, it took me countless hours of research trying to figure out just what I needed to bring to make sure everything was perfect, when in reality, you need to determine a few more specifics before starting to pack. For instance, that question  earlier of who’s going on the trip with you? If you’re an introverted person, like myself, I say it’s better to gather some friends and convince them to join you on this adventure of a lifetime! I lucked out because not only did my roommate want to study abroad with me, but we found some girls in our sorority who wanted to join and share an apartment with us. This helped greatly because we all had each other and we knew that we could always fall back on one another if we ever got homesick or were just not feeling it. If you can’t find someone to join you on this journey, or you feel the urge to take on this adventure independently, go you! I will say, my friends by my side are what made my study abroad experience the unforgettable adventure it was! 

If you believe you’re ready to take on the adventure of studying abroad, that’s great! Prepare for an opportunity of a lifetime. Stay tuned for weekly updates with tips and tricks for studying abroad. Expect everything from how to pack, transportation and accommodation advice, and, of course, the good (and the not-so-good) stories from my own experience studying abroad!

The Good, the Bad, and the Crazy: Thanksgiving Edition

Here’s a picture of Prague, since we spent most of our Thanksgiving in a train station here!

Happy Thanksgiving, Nomads! 

Seeing as it is Thanksgiving, I figured why not talk about some interesting stories from my Thanksgiving abroad along with some crazy stories my family had from past Thanksgivings and even while I was gone. That said, let’s jump right in…

Exactly one year ago today I was celebrating Thanksgiving in a very unconventional way. Thanksgiving fell during our Fall Break (week of independent travel after our final exams), therefore it was just myself and three of my flatmates celebrating together. For some context, my friends and I spent our weeklong travel going to Oslo, Norway; Prague, Czech Republic; and Berlin, Germany…yes it was on Thanksgiving that we experienced our tumultuous Airbnb nightmare (Here’s the link to last post if you’re unfamiliar or curious about this terrifying experience). I will say, I don’t think we truly paid attention to dates when we were booking our connecting flights and train rides because we spent most of our Thanksgiving sitting in a train station in Prague waiting to go to Berlin. We were at a loss as we did not understand anything regarding our ticket, so we got to the train station extra early just to be prepared. Yet it was during this time when we celebrated our Thanksgiving abroad. And you may be thinking that we had to have found some nice, quaint restaurant to celebrate our thanks, but instead…we ate at Burger King. As someone who doesn’t eat really any meat, this was a pleasant Thanksgiving for me. My stomach was full of French fries instead of mashed potatoes, and that’s about it. I was going to add an analogy connecting my Burger King Thanksgiving to other traditional Thanksgiving food, but I really only ordered fries and a fountain drink from Burger King that afternoon. Needless to say I had a fun-filled, under-stuffed Thanksgiving abroad in a Prague train station headed to Berlin. 

Here’s my crazy flatmates and I indulging in Burger King on Thanksgiving

I will admit, our Burger King Thanksgiving was not that bad. As a French fry-lover, I enjoyed indulging in my favorite food, and it was nice spending this time laughing and having a good time with some of my closest friends from the trip. I will say, though, when we got back to our flat in London, we only had a few days left to spare overseas, but our site director set up a big, fancy Thanksgiving dinner for all of us to come together and celebrate. Not only was this a great time to give thanks for this amazing opportunity, but it was also nice having one final meal with all of us together. Throughout the semester abroad, we typically had weekly dinners where we all met up at a nearby restaurant (I always prayed for Nandos or Wagamama!) and ate and talked and got to know each other better, yet our big Thanksgiving celebration was much different. We were all good friends, so rather than “getting to know each other” we spent the time chatting and joking about our crazy stories and really living up our final days in London. Our big group dinner definitely made up for the Burger King Thanksgiving in a train station.

Here’s another picture of my friends and I waiting for our train in Prague!

Now that I’ve discussed my Thanksgiving abroad, I thought I’d take this time to tell some stories of what Thanksgiving looked like for my family while I was in Europe, along with their various Thanksgiving traditions from back-in-the-day. 

As for what Thanksgiving looked like in my household last year, it was very non-traditional. Apparently I wasn’t the only one in my family having an unconventional Thanksgiving. According to my family, rather than having the usual chicken (we don’t eat turkey and I don’t like ham, so I’ve managed to convert my family to having chicken for holidays…), mashed potatoes, stuffing, and green bean casserole, my family opted for Italian beef sandwiches. Although this wouldn’t exactly be my pick for a Thanksgiving feast, I’m glad they used the time while I was abroad to indulge in the foods I don’t particularly fancy 😂. After talking with my family to see what their Thanksgiving was like while I was abroad, I found that beef sandwiches were the only big difference in their celebration. Also, I discovered that they went Black Friday shopping without me…I will say I was pretty disappointed in that, but I’m glad they had fun. 

Here’s a picture of my family and I around Thanksgiving

Considering my family is quite small, when asked about crazy stories or memories from past Thanksgivings, the most I discovered is that there were two interesting topics that reminded my family of Thanksgiving: golf and windmills. Traditionally, most people associate football as the sport of Thanksgiving, but instead my mom explained the significance of golf during the turkey season. As some context, golf seems to be an underlying sport in my family. For instance, I spent a lot of my summers and school breaks in Miami, Florida with a golf course behind our house, so I grew up wanting to go hit some golf balls and drive the golf cart around. I will say, I am still TERRIBLE at golf. But also, my mom and I have this strange connection to golf because for a while, we seemed to bond over it. We don’t always understand the scoring and statistics, but we used to spend time just watching golf tournaments…mainly the Ryder Cup. This seems to be where her memories relate to golf because she said she remembers her grandpa wanting to watch golf on and around the time of Thanksgiving. As for the windmill memories…my grandma said her father used to always take her and her brothers out to tour the windmill on Thanksgiving so her mom could get everything ready for Thanksgiving dinner. She said it was an annual tradition for the longest time…they would always pack up early and take a tour of the windmill a couple towns over and then come home to a big Thanksgiving feast. It was really interesting being able to sit down and hear of some fun and different memories and topics my family associate with Thanksgiving. Hopefully someday I can start a new tradition/memory of taking them to London for Thanksgiving…

The Good, the Bad, and the Crazy: Geneva, Switzerland

Here’s a picture of Lake Geneva in Switzerland (not Wisconsin)!

Ciao Nomads! 

Now I’ve gone through most of my tips and tricks for how to tackle study abroad pre-departure, during, and post-trip, but we’ve reached the point that I’ve been hinting at since the beginning: my adventurous stories from abroad. Although I’ve given some context to our crazy experiences in places like Berlin and Paris, be prepared to hear some more interesting times of my venture abroad. 

Surprisingly, I don’t have many crazy stories from my stay in London. You’d think since that was where I spent most of my time, I’d have tons of wild experiences, but mostly, I spent my time roaming the streets visiting as many stores on Oxford Street, Carnaby, Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden, and Camden. I’m more of a shopper, as I’ve probably projected through most of these posts, so I spent a lot of my time in those areas! Also, interestingly, I spent several months in London yet I never visited the British Museum. What’s even worse about this was that my school was right around the corner from the British Museum, literally (I had class over on Russell Square for anyone familiar with London!!). There’s a part of me that is kicking myself for not going to see the Rosetta Stone and other artifacts in the Museum, but I’ve also got that mindset of me going back in the future, so maybe I’ll visit the British Museum eventually. I did go to the Tate Britain and Tate Modern which were fun! Highly recommend the Tate Modern! But you’re probably still waiting for more crazy stories, right? 

