Greetings from Staffordshire, UK! My name is Marion, and my
dragon Colin and I are going to offer you some tips and tricks when traveling
while studying abroad.
I decided to take a risk and spend a week in London by
myself before classes started. It was one of the best decisions I have ever
made. Since then, I have had the opportunity to spend most of my weekends
traveling. But there were certainly a few hiccups along the way. I wanted to
share a few of the lessons that I learned and hopefully offer some advice along
the way.
 |
| Colin climbing along the town walls of Conway, Wales |
Tip #1: If you are traveling with approximately one hundred
pounds of luggage, you should consider booking a hotel/hostel that is close to
your point of arrival. Carrying luggage on a train, the Tube, a bus, and uneven
sidewalks while getting accustomed to oncoming traffic coming from opposite
directions is no easy task.
 |
| Getting lost in the Hampton Court maze |
Tip #2: Maps, directions, and where in the world is this
hostel? If you are in a major city, there may be maps scattered around the
city. Most cities do not offer free maps (but most hostels do!), and the
cheaper ones that can be purchased are often not detailed enough for tourists.
If you are not good with directions (and functioning Wi-Fi hotspots can be hard
to come by), I suggest screenshotting directions from Google Maps or
downloading a city map onto your phone in order to save yourself some time.
However, keep in mind that your directions may be incorrect. I have found that
to be true when using Google Maps to find hostels. Most of the hostels that I
have stayed at are in odd locations. I have had to wonder around late at night
spending half an hour or more locating hostels. Maybe I’m not very good with
maps. However, when Google is telling me that I’m supposed to be spending the
night at a bank or a Starbucks, there must be some other factors at work.
 |
| Walking around the Markt in Bruges, Belgium |
Tip #3: Bring medicine. I decided to do a weekend trip to
Amsterdam. The trip started out nice, and I was feeling great. Then the
coughing started. Then a headache. By the time I arrived outside of the city, I
had a fever. I arrived in Amsterdam feeling like I had been hit by a train, but
I didn’t bring medicine because who would think that it would be necessary for
a weekend trip? There were no pharmacies so I decided to walk around and see
the sights while looking for one along the way. Four hours later, I felt like I
was going to fall over, and finally, I came across a store that sold medicine.
Several euros later, I finally had some medicine in my system, but the effects
wouldn’t kick in for another few hours. I still wanted to enjoy the city after
coming all this way. But after queuing for two and a half hours, in the rain,
to enter the Anne Frank House, I started to wonder if going back to the hotel
to sleep would have been a better idea (which brings me to Tip #3.5: Purchase
tickets ahead of time.) Learn from my mistake. Bring the medicine with you and
save yourself the embarrassment of passing out at a table in the cafeteria of
the Anne Frank House.
 |
| Marion walking along the beach at sunrise in Llandudno, Wales |
Tip #4: Tour companies. One of the main motivations for
studying abroad is to travel. However, it can be very stressful planning all
the nuances of the trips. There may also be instances where you cannot find
anyone to come with you, and you have to choose whether or not you want to
travel alone or skip the trip altogether. Luckily, there are several tour
companies that will eliminate several of these problems. They will plan all the
details for you often for approximately the same cost as booking
transportation, hostels/hotels, and activities on your own. While it may be
daunting traveling with a group of strangers, it also provides a great
opportunity to make new friends from all around the world who are studying
abroad as well.
 |
| Learning to enjoy travel by coach |
