Are you the person that craves that adrenaline rush when your stomach flips at the very top of a roller coaster? Do you love the fight-or-flight response that's triggered from some bumpy, white-water rafting? For those of you searching for the perfect adventurous vacation, look no further than Pucón, Chile. This touristy, but somewhat hidden city in the south of Chile has everything from hiking beautiful volcanoes to horseback riding to the gorgeous hot springs and waterfalls. 

Travelling to Spain, where jamón hangs from the walls of restaurants and seafood or meat paella is wildly popular, people have continuously asked me how I would sustain a vegan diet while living in Madrid for six weeks. The truth? It has been almost too easy.

The past two weeks have been blessings filled with memorable experiences.

I think I got the perfect internship.

Hello all, if you don’t know me, my name is Catalina. I am a rising third year at the University of Virginia studying Public Policy and American Government. My job as a blogger throughout these next few weeks will be to describe my experience abroad in the various countries that we visit not only as an American student but also as a Hispanic female (of Colombia origin, in case you were wondering). I am currently studying with the IES Abroad European Union program for the summer.

When coming to London, I didn’t think that there would really be any culture shock. I mean, I recently spent time in China, so I felt like if I could handle that, I could handle anything. As it turns out, there are still differences between the US and UK that I wasn’t prepared for. Here’s a list of the top things that have confused me culturally since landing 2 weeks ago.

“Can I guess where you’re from? I’m really good at guessing.”

“Uh, sure.”

“Thailand? Cambodia? China? Is it a country in Asia?”

It's market day in Siena every Wednesday and with each week the Fortezza Medicea transforms overnight into a sprawling conflation of a flea market, flower shop, and one of the most incredible lines of food trucks and produce you've ever seen. Coming into a place where the language is foreign and the roads tangle around each other in seemingly senseless knots can be rather intimidating at first.

Good morning!

There's a lot of aspects to studying abroad that can be absolutely terrifying – a new country, new customs, new foods, new time zone. Yet so many people ignore one of the most common problems of studying abroad that students run into: loneliness.

Studying abroad doesn't come with a friend guaruntee. Granted, many people choose to pursue study abroad with their friends, but for the majority of us, we are thrust into a whole new world without any idea who we will be discovering this world with.