If you’re planning a study abroad trip, continue reading to discover a few handy tips that will make your time overseas a whole lot easier!
Travel and education: Study abroad tips
1. Purchase a journal to write about your daily experiences living abroad
It’s well worth going out and purchasing a journal which you’ll be able to pack for your study abroad experience. As while you can write about your daily experiences as an international student using a digital diary, as the years go by, you’ll love being able to read a physical diary of your experiences abroad.
You may want to place trinkets such as ticket stubs to sports game or concerts which you attend as well as polaroid photos of yourself with your new friends in your travel journal.
2. Start a blog to document your experience
In order to keep all of your friends and family members back home updated on your experience, you may want to consider starting a blog about your experience. Just be sure to post plenty of photos to accompany your posts as your loved ones will be excited to see photos of you living abroad and in the years to come, you’ll also enjoy looking back at your blog posts.
3. Set yourself a weekly budget in order to manage your expenses
in order to avoid running out of disposable cash on your study abroad experience, it’s a great idea to set yourself a weekly budget, which you’ll be able to realistically stick to for the duration of your time abroad. As so many international students waste a large portion of the money which they’ve saved for their trip in their first month abroad.
4. Make sure to have digital copies of all of your important documents
It’s well worth scanning or taking clear smart phone photos of your passport, your student exchange documents and your visas as it always pays to be safe, rather than sorry. Especially, when you’re traveling alone to a foreign country, which you’ve never visited before.
5. Use Skype or Face Time to talk to your loved ones back home
If you ever get homesick, simply video chat with your friends and family members back home, to hear familiar voices without having to pay for expensive international phone calls. Just make sure that you know what time it is in your home city, before calling your loved ones to avoid waking them up in the middle of the night or early in the morning.
6. Take a small trinket with you on your adventure, to remind you of home
Another way to fight homesickness is to pack a small item which reminds you of home, during your study abroad experience. As an example, you may want to pack your favorite mug that your best friend brought you for Christmas or your favorite pillow case or blanket.
7. Join a variety of clubs in order to make new friends
As an example, you may want to join a hiking or skiing club that embarks on regular weekends away.
So if you have your heart set on studying abroad in the future, it’s well worth keeping all the tips listed above in mind.
