Studying abroad can be daunting. We know, we’ve been there. Here’s some tips to help you along the way.

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As you know, I’m an advocate for studying abroad in college. But sometimes the daunting of the unfamiliar is too much for students & unfortunately drives them away from studying abroad. That’s why I approached the idea of a collaboration with my friend, Alison. In Fall Semester of 2018 she studied abroad in Greece for one half & Rome for the other half. Like me, she had an incredible experience studying abroad & wanted to share it with others as well (view her blog here).

So while on vacation together in Florida, we decided to collaborate on a blog post that answers 33 common questions about studying abroad. We’ll share with you the details on what was the best, what scared us the most, tips & tricks, and everything in between. Hopefully our 2 different experiences (solo & in a group) will ease your fears, make you smile, gain insight into what it’s like to live abroad, and maybe give you the courage to just go!

1. Where did you study abroad? 

Haley: Sunshine Coast, Australia

Alison: Athens, Greece & Rome, Italy

2. What made you want to study abroad?

Haley: I have always wanted to study abroad so to me, it was just a matter of when not if. 

Alison: Traveling is something I’ve been interested in for as long as I can remember and I thought it would be cool to spend a longer period of time living and experiencing another country.

3. What scared you the most/in general?

Haley: Not knowing anyone was the single most scary thing for me. I know I worried about it the whole time leading up to leaving. I soon (as soon as stepping off the airplane in Australia) realized that this was something I didn’t need to worry about at all! 

Alison: I was scared to be away from family for so long. My school is only 30 minutes from home so I was used to seeing my family often and didn’t know how I was going to handle being so far away.

4. How did you choose your location?

Haley: The Uni of Sunshine Coast was the only option from MSU Moorhead that had a Comm Studies Major so by default I chose Australia… plus the palm trees & beach didn’t sound too bad! 

Alison: My college has tons of study abroad locations to choose from, but I chose the Greco-Roman program because I was extremely interested in learning about their history, being located in European countries, and having the opportunity to live in two places during the semester.

5. Best parts of your location?

Haley: Honestly probably the weather! It was nice to evade Minnesota’s winter and enjoy the hot, summer temperatures in Australia for the majority of my stay. 

Alison: Being able to travel around Europe and experiencing life in two major cities were two of my favorite parts. 

6. What to pack/bring?

Haley: Some of the key items I loved having: hiking boots and hiking backpack. What I wish I brought: warm clothes for visiting New Zealand and cooler days in Australia.

Alison: Power strip and good walking shoes. What I wish I brought: warmer clothes.

7. How easy are study abroad courses?

Haley: I personally saved some of my generals to take abroad so I had 100-200 level courses. Even though those are easier courses, it was actually harder than I thought since there’s a different education system so it took some adjusting to get used to that. 

Alison: My courses were all generals and electives, but they were a different kind of hard from what I experienced with courses towards my major. They were all new topics so it did stretch my thinking and because we wanted to be exploring and experiencing our locations, it was difficult to study and do homework at times.

8. What did you miss most from home?

Haley: Being away from family and friends was incredibly hard. The time change made it harder because you couldn’t always just call home and chat when you needed to. Also being away from Logan, my boyfriend, was hard. Although we’ve done long distance for years, but nothing compared to this distance. So just not being close enough to go home for the weekend or have a hug from family when you needed one was hard. 

Alison: I missed my family and the comforts of home the most. I’m very close to my extended family and I have a lot of cousins that are under the age of 5 so it was hard being away from them when they change so much. I also missed different foods from home at times.

9. How did studying abroad influence or change you?

Haley: I felt more confident and independent after living in a different country for 5 months. Little things like learning how to use public transportation helped me be more confident. 

Alison:During my time abroad, I also could definitely tell I had become more
independent and confident in who I am. Being away from everything I knew
brought out this new independence I don’t think I otherwise would have gained.
My confidence in myself and who I am as a person also benefitted from this
independence.

*side note: we didn’t read each other’s answers before writing!