Here’s my flatmates and I on a paddle boat on Lake Geneva (left) and the United Nations (right).

I’ll start off with one of the more insane instances: Geneva, Switzerland. Two of my flatmates and I had planned a weekend trip to Geneva, Switzerland; we booked our flights and now we were just looking into Airbnbs. Not to play the name game, but one of my flatmates was in charge of finding and booking the Airbnb because she was most familiar with the app. She said she had found a highly rated Airbnb in Geneva within our price-point, so we obviously agreed with it. The pictures looked nice and the host seemed friendly, therefore we figured it’d be fine to book. So…we’ve got our flight. We’ve got our Airbnb. All that was left was flying over. I’ll skim over the airport details since nothing was unusual. But we land in Geneva and we find check out the address of our Airbnb only to realize it’s in Geneve…FRANCE. Yes, we booked our Airbnb in a whole different country. Yes, we were stupid Americans at the time. Since the place we were staying at was not in the same country, we struggled to find an Uber driver willing to take us over the border. (sounds scandalous, right?) Finally, we reach the point where this nice Swiss Uber driver agrees to take us to our Airbnb in France. Thankfully the drive was only about 30 minutes, but he dropped us off where we thought the address was. So now we have three confused Americans lost in France, frantically trying to contact our host to find our apartment for the weekend. It’s about 9 pm and there’s hardly anyone around. Picture a residential neighborhood. We had no clue where we were so we snuck into the gated area where we thought the Airbnb was and proceeded to call our host. Onto another funny instance: my roommate claimed she spoke French (which she does), so we decided to have her talk to the host since she only spoke French. As soon as the host picks up the phone, my roommate proceeds to say “Bon-jore.” And yes, I know I spelled it wrong…this is to emphasize the fact that my roommate definitely did not convince us that she spoke French at this time. Rather, my other friend and I proceeded to assume this was our end and that we’d be sleeping on the streets of residential France when we were supposed to be in Switzerland. Thankfully, my roommate managed to converse with our host and we found our Airbnb. Although it was a nice Airbnb, we were a great distance from the city of Geneva, Switzerland, so each morning we had to get up early and trek through across the border just to visit Geneva. Since no Uber driver was willing to drive us across the border into Switzerland, we had to walk through miles of construction and back to explore the city. Needless to say, we got our steps in for the entire trip that weekend. 

Here’s some pictures from Geneva, Switzerland (not France). Also, the last picture (right) is a fountain with purified drinking water!

Geneva was beautiful! We had such a great time exploring the city, although our feet hurt terribly afterwards. So you would think that our experience in Geneva couldn’t get any worse than booking an Airbnb in a completely different country and having to walk across the border everyday, right? Well…let’s just say we had a rocky start to the trip and a rocky end. We talked with our host about taxis to hail to take us to the airport since Uber drivers were terrible about agreeing to take us from one country to another (not sure why 😂). So we contacted a taxi company the day before our flight in hopes of booking a reliable cab to take us to the airport early in the morning. My flatmates and I got up and ready for our ride to the Genevan Airport at about 4 am. The time, I like to think, plays a big factor in what is about to come next. So our cab driver finally shows up and we start driving across the border into Switzerland. Honestly, there wasn’t anything too special or significant about the ride. He played some music for us and made some conversation. Truthfully, the main thing I remember was that the three of us were sitting in the backseat dying from the smell of him gassing up the car (if you know what I mean…). But other than that, we made it safely to the airport. As we were unloading our backpacks from the trunk we were trying to divvy up how much each of us had to contribute to pay the cab driver. Now I take responsibility for this mishap because I was an Accounting major at the time (you’ll see why I changed my major to English in a second). I determined that we each had to put forth a decent amount of Euros, so a gathered all our cash and handed it to the driver with a “thank you” and proceeded to head into the airport. As we were walking inside, my one flatmate was discussing how the math suddenly wasn’t adding up. This is when we all began to feel incredibly stupid…especially myself. Here we ended up giving our cab driver a hefty 40 Euro tip for our drive to the airport. We tipped him forty Euros for a cab ride that consisted of minimal small talk and constant farting. We were all dying a little on the inside at the thought of wasting that much money on a cab ride. Needless to say we agreed to never speak of this moment again, that is, until today as I share the stupidity that my flatmates and I projected throughout our time in Geneva. If you think this is bad, just wait! I’ve got plenty of other crazy stories to share from my experience. And…don’t worry, I’ve got some fun stories as well!

Tips for Getting Re-Acclimated to Your Home Culture Again

Here’s a spoiler for this post: Although I live in Tennessee now, I grew up in Chicago, so here’s a picture of the Bean from shortly after I got back from London!

Hey Nomads! Welcome back to another study abroad tips and tricks post!

So now that your study abroad experience is nearing the end, you’re probably wondering how to go forth and reacclimatize yourself to your home culture again. As crazy as it may sound, you might have picked up some words and phrases that may seem funny back home. I know while I was abroad in London, there were many phrases that I had grasped saying overseas, but once arriving back home, I had to tweak my phrasing and revert back to my old ways. I’m not saying that I came back with an accent, although that would be pretty amazing if I came back with a British accent, I did find myself using British terminology. For instance, rather than saying my friends and I lived in an apartment in London, I would say that my friends and I lived in a flat. To this day I still find myself referencing our flat…that may have been a bad example since I haven’t reverted back to the word apartment. Anyways, a better example may be the use of the word lift. In London, and many places across Europe, we would reference an elevator as a lift instead. Although both words make sense for the use of a machine that lifts, or elevates, you up to another floor, this was one example that I found myself switching back to once landing back home. Considering there are likely many instances of new terms incorporated in your dialect overseas, it’s not uncommon to maintain these new words and phrases throughout your dialect back home. I appreciated my time abroad because it helped me to expand my vocabulary and allowed me to understand new meanings for everyday tasks and words. That said, don’t feel obligated to revert back to your native tongue when returning back home, rather find ways to slyly incorporate what you’ve learned into your native language. Like I said before, I still use the term flat and I know there have been numerous instances when I’ve referenced British, or other European, terminology. It’s totally normal, and honestly encouraged, that you incorporate the little things you’ve picked up on while abroad. I will say, though, don’t be surprised if you start to receive some deer-in-the-headlights looks from your friends and family when you first land back home and start using a different dialect…it takes time to get re-acclimated.

Here’s a little America in London (left: Shake Shack), and a bit of London in America (right: Pret a Manger)!

Along with incorporating the words and phrases you’ve learned overseas back into your native tongue, it’s important to also readjust back into your old habits. For me, I was so used to getting up and ready, walking to the bus or tube, and then going into the city, yet back home in Tennessee, things are not that urban. I was now finding myself having to adjust to my friends being back in different states and living at home for the next month and a half before headed back to normal college life…I will say, coming home was great for being with my family more. I definitely appreciated the family dinners we had during that time of landing back home (although I do still miss Nandos!). That said, I think it would have been even better if my family felt like moving to London permanently! I’m sure there’s something there for all of us! But, considering they did not exactly jump at my suggestion for us all to move to London, I boarded the plane and headed home to my lovely Tennessee backroads and farms…goodness life in London is so different than Tennessee. I’m still trying to convince everyone to move overseas with me. I’ll keep you Nomads updated on if my family ever agrees!🤞

Dorm-sweet-dorm, friends galore, and a lovely cow from the farm behind my house!

