♡ 7 Things I Learned While Studying Abroad ♡

Hello lovelies! It's been so long since our last post (five months... what???). We are so sorry that we basically disappeared, but unfortunately this past semester has been so time consuming between classes and travel for me, and for Bella, classes and work. Hopefully this blog post gets us back into a regular posting schedule, because I definitely miss talking about clothing and makeup!

Anyways, if you're a college student, you have most likely heard about studying abroad. Perhaps you've heard about it multiple times. Maybe you have studied abroad or are going to in the future. Studying at least a semester in a different country is becoming increasingly popular, with some schools encouraging their students to study abroad (like at my and Bella's own university). Our university has a second campus located in England, and I had applied my freshman year to study abroad this last semester. 

Being in Europe (yes, the overall continent) was a dream. I traveled far and wide, I met new people, I had the time of my life, all while enriching it with many lessons. I'm going to share some of the things that I learned being in a foreign country by myself for the first time, as well as share some of my own advice for those of you who are interested in studying abroad or whoever wants to look at my pretty traveling pictures!

1. Be realistic about your budget and traveling.Before I left, I made a giant list full of countries and places I wanted to visit (we're talking 10+ countries). Realistically, I only went to four countries, England included, because that's all my budget allowed. I went to Florence, Italy and Paris, France, which were the two trips that sucked up most of my money, though some of my favorite places. Other than that, I traveled a lot around the UK, which was a lot more cost efficient, not to mention, there's a lot to do within England itself! Also, be realistic about your budget. I naively thought that $1,000 was enough to last me four months... it barely lasted me a month. I was buying snacks, pizzas, clothes, souvenirs, and paying for trips. That's not to say that you can't make $1,000 if you're fiscally responsible, but if you like shopping as much as I do, make sure you bring enough money for that. 
   
   
2. Don't feel pressured to do as much as others do. One of the biggest things that can happen if you're on a tight budget is envying other students who are able to travel more than you maybe are able to. This happened to me on reflection, but upon further reflection, I did everything that I personally wanted to do, and I spent all my weekends doing whatever I pleased. I visited the two places I had wanted to go to since I was young, and I met a great friend who took up most of my weekends. Live every weekend/break to its fullest, and you might find yourself to be happier having done that instead of traveling to a new place every weekend (plus that's a lot of money and effort).
   
   
   
   
3. Don't wait until the last minute to plan and book your trip. I am extremely guilty of having done this with the majority of my trips. I booked my flights to Italy a week before we left, and my Eurostar ticket to Paris a couple nights before we departed. As a result, ticket prices were extremely expensive (nearly $100 more for Paris then when I had last looked). Things book quickly, and prices increase. You do not want to spend the extra $100 on a ticket that you could have saved booking sooner when you could spend it on food (because who doesn't love food?).
   
4. Beware of cheap airlines.
   It all looks great on your laptop screen! A $100 flight to Italy? It's almost too good to be true! The thing that a lot of people, myself included, tend to forget is that these cheap airlines (EasyJet, RyanAir, IcelandAir, etc.) are out to get as much money from you as they can. Check their baggage policy, fees, and bring your own snacks/buy your own drinks at the airport! More often than not, they do not provide free drinks/snacks like most major US airlines do because the prices are so low. Most of these airlines have a ridiculous baggage policy that will only allow you so many bags or so much weight.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Bring the basics.
   It's so tempting to bring your entire closet with you, but unfortunately, baggage policies and weight restrictions will not allow you to. I made the mistake of packing a bunch of weird clothing choices that, in theory, would have been adorable to wear... if I had the effort to wake up early and dress up. Unfortunately, I lived in the five t-shirts and leggings that I initially packed, and then I had my mom send me more t-shirts and leggings. I didn't wear most of the fancy clothes, dresses, sweaters, etc. that I would normally wear because I was often getting ready 15 minutes before class started. If I had brought more basic clothing with me, it would have been easy to dress up with jewelry and scarves, and I would have likely worn it more.
   
6. Watch out for foreign transaction fees.
   I had to learn this one the hard way. I brought my debit card as well as my credit card, but my credit card takes a business day to process a payment, so I often used my debit card to pay for things because I wasn't smart and paid my credit card off in time. This seemed fine until I checked my banking app and found a bunch of small fees that resulted from my spending. My bank was on the low side and only took 10% but beware that some banks charge a lot more. Before you leave, check the foreign transaction fee for your bank. If you have a credit card, check to see if there is a foreign transaction fee in place for that. Fortunately, my credit card did not have one.
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Travel often and fall in love with places and people.
   This is going to be my longest blurb, but the most important lesson!
   One of my biggest regrets was not going out more often than I did, which in retrospect is ridiculous because I went out nearly every weekend in the last half of my trip. But I can track 3 weekends where I stayed on campus, and I wish I would have taken at least a day trip to a neighboring city and done something other than sit in bed all weekend playing the Sims.
   It's easy to feel intimidated walking through these vast cities and feeling out of place, but that should not define your thoughts on the place. I had one particular bad memory of my first weekend in London (too long for this post unfortunately), but once I got past that, I really fell in love with the city, and I had a lot more positive experiences when I had a positive outlook while I was there.
   One of the biggest pieces of advice I can give is to meet and get to know locals. Nobody knows the city better than those who live there, and more often than not, you can meet really cool people who have had amazing experiences. I'm not good with meeting strangers, but one drunken night on Tinder resulted in some cool conversations with a few people, and I had a date planned for the upcoming weekend. My date ended up becoming one of my best friends while I was studying abroad, and he showed me certain parts of England that I would have never gone to had I not met him, and some of these experiences really defined my study abroad experience. I can thank him for getting me out mostly every weekend since I met him instead of sitting in bed alone. Overall, I'm really glad I met him and had these experiences!

Phew that was long! But I hope that this list helped those of you who are studying abroad, thinking of studying abroad, or on the fence about it. I can say that my five months in England have been so unforgettable, and I feel like a completely changed person (in a good way) because of it, and I would definitely recommend it if you got the chance. 

Leave a comment and let me know where your favorite travel destination was and/or where your dream destination is!

Thank you for reading through this monster, and I hope it made up for our long absence (really sorry about that again!). As always, make sure to follow us on our socials under "Who are we?" and "Contact Us!" so you can keep up with our lives and let us know what you want to see.

Beaucoup d'amore ♡ -Sally