This is the second video of my cousin and my road trips’ through the south island.  Here is the route we took (unfortunately we couldn’t make it all the way north to Abel Tasman, but there's always next time!)

Christchurch -> Hokitika via Arthurs Pass -> Haast (via Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers) -> Wanaka -> Queenstown -> Te Anau/Milford Sound -> the Catlins -> Dunedin -> Lake Tekapo -> Christchurch 

It was an amazing journey, and I am so glad that my cousin was able to come visit me.  

And so, we have made it to the last few weeks of my time in New Zealand.  After finals ended (to be fair - I only had one final that was essay based) I had a few weeks off for a bit of solo travel.  I ended up flying to Wellington for a few days, enjoying a few farewell dinners with our IES Abroad group and other friends I made along the way, and visiting my favorite Christchurch spots for the last time.  For the last two weeks I was in NZ, my cousin came to visit, and we went on a huge road trip all the way through the south island.

In just a very few short hours, I will embark on my study abroad journey to Barcelona, Spain for four months. My name is Caroline, but most of my friends call me Caro, and I am a junior at Indiana University studying Marketing with a minor in Media Advertising. I am from Los Angeles and my hobbies and interests pretty much some up who I am. I absolutely love spending time at the beach, my dogs, hiking, running, soccer, cheese, and binge watching Netflix (but since I plan to work in entertainment it's considered research, right?).

          Before going abroad, we were all warned about both culture shock and reverse culture shock. Although I was definitely more concerned about the former, I have definitely had a harder time dealing with the latter. Coming back is usually a tougher transition than people anticipate; this certainly was the case for me. It’s not only the weird process of transitioning back to your life at home, it’s dealing with the sticky and strange situation of being a different person back in your same old environment.

Out of all my trips outside of Spain, the most unique and culturally immersive was definitely my trip to Morocco. I stayed in Marrakech in an Airbnb with several other kids from IES Abroad. We had been planning this trip for months, and it was easily what I was anticipating most all semester. On the first night I was there, I had the unfortunate experience of having bed bugs in my bed, which was a big first for me. When I found the itchy series of red bumps in the morning, I was ready to get angry and let it ruin the rest of my trip.

Most of the trips I took around Spain and Europe involved at least a few days of planning. Finding flights, finishing school work on time, making an itinerary of things I wanted to do, etc. Usually, that’s the best way to do things. You always want to be prepared and aware when you’re travelling. However, don’t count out how much fun spontaneous trips can be.

The first week of studying abroad is really weird. Being in an entirely new place with new people is uncomfortable no matter who you are. However, there is one week of the semester that is even weirder: the last. Watching the people you’ve spent the greatest four months of your life with leave and go home, one by one, is almost overwhelming. Out of my apartment and friend group, I was the last to leave. By the Friday of the last week, only two of us were left.

As the holiday season approached, I expected to have some major fomo. Being from New York, I was pretty confident that I was going to be missing out on all the holiday festivities I was used to. No snow covered streets, no Rockefeller Christmas Tree, no Santas roaming the metro, no bright lights above. As mid December, hit I was more than happy to be wrong. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, Madrid has some really fun activities to offer during the holiday season and is an exciting place to be. Here were some of my favorites:

Before I left for Madrid, I made of list of things I wanted to do in Europe. One of those was a scenic hike. When most people imagine hiking in Europe, the first places that come to mind are Switzerland, Germany, Northern Europe, etc. When it comes to hiking specifically in Spain, the most popular routes are the various parts of the Camino de Santiago. I had my eyes on the Tour de Mont Blanc, a beautiful and popular route through the Alps that passes over the borders of Switzerland, Italy and France.

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