Now that you’re probably tired of hearing about my love for London and all things British culture, I want to ease into discussing what you can expect when arriving home. If you’re anything like me, the moment you walk in the door you’ll be bombarded by family (and dogs!) and the first thing you’ll probably want to do is unload all your souvenirs. You may be thinking, “why in the world would she want to start unpacking all her souvenirs after a long 8.5 hour flight?” Now that may sound crazy, but let me assure you, you’re likely going to want to start telling all your stories from the trip as soon as you walk through the door. I strongly advise you to just pause. Take in your friends and family! It’s likely been several months and they’ve missed you. Hold off on the unpacking and just sit and chat with them. I will say, when I got home, the first thing I wanted to do was give everyone their gifts and tell them all the stories I had from traveling—the ones that hadn’t heard yet anyways—but I regret not waiting to dive into the stories. I spent my next month and a half annoying my mom about all the things I loved about Europe, and trust me, it got old to everyone really quick. I found myself treating study abroad as my life. It was everything I had expected and planned for growing up and it was over. I had given everyone their souvenirs and had told all my stories, I didn’t know what else there was. I had no more new pictures to show. I kept retelling all my funny stories. I felt like there was nothing more to do with my experience but to just reminisce in my head, or hope to make new friends eager to hear my monologues of study abroad (most of my friends studied abroad with me, and the rest I kept in contact with consistently in London, so I didn’t have many new stories to tell them either). My number one, key piece of advice for arriving back home is to take it step-by-step. Don’t feel obligated to spill all your adventurous stories at once, but don’t also bottle everything up for yourself. It’s been several months, your family and friends are likely dying to see you (and hopefully you with them!), use the early days of being home just to balance your stories with theirs. I’m sure there’s been a lot back home that you may have missed as well!

My point is to acknowledge that there are going to be some changes in your usual routine when returning home from this grand adventure…I’d say focus on combining what you know from home and what you’ve learned abroad and go forth as the newly and culturally established person you are!

Halloween in Europe

Main Street in Disneyland Paris in October!

Hey Nomads! I know this isn’t my usual advice post for study abroad, but I thought I’d throw in some Halloween stories since it is All Hallows’ Eve! 

Happy Halloween! I hope you’ve got some spooky plans for the night of Halloween! If you don’t, or are just unsure of what to do to get in the Halloween spirit, look no further! We had some interesting times leading up to Halloween while abroad. Although the holiday of Halloween is somewhat overzealous in the U.S. (as in we go to the extremes in celebrating Halloween, which I absolutely LOVE), your host country may not be as eerie on the night of October 31st. It may be harder to find some scary things to do, but I assure you, there will be some options for you!

I want to start off lighthearted, as our first encounter with Halloween-esque events was in Paris. We planned our trip to Paris for the first week of October, expecting to go to Disneyland. Although we anticipated seeing Mickey and Minnie along with Belle’s castle, we didn’t plan on seeing the wondrous Halloween decorations that filled the atmosphere of Disneyland Paris. I, myself, love the season of fall (or Autumn), so stepping into Disneyland and seeing all the Mickey-shaped pumpkins, leaves, and Halloween decor really put me in that Halloween spirit early. It was absolutely magnificent! Disney sure does go all out when decorating for holidays, and I’m in no way complaining! So if you’re in Paris around the time of Halloween, or at any point in the month of October, check out Disneyland if you want some kid-friendly, lighthearted, Halloween vibes.

Here’s some festive Halloween photos from Disneyland Paris along with one of the creepiest rides at any Disney park…It’s a Small World…

As for London, I’m going to be honest and say we didn’t go trick-or-treating on Halloween. Truthfully, I’m not sure if they do trick-or-treating…comment below if you’re from England and if you know of/like to trick-or-treat. I know I’m in the minority by saying this, but I’m not big on candy, so I wasn’t all that disappointed to not be trick-or-treating while abroad. But I will say this, London still knows how to celebrate this spooky holiday! For instance, if you like scary movies and plays, The Fortune Theatre put on a rendition of The Woman in Black around the time of Halloween. As someone who gets easily scared, I don’t exactly know why I agreed to go with my friends to see this play a few nights before Halloween. I will say, I figured it couldn’t be as terrifying as the movie because plays lack the CGI that movies can incorporate…I will also say that I was terribly wrong. I was absolutely mortified throughout the entire play. I definitely spent most of the time with my eyes closed, grasping my flatmates arm in hopes of the woman in black remaining on the ground level, far away from me. To add some context, our seats were at the very top in the balcony. I’m not exaggerating when I say we were in the very last seats in the upper corner right by the loud speaker and the door. That said, I find that these seats were even scarier than being close to the stage because I feared that the woman in black could easily make her way up to the balcony and stand right behind us. I’m not exactly sure if she did. All I know is the play ended with a loud screeching and my friends and I found ourselves falling out of our seats in fear that she was near us. I can’t exactly say I’d do that again, but if you’re someone who loves eerie, ghostly entertainment, highly suggest you check out what plays and movies are being put on in your area…

Here’s Covent Garden, which has the largest pumpkin in London, along with our terrifying view for the play, The Woman in Black.

Along with our chilling play experience, we also saw many people dressed up on Halloween and even the nights leading up to October 31st. For instance, my roommate and I decided one night to go out to eat over on Carnaby Street. For reference, there’s a club right across from the restaurant that we absolutely love (The Diner); but there, we saw many people lining the street waiting to get into this club. Side-note: Louis Tomlinson also spent his birthday party at this club back in December, if that adds any significance to this place! Anyways, if you’re someone who likes to go out clubbing, Halloween may be a good time for you to dress up and party hard. 

All of this is to say that if you’re studying abroad but are someone who celebrates Halloween religiously, don’t hesitate to explore the different plays and events that your host city puts on for this spooky holiday! There’s bound to be something that will get you in the Halloween spirit!

Packing for Home: Tips for Getting all Your Souvenirs Home

This was our last group outing before our flight back to Nashville…

Hey Nomads! Welcome back to another exciting week of study abroad tips!

So you may be nearing the end of your adventure abroad and that’s okay! If this is the case, and if you’re anything like me, you’re wondering how you’re going to pack everything into your suitcase before your flight back home. I’m here to tell you that you’re going to fit it all and that it may seem stressful, but all your souvenirs will make it back home with you. If you’re nothing like me, packing for home will be a breeze! 

As for managing all of your clothes, shoes, and souvenirs into your suitcases, this technique will vary based on what all you brought luggage-wise, but I want to share some stories of how my flatmates and I went about packing for home. 

For starters, I brought one large suitcase, one carry-on suitcase, and a backpack to last me the entire trip. I will say, everything I bought while abroad, I struggled getting it all into my two suitcases and backpack without exceeding the 50-lb weight limit that British Airways—and most other airlines—have. More on my technique later in this post though! It’s important to research the limitations your airline has for suitcase weight, sizes, liquids, and other potential restrictions before going to the airport. I will say if you wait until you get to the airport and your bag is over 50-lbs (or you encounter one of the restrictions), it will be terrible having to scramble to fix it. Chances are good in those instances, you’ll either have to forfeit some of your belongings or find other places to store your stuff. For instance, my flatmates and I were going through security at an airport in London; my roommate and I made it through security first, with our other flatmate right behind. As we were sitting on the bench waiting for the last girl in our flat to roll through security, I found myself receiving a call from her. (Slight background information—she is obsessed with makeup; she’s great, and there’s nothing wrong with her love of makeup, but she decided to bring ALL OF IT for our short, weeklong excursion…) While on the phone, she frantically tells me that I need to bring my backpack over to her so she can transfer some of her makeup in there since she was well over the limit for liquids. Since I had checked my other bag full of makeup and toiletries, I agreed and we had spent the rest of the trip with her packing her makeup and such into my bag. I will say, we made sure she never brought that much makeup on short trips again. Another instance was when I was flying out of Dublin and had to forfeit some of my makeup/toiletries since I couldn’t fit them all into one small sealed ziplock bag. A big tip: if you’re someone who likes to travel with a good amount of makeup and/or liquids, make sure you pack them into your own ziplock bag before putting them into your bag. Doing this will help to avoid the frantic scramble through airport security and the potential loss of expensive products. Otherwise, an even easier route to take would be to just keep them in your suitcase, if you’re checking it. 

