While studying abroad, you might feel the need to visit and see as many different places as possible, traveling to a new city or country every weekend. It makes sense to want to do this, because how often do we get the chance to visit a different continent? But sometimes, it can be stressful and tiring visiting a new place every weekend. Many of my friends who are studying abroad have told me how always being on the go can get very stressful.

IES Abroad: Tell us a bit about yourself and your study abroad blog.

Katya Schwenk (KS): I grew up in Vermont and Massachusetts, and am now living in D.C., where I'm a senior at Georgetown University. At Georgetown, I've studied government, creative writing, Arabic, and Spanish; outside of that, though, I'm a writer and reporter, focusing on longform journalism. Other interests of mine include the mountains, radio, and distance running.

Today, I left a whirlwind visit with some of my closest college friends, and as I was waving goodbye, it suddenly hit me that in 10 days I will be waving goodbye to the U.S. and hello to Argentina. Wow. I had a similar feeling 10 days ago after saying goodbye to a high school friend. At that time, it was only 20 days before my grand departure, which in my procrastinating vision seemed like an eternity. At the 20-day point, I had just bought my plane tickets, and I didn’t even know who my host family was.

Having been home from Paris over a week now, I finally feel that my American life has returned to normal. I’ve re-habituated myself to air conditioning, large meal portions, and driving everywhere. I’ve had to stop speaking French to everyone (my real parents do not appreciate it as much as my host parents did). And I’ve gotten used to looking out at modern, recently constructed buildings, rather than the Renaissance palaces and gothic cathedrals of Paris. 

As the sun rises on my final full day in Dublin, I am feeling incredibly reflective.  My most overwhelming sentiment is that, while I'm quite sad to be leaving a city that I've grown to love a great deal, I feel completely satisfied with everything that I have been able to do. I truly made the most of this opportunity, and I want to help you do the same! Here are some of the words of wisdom that I have lived by throughout these six weeks.

1. Say yes.

I touched down in Christchurch almost two weeks ago, and honestly, it’s hard to believe it's only been that long. I feel like I have been here for months. In all of the best ways, Christchurch has begun to really feel like a (third?) home after my home school and real home.

The impending departure from Shanghai is starting to dawn on me. Although I have almost four weeks left, the majority of my group leaves in less than two weeks. Even though I have been having a ton of fun, I have mostly felt as if I won’t really miss China. Not necessarily in a bad way, but more so—what will I miss about China? What will make me wish I were still in China when I return to America? Up until this past Sunday, I had thought nothing.

A few of us decided to book a trip to the Amalfi Coast the second weekend we were in Rome. These are just a few highlight clips from our weekend, as well as some of our last nights in Rome. We stayed at a hostel in Sorrento, right on the water. On the first day of the trip, we went to Capri. We had to take a tram to get to the top of the mountain to take in the beautiful sights from the top of the mountain. We took a boat trip around the island and swam in the Blue Grotto. The next day, we traveled to Positano.