10. What is your favorite phrase/word to say in the language you learned?

Haley: “Keen” or “G’day! How ya goin’?” 

Alison: “Καλημέρα” (Kalimera) – “Good morning” in Greek or “Per Favore” – “Please” in Italian

11. What was the food like?

Haley: The majority of food was similar to stuff we can find in America. The big differences seemed to be for desserts. Like fairy bread (white bread with butter and sprinkles) or Tim Tams (chocolate biscuit) to name a few. Oh, and the classic Vegemite! 

Alison:Amazing! Greek food was the most different from what I was used to;
moussaka, souvlaki, gyros (waaaay better than any you can find in the U.S., plus
they’re stuffed with fries), baklava, and Greek salad were my personal favorites.
Italian food was pretty much what you’d expect; pizza, pasta, and gelato, but
everything was homemade and so fresh! Some new foods were suppli (similar to
a mozzarella stick except with rice added inside) and calzones. Gnocchi and tortellini were my go-to pastas.

12. What new or weird foods did you try?

Haley: Kangaroo and Crocodile were the 2 weirdest, new foods that I tried! Kangaroo tasted like a tough steak and crocodile tasted like chicken. 

Alison: Nothing too crazy for me; maybe an eggplant dish in Greece and a shrimp gnocchi in Italy. 

13. What kind of food did you miss?

Haley: Chipotle. It was also the first meal I had after I landed back in America! Also Ham & Scalloped potatoes (thank you Mom for mailing me the box ingredients while I was abroad!).

Alison: American pizza, burgers, hotdogs, peanut butter, etc…

14. What was the most surprising thing you did or saw?

Haley: I’d have to say the most surprising thing was when Alison came to visit, we were kayaking near Noosa and we were only 100 feet away from 2 humpback whales. Our guide didn’t mean to get that close, but it was absolutely incredible! 

Alison: Touched Pope Francis’ hand and climbed Mount Olympus.

15. What advice would you give to another student?

Haley: My advice is simple: go. Choose to study abroad. You will never regret it. How often do you get the opportunity to live in another country for a whole semester and immerse yourself like that? It’s rare. You have this amazing opportunity as a student to do this… so go. I have never once regret spending the extra finances to do this and I cherish the experiences and adventures I had every day. 

Alison: I would highly recommend spending a semester abroad. It doesn’t matter where you end up going just find somewhere that looks interesting and do it. Studying abroad is a time of immense personal growth and memories you will cherish forever. There aren’t many times in your life when you can drop everything to move abroad so take advantage of it while you can.

16. Where did you travel within your country?

Haley: I traveled up and down the Eastern coast of Australia. All the way north was Cairns and then south from there was Gladstone, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Australia is the size of the U.S. so it’s hard to see everything in just 5 months!

Alison: My trip included many weekend excursions. In Greece we visited Nafplio, Olympia, Delphi, Santorini, and Mount Olympus. In Italy we traveled to Venice, Pompeii, Florence, Assisi, and Sorrento. Because it was easy to get around Europe, I also traveled to a few other countries.

17. How safe did you feel there?

Haley: I felt incredibly safe. There was rarely a time that I felt nervous about an area I was in. 

Alison: For the most part, I felt relatively safe. During the day, I was confident enough to walk around by myself and at night we just stuck in groups. We were prepared during orientation in both locations about pickpocketing and how to prevent it and also the areas that weren’t the safest to hang around.

18. How did you get around?

Haley: Walking, Uber, or taking public transportation was what I did frequently. If it was somewhere farther, I generally bribed my Aussie roommate, Michael, with Tim Tams to drive us. 

Alison: I did a lot of walking while living in Athens, but also a little taxiing and riding the subway. In Rome I also did a ton of walking, but used the bus and metro system a lot more than I did in Greece.

19. What was public transportation like?

Haley: Fairly easy once you got used to it. There isn’t much public transport in rural MN, so I had never taken a city bus before. The cities had Go Cards which you can electronically load up with money, tap when you get on the bus, and go. Also Apple Maps told you what bus to take and stops to get off. All a very smooth process! 