Here’s what my suitcases looked like when first arriving in London (*my suitcases were much bulkier when I left*), another final outing to Wembley Stadium, and Carrie Underwood since we saw her in the Nashville Airport!

Back to packing for your flight back home, though, as that’s probably what you’re most interested in! Well, I will say I lucked out in packing for home. Although I still struggled when it came to the final scramble to pack, I was thankful that my mom visited me in London earlier in the semester, so I was able to pack some of my clothes and souvenirs in her suitcases. Now I’m not saying make your parents fly over to the country you’re studying in to take some of your belongings back with them—although it was quite convenient…and great to see my mom and show her around—it just happened to work out perfectly that my mom wanted to visit me and she happened to bring an extra, empty suitcase 😉. If your family is not planning to visit you abroad (which is totally normal and okay!!), plan to have at least two suitcases with you for homeward packing. As mentioned earlier, I brought two suitcases with me, so I didn’t have to go out and buy an extra one for heading home. That said, I will say I came close to having to buy a third…But if you are having to buy an extra suitcase, as many of my friends did, I’d check out stores like Primark for an inexpensive, but durable suitcase. 

Here’s some photos from when my mom came to visit! Also, my apologies for the awkward selfie…we just saw Prince William drive past us at Kensington.

Now when it comes to actually packing everything as ergonomically as you can, I highly suggest rolling your clothes. It may seem counterintuitive, but in reality, rolling my clothes added so much extra space to pack more! Also, if you didn’t bring one from home, invest in a luggage scale to make sure you’re not exceeding the typical 50-lb limit. One of our flatmates ending up packing her suitcase well over the limit and had to pay a hefty (see what I did there? 😂) fine at the airport. The scale was pretty inexpensive and small enough to pack in your bag if you wanted to bring it home. Also, if you don’t want to invest in one just for this short time of packing, see if any of your friends or flatmates want to split it with you so you can all equally share it. 

Along with making sure you don’t exceed the luggage weight restrictions comes more tips for using your suitcase space as efficiently as possible. Rolling your clothes is a massive space saver. If you brought those vacuum sealable bags, those are great as well. I struggled with using mine when packing to head home, so I focused on rolling everything. Also, makes sure you take advantage of your shoes as well. Since those can end up taking a lot of space, start putting some of your souvenirs and smaller clothes in them to reduce unnecessary space. I also suggest that when you get to the airport, DON’T pay for the extra checked bag right at the start. We flew British Airways and once making it through security, we were able to check our carry-on bag for free. If you’re ever in Heathrow and you’re flying British Airways, once you pass security take the escalator downstairs to the British Airways counter and you can check your carry-on bag for free. I cannot tell you how excited I was when we discovered this! That said, make sure to also look into what your airline offers past check-in. Some people on our trip forfeited the money to check their carry-on when they checked-in, which ultimately seemed like a waste considering the rest of us managed to check ours for free. Make sure to research the different regulations along with freebies airlines offer! Safe travels on your next flight! 

Comment below where you studied abroad!

Where to Stay While Traveling: Airbnbs vs. Hotels

My flatmates and I living it up in Geneva, Switzerland after walking from our Airbnb in France…explanations later in this post!

Nomads! Welcome back to another weekly blog post! 

Seeing that there are so many new opportunities of home-sharing and accommodations for lodging, I’m here to explain what routes to take when determining where to stay. 

Airbnb has become one of the most popular accommodation sources for a valid reason. They’re a great alternative if you’re too young to book a hotel or too nervous to stay in a hostel. I’m going to be honest, for most of the cities we visited, we stayed in Airbnbs. I will say too, our first “outside London” trip was to Glasgow, which was also where I stayed in my first Airbnb. If you’re new to the concept of Airbnb, it’s basically an app in which people rent out their homes for travelers: sometimes their private rooms and sometimes they’re full apartments. Each time we used Airbnb, we stuck with booking vacant apartments, mainly because of the number of us traveling each weekend. Back to Glasgow, though. As I said, our trip to Glasgow was my first experience staying in an Airbnb and I was pleasantly surprised. We went ahead and searched for places near the city center and that were posted by “superhosts”—aka people who have some of the highest reviews for that area. We found this Airbnb and I have to say completely lucked out because it was near the “downtown” area of Glasgow and it had great accommodations. Although my flatmates and I had great experiences with Airbnb in Glasgow, I will say, be cautious of the apartment that you’re booking. Read all of the reviews before booking. We did have a few cumbersome experiences with Airbnb throughout our time abroad as well. A few weeks in, we decided to book a trip to Geneva, Switzerland. Upon arrival to the Genevan airport, we discovered that our Airbnb was booked in Genève, France, therefore we had to trek from France to Switzerland each morning to go site-seeing. Although that wasn’t Airbnb’s fault, it goes to say make sure you’re booking your Airbnb for the right country…

Here’s the view from our Airbnb in Glasgow along with a picture of my flatmate and I in Genève, France instead of Geneva, Switzerland…

Another fun experience was during our week-long fall break excursion. My flatmates and I decided we’d visit Norway, Prague, then Berlin. Might I just say, the Airbnb in Prague was great! There was ample space for the four of us, a good neighborhood, and a friendly host. As for Norway and Berlin, let’s just say I have some caution stories to hopefully keep you from experiencing what happened to us. First with Norway (which is a beautiful country might I add!), we booked an Airbnb in a more residential area as it was slightly cheaper than booking in the city. Our flight got in later in the evening so it was relatively dark and our taxi had just dropped us off on the street of our Airbnb. After about a half hour of scouring the area for the key (which many hosts hide instead of meeting up with the visitors) we finally found it and made our way into what seemed like a sketchy apartment. And when I say seemed sketchy, I mean it was SKETCHY. We stepped inside to find that there was only one bed resting on the floor; the sheets and comforter were thrown around as if someone had just slept there; the towels were damp and dirty; and the large picture window looking out to other houses had no curtains or blinds to close over. That said, we spent the night “sleeping” bundled up with all of our jackets and clothes and hats on and proceeded to leave the Airbnb bright and early the next morning. If you think that’s interesting, just wait until you hear about our Berlin Airbnb experience. 

These are the only pictures I have related to our Airbnb and Hotel in Norway…and yes, we all “slept” bundled head to toe in the Airbnb.

Sidenote: I want to clarify that these stories of my experience with Airbnb are not to scare you or ward you off from using their app, rather I find it necessary to emphasize the importance of researching the location, accommodations, and reviews. If anything, reading reviews is the most important thing to take from all this. 

