Tag: solo-travel

Weekend Trips- everything I wish I knew…

Published on by AdriLeave a comment

(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!

How to Solo Travel Safely While on a Budget 

Published on by vanessacepedaLeave a comment

If you’re reading this then you already know that traveling to new destinations can have a thrilling factor on your life. Its self-discovery, on top of feeding into one’s curiosity. While there are many sources out there to help you travel on a budget such as student discounts, military discounts and lastly, stay alternatives such as hostels, it never really seems to be enough of a discount to convince yourself to leap into this trip. We are always being told that sometimes you have to sacrifice comfort for these experiences and while true I am here to tell you that safety is not one of them. 

So far, during my study abroad experience I have been fortunate enough to have had the chance to travel to a couple of countries with some friends that also cared for economic alternatives. And this past weekend it was my turn to embark on a solo trip to Paris, France. It just so happened that everyone else already had their own travels booked and or had family plans. While I did not yet feel it, traveling alone this time was about to affect a little more than I thought it would, don’t get me wrong. I have traveled alone before, but it has always been to familiar destinations where I would be staying with people I knew. Of course, the difference with this time was that up until that point I had only traveled with friends to these unknown places. Spoiler alert- everything went amazing and below I will breakdown how I made this trip happen while on a budget and alone while prioritizing safety. 

  1. Research Your Destination Thoroughly

Okay, of course I knew I wanted to go to Paris and because the city is expensive as it is I knew a hotel was out of the question and unfortunately an Airbnb was booked for the weekend that I was playing on leaving. So hostel it was, because safety is important to me I specifically found a hostel that had an all-women’s dorm which is an option for a lot of countries by the way, I specifically used Expedia for this because if you are a member you can get extra discounts by simply creating an account with no fees, but I’m sure if you use hostel.com you can find similar results. Next, the airport of Charles was about an hour away from my hostel but fear not because through the French app called IDF Mobilites I got all the train tickets I needed. Now I recommend that whenever you go and whatever transportation you use, always get a day or a weekend pass because it’s way less expensive. If you take away anything from this is to always use your student statues. I signed up on the app and got a day pass for $10 instead of 20 because of the student discount. 

2. Share Your Itinerary with Friends and Family

This is completely optional, but I shared my itinerary with our program advisor as well as two other friends. It never hurts for others to know your whereabouts, it’s a message your future self will thank you for. 

3. Pack Light but Smart

Finding an economical flight will more times than not be equivalent to limiting you to a personal item. I suggest talking about a travel backpack, any backpack is the most recommended item because trust me you will get sick of a duffle bag. I got mine for e18 in Primark and I have gone to three countries with it and it’s still good as new. The difference between a travel backpack and a normal backpack is that a travel bag is water resistant, it has zippers that go all the way down the bag, it has a shoe compartment underneath, a tech pocket, and most importantly two buckles to secure the sides and help compress it down. Pro tip: wear your heaviest items.

4. Blend In and Avoid Flashy Valuables

This goes for short travels in general, I always recommend simply wearing your everyday essentials but if our everyday pieces are a bit flashy it’s always best to leave that behind because it’s better safe than sorry. 

5. Trust Your Instincts

This goes for many occasions but from a Europe perspective, don’t fall for signature petitions on metro exits, don’t take anything a stranger gives you, and most importantly don’t have anything in your pockets. For both men and women, it’s always best to carry a fanny pack or cross body bag because those are the ones closest to your torso instead of on the side of your body. When it comes to following your instincts, always re-assist your surroundings and with that comes with never leaving your belongings alone for no one is liable but yourself. 

6. Meet People Wisely

 I have had my fair encounters of strangers starting conversations and while a good majority have been wonderful and insightful, don’t feel bad if you feel like you have to walk away from one if you sense it becoming ingenuine or suspicious.

7. Stay Present and Enjoy the Moment

To channel this I personally prefer to walk around to my destinations while enjoying the scenery, reflecting on sights and perhaps journaling about them. Trying local foods instead of chains is always a good idea. Overall, the biggest advice I have is to not only focus on the main sights that Instagram or TikTok will give you but to find some of your own and build a new experience for those are the memories that last forever and good stories surface.

Ciao!