I was lucky enough to study abroad during
my junior year of college. I lived in Florence, Italy for four and a half
months and learned a lot about traveling, packing, and what’s important in
life. These are my top tips to make the most of your study abroad experience.
1) Bring Less Than You Think
You Need
The night before I left for Florence, I
packed my whole suitcase with everything I wanted to bring. I then took out
about a quarter of those clothes. You WILL be shopping, so leave room for new
clothes and shoes! To save room in your suitcase, roll your clothes and wear
your heaviest shoes on the plane.
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| La Tour Eiffel in Paris |
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| Canals in Amsterdam |
2) Travel As Much As You Can
& Use Student Travel Agencies
One of the reasons I wanted to study
abroad in Europe was because I knew I would be able to easily travel to many
countries. I knew I probably wouldn’t have another opportunity to cheaply
travel to so many amazing places. I traveled almost every weekend and I always
used a student travel agency such as Bus2Alps
or Florence For Fun (check out the links to
these websites at the end of the post!). I had friends who planned trips on
their own and said it was very difficult and stressful. These travel agencies
take care of everything for you and you go with a group of students from around
the world!
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| The Duomo in Florence |
3) But Don’t Forget About
Exploring The City You Live In
Toward the end of my study abroad
experience, I realized that I hadn’t explored Florence a lot. I spent the last
couple of weeks squeezing in things I wanted to do and places I wanted to go to
in the city. I would suggest staying in your local city for one weekend a month
and exploring as much as you can.
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| Snowshoeing in the Swiss Alps |
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| Holding a baby goat while on a wine tour in Tuscany |
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| At the Lennon Wall in Prague |
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| Food on a wine tour in Tuscany |
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| In the grocery store in Florence |
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| Pizza in Florence |
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| Dumplings and dark beer in Prague |
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| Four cheese gnocchi in Florence |
4) Try New Things & Eat New
Foods
When is the next time you will have a
chance to ski in the Swiss Alps? Or go to the Lennon Wall in Prague? Do things
you wouldn’t normally do! Take chances and eat all the new foods you can get
your hands on.
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| At Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco |
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| At La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona |
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| At the Colosseum in Rome |
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| Crossing Abbey Road in London |
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| In Cinque Terre in Italy |
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| In Lake Como on Valentine's Day in Italy |
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| At Park Guell in Barcelona |
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| On the Harry Potter Studio Tour in London |
5) Take A Lot Of Pictures
I don’t think I need to explain this one.
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| Women at Pitti Uomo (fashion event in Florence) |
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| Men at Pitti Uomo (fashion event in Florence) |
6) Research The Country’s
Clothing Style
You will stand out as an American, but it’s
good to try to blend in with the locals. Overall, Europe has a more neutral
color pallete when it comes to clothing. I packed a lot of black and gray
clothing when I went to Florence.
7) Buy Most Beauty Products
There
I brought full bottles of facial cleanser
and moisturizers, but I definitely could have bought those in Florence. French
skincare is amazing and can be found
all over Europe. Honestly, most of my personal souvenirs were bottles of cleaners,
moisturizers, masks and acne treatments. (I went a little crazy while in a
Parisian drugstore.) Check out brands like La Roche-Posay, Avène and Bioderma. Although
you can buy great skincare in Europe, I would bring your own makeup and some
backups in case you run out.
Look out for upcoming posts on Florence, London
and Paris! If you are getting ready to study abroad or travel overseas and have
questions, please leave me a comment!
Check out my Pinterest board that I made
especially for studying abroad in Florence!
Student Travel Agencies:
“If you’re 22, physically fit, hungry to
learn and be better, I urge you to travel- as far and as widely as possible.
Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and
cook. Learn from them- wherever you go.” – Anthony Bourdain
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