Okay, back to the stories! So from Norway we visited Prague, which was a great Airbnb! There wasn’t much to say about it other than it was nice and convenient for our several day excursion. As for Berlin…oh Berlin. I want to love the city. It was rich in history and fun to explore. But our experience with Airbnb hindered the great end to our trip. We booked the Airbnb in an area close to the city center; it was supposed to be a large apartment complex and we’d meet at the nearby restaurant to obtain the key. First, we received the key and proceeded to try and open the large gated doors leading into the apartment. Our time spent outside in a dark, cold, foreign city trying to open the immaculate gate to our home for the next few nights was eerily greeted by this man sitting in his car right outside the gate. At the time, we found it particularly sketchy that this middle-age man was just sitting in his car for the 30-40 minutes spent trying to get inside the complex. But our eagerness to get inside and sleep were overbearing our fear of this stalker-esque man. We spent this time frantically calling and messaging the owner, to which we received no response. Finally, we got the gate opened and proceeded to hike up to the apartment. Now was the fun part. During this time, we continually tried to use the keys to open the door. No such luck. We spent about another 20 minutes trying to open the door, contact the owner, and finally contact our site director (who was back in London, so she couldn’t do much). We knocked on neighbors’ doors trying to ask for help. No one answered. We were beginning to feel like we were being scammed of our booking. Finally the owner responded to us and explained that he was out of the country, but that his friend had been in the restaurant watching us scramble the whole time. Still, we received no help. Once hearing that, and feeling extremely unsafe by the man sitting in the car (who was still there after all our attempts) to knowing that someone was watching us struggle and didn’t feel the urge to help, we knew we had to get out of that area quickly. My flatmate ordered an Uber and I booked us the cheapest hotel so that we had someone to stay for at least the night. All of that said, we spent the brunt of our Berlin trip messaging back and forth fighting with the owner and complaining to Airbnb. We never found out if that was the owner sitting in the dark car watching us the entire time. I personally am convinced it was him. But as fearful and traumatic as this story was, I don’t this to steer you from using Airbnb. Rather, this should hopefully lead you to being more aware of who you’re booking with and the quality of the place you’re settling with. ***Read the reviews*** I know I’ve said this several times so far, but that is the best advice I feel I can give when stating how you should go about using Airbnb or any house-sharing app. 

Although I’ve spent majority of this post focusing on Airbnbs, I want to touch on the use of hotels. I know in my case, none of the people I traveled with were 21, so we didn’t think we’d be able to book hotels while traveling through Europe. I’m here to tell you that in most cases you can book hotels! As mentioned before, we ended up booking a hotel last minute in Berlin and it worked out really well. Sadly, though, it wasn’t until the end of our study abroad experience that we discovered we could be booking hotels. We also ended up staying in a Best Western in Oslo, Norway for the remainder of our stay since the Airbnb was slightly gross (**sarcasm**). That said, I highly suggest you look into booking hotels in some cases as well. We noticed that they were oftentimes in line with the price of an Airbnb, therefore if you’re a little weary of staying in someone’s home, or want to avoid hostels, check out hotels before settling with something you’re uncomfortable with. 

Here’s some of the more exciting times we had in Berlin! Also, note that the first photo was taken right before we had our debacle with the Airbnb…

Although the route of this post geared more towards Airbnbs, I find that lodging apps are more common when traveling internationally today. Don’t hesitate to test out different styles of accommodations through your adventures abroad! See what works and what doesn’t with your travel style. Often the not-so-great experiences are the ones that leave the lasting impact…in a good way (I promise)! 

Comment below any wild experiences you’ve had with accommodations while studying, or traveling, abroad!

Transportation Advice for Studying Abroad

If planes, trains, or buses aren’t your style, there’s always motorcycles with sidecars!

Hey Nomads! Welcome back to another weekly tidbit of study abroad advice! I hope you’re enjoying your study abroad experience so far—and these posts! 

I wanted to start out briefly describing the importance of using apps while studying abroad. Apps are absolutely one of the most useful tools you’ll need during your time overseas. Although they’re primarily handy for tasks such as converting currency or translating languages, they’re also extremely helpful for maneuvering around your host country and other countries you may visit. I know for myself, when it came to finding directions, I found that “Maps” on the iPhone surprisingly was my best bet. Every once in a while I used Google Maps for directions as well, but I found that “Maps” was best for providing clear, easy-to-follow directions. For instance, in London we took the Tube (an underground train system…basically the subway) a lot, and “Maps” helped us narrow down the fastest tube lines to take along with times that they ran. Most of the people I traveled with found “Maps” to be the easiest app for directions. Don’t hesitate to explore your phone’s app store and check out the different travel apps available! Now that you know of some apps to use overseas, you’re probably eager to hear of some transportation options for your time abroad…

One of the most well-known ways of travel throughout the world is by planes. Although countries may seem relatively close in distance on a map, chances are good they’re still quite a distance away. That said, from my time studying abroad, I found that traveling by plane was often the fastest—and sometimes the cheapest—route to go, especially for weekend trips. If your experience abroad is anything like mine, you may find that you’ll only have about four days worth of travel to each destination. It’s difficult to find time for all the tours, shopping, and adventurous jaunts when you’re spending several hours commuting to this city. You may be wondering why I’m plugging flying so much considering the fact that most people studying abroad are college students who don’t have much money to be spending towards several flights, yet there are many airlines and apps that provide cheaper options for flying. For instance, EasyJet and RyanAir are two famous airlines throughout Europe that are known for having less expensive flight options. If you’re from the U.S., they’re similar to Spirit Airlines, but they get you to your destination! I will say too, 90% of the flights we took throughout London were on EasyJet or RyanAir and they really weren’t bad. I’m not always thrilled to fly—yet I’m an avid traveler, I know—but I never quite felt distressed or nervous while flying with either of these airlines. 

I will also note that it’s important to check other airline and flight finding sites before instantly booking your flight. My advice is to use “Private Mode” on your phone or laptop and Google Flights to see which airline and which booking site offer the cheapest flight. Another route I went when finding flights was to use apps like Hopper to track flights to the destinations you want to visit. The summer before I studied abroad I downloaded this app and selected all the cities I wanted to travel to and the time frame I’d be visiting them and it continuously tracked the cheapest time to buy my tickets. But, if you’re a more spur-of-the-moment type of person—which I definitely was too in some cases—using sites like Google Flights and Skyscanner to track flight prices are vital to traveling on a budget.

If planes aren’t your style, trains are another fun mode of transportation abroad. In Europe especially, trains are a great way of traveling from city to city. I know I’ve mentioned the Tube already, but I will say that subway systems are some of the quickest ways to get around the city while avoiding traffic. Also there’s often interesting forms of entertainment around train platforms…and maybe even a few rats (just kidding, I think I only saw one out of all the times I took the Tube). Aside from subway trains, there’s other possibilities for traveling even farther than just city to city. We took larger trains like the BritRail many places throughout the U.K. One instance being our trip to Glasgow. Before I begin my discussion of our first major train experience, I must add that if you decide to take a train anywhere, whether you use something similar to a BritRail or another train throughout Europe, reserve a seat for yourself before boarding. If you don’t take anything else from my advice on trains, please, please, please note the importance of booking a seat. This was one mistake my friends and I made on every trip we took by train. You would think we would have learned our lesson the first time around when we spent majority of our four hour train ride on the floor next to the bathroom. Or near the end of our trip when we had to keep hopping from cart to cart during our ride from Prague to Berlin. Our train ride to Berlin was especially stressful because we did not speak German—but every word on our ticket was, of course, in German—and there were two stops for Berlin, but on opposite sides of the city. So, naturally, with each of us roaming around different carts (imagine the style of the Hogwarts Express from Harry Potter) part of our group got separated seeing that we were all constantly moving around and none of us knew where to get off specifically. That said, I highly recommend everyone you’re traveling with reserves seats for themselves in order to avoid the train-traumas (very extreme, I know…) my friends and I experienced. 