Alison: In Athens the public transportation was easy to use and not that expensive, but I generally didn’t use it because I didn’t want to spend money on it. Rome’s public transportation system (both metro and buses) was generally unreliable. The buses were often late or wouldn’t even show up and sometimes the metro stations would randomly be closed or during peak times there were so many people on them, you wouldn’t be able to breathe. I used these a lot more though because we were given public transportation cards and it made getting around a lot faster (sometimes).

20. What was your favorite place that you traveled to?

Haley: My favorite experience was Great Barrier Reef. I honestly said “wow!” out-loud when I was snorkeling and first stuck my head underwater and saw the reef (of course had to come up for air as I just took in a lot of saltwater doing that!). The variety and color of wildlife is incredible. I was so happy that I was able to take 2 trips to the GBR while I was abroad. 

Alison: My favorite place in Greece was Mount Olympus and in Italy it was either Venice or Sorrento. Of the other European countries I traveled to, Paris and Switzerland were my favorites.

21. What is one touristy thing that is totally worth it?

Haley: The Australia Zoo, home of the famous crocodile hunter Steve Irwin. It was actually only 20 minutes away from Sunshine Coast. I feel like the Irwins (crikey!) are a very popular Australian icon around the world. So it was totally worth it to see the place in person – I never felt like I was in a zoo because it was that huge. The classic crocodile show was very fun and amazing to watch as well! 

Alison: Paying to ride a gondola in Venice and buying an expensive drink at ‘A’ for Athens to take in the view of the Parthenon at night. Climbing to the Dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica is also worth it.

22. What was your housing situation like?

Haley: I stayed at UniCentral which is basically student accommodations right next to Uni. Our apartment had 2 girls and 2 guys – 2 from Australia and 1 from New Jersey. The rooms were great as it had your own personal bathroom in each room and was fully furnished. As far as my roommates, well, they are lifelong friends now! We all got along well and shared many adventures together. They are a big part of the reason I felt so at home in Australia. 

Alison: I was provided housing through each of my universities abroad. In Greece I lived in an apartment a 4 minute walk from school with 4 other girls. There were two double rooms and a single with one bathroom. In Italy I shared an apartment with 7 other girls. We had two triple rooms and one double with one half bath, a bathroom with a shower, and a bathroom with a bathtub.

23. How did you keep in touch with people while you were abroad?

Haley: WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger seemed the be the best way to keep in touch with people. Occasionally I used Skype which was nice… when the internet decided to work well (aka not often). The time change definitely added a twist to talking with people, but everyone was very understanding that I wouldn’t be able to be as in touch while abroad. 

Alison: I used WhatsApp and Snapchat to keep in touch with people back home. I often would use WhatsApp video call when talking to my family. I also wrote weekly emails back and forth with one of my friends from college which I really enjoyed. The time difference made communicating with some people a little more difficult than others due to their schedules and my own.

24. How did it work for you to have a cell phone while abroad?

Haley: It actually worked really well! Here’s what I did and highly recommend: upon arriving at the airport there are a few phone companies that have booths. You can buy a new SIM card for your phone that has pre-loaded data on it (i.e. $30 flat charge for 3 GB). I highly recommend this because just relying on WiFi isn’t great when you’re out traveling & need to use Maps to get somewhere. It was a very easy and cheap option. 

Alison: When I arrived in Greece, I got a SIM card and Greek phone number and purchased a plan through Vodafone where I got 5GB of data for 10 Euro a month. I used the same card and phone plan all 4 months and it ended up working really well. I mainly used my data for the Maps app to get around to new places and on WhatsApp.

25. How did you meet people?

Haley: I mainly met people through UniCentral accommodations and school. Like I mentioned earlier, I was very nervous not knowing anyone, but going to school with people my age it made the process so easy. 

Alison: I didn’t meet many people other than other international students studying at the university in Athens, café owners of the places I frequented in Athens, and professors and staff at the universities in both Athens and Rome.

