Number One Tip for Future EU Students: CREATE A BUDGET AND SPEND WISELY

Hola everyone. Last time I wrote a blog post, I was preparing for my Member States trip to Lisbon, Madrid, and Rome. Lisbon was such a wonderful city. I felt its vibrant energy as soon as I left the airport. The sight of palm trees and the clean beaches reminded me of being in Trinidad. The large crowd of people walking around the city taking pictures of sites reminded me of Times Square in New York City. It was a mixture of two of the places I call home. The food was amazing and was not very costly. In fact, I bought a plate of salmon and potatoes in Lisbon for only 6.50 Euros. Of course, most restaurants will not cost the same price. It all depends on what type of restaurant you eat at and what type of food you order. In my case, my friends and I ate at an Indian restaurant which served great food for relatively cheap prices.

As I write this blog in my hostel in Rome, I must admit that the food in Spain was also not expensive. I bought Tapas for 1 euro and Churros con Chocolate for 3 euros. Yesterday in Rome, I had spaghetti carbonara for 4 euros. Although these prices were not costly, considering you travel a lot over the course of this program, the amount of money you spend does in fact increase very quickly. Unfortunately, I did not create a budget prior to starting this program, hence I am not able to tell you what my budget was. However, I can say that I spent a lot over the course of the trips we took thus far on food. I appreciate the fact that our hostels have provided us with breakfast every day, however, purchasing lunch and dinner every day is not cheap. Yes, you can find cheap restaurants in the cities you travel to, but sometimes finding such restaurants depending on the area your hostel is in can sometimes be difficult. We have been mostly visiting capital cities in countries in the EU, hence our hostels were in tourist attraction areas. These areas were of course pricey because tourists can help to bring store owners profit when they purchase food and other products regardless of its high price. Being abroad is expensive, however, if you create a budget and spend wisely, you can still have a valuable experience. It is this lesson I keep in mind as I search cities for good-tasting foods at an affordable price.