Here’s some photos from Harry Styles’ hometown train station and a Lego map of the Tube!

Buses! Another wonderful mode of transportation across Europe—if used correctly. I know most of my references span from London, but majority of my stay abroad was in London, so I’m focusing on what I know best! Also, London is just an amazing city full of rich history and great transportation. Sidenote: I still get emails regarding all forms of London transportation. But in London, buses are a key way of making your way around the city. If by chance you’re going to London for more than a few days, I recommend investing in an Oyster card to use towards buses and the Tube. I had one since I was living there for several months, but they’re handy for shorter, week-long trips as well. What they are essentially are cards that you load money onto and can “tap in” as you go to get on a bus or train in the city. I find that they ultimately save money and time rather than buying a ticket each time you go to take transit. 

Here’s my flatmates and I in front of one of London’s infamous red buses!

Aside from Oyster cards, taking the bus, in general, is a great way to travel. Although it may take slightly longer to get to your destination by bus—in some cases; this is mainly based on traffic and bus times—buses allow you to see the city from a more local perspective. Most of the people taking buses in Europe are locals, and you often ride past fun, interesting places, so they’re great to take if you’re looking to explore your host city (or other cities you’re visiting). When I think of buses, I automatically focus on my roommate and I taking the bus to class everyday. I will say, once you start to understand the bus system, they are amazing! I think we took the bus at least once a day. If we weren’t riding the 19 or 38 bus to class, we were taking the 55 to Oxford Street for some shopping and what not. And if you’re not in London, since I know many people study abroad all over the world, most cities have a well-conceived bus system.

Also, aside from taking buses around the city that you’re visiting, they’re also an option for getting to other countries. For instance, my flatmates and I took an eight hour bus from London to Paris. I know…it sounds weird, and trust me, it was a strange journey. Although taking buses from country to country is very time consuming, often times they do save you lots of money. I believe I paid about 15 USD for my roundtrip bus ticket to and from Paris. This, in turn, allowed us to spend some more on fun excursions like Disneyland Paris and shopping on Champs-Elysées! I will add that it did save us money to spend throughout Paris, but it also was a longggg journey from London to Paris, especially going over the English Channel. If you’re thinking about taking a bus from the UK to Paris (or another European city) and are extremely claustrophobic, I might consider spending a little more and flying or taking some sort of train there instead. We were basically packed into a tight crate and moved over the Channel, so if you’re okay with feeling like a sardine in a tin, a longer bus will be a piece of cake for you! I struggled on this eight-hour ride, therefore I know I would never do it again. 

Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and my flatmates and I at the start of our 8-hour bus ride to Paris…

All of this said, most major cities in Europe have GREAT options of transportation. If you find yourself wanting to try some other mode aside from flying, trains and buses can sometimes be better alternatives. I hope this post gave you some good insight into the different travel options you’ll have while studying abroad! I highly recommend giving each travel option a try at some point in your journey. 

* Note: None of these apps, airlines, or websites are sponsored. These are just what I found useful during my time abroad!

How to Pack for Weekend Trips Abroad

Here’s a festive photo of Disneyland Paris since it’s October! Also, I couldn’t find a photo of me carrying my backpack…

Nomads! Welcome back for another weekly dose of study abroad tips and tricks! As the title mentions, I want to focus on what exactly is necessary when packing for weekend trips abroad. 

First and foremost, the main piece you’ll need before actually packing everything is luggage of some sort. I am adamant in saying that packing everything into your backpack is going to be the most convenient option for weekend travel. I found this to be more multi-purposeful as well considering I just used my school backpack during the week and then converted it into a travel backpack on the weekends! I will say off the bat too, if you’re flying, most “cheaper” airlines charge you for anything that does not fit under your seat, therefore if you’re thinking about bringing a carry-on on the weekends, I’d personally advise not to. I’ll go into more detail about carry-ons toward the end of this post though. 

Back to backpacks. With my study abroad experience, we spent most of our time traveling to other countries on the weekends, specifically Thursday night through Sunday. Now I know that packing enough clothes and toiletries and such to last you a weekend sounds especially difficult, whether you’re a souvenir shopper or not, but trust me, it isn’t as bad as it seems. Sure I overpacked the first few trips—as will you likely—but once you get into the swing of things, packing light will be of such ease.

When packing for a weekend trip, I find it best to limit the amount of clothes you bring. As I mentioned earlier, I was typically traveling for about four days at a time. Although it may sound ideal, don’t expect to pack four days worth of outfits. I, myself, tried to stick with a minimalistic approach when packing for such a short period of time. That said, how much you pack will definitely be determined by the weather of the country you’re visiting. If you’re visiting a colder country, such as Norway, chances are good you’re going to have to pack more sweaters and bulkier items as opposed to visiting a place like Italy where the weather is typically in the 70s. That said, the packing-less approach is particularly important for the colder climate places. Stay up-to-date on the weather forecast of the place you’re visiting the few days leading up to your departure. Are they anticipating rain in the forecast? You’ll need your rain jacket. Is it supposed to be in the upper 80s while you’re there? Pack some shorts! This is all to say that it is highly unlikely that the weather is going to be the same as your host country’s, so plan accordingly and be prepared!

Here’s some photos from (left to right) rainy Glasgow, hot and sunny Paris, and windy Stonehenge (England) to give some context of the fluctuating weather across Europe.

Now you’re probably interested in hearing more about what to pack in these weekend backpacks, right? Well it’s difficult to say what types of clothes specifically to pack since each place fluctuates in temperature, but if you’re traveling similarly to what I did, you’ll only be in this other city for a couple days. That said, I recommend packing about two pairs of pants. I stuck with jeans throughout my time abroad since they seemed more versatile. Then for shirts, f it’s a warmer climate, you can probably pack enough to last your stay, otherwise my advice is to stick to bringing one or two less than what you think you’ll need. Example: if you’re going for four days, you might think to bring four shirts, but you can get away with bringing two or three shirts and rewearing them. As awkward as it may sound to rewear shirts, it’s quite normal for the typical study abroad student (at least on my trip). It’s important to note that you’re likely not going to see the people you pass on the street, and if you’re traveling with friends, chances are good they’re doing the same as you to conserve space. Plus, the less you pack, the more room you have to shop for cute clothes on your trip 😉. 

My flatmates and I freezing on our Fall Break experience to Oslo, Prague, and Berlin. I think I wore everything I packed each day, it was that cold!

Aside from clothes, you’ll be needing to bring toiletries as well. I had a hanging organizer from Vera Bradley that worked wonders in dividing all my makeup and toiletries for weekend travels. Sadly though, toiletries are one of those things that can’t be left behind (at least toothbrushes, toothpaste, and deodorant), so they automatically take up a chunk of your bag. Thankfully though, if you can fit most of your toiletries in some sort of hanging organizer it will be a lot easier for you to not only find what you’ve brought, but I found it also helpful in condensing my makeup and toiletries into one section (the middle compartment) of my backpack. 

