(TRAINS, PLANES, & PLANNING)

When I was a sophomore (and even a freshman) I was already eagerly looking forward to studying abroad. I was always looking at the experiences of people who were studying abroad at that time. Whether it was through TikTok or instagram I started to form my bucket list, travel places, and expectations.

Before studying abroad I knew I wanted to take advantage of my time abroad, and travel every weekend, taking cheap flights and train rides. Exploring, staying in hostels and traveling with friends. Experiencing the (often overly) romanticized budget travel experience. But the truth is that budget traveling is not always so budget anymore. I feel like people on social media are always talking about all the inexpensive travels in Europe, but because of this mass popularity, when I got to Europe, the prices of hostels and flights had definitely gone up.

If you look at ALL your potential options, and book in advance, it is still possible to score those $35-$75 flight deals. But, here’s why I don’t entirely recommend that.

The summer before studying abroad, I spent countless hours mapping out my travels on trains, using Eurail, and trying to roughly plan everything. I knew tourism would still be in PEAK during the end of august-november, so I wanted to make sure I’d be able to travel where I wanted before things got booked. But no one really plans and books all that before getting to their study abroad destination, and realistically I was not going to.

However, I will say some things do book up, especially popular hostels or cheap airbnbs in popular locations. And restaurants too (elsewhere and in your host city too) ! Basically most things that blow up on TikTok.

When I actually got to Florence, most of my travel plans unraveled a little bit. Everyone had different modes of transportation they wanted to take (train, planes, bus, etc) and more importantly, different budgets and interests. Sometimes finding a good group to travel with, or even a friend or two can take some trial and error. Some best friends travel together, and decide to not do that again. But for others it works out (like when my best friend visited me from the US). You just have to put everything on the table and at least try to roughly plan out all your trips!

The key for weekend trips is to find people with similar interests and travel styles as you. For example, will we want to walk everywhere, take taxis, do a guided tour? Will we be going out to eat every night? Or budgeting? Shopping or sightseeing? Etc etc… communication is key to having a stress free, enjoyable time for everyone. Without worrying about accommodating everyone’s expectations.

Here’s why I reccomend going one weekend at a time, and booking one trip at a time:

You may want time off (traveling can get really tiring!)

You can mix up your experiences. It best to mix budget and not-so-budget weekends.

Weather may create a change of plans (be flexible)! When I was in Italy, Austria and other countries flooded. This greatly damaged/stopped modes of transportation, especially trains, for many many weeks!) If I had trains or trips booked, I would have been out of luck.

Booking trips one at a time can help keep your bookings, expenses, and plans straight. Ensuring that everything is booked correctly, dates, times and also making sure you stay in budget.

Now, if you know you are traveling by train, with the Eurail Pass especially, and you know your route in advance. I do recommend to book your seat reservation/plan it as soon as you can!

The high speed train routes between major/popular cities often book up fast. For example Amsterdam to any major city/paris/london/etc… and all high speed trains require you to have a seat reservation with the eurail pass. These little costs can add up. I could do a whole blog post on pros/cons, and other things I wish I knew about Eurail, pass vs other options (I may do for those interested).

Lastly, it is easy to compare experiences to others. But everyone’s situation and program abroad is different. You could be somewhere with little to no DU students, or walk down the street everyday and see at least 3 people you know. The world is a small place! While traveling, I saw some people from DU in the most random, “what are the odds” places. For example, one girl in 1 of 3 customs lines at the London airport. Or another time in a hostel in Amsterdam. That is always a fun aspect of travel and solo traveling. You’re never truly alone.

Something that surprised me, or I wish I knew, is how many people choose to study abroad with their entire friend group/ or best friends. I on the other hand, set out on study abroad to try to meet entirely new people, from different schools/countries. I also went random with my housing. Which ended up coming with its pros and cons. But anyways, sometimes it can take a while to find your people abroad, but it shouldn’t intimidate you from wanting to branch out, and make new friends!

Traveling while abroad is doable (even on a limited budget). But it doesn’t always need to be a big ordeal. It can be something short, yet impactful. Such as a day trip, or a couple hour long trip to another city in your host country. Just get out there, find what’s best for you, but also and don’t be afraid to branch out, and explore on your own either!