I'm sure that I am not the first person to tell you that there are some things they regret doing or not doing while studying abroad. I figured if I wrote about some things I wish I would have done differently maybe someone will be able to leave their future study abroad experience with zero regrets.

Study abroad is not a cheap experience, but that does not mean it has to break the bank completely. Budgeting is a necessity to make it through all four months and the two biggest chunk of your funds will go towards food and travel. If you plan ahead and are smart about it, you can budget well enough to still enjoy your experience to its fullest.

Here are a few tips on how to save money while studying abroad.

Over the past few months, I've lost count of how many times I've heard the inevitable question: "So how are you going to handle this when you're studying abroad?"

My first response, always: "That's a great question."

My second: "I have no idea."

As we approach the end of the year and the end of the decade, it’s hard not to reflect on all of the experiences we’ve had these last ten years that have shaped who we are today. I’ve certainly changed a lot over the years, but I’m very glad to have been able to conclude this decade with my incredible study abroad experience. I’ve definitely become a much stronger, more confident person than I was when I first left home in September and I’m excited to take everything that I’ve learned this semester with me into 2020.

Before studying abroad, I found myself shocked by how much advice the people around me seemed to have about life in Italy.

In my last days in Berlin, I was able to cool down from my very busy final weeks. Although I was not traveling, it felt like I did not have time to rest. Classes seemed to have gone from minimal to a lot of work––with essays, presentations, and research to wrap up. On top of the academic responsibilities, suddenly my friends and I realized there was tons of stuff in Berlin we had been meaning to do, but we had not gotten around to yet.

In late November, IES took a group of students to the Bauhaus School in Dessau. The Bauhaus was an art school in Germany opened by Walter Gropius in 1919 and shut down by the Nazis in 1933. The school was revolutionary, setting a new standard for how art and architecture could be thought of and created. Much of what is considered today as “modern art” was influenced by the Bauhaus. The Bauhaus style played with the relationship between art and technology, form and function, and design and industry.

In my previous post, I mentioned that the most popular questions I’ve received since being back in the states include “Where is Morocco?” and “Did you have to wear a scarf?” yet I must admit that this has only turned out to be partially true. Over the past three weeks of winter break, I’ve met wrinkled noses, upturned eyebrows, ear-to-ear grins, and the occasional pursed lip when individuals ask me their new most popular question: 

Why did you choose Morocco? Why Rabat?

When I first came off the plane into Buenos Aires and got in the taxi on the way to my homestay, the thoughts that consumed my mind were “What in the world am I doing?” and “Who do you think you are leaving for a whole semester?” I was excited and incredibly nervous about all of the unknown aspects of my semester abroad and there was no turning back. Now a month after my return home, it still feels unreal that I spent a whole semester away, and my new daunting task is preparing to go back to my home campus. 

The final days of the program go by the fastest. You slowly pack away the home that was yours for the past four months and say goodbye to the family you built abroad. Sadness over leaving is mixed with happiness for the memories you have made. None of it is easy. The one thing that makes it easier is knowing you will be returning home to all your friends, family, and possibly a few extremely missed pets.