We’re reaching the point of analyzing what all is now in this backpack for your weekend adventures. I, myself, find it helpful to create a checklist of everything I need, so I’m including all that you need for your trip in this list:

  • Backpack (preferably one with multiple compartments; I used this Vera Bradley one)
  • A few pairs of pants (like I said, I only brought jeans, but it’s your preference!)
  • Two-four shirts depending on the bulkiness of your clothes
  • One set of pajamas 
  • One pair of shoes (that you should just wear to your destination)
  • A hanging organizer 
    • Toothbrush
    • Toothpaste
    • Hair Brush
    • Deodorant
    • Makeup (if you wear it!)
    • Makeup Wipes (I typically packed the full size Neutrogena wipes, but they have smaller, travel packs that will take up less space; or even their single packs)
    • Travel-size shampoo, conditioner, and body wash (if your hotel, Airbnb, or hostel does not offer it)

Nomads! Also be mindful of your shopping choices while packing for your weekend trip. If you’re someone who knows that a backpack is not going to be enough for you, see if you and a friend can go in together and share a carry-on suitcase. Most “cheaper” airlines charge you for carry-ons if they go into the overhead compartment. Sharing a carry-on is something I don’t necessarily advise doing for every trip, but for the places that you know you’ll be wanting to buy a lot from, see if this is a possibility. My roommate and I ended up taking our backpacks, and sharing a carry-on suitcase for two or three of our weekend adventures (Paris definitely!) but other than that, we managed to stick with our backpacks solely. And don’t worry, we still managed to bring home plenty of souvenirs!

Understanding Cultural Differences while Studying Abroad

Here’s a sneak preview of Cinque Terre!

Welcome back Nomads! I hope the week is treating you well and your stress regarding study abroad is low!

As some of you may already be abroad, or those of you who are trying to prepare yourselves for what’s to come, my information this week pertains to some cultural differences you may find while overseas. For starters, food is one of the most differentiating aspect of countries. Wherever you’re studying, you can expect to find some interesting food options throughout you time abroad. That said, each culture has its own sort of traditional, “local” food. For instance, when we visited Florence, they had a sandwich called “trippa” which consisted of cow stomach…yum. I going to be completely honest here and say that I had no intentions of trying this. I don’t eat a lot of meat anyways, so I was not about to venture back to my meat-eater days while in Florence. INSTEAD, we visited another quaint city in Italy named Cinque Terre, and it is here where I had some amazing pesto. Instead of cow stomach, Cinque Terre is known for their pesto, which I have to say was pretty mouthwatering…I’ll insert a picture below! 

Here are some of the highlights of my food adventure in Italy: (from left to right) pasta with pesto, Nutella croissant, Margherita pizza!

Aside from Italy, England is known for fish and chips. I personally don’t like fish either, so of course our first dinner in London consisted of a big heaping of fish and chips. Thankfully another popular dish in London is the pasty, which is almost like a calzone, but with cheese and onions instead of pizza sauce. This is all to say that if you’re a picky eater like myself, don’t let that steer you away from studying abroad. Although there can be some interesting food-finds, most places will have more “Americanized” meal options such as pasta, chicken, burgers, or pizza. There were plenty of times when I went over to McDonald’s and ordered some fries and a McFlurry, or even some pizza from nearby pizza places. This is also to say, though, if you are a picky eater, don’t be afraid to try some new foods too. My roommate isn’t keen on spicy food, yet I took her to Nando’s—let’s just say the most amazing Portuguese food you’ll find in the UK—and she absolutely loved it! I have to say we probably ate there at least twice a week while in London.

Some London staples…with some U.S. added into the mix: (from left to right) pasty with chips, Shake Shack, and Nando’s!

As a slight tangent, I will say, if you ever find yourself in London, I highly suggest Nando’s for chicken, Wagamama for delicious ramen, or even The Diner (in Carnaby) for American food! All are AMAZING!

This is all to say that each country may have it’s own traditional food, yet most places also have a variety of other food choices, especially within larger cities where tourists often visit. So don’t be afraid to take a few food risks…maybe not cow stomach sandwiches…but you get the point! And if worse comes to worst, there’s always going to be a McDonald’s somewhere!

Along with food, something that you will have to be aware of and balance consistently are the norms of each country’s culture. Although this coincides with understanding their culture, it’s a different aspect in the sense that I’m referring to the little things that you may do that seem strange to those in your host country and vice versa. For instance, in the U.S. it’s custom that we tip at restaurants or places in which people provide services for us, yet in Europe—primarily the UK—if you try and tip them, they may give you a deer-in-the-headlights look. In the UK, at least, employees are paid well enough that their “tip” is essentially already included in their paycheck, so there is no need to consistently tip. If your server does such an amazing job and you feel as so inclined to tip them, you may have to ask first. When my mom first came to visit me in London, I took her to one of my favorite restaurants, The Diner, and she quickly proceeded to try and tip our server. Not only was this quite embarrassing because he was thoroughly confused and more staff came to hear what she was wanting to do, but it also showed that we weren’t exactly aware of their culture (mostly my mom wasn’t aware…but that’s beside the point). I’m in no way saying it’s rude or disrespectful to try and tip your server, but know that they may not accept it, or will at least be completely confused by your polite gesture. Also, I forgot to mention, the server respectfully declined my mom’s tip and I did try and tell her before we received the bill that it’s not custom to tip servers like we do in the U.S. (I know she was just following U.S. norms). 

Aside from tipping, familiarizing yourself with the local currency and the value of your country’s dollar compared to your host country’s is crucial. I proceeded to use an app called XE when we first landed in London, but it became especially important throughout our weekend visits. Although a flight to Oslo may be cheap, the moment you land in Norway, the U.S. dollar suddenly becomes worthless in the sense that their prices are raised relatively high, so you’re ultimately spending a lot more. SIDE-NOTE: This is in no way meant to bash Oslo, or Norway in general. In fact, as I mentioned in my last post, Norway was one of the places I dreamed of visiting and can happily say I was not disappointed with the culture! 

Here’s some tidbits of my time in Oslo, Norway!

Although tipping and currency are important aspects of your host country’s culture, understanding the little details are key as well. For example, in London particularly, it is custom to stand on the righthand side when riding up or down an escalator. Although this is most apparent while going through a Tube station, it’s also something to be mindful of when exploring shops and other such places. There may not always be a sign saying to stand on the right, but you may throw everyone off their regular routine if you stand on the left. Most people use this so that anyone in a hurry can walk up the left side, while the rest of the crowd can stand and ride the escalator up on the right. I personally liked this norm and strongly urge the U.S. to pick up on this trend 😉.

As for understanding general aspects, language is a significant part of studying abroad. Chances are good, if you’re not studying abroad in the United Kingdom or Ireland, you’re probably going to have to learn a language. I will say the idea of learning a language abroad did scare me while I was deciding on where to go. As I said previously, I initially wanted to study in Vienna, Austria instead of London, England. If I did study in Vienna, I would have had to learn German while there. I will say the reason why I did not study abroad in Vienna was NOT because I had to learn a language. This was just to say that most places in Europe (or anywhere away from the U.S.) have their own language. I’m going to be completely honest here and say that as important as it is to try and learn the language of your host country, or the other countries you’ll be visiting on weekends, know that most people still have some background in English and many restaurants have English menus so it’s slightly easier to understand. Early on, I sort of panicked before visiting non-English speaking countries, but really, I only had one encounter where I struggled communicating with someone. Surprisingly too, that encounter was at a gift shop in Disneyland Paris. I went up to the register and neither the cashier nor myself could understand each other, but thankfully my roommate knows French, so she chimed in and help me out! But if you don’t have a roommate who speaks French, don’t stress, translator apps like Google Translate may not be 100% accurate, BUT they will help tremendously if you ever get stuck in a language-pickle abroad. The chances of you needing them in Europe is not that high on a broad sense, but also know there is a chance you’ll want to look up some words.

Just know when studying abroad, you will notice cultural differences—whether they be big or small—yet it’s important to stay true to your roots but also, don’t be afraid to explore new opportunities and learn new things!

