Steps to go Abroad

Steps to go Abroad

Depending on your university, degree, program, and country of choice these may be wildly different.

If you have your finances sorted it is a good idea to start allotting funds toward what you will need it for. In some programs and universities for example you will be provided a meal plan. This could be all three meals or one. You may have to purchase your pots/pans and kitchenware. Find out and list out what will be covered, what you need to prepare for it, and how you will pay if you need to. Planning is the key to success. Sometimes this can be difficult if you are applying for scholarships and gathering funds during this step. It will be difficult but not impossible. List things out in order of priority. If you need pots and pans while abroad you should contact a roommate to split or cover this expense (if they have already planned it).

Typically, the things you should prepare for through your university and/or program are:

a.       Meal plans

b.       Passport and fees

c.       Student visa/internship paperwork

d.       Commuting expenses

e.       Tuition exchange or payment

f.        Housing (homestay/dorms/external flats/apartments, or independently secure housing for yourself)

g.       Excursions included through your program, university (home or foreign), and independently

h.       Flight (to and from) or airport transit – welcoming reception
Purchase these no more than 3 months before leaving to save

i.         Where your on-site support will be through your program (if any).

j.         Any other assistance your program, universities, or countries may provide.

k.       Insurance while abroad (CHP for example)

l.         Communication (laptops/tablets/cell phones)
m.   Your Bank - Credit/Debit cards and currency
You need to alert them of travel plans, sort out fees and percentages taken when cards are used abroad. Make sure you monitor your bank statements while abroad! 

n.   Packing - what to bring and leave at home. You'll need to sort out medications and all the over the counter meds before leaving. Make sure you can travel with what you bring or that you can find it abroad. Certain toiletries (especially feminine items) maybe not even be available.

o.  Medical need. If you need assistance abroad this should be worked out months in advance. Prescriptions and care will need approval, clearly marked labels, and prescriptions. You should research what you can get abroad, what you can bring abroad flights, etc. Another possible obstacle will be the absence of items in your abroad country or different terminology or names for the items. In England Ibuprofen is called Paracetamol. When I needed to pick it up this made it easier for me to find immediately.
p.   Register with S.T.E.P and your embassy while abroad.

q.   Your Return - make sure and prioritize your return to your home country before leaving! It can be really stressful trying to find a sublet, register for the following semester, and everything while you are abroad.

And of your any personal expenses that you will have to cover, which could include appliances, toiletries, clothing, and other miscellaneous items.

Remember if there are snags in your plans along the way it isn’t the end of the world just part of the journey! Keep calm and carry on.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to leave them in the comments section below.

Happy Travels,

Elle

Preparing to Go Abroad

Preparing to Go Abroad

This process can be a daunting one. It will be a long journey but the results are worth it. This post will outline and try and explain each aspect.

1.       Contact

2.       Choose a program and country

3.       Degree requirements

4.       Finances

5.       Culture preparation

The first step is to make contact with your study abroad department. They are ready and willing to help you through this whole process step by step. They will have pamphlets, previous experience, and everything you will need to begin. There may be certain restrictions and requirements specific to your school that are important to know from the beginning. One such restriction may be the semester you are allowed to study abroad. Once such restriction could be that you are not allowed to study abroad in your last semester of your degree due to your senior thesis requirements.

This second step in your process is to choose a program and country. Depending on your degree, school, and personal goals, this may be decided for you. As a criminal justice student, I had very little choices in terms of the program and in my opinion my country of choice. Not a lot of the programs had schools in their listings that were applicable to my degree. I chose England as my country of choice because it is the birth place of our criminal justice system. I could have justified other countries to do a comparative analysis with our own but England makes way more sense. These decisions are very important because you will need to justify your choice in applications and scholarship essays.

The third step is figuring out the semester you will be able to go abroad. It is very important to go over your degree requirements to see what you still have to complete. If you have used all your electives already and you only have classes required to complete for your degree you will have to choose a school abroad who is offering those classes.

Finances are your fourth step. Your study abroad advisor should go over the costs of the program you chose, the school, housing, and local costs with you. If not, you can research, research, research. The information is out there. You need to make yourself a budget. Start with how much you will need and then you can work out if it is possible to afford it. There are a lot of options available to you.

a.       Saved money

b.       Familial support

c.       Scholarships via your program, school, state, country, honor societies, and clubs.

d.       Crowd funding

e.       Selling items

f.        Part-time job before leaving

Your fifth step is to prepare for months in a different country and culture from your own. It is your reasonability to prepare yourself for this task. It is important that you try and be as respectful as possible of their laws and culture while you are abroad. You are representing yourself, your school, your degree, and your home. There will be more differences than you can adequately prepare for. These differences could be appearance, language, customs, etc. Make an effort to look up large differences to prepare yourself. The most important differences to research are laws and maybe common social faux pas.

Preparing lists. Research. Be prepared with tourist destinations that are important to you, not places important to others. You may feel pressure to see Buckingham Palace. If it isn't important to you then don't do it. One of the most important things to be was Jack the Ripper, Sherlock Holmes, and the Sir Robert Peel statues (in London and Glasgow, Scotland).

•             Shops to frequent

•             Food to try

•             Grocery store names

•             Gift ideas

•             Addresses to send post cards to

•             Inspiration lists

•             Learning about your country of choice (phrases/tips)

Social media holds all the answers. Pinterest is a black hole of travel lists. I pinned every list I could find about unique stops, must see options, and out of this world eateries. Once I had down time I sat down and went through all of them and took note of places, people, and things to see. After creating this master list of amazingness I narrowed it down to the places that really spoke to me. They are at the top of my lists and are a priority depending on time, money, and location.

Remember that you are only human and nothing you can do will make the entire process perfect. I suggest creating a realistic list for yourself to complete before you leave.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to leave them in the comment section below.

Happy Travels,
Elle