Our program’s trip to Morocco was probably the most memorable trip I have ever taken to a different country. It was my first time in Africa, and also my first time being able to take a boat across to a different continent, which was incredible. After just a couple hours of watching the sea, we made it to the port of Tangier and set our bags down in our hotel and lied down on the fresh hotel sheets for 15 minutes before the city exploring began.

I want to preface this list by making it clear that I LOVE the tapas lifestyle and it will be something I truly miss when I go back to the United States. I will never, ever say “no” to a little snack provided free with my beverage; however, it is true that I do find myself a little bit on the underfed side several nights here in Granada. To fix that, me and some friends tried a bunch of other restaurants in our area that would be filling yet also worth our Euro. Here is the final list that I came up after a semester full of food:

During my trip to Brussels, I and my friend decided that we would stay for one night and do all of the touristy things that Brussels is known for. We tried chocolate and fries, we saw the Grand Place, we went out for a night, and we took long walks around the city. Throughout the entire duration of the trip, I was constantly on the go and I never had that “Aha moment” when I realized that I was on a trip in Brussels eating chocolate and fries for dinner with no worries at all.

For my very first trip to Marseille, I had no idea what I was doing. By my last trip to Spain, I felt I knew exactly how to travel. Something that I learned about myself is that I prefer flying over taking trains. Depending on how late you book your travel, I have found that trains are usually more expensive than flights (if you are booking your travel later rather than sooner).

Something that happened to me, that usually happens to everyone studying abroad, is that at the 3-week mark, before you leave, you’ve completely run out of battery. This is due to the fact that you’re constantly meeting new people, planning new trips, and staying up much later than you would back home. This has happened to me. And it is also because in the month before you leave, you realize that you are slowly beginning to run out of time abroad.

Every person’s day-to-day will look incredibly different. My normal/chill days abroad are probably much more relaxed than my peers who make even more time than I do to go to museums or see new things every single day. But, something that I wish I had read up on more before going abroad is what a typical day in Paris looks like. Therefore, I will tell you.

Overpacking is something that everyone will warn you about before studying abroad and I did not listen. Before my study abroad began, I planned all sorts of different outfits that I wanted to wear in pictures and during trips. I ended up planning so many outfits in my head that I needed to bring that I completely forgot about all of the other essentials that needed to be packed as well.

If you plan on traveling while you’re abroad you may have to face the decision between a hostel or a hotel. I recommend that you travel at least once while you’re abroad because you’re only studying abroad for so long until it’s time to come back home, therefore you might as well see one new place other than your designated country while you’re at it. If I’m going to be completely honest, I had no idea what a hostel was before studying abroad and once I did find out what it was, I was immediately turned off. 

Before studying abroad, I was not an independent person at all. An example of this can be seen during my sophomore year. I go to college in New York City, so almost everything is dependent on walking. I needed groceries one week and refused to go alone until my friends had open time in their schedule to walk with me to the store because I was anxious to do a simple grocery run by myself.

Before coming abroad to Paris, I spent the months leading up to my departure date on TikTok looking at the “day in the life” of people studying in Paris to figure out what I needed to see and where I needed to go out at night. Because Paris is such a big city, I was overwhelmed with things I wanted to do and see. I was also very nervous because I was traveling alone in Paris without knowing anyone.