Anxieties and Excitement: How to Get Acclimated to Your Host Country

My flatmates and I exploring London early on in our journey!

With studying abroad, excitement is a necessary component in the pre-trip process. Though you may be reading this prior to departure, understand that the anticipation and enthusiasm may not subside as you inch closer towards departure. I have broken the following post into subsections of specific emotions and experiences that you may encounter as you inch closer to going abroad, or even land in your host country.

Excitement: Like I said before, excitement is typically the feeling that people who are studying abroad express the most. Many of us anticipate this moment so early on that it’s essentially impossible to even hold back on the excitement. As I have mentioned in my first post (Before the Adventure: What to Know Before Studying Abroad), I had been eager to study abroad forever; I knew at such a young age that I wanted to live and study in a foreign country, that it was no surprise for me that I surpassed nearly a decade of excitement. I will add that for building study abroad up in my head for nearly ten years, it was everything I could have ever imagined. Your emotions may fluctuate as this process gets more intense, but the excitement that entrails studying abroad will not subside. If it does…I suggest you go through all your photos from the trip and reflect on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! There will always be one big excitement from your experience abroad. Mine was fulfilling my childhood dream of living in London…oh, also seeing Prince William drive past us by Kensington Palace…that was exciting too!

Here’s a picture of tea at Kensington Palace following the Prince William sighting.

Anxiety: Before I begin discussing anxiety, know you are not alone in feeling this way before and/or during your trip. There is bound to be a moment throughout your journey in which you will feel anxious, or you’ll at least find some stress at some point. This is not meant to scare you, but rather to prepare you. Many find that the majority of their anxieties fall into the pre-trip category; that is, they find themselves stressing during the packing process and maybe even reconsidering their journey. I will say I had my fair share of doubts the summer prior to departure, yet it’s important to focus on the end goal: living it up in a foreign country! I have provided some advice for packing and preparing for studying abroad, but there are also numerous other blogs and resources revolving around studying abroad. I remember I found myself extremely anxious as I was trying to determine what all I needed and how I needed to pack. I would spend countless hours researching other blogs and Pinterest, only to constantly feel unprepared. I feel myself entering a tangent, so if you’d like more reference into the realm of packing, my last blog — Essentials for Study Abroad: How and What to Pack — can provide you with some insight as to all you need for your trip. Although, reverting back to the topic of anxiety, it’s completely normal, maybe even expected, to feel anxious throughout the process. In the case of feeling anxious, know that everyone else on your trip (and even those of us who’ve studied abroad before) have experienced these moments at some point in their study abroad experience. If you haven’t found yourself stressed during the beginning stages of packing, that’s great! There’s no specific track that every person studying abroad follows, so don’t feel like you’re doing something wrong or are going to be hit with terrible anxiety later in the trip. Anxieties and even reconsideration are bound to happen with any big decision, but I wouldn’t advise giving in. As cheesy as it may sound, this upcoming adventure is going to be something that you’ll remember forever. No matter how your adventure goes, know that you will come back much more mature and aware of the world around you, which is tremendously important in society today. There’s a great quote by John Mayer that ties in perfect with what I want to leave you with regarding anxiety: “Someday, everything will make perfect sense. So for now, laugh at the confusion, smile through the tears, be strong and keep reminding yourself that everything happens for a reason.” 

Pre-Trip Interaction: Welcome back to the usual, light-hearted advice for your journey abroad! As your time in the States (or wherever home is for you!) draws to a short close, you’ll want to start interacting with the people you’ll be living and traveling with for the next several months. It’s important to start getting to know your travel peers before departure, this way you can narrow in on some of the important aspects of planning. If you know you’re studying abroad with friends, talk with them and see where they want to travel while abroad. Are they planning on traveling every weekend? Do they already have certain destinations in mind? Since I’m a travel-junkie and have been planning my study abroad forever, I already had some places I wanted to suggest to friends. In this situation, though, understand that your friends probably have places in mind as well, so be prepared to compromise on trips since you do still have a limited time overseas with them. That said, don’t get discouraged if you don’t get to travel to all the places on your list this time. I was dying to go to Greece while we were in Europe, but it was just too expensive and wasn’t going to fit into our schedule. BUT, since I didn’t make it to Greece this time, I used this as an excuse to tell myself I need to go back to Europe in the near future! 

Since we didn’t make it to Greece, we were able to travel to Norway…my other dream destination.

Along with focusing on travel plans, you have to prepare for if their family (or yours) is coming to visit at some point. All of my flatmates were having their family or friends from home come and visit at some point during our time in London, so we all had to be mindful of our actual travel time together. We ended up compiling a list of all the dates we were unavailable to travel (for family or friend visits) and referred to that whenever we would plan a weekend trip. This tactic helped us tremendously because we were able to then map out what destinations were absolute musts to visit and which we could come back for later in life (sadly Greece…). 

Although I lucked out having some of my closest friends studying abroad with me, that typically isn’t the case. So if you don’t know anyone on your study abroad trip, don’t fret, that’s totally normal. I actually have a friend studying abroad right now and she didn’t know anyone else going on her trip, but she’s currently living it up and having the time of her life in Sweden! 

Use this time before departure as an opportunity to put yourself out there. Introduce yourself! I know many schools have group chats or Facebook groups, so start getting to know some of your peers through those platforms. If you’re nervous it’d be weird or awkward, just remember that most of them are in the same boat as you and are just as nervous, yet eager to meet their travel buddies. 

Whichever your case may be, use this experience to be outgoing and make new friends. Some of the people I studied abroad with I probably would have never interacted with on campus, yet they are now some of my best friends. Like I’ve said, study abroad will change your life (in a good way)!

Here’s some more friends I’ve made through study abroad!

During-the-Trip Interaction: So you’ve made it to your host country (or you’re reading ahead, which is good too)! Congratulations! You’ve already taken your biggest plunge. Use the first few days to get acclimated and interact with some of the locals. Immerse yourself into the culture instantly. You’ve been preparing for this moment for a while now (maybe not ten years, but long enough), so you should be relatively prepared to take in the new culture around you. You may find that your host country’s culture is completely different than your’s, but that’ll only make you more aware of cultures later. So talk with the local people of this new nation. Visit local shops: coffee shops, boutiques, cafes, and so forth. If you find yourself hedging towards the tourist aspects of the country, try those out as well, but see if anyone can recommend some other places that most tourists miss, or ones that only locals really go to. I know when my friends and I were in Dublin, we spoke with some of the locals and realized that some of the places we had on our list to visit were major tourist traps (meaning the chances of you seeing any locals there were quite slim). For instance, the Guinness factory…wouldn’t necessarily recommend (unless you LOVE Guinness, then go forth and enjoy!), but it is typically considered a tourist trap to the locals. Instead, we were recommended places like visiting Trinity College (the Book of Kells is there for any history buffs!), the Cliffs of Moher (slightly touristy, but absolutely breathtaking views…literally to someone who’s afraid of heights, like myself), and even Blarney Castle if your looking for the gift of gab*! However you wish to approach your first few days abroad, don’t hesitate to take some backroads and explore some unusual sites. Some of my absolute favorite places in London were found by taking adventurous walks and talking with locals. 

The Cliffs of Moher in Dublin…and no, this picture is not filtered!

Stay tuned for more posts about my experiences and recommendations for exploring cities such as London, Paris, Prague, Oslo, Berlin, Rome, and so many more!

*If you kiss the Blarney stone, legend says you’ll have the gift of gab going forth…some say I do, but I still have my quiet, introverted ways. 

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