whatisshedoing

My semester abroad was the best four months of my life to date.  I decided to compile a guide to the cities I visited as well as the basic information I received or wish I had received.

Also when you look at the guides by city, if something is in a different color it is because i HIGHLY recommend it.  If the first letter in a word is a different color, it’s a link to the website or the tripadvisor page.

P.S. BRING YOUR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ID CARD EVERYWHERE YOU GO.

Here we go:

Daily Living

You will probably be gross.  It just happens.  Especially in Florence, it’s just a dustier city.  You just get used it it.

Make sure you pack boots and a cross body bag.  You will probably rewear the same pair of pants a million times.  My uniform was a variety of sweaters, scarfs, and jeans.

Also I was really into those knit headbands to keep your ears warm.

Even if you’re going to a warm place, it’s probably going to get cold at night.  Be prepared.  Fuzzy socks, sweatshirts, sweatpants.  Sometimes I slept in ear warmers.

Things to Bring

Medicines from home- the things they sell there are different. Bring like advil, tylenol, mucinex,tums, pepto bismol, gasx, benadryl, nyquil, etc.(we used nyquil a lot for long bus rides…)

Adaptors! And lots of them.  Note: London uses a different adaptor because they’re special.

You CAN bring a blowdryer from home.  I brought the con air infiniti pro (the one with the attached brush).  As long as it has the dual voltage switch it’ll be ok (MAKE SURE TO SWITCH THE SWITCH THOUGH).  Usually it will then only work on the “low” setting, but that is actually higher than the American “high setting” because the voltage is higher

Tiny carry on toiletries that you can bring when you travel

Weekender bag! Important for airlines that you can bring on.  When deciding between a backpack and a small bag with wheels, if they are the same size choose the one on wheels.

GET YOURSELF A SILK SLEEP SACK.  Please.  This is so you don’t have to touch the sheets at hotels/hostels.  It’s amazing and you can do that little dance from Summer Heights High

Money

I don’t understand financial stuff, but this is what I know.  I brought with me a Capital One credit card and a Bank of America credit card.  Bank of America has affiliates with the national banks of many different countries, so you can use the ATM without additional charges.  Capital One has this policy that there are no international charges or something on the card so that’s why I got it .  I’m pretty sure the best cards are the “Cirrus” ones (it’s written on the back) so inquire about that.  If you can get a card with a MICROCHIP in it.  That’s what they use in Europe and it makes life so much easier.

Obvs make sure to tell your credit card company where you’re staying and that you’ll be traveling around Europe so that they don’t turn off your card when they see you bought something in the middle of Switzerland.

Be careful when using your credit card when you go out to eat: sometimes they charge you as if it’s a withdrawal or something there and then you’ll get additionally fees on your credit card. Try to pay with cash as much as possible.  A lot of places don’t take credit card either, so really aim for cash.

Technology

When I went iPhones weren’t as ubiquitous as they are now and so everyone had blackberries which were perfect because you could use whatsapp or bbm and be in contact with anyone (for free! kind of! at least not per text!).

Find out from your program if they provide you with phones or the option to get a chip that you can put in a phone you’d bring.  I did this (the service was Wind) and got the unlimited data and put it in an old blackberry.

A lot of people brought iPhones and turned off their data so that they only used it when it was on wifi.  I brought my iPod touch for the same purpose. It’s convenient because you can still use iMessage.

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to watch a lot of hulu abroad because “they aren’t available in your country.” NEVER FEAR.  For Cornell, at least you can download and install the Virtual Private Network, which will trick your computer into thinking you’re in America.  I’m sure that other colleges have this (or something similar) as well.

Traveling

I know everyone says that it’s so cheap to fly around Europe, but that’s not necessarily true.  It really depends on what city you are in.  For example it’s so much cheaper and easier to fly from London than Florence.  Learn at least 2 airports that are close to but not in your city and figure out the cheapest way to get there.  Then when you book a flight, search for tickets from the airport in your city and the ones close to you.

Cheap tickets can be purchased from:

edreams

skyscanner

ryanair

wizzair

vueling

Some of these airlines are a little more ghetto and be careful because they will charge you for every bag you check and there are hidden fees.  Just watch out for that.

Planning your Trips

Don’t plan everything before you leave.  Make a basic outline and speak to people because some events (like Springfest) you want to go to when EVERYONE goes, but for the rest of the trips don’t fill up all of your weekends early on.  You’ll regret it later because then you have zero flexibility.  Some of my friends did this and they regretted it.

Also go to as many places as you can. And do everything.

Hostels

When I went abroad I was TOTALLY against hostels.  But some aren’t that bad.  Look on hostelworld.com and go to ones that are highly rated and you can find some that are actually amazing (better than hotels) with a private bathroom and rooms that you don’t have to share with strangers.

Organized Trips

Take advantage of these!! These companies provide you with transportation, lodging, and have activity options.  For some trips it is COMPLETELY WORTH it and AMAZING.  Also, they have fly in options so even if they don’t have trips from your location, you can book your own flight and do the rest with them.  It’s a cheaper option and really a lot of fun.  I used Bus2Alps for Interlaken, the French Riviera, and Croatia and used FlorenceForFun for Springfest.

Bus2Alps

FlorenceForFun

Be careful with euroadventures.  They cancelled their trips on me THE DAY BEFORE. Twice.

The Beginning

The first week or two (sometimes a little longer) sucks for A LOT of people.  It can be hard to get used to living in a different country, weird being away from your family and friends, and maybe not exactly as you expected.  That’s because it won’t be at all like you expect it, but it will be AMAZING.  So don’t worry if it seems weird at the beginning, it does for a lot of people and it gets better.

Be Smart

Keep with you in different places copies of your passport, the local embassy, that card with all the emergency international numbers and the information for your abroad program.  I can only speak from the experience of my school, but Cornell abroad was EXTREMELY helpful when we had problems (which I had a lot of) so take advantage of that.

Disclaimer for Guide

Use this blog and guide for advice, but please don’t follow it or any other guide to the letter.  The most fun we had was when we allowed ourselves to just go off, explore, and enjoy the moments.  Freaking out about where to eat and checking things off of a list isn’t going to be fun for anyone.  Just wing it.