My Biggest Tips for Studying Abroad (and What I Wish I Knew Before)

Making the decision to study abroad is by no means an easy one. For a lot of people, it means uprooting your entire life and leaving behind everything you know to throw yourself into a brand new environment with new customs, new people, and sometimes even a new language. At the same time, while it can certainly be scary, there is quite possibly no better opportunity to learn about the world and yourself. In that sense, many of the little problems or challenges that pop up along the way can be great times to test yourself and your ability to face roadblocks. At the same time, these “problems” can often range anywhere from slightly annoying to rather destructive. So, I’ve decided to put together a list of some of these little (and big) things that can often allude us when we first begin our journeys.

1. Adapters

Knowing what type of outlet your new home uses is definitely a must, but what I completely forgot about when I first started traveling around was the fact that even countries that are close together can use different types of outlets, and therefore require different adapters. This was a problem I faced when I went to Switzerland, initially assuming they used the same European “type C” plug-in as the other countries I had been to, only to realize upon getting there that the hotel I was staying at used a “type J” and that my adapter wasn’t compatible. Luckily, I was able to find an electronic store and it wasn’t a disaster, but now I can personally highly recommend either getting an adapter that is compatible with multiple outlet types, or looking up the country’s plug-in type beforehand and not relying on assumptions.

2. Calling Your Family

If you're moving to a country that is very far away from your family and friends, likely you’ll be operating on very different timing as well. This naturally can get complicated when one of you wants to call the other only to realize it’s the middle of the night. For me, it almost seemed like there was never any good time to have a conversation with someone from back home, as my ideal time was never theirs, and vice-versa. And then, before you know it, you’ve gone weeks without talking to anyone from home, which can be really hard for some people (it could definitely be that way for me at times). This is where I would recommend setting up some sort of a schedule between you and your loved ones, so you know when a call is coming and don’t have these extended droughts to cope with. Of course, you don’t always have to stick to it—things do come up, but just having a structure of some kind can help make all the difference.

3. Put Yourself Out There

This is advice you’ve probably gotten before in multiple situations, and it’s advice I myself got a lot, but I definitely can’t understate how important of advice it truly is. Putting yourself into possibly uncomfortable situations in orer to get to know people better is how you’ll end up making friends, and those friends will make all the difference in your experience. And while I don’t necessarily believe your experience begins and ends at the people you meet (it’s a lot more than just that), there is no doubt that when you start to feel homesick or extremely lonely, having people to lean on that are close in proximity to you can really make all the difference.

4. Plan Ahead

This is particularly advice for when you start traveling to other countries or other areas you have an interest in visiting. If there’s something really popular you are desperate to see, it really helps to look online and research how accessible tickets are—whether it’s possible to purchase them the day of, or if they book out months in advance. It’s really crazy how much tourist attractions can differ when it comes to this feature. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend planning out an entire itinerary when you go to a place just because you probably want to have some flexibility if you find something unexpected that you really like or really intrigues you (though if you’re a total planner, that is obviously totally fine too!), but having an idea of what you might need to book tickets in advance for (and thus having the opportunity to actually book them) can help ensure you accomplish everything you want to see and do on your trips.

5. Only Go Where You Want to Go

This is one tip I personally wished I realized before I started traveling. I think with social media and everything, there are so many places in the world we become aware of and think that we’d love to go there. And so, when studying abroad and having opportunities we don’t otherwise have to actually go to some of these places, it can be hard to not want to go absolutely everywhere you possibly can. To this, I would just recommend that you should really only go places you really want to go to, places that speak to you, places you’ve been dreaming about for years. You aren’t going to be able to go everywhere, and that’s perfectly okay! It’s just important not to get too overwhelmed or disappointed that you maybe didn’t get to go everywhere or see everything you wanted to. It’s only what you did get to do and see that matters in the end.