26. Did you spend more or less than you thought?

Haley: Everything was more expensive than I thought, but thankfully I spent less than I budgeted. Every day things like groceries costed a little more so needless to say I was shocked to see the price of groceries after they were rung up! So making sure to leave a leeway in your budget is key.

Alison: I ended up spending less than I had budgeted for, but far more on fun, unnecessary purchases than I had planned. I had also purposefully given myself a little leeway so I wouldn’t have to worry about going over my budget as much.

27. What was the hardest adjustment you had to make?

Haley: Understanding the accent and getting used to people driving on the “wrong” side of the road. Both I eventually got used to, but it was very different at first. Then coming back home after not driving for 5 months and used to the “wrong” side… that was definitely an adjustment! 

Alison: Learning to live in a two large cities where the primary language isn’t English was the biggest adjustment I had to make while living abroad.

28. Did you cross anything off your bucket list?

Haley: I crossed off 2 bucket list items. First, was to go to the Great Barrier Reef (now added to the bucket list is to go back and scuba dive there). Second, I want to visit all 7 continents so crossed off Australia.

Alison: I actually crossed off a ton of bucket list items including riding a gondola in Venice, climbing the Eiffel Tower, seeing the Parthenon and Michelangelo’s ‘Last Judgement’, and throwing a coin in the Trevi Fountain.

29. How did you deal with homesickness?

Haley: Keeping myself busy was definitely something I did – just exploring and making the most of my time. But I definitely texted people and Skyped to help me feel less far. 

Alison: Homesickness hit me pretty hard the first week I was traveling. The best way I dealt with it was to make time to call home on the weekends (because of the time difference this was really the only time it worked) and to keep myself as busy as I could with my new surroundings.

30. Did you experience jet-lag when you came back? How did you overcome it?

Haley: Yes. It took about week for me to fully feel “back in it”. The best thing I did for myself was trying to stay away during the day and sleep at night in my current time zone. Which was definitely hard because while everyone was going to bed, it seemed like early afternoon to me! 

Alison: I was surprised I did not experience jet-lag when I came back. I expected to be jet-lagged all through the holidays, but my internal clock adjusted quickly. Setting your internal clock right away is crucial. I stayed awake until my normal bedtime on the day I arrived back home and woke up at a time I wanted to get used to waking up.

31. Did you experience culture shock?

Haley: I actually experienced reverse culture shock – so when I came back to the United States after living in Australia is when I felt the culture shock the most. Australia is a very slow, go-with-the-flow lifestyle so coming back to the fast-paced, busy American ways was very hard to adjust to. Even know I reminisce on how slow and simple Australian culture was. 

Alison: There was definitely some adjusting to do, but I wouldn’t say that I had culture shock. I went in expecting things to be different from what I was used to which really helped keep an open mind about the cultural differences. I was ready to take in the entire experience.

32. Will you go back? When?

Haley: YES! Australia will always have a piece of my heart. I’m not sure exactly when, but a couple of my study abroad friends and I want to go back and do a sole Outback trip soon. Also, getting scuba certified with my Dad and flying out there together will be another trip! 

Alison: I think I’ll eventually go back, but there are so many new places I want to see. Living in both of these countries was phenomenal, but I’m always up for new adventures so that’s my main focus as of now.

33. Where are you going next?

Haley: In January 2020, my Mom and I are traveling to Hong Kong for a 2-week trip as my college graduation gift to visit my pen pal, Chihang, and explore a new country together! 

Alison: Nothing planned yet, but I’m always looking for an excuse to visit somewhere new! I’m very interested in Thailand and India right now.

Together: We’ve talked about maybe doing an Antartica Expedition next… we’ll see!

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We hope you were able to gain something from our experiences! If you are traveling solo, with a group, a semester long, or a 5-week trip… each one is unique and will present you with new experiences. Whether you’re a parent, current student, or just starting college we hope that you’re encouraged to study abroad. Always remember that “life begins at the end of your comfort zone”.

– Haley & Alison