A beautiful aspect to abroad is being able to fly to other countries with ease and exploring them on the weekends. Something that I wasn’t fully expecting was the multitude of trips that I would be taking. With the inexpensive flights at your fingertips, it's easy to travel anywhere your heart desires. So when a 20 euro flight to Rome presents itself, it’s hard not to take that opportunity.
Although this was one of my favorite aspects of abroad, it also came with a lot of responsibility and stress. Having to plan a trip by itself is something they don’t tell you about. Being able to book flights, find hotels, figure out all of the necessary spot to travel to and much more all attribute to the complications that can arise. It's also worth mentioning that when abroad, you can typically only stay in these given countries for 2-3 days because you must return back to school. This makes it very difficult to cram everything into one trip.
Now that I might’ve deterred you from travel, it is one of the most special parts of being abroad, and basically everyones favorite. But I do mention this because it highlights the importance of staying in the country or city that you are studying in and really getting to know it. I wasn’t able to stay a weekend in Barcelona until my 7th week abroad!! Because I spent every weekday there, I felt as though I was getting the full experience. However, that weekend was one of my favorite weekends abroad. The weekend is extremely different form the weekdays. We were able do do farmers' markets, brunch, site see, and even catch an FA Barcelona soccer game!
It was such a treat being able to stay in Barcelona, but I also began to take advantage of living in Spain and travel to places like Madrid, Basque Country, Andorra, Mallorca, and Gran Canaria. Spain is such a beautiful country and I’m lucky that I learned quickly how important it was to travel within the place where I studied abroad because many missed out on this opportunity.
One piece of advice I have is that you should 100% take full advantage of being in Europe and getting to travel around Europe for a low cost. It’s not everyday that you can fly from country to country in Europe with your best friends, so it’s important to fully utilize these components. However, this blog is meant to make you feel better about just needing a moment. It can become a bit overwhelming at times when having to fly every weekend to a new place, pack lightly, and figure out transportation along with arrangements when you have arrived in designated place.
Finding the balance between go go go and letting yourself relax can be difficult, especially when there’s a ticking timer in the back of your head reminding you that you only have so long in Europe. I would take this and let it motivate you to travel to some of the best places in the world, but also let it remind you that it is ok to take a moment and soak in the life that you are living where you are studying. You will find hidden gems that you never knew existed and nothing is more rewarding than that.
Noa Solomon
<p>Noa Solomon is an avid sports enthusiast, foodie and animal lover. She studies at the University of Wisconsin as a Journalism major where she excersises her passion for writing, as well as double minoring in sports communication and special education. She was born and raised a city girl, coming from the big apple itself, Manhattan, New York. She studied at the Professional Performing Arts School in Times Square as a drama major for 7 years and continues to participate in acting as much as she can. She was just featured in the 90s teen comedy film Generation Wrecks as Brittney Pratt this past September.</p>
